Eat_My_Shortz' Journal
Uru: The Path of the Shell

When we were given our very own journal to write in in The Path of the Shell expansion, I made sure I used it to its fullest extent. Here is the journal I kept whilst exploring the worlds of Ahnonay and Er'cana, along the Path of the Shell.

As I went I tried to stay in character, but you will find references to websites and game mechanics as well. Also its proof that I didn't cheat all that much!

SPOILER WARNING
This journal contains a complete description of Uru: Complete Chronicles. Do not read unless you have finished Uru.

Matt's Journal
This is The Path of the Shell. How cool is this? Your own journal! Now I'm like Atrus.

14-7-2004
Got Path of the Shell. Very exciting.. Found player journal.
Also saw new island on Relto.

Read Watcher's journal. Very interesting.
625 is the number of the Watcher.
Yeesha has taken on Atrus' burden (as we know).

Watcher's Sanctuary
Sign on wall with shell sign - 1:89
Near Great Tree - 1:38
Big rolling ball - 1:4

Er'cana
Not much to do. No switches work.

Kadish Place (With linking book)
Looks like they fixed the book from screenshot (where it showed Eder Gira!) - 2:18

Ahnonay
Got to floating island. Gee quite hard swimming! Other explorers tell that the crabs (which they call "Quabs") are getting in the way. But they're so cute!
Floating island - 3:72

Er'cana - A breakthrough! Throw the middle switch and flip the right lever to start the tram!
Also once there, solved another puzzle by linking using Shell journeys (did I mention those?) Lucky Yeesha put those there! Speaking of which, where is Yeesh?
In steam tunnel - 4:96

Then I got to see the big machine. Reminds me of Riven.
Found new Relto page with stars down right ladder near the Er'cana dome. Have a look soon!

Hey I wonder if Sharper's been back. Better take a look there too!
Near grates (machine) - 4:52
Wierd machine allows you to play with 4 identical devices. On each, you can turn off: Spinny thing, red dot and blue water. One blue thing was stuck. Outside there are 4 ladders. One has water filled. Suspect connection.

Came to dead end at wall collapse - 4:10

Found way up to top level. Mountains are beautiful. Took a KI shot.
Speaking of KI, wonder what these other shots I took are for? The maps with squares in them, like on the stair in the Watcher's Sanctuary?

Bahro Cave
Wow! Found a new Bahro cave. - 5:18

Relto
Oh look. I got 5 new fire marbles in my Relto. With customisable colours too! And I could SWEAR my tree has moved!
Er'cana
Found a new link to D'ni - 3:110.
I just had a thought - I think these numbers everywhere are references to the Watcher's prophecies. Have to collate them next time I'm bored.
Anyway this island is 1500 spans from the GZ so its another island. Possibly J'taeri.

OK Computer machine update - the spinny things control the mechanism. The red thing is the cover. If the spinning mechanism is on, you need the cover. Blue seems to control water, but I can't get water back in now. So I'll just power up the one with water and see what happens.

Theres also the next set of controls with 4 beige circles. What?
I think they're for the next room. But I tried to link there using the Shell Journey. BIG mistake. The machine was down so I got stuck. Now I have to start the whole Age again!

Umm by the way I just used 3 linking books and none of them showed up on my Relto shelf in any books!

Ahnonay
WOW! I just committed genocide - I tossed all the crabs (quabs) into the water after hearing some other explorers discuss this (oops!)

After returning to Ahnonay, the whole place has changed. Its gone forward in time I think. Now its dark and evil. And there are heaps or crystal trees everywhere which break when I touch them.

Gee I wonder what I have to do now...

Yep. After destroying the crystals, now I'm in space. It looks like a cross between Arcane Sanctuary in Diablo II and Halo. Nothing to kill here tho.
Well space didn't have anything. As soon as I linked back I came back to the original one.

It seems that the Age only changes if you use the Kadish book from within Ahnonay (not even the Relto one).
Word on the street is it only changes if you are the last living thing on the surface.

This is a mechanism by Kadish to stop people from seeing his "Magic trick".
But now what can I do? I guess I can just keep linking to all the ages now.

I've noticed that Journeys in Ahnonay still work even in different times. AND even though the actual cloth disappears. I'm thinking theres another journey somewhere in time #2 which links to an otherwise inaccessible area of time #3.

