Cate Alexander left a most intriguing document in the museum for us... A map showing that Negilahn, Dereno, and Payiferen are all continents on the same world! Pod locations are called out by number, and it's marked with 13 time zones (hence the 13 hour day between portals).
A few things are starting to click, and this must be the "clue" Nick was hinting at yesterday.
If Dereno is indeed having the same problems at Negilahn, that changes a few considerations. Is it one predator? If so, how do they travel so quickly? Or is it multiple predators in multiple places, a bio-invasion?
Or is it even an animal predator at all?
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Dereno
Ran into Nick last night, first time since the "outing". It was good to see him, and know things are ok. Apparently Doug is on the surface doing some research or something, and should be back shortly. We'll connect up and figure a new plan of action, likely involving more trips to Negilahn.
And possibly other places, because that was the second part of the conversation - animals are being killed in Dereno too. Similar to the Negilahn animals. Nick hasn't seen it himself, just heard from some of the other ResEngs working on that Age.
I guess we'll hafta check that out too... Better pack my long-johns.
He also hinted that we'd soon see a clue that will help make the connection between Negilahn and Dereno, a connection which he obviously already knows. One of these days his little games will catch up with him.
And possibly other places, because that was the second part of the conversation - animals are being killed in Dereno too. Similar to the Negilahn animals. Nick hasn't seen it himself, just heard from some of the other ResEngs working on that Age.
I guess we'll hafta check that out too... Better pack my long-johns.
He also hinted that we'd soon see a clue that will help make the connection between Negilahn and Dereno, a connection which he obviously already knows. One of these days his little games will catch up with him.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
No News
I haven't seen or heard from Doug or Nick since our trip. I've talked ot a number of people in Cavern, and answered questions as best I can, but it's going on a week now. Wonder what the hold up is.
I'm going to install cameras in my Pod windows, to track what comes aronud when. As well, I hope to verify that the predator does not come near the Pod area.
I'm going to install cameras in my Pod windows, to track what comes aronud when. As well, I hope to verify that the predator does not come near the Pod area.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Story Time
Ok, I've had a couple days to sort through things. Timt to put down the whole story.
Douglas Sharper, Nick White, and I were out in the jungles, hiking around, maybe a mile and half or so from the Pod. Something caught Sharper's eye, and he got all excited and called us over. It was a dead animal carcass, looked pretty fresh. "The freshest we've seen yet" Nick says. My guess was it was less than an hour old.
I've seen dead animals before, but this was unbelievable. Worse than I had expected. It was a gorilla-like animal, bigger than me, and weighing several hundred pounds while alive. What the D'ni named a "reepah". It had been violently killed, almost purposefully violent. Shredded. Pieces were in the trees and scattered all over the ground. It wasn't just a prey animal taken down by a predator - something wanted to make a spectacle of it's kill.
Sharper got really rattled and said he'd never seen anything like it, not even close. Nick lost his lunch, poor guy, and I couldn't blame him. Doug had his gun out and was scanning the jungle, scanning the trees, on alert. I swallowed the bile in my mouth and stepped up to examine the carcass.
To be honest, I don't even know how to describe it, it was a mess. The chest cavity has been ripped open and the internal organs messily thrown around. We found most of them, eventually, at least as far as we could tell. Many were unidentifiable. The neck was broken, but not cleanly; the reepah had been thrashed around. Limbs were twisted, broken, and missing; we found one arm hanging from a tree, and strips of the legs and chest nearby. The reepah has a tail sort of like a scorpion, and that was in about three pieces, crushed and torn. The more we looked around, the more of the body we found. Nothing had been eaten, just mangled.
The forest was very quiet, without the usual bird and monkey calls that you hear at the Pod. All in all it was a very chilling sight. And to make it worse, there was no evidence of the attacker.
