D'ni Ages

In the Myst franchise, the term Age (D'ni sehv) is the D'ni word for a Universe, or a "Reality".

Definition of an "Age"
According to the D'ni cosmology, the Creator Yahvo created the Terokh Jeruth, the Great Tree of Possibilities, which has an infinite number of leaves, each leaf being one Age. In this conception every Universe therefore is just one Leaf, belonging to its own Branch, which in turn belongs to another and another, ultimately all belonging to the Great Tree. The theory can be described as a multiverse. Some Ages might resemble others (see parallel universe) but are actually different.

The forefathers of the D'ni, the Ronay of Garternay, developed what they called "the Art".

Throughout the games it is seen that most Ages are written as or with central themes. These themes vary from the inundated Stoneship Age to the jungle-like Edanna, to even Riven (where its flawed nature creates a volcanic power source used throughout the game). These central themes are said by Atrus to give the ages (with the exception of Riven) balance, though in creating Releeshahn he writes that it was his intention to create a balance of all plausible themes that facilitate the growth of civilization.

Planet or dimension?
Within the context of the game, it is unclear whether an age represents another planet, or another "dimension" or universe. In The Book of Atrus, Gehn makes changes to an age to alter an imperfection; meanwhile, Atrus, inside the age, observes the changes taking place. It may be said that Gehn merely caused the linking book to link to another, similar age, with another, similar Atrus, but the fact that Atrus observed the change taking place implies a continuity implying that it is the same Atrus. Another explanation is that a safety feature of The Art is that any non-natives to the age will be transported to the new age if they are in the age while the descriptive book is being modified. this would explain Atrus seeing the change, as he was being transported to the new age.

The Art
The Art is the fictional study and mastery of writing special Books that describe and link to Ages, or different worlds, in the Myst franchise. The origins of "the Art", are lost in the times of Garternay, and it was believed by the D'ni to have been delivered to the Ronay by Yahvo the Creator.

The description for an Age is put into a unique Descriptive Book, written in a special form of the D'ni language and using special Books and Ink. Only one Descriptive Book can Link to an Age, but there can be multiple Linking Books pointing to the same Age. These Books need not all necessarily point to the same location in the Age. For example, the Linking Book found by the Stranger at the beginning of Myst points to the island's pier, whereas those found in the various related Ages, such as Channelwood, point to Myst Island's library.

Linking Books have a viewing panel called a Linking panel that shows a picture of the target location. The panel is interactive: by merely touching it, the person Links to the Age.

While members of the Guild of Writers were specifically taught to write descriptive books, members of other guilds were also allowed to do so. One of the Guild of Maintainers's jobs was to ensure the Ages' stability. While some D'ni including Gehn believed that the Writers created the Age, and therefore Writers held God-like powers over the Ages they linked to, most of the D'ni, including Gehn's son Atrus, did not believe so, and realized that by Writing a Link they only Linked to a pre-existing Age.

Misunderstanding
Although the Ages were christened according to the characteristics of the islands visited, properly the term 'Age' doesn't refer to the island or limited space the player (or any visitor) has access to, but to the whole universe to which that place belongs.

On the other hand many use the word 'Age' to refer strictly to the place or island that appear in the games or the books. Saying for example that 'all the people of Stoneship Age are dead', doesn't of course mean that all of the universe (or even the planet) became devoid of life, but to the particular place where the action occurred.

Almost all of the Ages featured in the games look like islands, simply because islands (or any limited place) are much easier to design and render. Similarly, it is believed that for the D'ni as well, it would be easier to write and describe islands, without needing to bother what might be on the other side of that planet. Earth, Terahnee, and Releeshahn stand as exceptions.

List
Following is a list of Ages mentioned in the Myst franchise. This page uses a loose definition of "Age" in that it also mentions parts of Ages, such as K'veer or Tomahna, which belong to the D'ni Age (in other terms, the planet Earth). Using the proper definition would make the structuring even more complex, unfortunately.

All locations physically located on Earth are in Age of D'ni.

This listing is sorted by where the ages were introduced, shown or described, i.e. the game, novel or other places (for example, the D'ni Restoration Council (DRC) web site). Multiple listings of the same age are thus possible. The listing tries to be hierarchical: if one Age is to be accessed via another, or is only mentioned in the context of another, it is mentioned therein.

Myst (realMyst)
See Ages of Myst for descriptions.


 * Myst Island
 * Selenitic
 * Stoneship
 * Mechanical
 * Channelwood
 * K'veer (Part of D'ni/Earth)
 * Spire (the red prison book)
 * Haven (the blue prison book)
 * Rime (only in realMyst)
 * Aspermere (only mentioned in journal)
 * Everdunes (only mentioned in journal)
 * Osmoian (only mentioned in journal)
 * Terrel (only mentioned in the soundtrack journal)

Riven
See Ages of Riven for descriptions.