Its surprising that Atrus writes so little each day. Look how much I've written today!

BINGO! I found a Journey on the island in time #2. God I could write this myself! How much do you bet this will solve time #3?

WOW even better than expected (or different!) I touched the time #2 cloth (on the island), then used it to go back to time #1. I find myself inside the island structure....
I KNEW there was a secret door there! It opens from the inside.

OK now this is frustrating. There are 3 things inside. 1 switch opens the door. Another closes the door and then very slowly times out, making a loud rumbling sound. Then theres a wheel which can be turned to 2 positions. Apart from the door, they don't seem to do anything.

Heres the wierd part: when the door is open and you pull the rumbling handle, it closes and you can't open it for ages (the light goes red). But when the door is already closed, you can open it during the rumbling sound. Must be a puzzle.
Aside from that there are just ladders on all sides. I don't get it.

Ahh just realised something. The journey I touched in time #2 was OUTSIDE the tower. Then in time #3 theres a journey really close by which is INSIDE the tower on the other 2 ages. So now I'm inside the tower on time #2, but theres no door!
Inside tower #2 - 3:66

Er'cana
Aah! Now I can't get the elevator up! It keeps banging on the platform above it.
Getting pretty sick of all this ladder climbing!

OK figured it out. You turn off the brown dots to retract the platforms and allow the elevator up. You turn them on to extend the platforms and allow those devices to work (whatever they do). Ahh! And you can kick over that boulder so that you don't have to spend 5 minutes switching states to get around!

Gahreesen
Yes I'm back here. Why? I heard you can now pick up a maintainers suit and its true! I look Cool!

Ahnonay
Wow again! I found out that the wheel actually turns off the current in the water.
Now if you thought Teledahn was like "The Truman Show", wait till you see Ahnonay. You can now swim out to the other islands, but they are CARDBOARD! Or some sort of mesh. They're fake. It looks like Kadish played everyone for fools!

Wow this gets better. Behind one of the "sets" is a tunnel!
OK theres a Journey here so you can get here from the other times as well. It seems each time writes its number on the wall. Also, as before, each time has different Journey locations so better be methodical.

Also I see a Relto page behind a locked door in time #2.

OK here are the results:
#1 has a journey on the left side, and both doors open.
#2 has a journey in the middle section, and the right door closed.
#3 has a journey on the right side, and the left door closed.
Hence you need to touch the journey in #1, go to #2 and touch the journey, go to #3 and touch that journey, then go back to #2. At least then you'll get the Relto page.

Phew I finally did it. But all I got was one lousy Relto page? (It may not be lousy I haven't checked yet!)
Hmmm pretty nice a D'ni clock!
But what am I supposed to do with the Ahnonay puzzle?

Well I'm off to bed. You stay in Relto and we'll keep playing tomorrow ;)

15-7-04
Back in Ahonay. Nothing here but Relto page. And wierd switch at the back which doesn't do anything, for any time era.

Behind pipe in time #3 backroom - 2:19

OK something really wierd just happened. I was in time #1. Went to the tower and pulled the grind lever. I figured if the door closes there maybe its for a reason. Maybe you should leave it closed So I Reltoed out and when I came back - it was Space (Time #3). Usually time doesnt change using Relto. Anyway I didnt expect that so I'm stuck 'cause I lined up the wrong journey.
At last! The switch in the back room is finally working! But I'm quite confused. After intense experimentation - it worked after I swam to the island rather than linking here - it only seems to work AFTER touching the Journey cloth here. How can Journeys affect the mechanism like that?

Oh cool! After doing that and linking out and back I'm now in a very different place - a fourth time! There are sparks flying from the roof and its eerie. Another number - 2:30.

Nothing much here. No Journeys. Note: Some of the bridges seem slighly dislodged.
Ahh OK! The switch worked again and the door opened!

But I want to explore the rest of this age.
Yes its pretty cool. All the land is now metal - it seems to have been reconstructed. The central "time tower" has changed to a massive statue of Kadish I assume. Anyway - through the door in Time 4 I found a ladder leading to a chair - this is the ride! But there's another journey! Which means I can come here for all the times! Lets take this ride.