We tracked around for a bit, but all we found on the ground were the reepah tracks. Though reepahs are partly arboreal, this one had been on the ground when he was attacked. We followed his sign back a ways, but there was nothing unusual about it. At the attack site there were some scuff marks in the nearby trees, however. Claw marks, I would guess, but nothing clear enough to identify the source. Something had been in the tree, but whether it leapt to another tree or flew away we couldn't tell.
I took a few tissue samples for analysis, but Sharper was getting antsy. He didn't like the situation, and was urging us to hurry along. We left the body, and after finding what we could, we got out of there. No telling if the predator would be back, and we didn't want the jokes about us being "bait" to come true.
Sharper headed off to find the DRC, they were expecting a report. Nick and I each Reltoed out, we needed time to pull ourselves together. Later I went back to let people know what happened. Sil_oh_wet was holding a "hope you get back safe" party/vigil in her Bevin, so I dropped in to share the story.
Talking with Doug further, sounds like his chat with Lexie went ok, better than he expected. She'll leave access to Negilahn open, since to date there has been no predator activity in the immediate vicinity of the Pod (which is weird, and worth thinking about). I don't know what the rest of the Council wants to do though. Doug has a few things he wanted to follow up on, and was talking about setting out some remote cameras and things. If this keeps up, we might even have to take a longer trip in the near future.
Just to follow up, the DNA samples were inconclusive. I didn't think they'd be much help, and it turns out I was right. I couldn't get any consistent results, which basically tells me that the reepah DNA isn't anything like ours. Their coding structure must be different, and without a basis of comparison, further testing seems futile.
Douglas Sharper, Nick White, and I were out in the jungles, hiking around, maybe a mile and half or so from the Pod. Something caught Sharper's eye, and he got all excited and called us over. It was a dead animal carcass, looked pretty fresh. "The freshest we've seen yet" Nick says. My guess was it was less than an hour old.
I've seen dead animals before, but this was unbelievable. Worse than I had expected. It was a gorilla-like animal, bigger than me, and weighing several hundred pounds while alive. What the D'ni named a "reepah". It had been violently killed, almost purposefully violent. Shredded. Pieces were in the trees and scattered all over the ground. It wasn't just a prey animal taken down by a predator - something wanted to make a spectacle of it's kill.
Sharper got really rattled and said he'd never seen anything like it, not even close. Nick lost his lunch, poor guy, and I couldn't blame him. Doug had his gun out and was scanning the jungle, scanning the trees, on alert. I swallowed the bile in my mouth and stepped up to examine the carcass.
To be honest, I don't even know how to describe it, it was a mess. The chest cavity has been ripped open and the internal organs messily thrown around. We found most of them, eventually, at least as far as we could tell. Many were unidentifiable. The neck was broken, but not cleanly; the reepah had been thrashed around. Limbs were twisted, broken, and missing; we found one arm hanging from a tree, and strips of the legs and chest nearby. The reepah has a tail sort of like a scorpion, and that was in about three pieces, crushed and torn. The more we looked around, the more of the body we found. Nothing had been eaten, just mangled.
The forest was very quiet, without the usual bird and monkey calls that you hear at the Pod. All in all it was a very chilling sight. And to make it worse, there was no evidence of the attacker.
We tracked around for a bit, but all we found on the ground were the reepah tracks. Though reepahs are partly arboreal, this one had been on the ground when he was attacked. We followed his sign back a ways, but there was nothing unusual about it. At the attack site there were some scuff marks in the nearby trees, however. Claw marks, I would guess, but nothing clear enough to identify the source. Something had been in the tree, but whether it leapt to another tree or flew away we couldn't tell.
I took a few tissue samples for analysis, but Sharper was getting antsy. He didn't like the situation, and was urging us to hurry along. We left the body, and after finding what we could, we got out of there. No telling if the predator would be back, and we didn't want the jokes about us being "bait" to come true.
Sharper headed off to find the DRC, they were expecting a report. Nick and I each Reltoed out, we needed time to pull ourselves together. Later I went back to let people know what happened. Sil_oh_wet was holding a "hope you get back safe" party/vigil in her Bevin, so I dropped in to share the story.