 * K'veer (Part of D'ni/Earth)
 * Riven (Age 5)
 * Age 233
 * Age 234 (only mentioned in journal)
 * Tay (Moiety Age)

Myst III: Exile
See Ages of Myst III: Exile for descriptions.


 * Tomahna (Part of D'ni/Earth)
 * J'nanin
 * Edanna
 * Amateria
 * Voltaic
 * Narayan
 * Releeshahn (only seen as Linking Book)
 * Riven (Age 5) (seen as a ruined age)

Myst IV: Revelation

 * Tomahna (Part of D'ni/Earth)
 * Haven
 * Spire
 * Serenia

Uru: Ages Beyond Myst
See Ages of Uru for descriptions.

Uru Prime
 * the Cleft (Also known as D'ni-Riltagamin, meaning 'unknown', part of D'ni/Earth)
 * Relto
 * Teledahn
 * Gahreesen
 * Kadish Tolesa
 * Kadish Gallery (Part of D'ni/Earth)
 * Eder Gira
 * Eder Kemo
 * Tokotah Rooftop (D'ni) (Part of D'ni/Earth)
 * Yasefe (mentioned in a journal describing King Me'emen)
 * Bahro Caves (Part of D'ni/Earth)

Uru Live, Uru: To D'ni, Untìl Uru
 * Bevin neighborhood (Part of D'ni/Earth)
 * Eder Delin (Uru Live only)
 * Spy Room (Part of D'ni/Earth)
 * Phil's Relto
 * Kirel neighborhood (Part of D'ni/Earth)
 * the Nexus
 * Ae'gura (Part of D'ni/Earth)
 * Trases (Mentioned only)
 * Yimas (Mentioned only)
 * Great Zero or "Rezeero" (Part of D'ni/Earth)
 * Great Shaft (Part of D'ni/Earth)

Myst Uru: The Path of the Shell
 * The Watcher's Sanctuary (Part of D'ni/Earth)
 * Ahnonay
 * Er'cana
 * Myst Island
 * K'veer (Part of D'ni/Earth)

Myst V: End of Ages
See Ages of Myst V: End of Ages for descriptions.


 * D'ni (K'veer)
 * Direbo
 * Taghira
 * Todelmer
 * Noloben
 * Laki'ahn
 * Myst
 * Releeshahn (Only seen in victorious ending)

The Book of Atrus

 * The Cleft (Part of D'ni/Earth)
 * Gehn's Age 37
 * This is the first populated Age Atrus was taken to by his father. Here he began to realize that Gehn saw himself as a God, and had no compassion for the natives of "his" Ages.
 * Inception
 * Atrus' first Age. It was a recreation of The Cleft, but was later destroyed by Gehn's "improvements".
 * Torus
 * Catherine's first Age. The Age is a gravity torus, with a waterfall falling into space "below", but the water then being used to form clouds "above" from which rain fell. This "impossible Age" clearly showed how Catherine's writing defied laws the D'ni had seen as unbreakable.
 * K'veer (Part of D'ni/Earth)
 * Riven
 * Myst Island

The Book of Ti'ana

 * Age of Earth
 * the Lodge
 * Ader Jamat
 * This was an Age written by Veovis. It took 16 years to write, and was accepted in the Canon of the Guild of Writers at Veovis' Korfah V'ja.
 * Ederat
 * Ederat was written by Veovis for A'Gaeris. It was apparently populated, and would have allowed A'Gaeris and Veovis to live as Gods (a violation of one of the most basic Laws of the Art). Aitrus rewrote the Linking Book to Link to an inferno, and he died there together with A'Gaeris.
 * Er'duna
 * Used to feed the crews excavating the Great Shaft, this age was one of two Granary Ages.
 * Er'jera
 * Used to feed the crews excavating the Great Shaft, this age was the second of two Granary Ages.
 * Gadar
 * Gadar is the Guild of Legislator's Age. Legal records going back six millennia were kept here.
 * Gemedet
 * Named after a popular D'ni game, Gemedet was written by Aitrus and Ti'ana together.
 * Ko'ah
 * Ko'ah was the personal retreat Age of Aitrus' family, written for them when his father, Kahlis, was promoted to Grand Master of Surveyors. The Age is described as rolling pasture punctuated by small groves of trees, and bordered by a line of mountains.
 * Nidur Gemat
 * This was one of six Veovis' family's Ages, and was kept on K'veer.
 * Te'Negamiris
 * The burial Age of the D'ni, deceased D'ni were Linked here to be buried.
 * Yakul
 * One of the oldest Ages, this was the oldest Age of the Guild of Writers, written by their first great Writer, Ar'tenen. The Korfah V'ja ceremony was traditionally held here. The world itself is described as being fairly vast in scale, with mountain ranges, valleys, and plains. A D'ni Settlement called Derisa was located in this Age as well.