Wow that was fun! Not Riven though. Now I think I'm getting close - a control panel with Kadish symbols (yay).
Also a new jacket - 5:57

Now I need to enter these Kadish symbols in order. I've written them down from the order in the linking room (I assume they run in order along the walls, since every wall space has only 1, either on the left or right).

Went to chair ride in Ahonay - managed to get there through #1. Big bug - I sort of flew through the air to time #4 and had to Relto out. Hmm I don't think they meant you to do that!
Well I rode the ride and entered the code - it was correct. In this room theres a lot of stuff, including a map with the number "625" - the Watcher's number. Also very important in D'ni since its "100" in the base 25 system.

Found a link to the new Bahro Cave. This one's underneath the Er'cana one. It is blue and has a pool. New number - 5:32.
Also a new one of those funny wall codes.
Back in Ahnonay, theres a machine with D'ni numerals rotating very slowly! It must be important. Come back later.

Oh cool! I opened the big door and now we see what Ahnonay is all about! There are four huge spheres in the distance - yes I've heard others discuss this. They are the four times. All in the same world. It was all fake!

It seems the "time shifting" was merely rotating these spheres so that the link point pointed to a different sphere. Amazing!

Er'cana
Returned here. Still nothing. I know I need the codes to those machines.
Where? OK sort of had to "cheat" here - someone pointed me to the new Bahro cave. Yes on the walls are the 3 symbols from the Er'cana machines. One is upside down I think. But they don't show any settings!
They all have lines coming out of the symbols. One has less than the others. OK lets try counting:
Weights icon - 30
Four dots - 40
Halved semicircle - 20

Interesting. Whats up with multiples of 10? 10 doesn't have much meaning in this number system!

Well anyway it worked. Now they've gone yellow, and seem to be counting down. But still nothing else works! What do they want me to do?

Maybe something will happen when it times out. Lets go visit some other ages...

Heh wow! It worked. Just waited 5-10 minutes. Now the machines clicked off. And now the "pellet machine" is active!
Oops. The lever turned it off again. Hmm. OK guess I have to wait again. Oh well. Kadish really loves his reset buttons. But this time the blue button Started it! And the lever reset. Nobody ever suspects the lever!
OK I got the pellets open.
When you touch one ("I touch them... and they are real!") he holds out his hand. After a while he drops it into the water. I was confused so I already lost 2 of them. The third one I figured out what to do. You link to the D'ni age. Theres another pellet machine which drops it into the water. It did "something"!
I'll probably have to power it up again and do all 5 or something.

OK now I'm waiting in the bottom Bahro cave... why? I had to cheat again *Doh*!
But this is kinda crazy.

I dropped a pellet into the top Bahro cave. Yes this has to be the solution! I can see the dark blue areas lighting up! There are pictures on the wall. Of the Cleft. But I cant get down there fast enough.
So I am told to drop them in - all 5 and go down and wait. Apparently Yeesha has programmed in a time delay (!)

This means if I wait down here eventually, my younger self should popup there and drop down a pellet. Then I can see the wall. But how long do I have to wait?
Still waiting....

Well it finally worked! I got the map. Now there are 3 of them - One from Er'cana, one from Ahnonay and one from the Bahro cave. Oh and one from Rolep. Go back to Rolep (The Watcher's Sanctuary)...
I don't think I have enough information!

By the way I think the time device in Ahnonay was for Yeesha's Bahro time shift.

The Watcher's Sanctuary
Lets see what we've got.

Arrh I cant figure out this ball rolling thing. I think its time to look at these wierd numbers everywhere. Lets link them to the Watcher propecies.
For now I'll ignore where I found them and just look at their numbers. Here, I've put them in order.
(OK there are 125 lines in each book, INCLUDING blank lines. So count them.)

1:4 - The door lies at the end of the path.
1:38 - The passing of time brings the path to the gathered.
1:89 - Be still and the path will be made known.
2:18 - The action of the gathered means nothing.
2:19 - The action of the deceived is toiling in vain.
2:30 - Darkness comes at the end of time.
3:66 - The passing of time brings the past to the present.
3:72 - Take time to understand the path of the shell.
3:110 - The path of the stone is toil for the gathered.
4:10 - The number of the watcher is six hundred and twenty-five
4:52 - The way is made clear at the end of time.
4:96 - Rest in the light
5:18 - The gathered will find rest when the light comes
5:32 - Roll the stone to know the deceiver.
5:57 - The path is folly for those who toil.
OK some of that made sense. Some didn't!