Talking with Doug further, sounds like his chat with Lexie went ok, better than he expected. She'll leave access to Negilahn open, since to date there has been no predator activity in the immediate vicinity of the Pod (which is weird, and worth thinking about). I don't know what the rest of the Council wants to do though. Doug has a few things he wanted to follow up on, and was talking about setting out some remote cameras and things. If this keeps up, we might even have to take a longer trip in the near future.
Just to follow up, the DNA samples were inconclusive. I didn't think they'd be much help, and it turns out I was right. I couldn't get any consistent results, which basically tells me that the reepah DNA isn't anything like ours. Their coding structure must be different, and without a basis of comparison, further testing seems futile.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
The First Trip
My mind is buzzing, I can't concentrate...
Nick, Doug, and I went on our first recon trip last night. It was fairly uneventful, right up to the moment we found the carcass...
It was a huge gorilla thing, I think. From what we could tell at least, we managed to find most of the pieces...
I've not seen anything like it. The animal, Nick called it a "reepah", was just shredded, absolutely mangled. It was scattered over a small area, mostly on the ground, but found some bits in the trees and bushes. Seems like the majority of the parts were there, from what we could tell; it wasn't eaten.
Just destroyed.
I got some samples to run, I'll post some details when I can focus...
Nick, Doug, and I went on our first recon trip last night. It was fairly uneventful, right up to the moment we found the carcass...
It was a huge gorilla thing, I think. From what we could tell at least, we managed to find most of the pieces...
I've not seen anything like it. The animal, Nick called it a "reepah", was just shredded, absolutely mangled. It was scattered over a small area, mostly on the ground, but found some bits in the trees and bushes. Seems like the majority of the parts were there, from what we could tell; it wasn't eaten.
Just destroyed.
I got some samples to run, I'll post some details when I can focus...
Monday, March 19, 2007
Still Waiting
Doug and Nick apparently spent the weekend on the surface, going to a couple of OSU Ducks games in Spokane. Fun for them, but I spent the whole time wandering the Cavern looking for them. Woulda been nice if they'd mentioned their trip...
Oh well. If we don't get something going soon, I'm gonna hafta start sampling on my own. Every day we wait is another who knows how many animals dead.
Things to keep in mind:
- Check water samples of the pool around the Pod - possible leaching of contaminates? Along with that, check presence of known pollutants/poisons in carcass tissue (might need a lab on the surface to do that, and that presents certain problems of it's own).
- Examine condition of carcasses, autopsies if possible.
- Leave remote cameras (motion activated) and environmental monitoring sensors.
Unfortunately, so much of the further research depends on what we find. The problem is too big, too vague; it needs definition. I'll know better what to test once we make the initial foray.
Glad the DRC is picking up the check on this...
Oh well. If we don't get something going soon, I'm gonna hafta start sampling on my own. Every day we wait is another who knows how many animals dead.
Things to keep in mind:
- Check water samples of the pool around the Pod - possible leaching of contaminates? Along with that, check presence of known pollutants/poisons in carcass tissue (might need a lab on the surface to do that, and that presents certain problems of it's own).
- Examine condition of carcasses, autopsies if possible.
- Leave remote cameras (motion activated) and environmental monitoring sensors.
Unfortunately, so much of the further research depends on what we find. The problem is too big, too vague; it needs definition. I'll know better what to test once we make the initial foray.
Glad the DRC is picking up the check on this...
Friday, March 16, 2007
Sharper
I caught Nick the other day, as he was on his way to go shooting with Doug. He invited me to come along, which was unexpected!
We met in his Teledahn, and Sharper joined us a little later. I hadn't met him before, interesting guy. I couldn't quite figure out how to read him. He showed up in a boat of a sort I'd never seen before. Metal probably, good chance of D'ni design. He had no idea; just scrounged it up somewhere I imagine.
