R'oshahnin

R'oshahnin is a human-avatared simulation hosted on ??? that is based on the Myst universe.

Description

R'oshahnin is a sim consisting of four worlds, or Ages, each only accessible by the others via linking books -- books that allow anyone who touches their front page to almost-instantly transport to a particular place in another Age. The characters will likely be spending the majority of their time in the two 'Prison Ages', Haven and Spire.

Haven

Haven is a lone island in a vast sea, mostly occupied by dense jungle. It is the home to various species of flora and fauna; its sole human inhabitant is Atrus's elder son, Achenar.

The Beach

The link-in area is at the north end of the island, on the beach of a large lagoon surrounded by massive toothlike rocks. The most prominent feature immediately visible is the wreckage of a sailboat half-buried in the ground, its bow pointing up into the sky, as if someone decided 'up' was a perfectly reasonable direction in which to propel a sailboat. There is an elevator that can be used to ascend the structure, but there is a locking mechanism in place.

The beach also includes a small hut built of extremely sturdy green stone; barred walls separate the entrance from a small, mostly empty chamber opposite, and there is a small compartment for items to be exchanged across the divide. A similar structure is present in Spire.

The last structure of interest on the beach is a totem pole of sorts, next to the skeleton of some massive, whale-like creature, bones long ago bleached white by the sun.

The Jungle

Lots of exotic plants and animals. Achenar lives somewhere in here too. [More information to come.]

Spire

Spire is an Age true to its name -- a massive tower of stone with slide-like sinkholes between various levels. It is always nighttime, and a bright full moon hangs in the clear sky; far below, dark clouds cover the surface of the planet, thundering furiously.

In some places, the spire almost looks like it might have once hosted civilization, with wind-carved stairways, natural arches, and crystalline structures. It's only an elaborate illusion, though; the only living person here is Sirrus, Atrus's younger son.

The Upper Levels

Above the highest level of perpetual stormclouds, the stars and moon are clearly visible through only a thin layer of cirrus-like clouds. Jagged rocks stick out from the thick cloud layer below, and flashes of lightning can sometimes be seen.

The most prominent feature, of course, is the main tower, a stone stairway spiraling around it, somehow carved from the stone of the tower by processes of erosion. Near the top of the tower, half embedded in the rock, is a hut-like structure made of extremely sturdy green stone; barred walls separate the entrance from a small, mostly empty chamber opposite, and there is a small compartment for items to be exchanged across the divide. A similar structure is present in Haven.

At the base of the stairs is a broad landing, roughly rectangular, walls of stone on two sides, arches holding sheets of crystal, some shattered. A few sinkholes, one wide and vertical enough to have an elevator shaft installed, lead down into the middle levels.

The Middle Levels

Here the spire adopts a somewhat more cavernous feel. A few tunnels lined with glowing crystals carve through the rock, but most afford a view of the open sky. The stars are invisible here, as is the ground -- trapped between two layers of stormclouds. Lightning is a common sight, both within the clouds themselves and between them, but the strikes are rarely if ever close enough to cause danger.

Sirrus has made a very modest home for himself on this level -- a garden with strange, unfamiliar plants, a makeshift bed of stone, and several workbenches with various homemade tools, materials, and scientific experiments set up. Some of the crystals in this Age have unusual electrical properties, and combined with the continuous thunderstorms, Sirrus has built a small network of conductors to harness the electricity prevalent in this Age.

The most unusual sight on this layer, however, is the floating rocks. One of the minerals in the Age, a green crystal with a phosphorescent glow, has unusual magnetic properties that cause rocks containing the mineral to float upwards. Sirrus has made use of this in various ways, most notably by turning one of the rocks into a makeshift ship and using a network of conductors to 'sail' through the clouds.

Far off, across the sea of clouds is another structure, its towering arches just barely visible. 'The Nearest Palace' is the name Sirrus has given it.