And just for kicks check out 5:15 - The gathered will tell of the path of the shell.
"Of" is in there after all. Sharper left it out.

OK so the action of the deceived is toiling in vain. This means pushing the stone. The path of the stone is toil for the gathered. Hmm.

Well obviously he wants me to be "patient". I guess I've already been pretty bloody patient! ("Such arrogance!" Of course the Watcher waited for many years. But still!)

So I guess I "stand in the light" - well I'm off from Relto. Pity. I was enjoying the music on my new music player - the new "Kadish" theme. I wonder if it'll be heard later...

16-7-'04
Well now that was just silly! I stood on the bright light with the shell - for FOURTEEN minutes! I've been told that equates to 625 D'ni "ticks".
Anyway a ladder finally appeared.

Something tells me it isn't going to get easier...

I know this... the path to the tree. Oh my god! To hear such music! It is the music I spoke of the other page. As I had hoped - extended. Beautiful!

The sky is changing around the tree. Now it is space. Interesting.

This is real! I have just linked to... the Myst Island fireplace. No doubt I recognise the place - for it was once the end of a thousand journeys.
How has the island changed in 200 years? Lets find out...
Oh no! Everythings broken. The pictures are torn. The books are gone. The tower rotation map is... well its "out of order". Who would do this? Sirrus and Achenar? Yeesha?

Oh my god! The old fireplace code still works!!! How can they put that in this game?
Heh. Fireplace Relto page. A bonus only for Myst players.

But what else can be done? Where has the D'ni book gone?

Hmm... something interesting to note - the torn pictures in the Library - from the little bits you can see of the image, the pictures are actually torn IN THE IMAGE! How? Maybe it was some kind of link?

Now... do you think those "map codes" are actually fireplace codes? Well they are 8x6!

Oh yes! I was right! I entered all of them on top of each other! Absolutely genius. Theres a book!
And so... as I once again set my pen to the page... it is done. An ending has been written. As I sit on my lush green Relto, warmed by my new fireplace, listening to the extended Kadish clip on my music player, and watching the images of the journey on my imager, I understand that the prophecy was fulfilled - Yeesha is of course the grower.

I have returned to the source of the burden. That room where he sat for months; years - and wrote. "Your burden is lifted..."

And so the circle is closed. The ending is tied to the beginning. I have walked the Path of the Shell. But perhaps the ending has not yet been written...

Still there is more... "His body is no longer in his vault." In Kadish's vault there is a new book. It links to a replica - with a new Relto page, some torn fragments of a note and a helmet. Well his body is still in the original vault. But not in this new vault!

Oh I just realised - Yeesha left more Watcher propecy "coordinates":

3:118 - And few will be greater than the grower.
2:45-55:
When the tree dies there will come a new one.
A grower to learn of the death.
A grower to see new life.
A grower to bring the gathered.
A grower to restore the least.
A grower to move through time.
A grower to link at will.
A grower to follow the shell.
A grower to banish the darkness.
A grower to graft the branches.
A grower to join the paths.
I have conquered the stream. These streams, said to flow of their own will, now flow where I direct...

... these are the powers of gods, and I now have their power.

I've saved his life.

Father could move only pages with his words, but I can move books. I have...

30-7-2004
An update. I've found 2 new number signs - that explains the rest of the shell puzzle!

Ahnonay - the back of "fake" island 2 to the left of the tunnel - 2:32
Er'cana - windmill area, side of entrance on right side (from start) - 4:81

These are found to be:
2:32 - Seek the path of the shell.
4:81 - The future is always revealed to those who wait.

Err... ok that explains the waiting game!

12-8-2004
UNTÌL URU!
It is time to return to the cavern. We have been called once again... the gathered will tell.
No, the DRC haven't returned to continue the reconstruction. But they've reopened the cavern to all... now all the explorers are back - Uru lives again!
Soon I will join them in the cavern... the Gahreesen wall, the 'heek table. Its all back.
Untìl Uru!