I’ve returned from the J’Taeri District. It was an experience I could not have predicted. Perhaps subconciously I expected the area to be comparable in ruination to the rest of the City. In truth, it was much more haunting.

While exploring, I kept a makeshift journal, which I have transcribed below.

Day 1
Today mostly comprised of traveling to The Watcher’s Pub with the necessary supplies. Once I recovered from my Linking sickness, I was overcome by the excitement of being able to fully explore the structure with no DRC restraints. Unfortunately, upon throwing back the curtains surrounding the lower area, I was disappointed to see they hid nothing more than simple sitting rooms.

I’m concerned that I will be unable to find my way from this building to the district itself. I am somewhat fortunate that D’ni buildings rarely have roofs. I may have to scale the inner wall and make my way out that way. Tomorrow I will check the Tree Chamber for holes or weaknesses in the wall, I’d rather not have to climb.

Day 3
I spent the better part of yesterday searching the walls of the pub for a way out. While I did find several flaws and cracks in the rock, I was unable to find any weaknesses usable to escape to J’Taeri. Whomever build this place did a bloody good job of it.

I was forced to return to my living space to aquire the supplies I’d need to scale the wall, which I did, albeit with much struggling. I am forced to abandon my original plan of camping inside the Watcher’s Pub. Scaling the wall every day is too great a task. I made my way down the side of the pub building and onto the pavement. I decided to camp there for the night, and promptly fell asleep.

This morning I awoke and was immediately energised to begin my explorations. After a bit of wandering, I realised that the pub technically wasn’t in the J’Taeri district, but was a short walk from it. Apparently none of the affluent folk wanted that building so close to them. Classic NIMBY effect, I suppose.

I headed towards the largest collection of ruined structures, but eventually my progress was blocked by a huge wall. Apparently J’Taeri was a gated community! As I navigated around the wall, searching for the gate or post to pass through, the rubble became very dangerous. Collapsed arches littered the ground, accompanied by a large amount of shattered wood.

Suddenly, I noticed something sticking out from under the stones. Something white and thin. I fell to my knees as I realised what it was. A skeletal arm lay on the ground, its owner killed hundreds of years ago. I had been steeling myself against this inevitable find, but actually coming across it was another thing entirely. I caught my breath and moved on. It took me most of the day, but I eventually found the gate building. The building was in surprisingly good condition, albeit the locks had been smashed off the doors, possibly by looters during the fall. Breathless, I entered into the ruined district.

It took me a moment to really gather it all in, it stretched so far, with crossroads that seemed to move in every direction. I admit, I felt a bit dizzy, seeing it all. It’s possible that I’m the first to set eyes on it in hundreds of years! I have decided to stop my journey here to record my thoughts and rest. From here on, I must explore with great care to find as many books as possible, I don’t want to explore a single metre of this amazing place with tired eyes.

Day 4
I began my day be simply wandering the streets and attempting to mentally lay out the area. Once or twice I got lost and had to fumble my way back to my makeshift campsite. Soon I felt comfortable enough to begin searching the houses. I was surprised at how many of their doors still stood, locked after so long. Several I was able to break down, but the majority of them stood fast against my attempts. Thankfully, the houses have been empty. I was quite worried I’d find families of corpses in every dwelling. After several hours of careful searching, I had found nothing, but I kept my spirits high. I knew that somewhere in here I would find what I was looking for.

I turned a corner and saw a house made from a black marble-like stone. This house appeared almost untouched by the fall. My excitement grew. Surely in here I would find what I needed! I found the door heavy and immovable. The allure of the perfectly preserved house was too strong and I spent a great long while fighting for my prize. Eventually the hinges gave way and the door crashed inwards.

The house was in pristine condition, everything was neat and ordered. Dishes stacked away, shelves closed tightly. My nerves began to tighten as I predicted the reason for the house being in such a condition.

I entered a bedroom and my suspicions were confirmed. This family had died in their sleep. Their bodies untouched in their beds. These poor people were dying and they didn’t even know it. Their civilization fell around them as they slept and died, secure in their marble home. I was just grateful they were mostly covered by their sheets as I awkwardly attempted to search the rooms. I felt a sense of revulsion, rifling through their personal effects as they slept nearby. Did Howard Carter feel the same way as he catalogued Tutankhamun’s belongings?

It was all worth it in the end though! I ended up finding the owner’s desk, at which were stacked 3 blank Descriptive Books! I hurredly stuffed them in my pack and left the dead to rest. I’ve decided to halt my search early today. I’m still feeling quite unsettled by the experience.

Day 5
A wasted day. I searched a dozen broken homes, nothing but tatters. Shreds of a normal life, scattered in the rubble. I suppose I should be content with finding several D’ni pens in one location. Most of them were unusable but two or three seem to be in decent repair. These pens are useless without ink. I’m also still searching for a D’ni child’s notebook or some other Guild Writing manual. At least a list of the gahrohevtee. Anything that will allow me to learn!