He took us across Shroomie Bay and around the point, to a cove where he had some stuff laying around. Old mushroom chunks, random junk parts, stuff like that. Doug also had a variety of guns for us to practice with, and we spent some time blowing mushrooms into bits. I've used rifles before, so at least I know what end gets pointed at the target, but I'm definetly a little rusty. Doug had a huge ole gun that was his favorite. Nick and I christened it "Big Betsy", which Doug didn't appreciate, so of course the name stuck.
Watching Doug and Nick is funny. Doug is a tough guy, and doesn't take crap from anyone. Except Nick. Sharper lets Nick bug him in ways he'd never let anybody else. He dishes it right back of course, it's nice to see they are good friends. I'm definetly feeling the third wheel here, but that's ok.
They won't tell me much about what's in Negilahn, trying to keep my first impressions unbiased I suppose. However, I'm not dumb, and what I'm reading between the lines is interesting.
The carcasses are killed and generally left to rot it seems. Surplus killing - no point to it. Nick described the results as "scary". Even Doug seems uncomfortable with it; he's pretty solid, but every once in awhile I'd catch something in his eye that didn't sit right.
We talked about maybe going for our first trip tonight, though I still haven't heard back on the particulars. I think I've managed to get the basic equipment that I'll need, and I'm feeling like I'm about as ready as I can get! Doug needs to sort out a few final details and we'll give it a go.
If I don't come back, my sister can have my music collection and Dave gets the fish. Sell the rest and give the money to the DZS!
We met in his Teledahn, and Sharper joined us a little later. I hadn't met him before, interesting guy. I couldn't quite figure out how to read him. He showed up in a boat of a sort I'd never seen before. Metal probably, good chance of D'ni design. He had no idea; just scrounged it up somewhere I imagine.
He took us across Shroomie Bay and around the point, to a cove where he had some stuff laying around. Old mushroom chunks, random junk parts, stuff like that. Doug also had a variety of guns for us to practice with, and we spent some time blowing mushrooms into bits. I've used rifles before, so at least I know what end gets pointed at the target, but I'm definetly a little rusty. Doug had a huge ole gun that was his favorite. Nick and I christened it "Big Betsy", which Doug didn't appreciate, so of course the name stuck.
Watching Doug and Nick is funny. Doug is a tough guy, and doesn't take crap from anyone. Except Nick. Sharper lets Nick bug him in ways he'd never let anybody else. He dishes it right back of course, it's nice to see they are good friends. I'm definetly feeling the third wheel here, but that's ok.
They won't tell me much about what's in Negilahn, trying to keep my first impressions unbiased I suppose. However, I'm not dumb, and what I'm reading between the lines is interesting.
The carcasses are killed and generally left to rot it seems. Surplus killing - no point to it. Nick described the results as "scary". Even Doug seems uncomfortable with it; he's pretty solid, but every once in awhile I'd catch something in his eye that didn't sit right.
We talked about maybe going for our first trip tonight, though I still haven't heard back on the particulars. I think I've managed to get the basic equipment that I'll need, and I'm feeling like I'm about as ready as I can get! Doug needs to sort out a few final details and we'll give it a go.
If I don't come back, my sister can have my music collection and Dave gets the fish. Sell the rest and give the money to the DZS!
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
A Few References
Things I'll want to remember later...
- The Lotka-Volterra Equations, which describe the mathematical relationships between predators and prey.
- Also this site which has some interesting theories about surplus killing. It seems there's three possible motivations: exploitation of bountiful prey, pathological killing, and hyperstimulation. "Pathological Killing" is a combination of no ethical code in animals with not knowing how to react if prey doesn't run away. Hyperstimulation seem sto be the most popular choice; most surplus killing occurs when large amounts of prey are confined to a small space, and the predator's instincy to kill is continually being triggered.
I can't wait for our trip, to see what evidence is produced.
- The Lotka-Volterra Equations, which describe the mathematical relationships between predators and prey.