The Nearest Palace and the Lower Levels

The Nearest Palace doesn't have much worth saying about it -- it's fairly small compared to the main spire; its main attractions are the vast array of conductors residing on the opposite side from that facing the spire, and a sinkhole with a rope inside leading further down than any of the sinkholes in the main spire. In fact, it comes out below the lower layer of clouds.

The underside of the palace reveals a terrifying truth -- the spire and the palace, both, do not touch the ground; rather, they, like the floating rocks, are suspended high above it, even the lowest points on the spire not coming remotely close. 'Ground' is also potentially a misnomer -- the planet far below looks more like a miniature green sun than anything else, a massive sphere coated in an eerie, green, luminescent mist. Strangely enough, a few stars can even be seen in the sky here, especially near the cloud layer above.

It should go without saying that falling from the narrow pathways holding this level together would be a very, very poor idea.

Tomahna

The home of Atrus, Catherine, and their young daughter Yeesha, built into the walls of a canyon on a planet mysteriously like Earth. [More coming soon.]

Releeshahn

The new home of the D'ni people. [More coming soon.]

NPCs

R'oshahnin centers primarily around the family of Atrus, especially his sons and their past crimes.

Achenar

Achenar is Atrus's older son. He's large and imposing, has a great deal of physical strength, and is easily overwhelmed by his emotions. All in all, not a particularly safe combination.

In his youth, he took a sadistic joy in causing death and destruction in Atrus's Ages. The few times he and his brother worked together, Achenar was usually the 'brawn' to Sirrus's 'brains', but Achenar is no fool.

Achenar has spent the last twenty years in Haven, surviving mainly off of hunting and trapping the local wildlife. Aside from occasional conversations with his parents and sister through Atrus's linking chamber, he's not encountered any other humans in that time.

Sirrus

Sirrus is Atrus's younger son. He's thin and well-groomed, even living in the utter isolation of Spire. He is highly intelligent and approaches many problems with a scientific mind; he is always very polite when he first meets people, though he has little patience for incompetence.

In his youth he was a lying snake, turning people against each other and bringing civilizations in Atrus's Ages to ruin. When he worked together with his brother, he usually came up with intricate, elaborate schemes only to become frustrated with his brother's impatience.

Sirrus has spent the last twenty years in Spire, subsisting entirely on plants grown in his garden. Most of his time has been spent trying to reach the ground beneath the cloud layer, to no success. He's occasionally spoken to his family through Atrus's linking chamber over the past five years, but aside from that he's had no human contact.

Ahref

Ahref is a guildmaster (a high-ranking member) of the Releeshahn Guild of Writers, who are responsible for writing linking books to new Ages. He is a good friend of Atrus's, and has been for roughly eighteen years. He has agreed to help look into some anomalous activity in the two prison Ages containing Atrus's sons. (The anomalous activity, of course, being the appearance of several dozen people that aren't supposed to be there.)

Ahref is a middle-aged man with dark hair that is beginning to turn gray and pale, highly-sensitive eyes (usually covered by dark goggles). He is fairly stern and initially distrustful of the Citizens, more concerned in ensuring the Ages' intended prisoners don't escape than in letting the Citizens go.

Atrus

The father of Sirrus and Achenar, the Writer of the Ages of Spire and Haven, and the man who reunited the D'ni people after their civilization's fall and wrote the Age of Releeshahn as a new home for them. He is often busy with some project or other, sometimes writing new Ages, sometimes doing science experiments in said Ages, occasionally both.

Spire and Haven were intended as traps for greedy thieves who sought to plunder his Ages. Unfortunately, the greedy thieves who were trapped were none other than Sirrus and Achenar, his two sons. They had been destroying and plundering his Ages while he was busy dealing with other, more pressing matters. For twenty years, his sons have remained trapped in those Ages, and only in the past five has he visited their prisons to see if they have reformed. So far, he remains unconvinced.

Others

Atrus's wife, Catherine, and their ten-year-old daughter, Yeesha, also live in Tomahna. They may or may not play a role in this sim.

People

Name knowledge

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