The Book of D'ni

 * Aridanu
 * A beautiful jungle Age, Aridanu is where (among others) Guildmaster Tergahn and Guildsman Gadren had survived the downfall.
 * Averone
 * Written by Atrus, Averone is a fertile island populated by the Averonese. Atrus here recruited helpers to restore D'ni.
 * Aurack
 * A wild jungle Age, this is where Meer, one of the Averonese explorers, was killed by an animal. The Age had apparently been the private hunting grounds of some D'ni.
 * Bilaris
 * Bilaris is the family Age of the father of Oma and Esel. During the downfall their family and many neighbours, as well as passers-by, fled into the Age, where they were later found by Atrus.
 * Chroma'Agana
 * Sedona
 * Another Age that was found by Atrus and the Averonese, but had been destroyed and linked to a supernova.
 * Terahnee (Devokan)

Cyan's D'ni web site
All of these Ages are written by Atrus. Descriptions for some of them are not given here, since they are already mentioned above (see Myst).


 * Ancam
 * An Age where the plants react very strongly to the light of the sun and the changes in tempereature. The trees follow the movement of the sun and lay flat during the night.
 * Everdunes
 * Gravitation
 * An Age that Atrus made to experiment with orbits and angles of celestial bodies. It contained six suns, many moons and meteor showers, all interacting with others. Atrus knew such a complex Age would grow unstable.
 * Herelding
 * Of this Age we know only it was the native world of the Starflies insects, a swarm of which was attracted to Atrus' lamp one night, and carried out all manner of intricate aerial formations around it.
 * Mechnical
 * NOT to be confused with Mechanical. All known about this Age is that Atrus constructed some devices there. While building, he conceived the idea of writing Arimarl.
 * Arimarl
 * This Age was an oasis in the middle of a desert, written by Atrus to rest himself in nature, after the machines of the Mechanical Age.
 * Oasis
 * An oasis-like Age of varying trees and plants. Atrus mentions eucalypti to be found there.
 * Osmoian
 * Serenol
 * An Age of with forests and fields. Native to plants that rise up from the ground moments before the sun rises and burst into full bloom at the touch of its light.
 * Shimar
 * A probably volcanic Age with much sulphur.
 * Whiterock
 * Native Age of the Shirnao, and a Creature called Ting, which begins its life in the water, then moves to the rocks on the shore and transforms into hundreds of small, quick-moving creatures called Solastings, which the Shirnao catch for food.

D'ni Restoration Council (DRC)
See http://www.drcsite.org/ages/ages.shtml for info.


 * Dahtamnay
 * Dereno
 * Dereno is included in Uru Live.
 * Eder Gira
 * Eder Kemo
 * Gahreesen
 * Garternay
 * Hereas
 * Kadish Tolesa
 * Kahlo
 * Kalamee
 * Laki
 * Meanas
 * Negilahn
 * Negilahn was a zoo age of the D'ni. This age is included in Uru Live.
 * Noloben
 * A large ocean is here, with a house on a beach. One D'ni survivor, Esher, was found here.
 * Payiferen
 * Pento
 * Pirahnay
 * Rebek
 * gladiatorial games were held here at one point, with Bahro and ahrotantee (Book-Worlders).
 * Shimas
 * Teledahn
 * Tetsonot
 * Todelmer
 * A museum Age of the D'ni for astronomy.
 * Venalem

Primordial Ages

 * Garternay
 * Although an Age that pre-existed like all others, it was never Written, since this is the original home of the Ronay, the D'ni ancestors. Note however that nothing is sure: it is possible the Ronay migrated to Garternay from another unknown Age, like D'ni did with Earth.
 * Judgement Age
 * The Age where the spirits go after death to be judged by Yahvo. This Age can't be written.
 * Perfect Age
 * The Age of Yahvo where the 'clean' spirits go, created by him to be perfect in everything, and no D'ni writer can imagine it.
 * Jakooth's Age
 * The Age of Jakooth (the equivalent of the devil), where the 'unclean' spirits go. A counterpart to the Perfect Age.

Related sites

 * Cyan's information on the D'ni (old)
 * Atrus's journal
 * D'ni Desk Reference- among others, hosts a very comprehensive list of Ages