- Also this site which has some interesting theories about surplus killing. It seems there's three possible motivations: exploitation of bountiful prey, pathological killing, and hyperstimulation. "Pathological Killing" is a combination of no ethical code in animals with not knowing how to react if prey doesn't run away. Hyperstimulation seem sto be the most popular choice; most surplus killing occurs when large amounts of prey are confined to a small space, and the predator's instincy to kill is continually being triggered.
I can't wait for our trip, to see what evidence is produced.
Missed Connections
I spent some time hanging arond, waiting for Sharper to show up last night. Apparently shortly after I left, he came looking for me. Figures.
Let me just say I love the little two-tailed monkeys! Cute little buggers. I'm curious if the spots on their crests can be used to identify individuals, I'll hafta keep my camera and notebook handy.
Wonder if I can tame one...
Let me just say I love the little two-tailed monkeys! Cute little buggers. I'm curious if the spots on their crests can be used to identify individuals, I'll hafta keep my camera and notebook handy.
Wonder if I can tame one...
Monday, March 12, 2007
An Interesting Day
What a day, it seems bigger things are happening than I thought. I'm going to have to keep my ears and eyes open here.
Nick was hanging around the Cavern most of the day. He's told everyone that himself, Sharper, and me are going hunting outside the Pod. Everyone is in a tizzy; most are excited, there's a few complainers of course, but that's normal. I'm excited; this will be "first contact" for an Explorer with a feral Age, and I can't sleep for the anticipation.
Nervous, though. Nick suggested I get some shooting practice in.
The DZS folks are being good about it, I'm really happy that that has taken off. We have our own website now, forums, wiki, the works. I missed the first public meeting last Saturday, due to some unexpected problems, but we've scheduled another for this Sunday which I should be able to do.
If we had 30 people at the first one, this meeting will pack the house...
A small group of us (Heaven, Jazz, sil_oh_wet) hung out with Nick for awhile yesterday in his Eders. We didn't bug him much about stuff, mostly cuz he invited us there to get away from the crowd that follows him every time he's in the hoods. He did make a few vague remarks though that piqued my interest. Nothing definite, but it seems plans are in the making which will change things around here...
I've made one equipment run, basic stuff. Time to find some of the more particular items on the list.
Nick was hanging around the Cavern most of the day. He's told everyone that himself, Sharper, and me are going hunting outside the Pod. Everyone is in a tizzy; most are excited, there's a few complainers of course, but that's normal. I'm excited; this will be "first contact" for an Explorer with a feral Age, and I can't sleep for the anticipation.
Nervous, though. Nick suggested I get some shooting practice in.
The DZS folks are being good about it, I'm really happy that that has taken off. We have our own website now, forums, wiki, the works. I missed the first public meeting last Saturday, due to some unexpected problems, but we've scheduled another for this Sunday which I should be able to do.
If we had 30 people at the first one, this meeting will pack the house...
A small group of us (Heaven, Jazz, sil_oh_wet) hung out with Nick for awhile yesterday in his Eders. We didn't bug him much about stuff, mostly cuz he invited us there to get away from the crowd that follows him every time he's in the hoods. He did make a few vague remarks though that piqued my interest. Nothing definite, but it seems plans are in the making which will change things around here...
I've made one equipment run, basic stuff. Time to find some of the more particular items on the list.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
The Unexpected Offer
So, Nick eventually found me, with the infamous opening line "We need to talk."
Things get tricky from here. One of the interesting aspects of dealing with a private organization is that they ask you to keep certain things to yourself. Can't blame them, either. But it does present challenges.
We met in the Council's neighborhood, and basically he offered me a job. Doug Sharper has indeed been tasked with investigating a disturbing situation in the Museum Age of Negilahn. It was written to provide the D'ni people a place to observe wildlife from the shelter of a self-contained viewing Pod. Negilahn is a jungle world, supposedly rich in all manner of animal and plant life.
Only there's no animals.
Explorations outside of the Pod have provided certain clues, which the DRC are unable to interpret. Doug is a master hunter; during the first Restoration he admitted to hunting and killing a large marine predator on Teledahn he calls "Shroomie". Because he was generally reprimanded for that, it's with glaring irony that he's being hired again specifically track down and kill something else.