Day 6
An amazing discovery today! I decided to move deeper into the district, as I had explored a large percentage of the houses and buildings and found little. I decided to follow a single street until I came across something that struck me.

Ten minutes later, I found something that struck me.

The street opened up into a large square, the middle of which was dominated by a huge building. The architecture was exquisite, albeit heavily damaged. There had to be something of value inside, I surmised. I entered the building, and gazed upon the carved symbols that lined small indents in the wall. I immediately recognised the shapes as hands, hovering over books. It was a common library! Empty pedestals littered the first room. Some upright, most lay shattered on the ground. There were tatters of paper and other refuse covering the ground. Above was a balcony although its rails had fallen below, tarnished from years of neglect.

I searched that area for hours, checking in every desk, in every cupboard, everywhere. The main area was absolutely bare. I suppose the librarian (or D’ni equivalent) must have escaped with the common ages as soon as trouble was detected.

I began searching the back rooms for anything I could find. I wandered down a corridor with no doors that ended in a staircase. Broken chunks of oddly carved stone sat below a nearby panel of exposed wires. I descended the staircase, having exhausted my search of the first floor.

What a gruesome sight awaited me in the room below. Half a dozen skeletons or more sat slumped over at their work. My head began to swim and I sat down on the staircase to collect myself. I realised that these workers had had such little warning; they hadn’t even had the opportunity to escape. If they died so quickly, no librarian would have been able to collect the common books and hide them somewhere. Perhaps a survivor returned to collect them and store them on another Age.

I felt that I had made a mistake coming to this mass grave. I turned to leave before I felt worse, but as I did so I paused. How strong would I have to be to complete my work? If the supplies were down here and I never found them because I had a weak stomach, then I had no right to attempt such a difficult task in the first place.

I turned around and with a grimace, pushed further into the room. Pushed against a wall was a curious, turn-crank machine. In the top was a seal or crest, made from some unknown metal. It was a leather press! Something to stamp images onto the tough leather covers of the books in this library.

I was not able to move it, but perhaps I will return one day to stamp the symbol of my first Age onto its cover. Permanently emblazon my work in a single glyph that all will recognise.

Sitting behind the press was a small chest. I opened the chest to find a collection of tarnished metal parts, as well as several bottles of ink and a few scraps of paper. The paper was covered in hastily written D’ni characters as well as illustrations of the machine. I assumed someone had written instructions on how to replace the machine’s parts. I took the ink; even though I’m convinced it’s not the Writing ink I require. I know I’ll need it regardless.

I’ve set up my sleeping mat on the entrance to the library. An amazing, if not heady discovery!

Day 7
Today I have found the majority of the supplies I will require! The very first house I entered upon leaving the entrance to the Library this morning was a treasure trove! The writing area had collapsed in on itself, but under the wooden splinters of the ruined desk I found 5 small Descriptive Books! I assume they aren’t Linking Books, but even if they are, I have no reason to suspect that Linking Books and Descriptive Books are chemically dissimilar from each other. I don’t need 3 inch thick tomes for my first attempts anyway.

That was not the most amazing discovery however. As I crawled through the rubble to get to the scattered books, my right hand came down on shards of broken glass. The sharp pain shot through my arm as I reeled back, cradling my hand. Luckily the glass shards were thick, from a bottle or container. As I cleaned the wounds, I realised the source of the glass. Ink bottles! I peered closer, careful not to injure myself again. The glass fragments littered the area, but I saw a single large octagonal container, lying on its side at the very back of the wreckage.

After some careful navigation, I retrieved all 5 books as well as the bottle. The ink was much thicker than what I found in the library. Much darker, with a much more pungent smell.

I’m convinced I’ve finally found Writing ink!

My hand is bandaged and the bleeding has stopped. A price gladly paid for an amazing collection of relics.

Day 8
I’VE FOUND IT!!

A D’ni codex, containing gahrohevtee!! The book is badly damaged, its binding is breaking and many pages are loose, but it’s definitely a book containing the mighty words! Each page has a regular D’ni word such as “grass” or “blue”, and then the word again in the more stylised and elegant writing of the gahrohevtee. The rest of the page is taken up by stroke-by-stroke instructions on how to form each character!

I would have had to continue searching ruins, coming across horrors almost unfit to mention until I found this book, which is more important than any Descriptive Book ever written. I must handle it gently, and treat it with the respect its age and contents deserve.

My God, I could have gone decades without finding this book. Would I have continued to look, or would my spirit have broken far before such a discovery!?

No, I refuse to taint this spendid occasion with negative thoughts. Rule 15 has never been more relevant. Tomorrow I return home, to begin my work from this priceless treasure.