Once rich with wildlife, Negilahn has apparently become quite barren. Only two different sorts of animals have even been seen from the Pod since it was made public - a cute sort of two-tailed monkey, and an enormous flightless bird the D'ni called an "Urwin". Studies by the DRC have shown that animal populations are dropping. Apparently it was pretty dramatic at the beginning, but they are finding less carcasses as more animals are being killed.
It seems the problem is predation. Something is killing the animals, or scaring them away. Nick wouldn't tell me specifics, only that the carcasses are savagely attacked but generally not eaten. Whatever it is doesn't seem to be hungry; it just likes to kill.
And Nick offered to let me help him and Doug track it down.
Nominally, this would include the help of the DZS, but officially I'm the guy. "Famed assistant to Doug and Nick" or some such. I'm not particularly interested in popularity, it's annoying. As soon as word gets around the Cavern that yer someone special, they never stop pestering you. No, for me it's the chance to learn, to explore, to be the first to do and see things and make a difference.
So I said yes.
I'm not sure what this position will entail, Nick said something about having to "make it official". Hopefully I can catch up with him again in the next couple of days and he'll have more details.
For now I guess I'll just collect my books, buy some camo pants, and start converting my little hut on Relto into a research lab. I'll need a couple of microscopes, dissection supplies, field sampling kits, binocs, tracking gear... Better start a shopping list. Maybe I can "borrow" some of this stuff...
Things get tricky from here. One of the interesting aspects of dealing with a private organization is that they ask you to keep certain things to yourself. Can't blame them, either. But it does present challenges.
We met in the Council's neighborhood, and basically he offered me a job. Doug Sharper has indeed been tasked with investigating a disturbing situation in the Museum Age of Negilahn. It was written to provide the D'ni people a place to observe wildlife from the shelter of a self-contained viewing Pod. Negilahn is a jungle world, supposedly rich in all manner of animal and plant life.
Only there's no animals.
Explorations outside of the Pod have provided certain clues, which the DRC are unable to interpret. Doug is a master hunter; during the first Restoration he admitted to hunting and killing a large marine predator on Teledahn he calls "Shroomie". Because he was generally reprimanded for that, it's with glaring irony that he's being hired again specifically track down and kill something else.
Once rich with wildlife, Negilahn has apparently become quite barren. Only two different sorts of animals have even been seen from the Pod since it was made public - a cute sort of two-tailed monkey, and an enormous flightless bird the D'ni called an "Urwin". Studies by the DRC have shown that animal populations are dropping. Apparently it was pretty dramatic at the beginning, but they are finding less carcasses as more animals are being killed.
It seems the problem is predation. Something is killing the animals, or scaring them away. Nick wouldn't tell me specifics, only that the carcasses are savagely attacked but generally not eaten. Whatever it is doesn't seem to be hungry; it just likes to kill.
And Nick offered to let me help him and Doug track it down.
Nominally, this would include the help of the DZS, but officially I'm the guy. "Famed assistant to Doug and Nick" or some such. I'm not particularly interested in popularity, it's annoying. As soon as word gets around the Cavern that yer someone special, they never stop pestering you. No, for me it's the chance to learn, to explore, to be the first to do and see things and make a difference.
So I said yes.
I'm not sure what this position will entail, Nick said something about having to "make it official". Hopefully I can catch up with him again in the next couple of days and he'll have more details.
For now I guess I'll just collect my books, buy some camo pants, and start converting my little hut on Relto into a research lab. I'll need a couple of microscopes, dissection supplies, field sampling kits, binocs, tracking gear... Better start a shopping list. Maybe I can "borrow" some of this stuff...
An New Beginning
Let me start by saying this - when I first went to the DRC asking them to make the D'ni Zoological Society official, I never expected it to really work...
Due to recent events, I'm starting this log as a record of my adventures with Doug Sharper and Nick White of the DRC. It seems there are events in motion which will have unexpected and unforseen consequences, and I have been given the choice to be a player in this game.
Naturally, I said yes.
Some background, perhaps, to set the stage. I have been visiting the Great Cavern of D'ni since about New Years, 2003. I was there for the first Restoration effort, and watched as the D'ni Restoration Council (DRC) tried to rebuild what is perhaps the greatest civilization on Earth. Tried... and failed. I was there when they closed access to the Cavern, and with sorrow laid my linking book aside. When Laxman notified us that they were providing a way for the Explorers to return to the Cavern, though the Restoration would not continue, I happily made my way back and spent the next several years exploring the Ages of D'ni. I was there when the first test signals came across the ki network. I was there when the DRC proudly announced it's return, and the resurrection of the Restoration with new funding.
And now, I have been given the opportunity to play a small part in this grand endeavor.
The DZS was the brainchild of some conversations between Sh'aeri and myelf, with some help from Kierra Windsong. As with any good scientific Society, we exist to research and further the knowledge base of a topic; in this case, the flora and fauna of the D'ni Ages. The D'ni, of course, were able to establish connections to an infinite variety of worlds through the Art of Writing; by using specific techniques to describe a place in a Book, they were able to Link there physically.
For an ecologist like myself, the possibilities are endless.
Naturally, some like-minded folks got together and we decided to establish a group dedicated to this research. Though labelled "zoological", botany is certainly something we will be looking at as well; after all, it's impossible to really separate the two.
We wanted support from the DRC, since their resources far outweigh our own. They have access to ancient D'ni records which would be a tremendous help in sorting all this out. But they are also traditionally very... tight-fisted... with their knowledge.
But now Doug Sharper has returned to the Cavern to investigate the animal problems on Negilahn, and through Nick White, a DRC translator and buddy of Sharpers, heard about the DZS. It seems he's interested in our help, as he's had Nick trying to track me down all day. Given what I know of Doug, this is going to be anything but boring...
Due to recent events, I'm starting this log as a record of my adventures with Doug Sharper and Nick White of the DRC. It seems there are events in motion which will have unexpected and unforseen consequences, and I have been given the choice to be a player in this game.
Naturally, I said yes.
Some background, perhaps, to set the stage. I have been visiting the Great Cavern of D'ni since about New Years, 2003. I was there for the first Restoration effort, and watched as the D'ni Restoration Council (DRC) tried to rebuild what is perhaps the greatest civilization on Earth. Tried... and failed. I was there when they closed access to the Cavern, and with sorrow laid my linking book aside. When Laxman notified us that they were providing a way for the Explorers to return to the Cavern, though the Restoration would not continue, I happily made my way back and spent the next several years exploring the Ages of D'ni. I was there when the first test signals came across the ki network. I was there when the DRC proudly announced it's return, and the resurrection of the Restoration with new funding.
And now, I have been given the opportunity to play a small part in this grand endeavor.
The DZS was the brainchild of some conversations between Sh'aeri and myelf, with some help from Kierra Windsong. As with any good scientific Society, we exist to research and further the knowledge base of a topic; in this case, the flora and fauna of the D'ni Ages. The D'ni, of course, were able to establish connections to an infinite variety of worlds through the Art of Writing; by using specific techniques to describe a place in a Book, they were able to Link there physically.
For an ecologist like myself, the possibilities are endless.
Naturally, some like-minded folks got together and we decided to establish a group dedicated to this research. Though labelled "zoological", botany is certainly something we will be looking at as well; after all, it's impossible to really separate the two.
We wanted support from the DRC, since their resources far outweigh our own. They have access to ancient D'ni records which would be a tremendous help in sorting all this out. But they are also traditionally very... tight-fisted... with their knowledge.
But now Doug Sharper has returned to the Cavern to investigate the animal problems on Negilahn, and through Nick White, a DRC translator and buddy of Sharpers, heard about the DZS. It seems he's interested in our help, as he's had Nick trying to track me down all day. Given what I know of Doug, this is going to be anything but boring...
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