Well, congratulations America, you finally got the President you wanted. Congratulations Mr. Obama, let’s hope you can live up to your hope…err hype.

I bet my father is quite upset.
“Change? Oh yes, there will be change! The change left in my pocket when he takes all my money and gives it to the poor!”

Yes, that sounds like something he would say.

It is the nature of man to create monsters, and it is the nature of monsters to destroy their creators.

We, the explorers were the instruments of the bahro war. We released the bahro. We allowed them the choice to hurt, maim and kill. We allowed them to kill Willow Engberg, and their own kind.

Did we have any right? Was the prison I freed them from worse than being forced to fight each other?

I remember when Yeesha came to us in K’veer. The building was so full of explorers, I was afraid of being trampled to death. When she appeared, the sea of explorers made way, gracious enough to give her room. I was pleasantly surprised to note that the entire population of that place gave her such respect.

She talked of the bahro, and how she had no choice but to leave in order to keep them away from us. Then she left. After we had taken her Journey, she left us, alone in K’veer

I’ve always disliked that place. I can’t really explain why. It radiates sadness. It is such a gorgeous space, and yet, so forlorn. Apparently Yeesha’s father, a man named Atrus had spent a great deal of time here. Doing what, I don’t know. Perhaps he used this space as I use my own. To create new Ages to explore.

If I was given the opportunity to explore more of K’veer, I don’t think I would take it. It feels more like a haunted house, filled with the spectres of old memories.

Recently I’ve been hearing strange noises in certain parts of the City.

I wonder if there are others down here with me. I’ve been down here for months and seen nothing. Not even a bahro.

Hmm, I had almost forgotten about the bahro.

I’ve put down the pen for a while. I’ve been spending my days wandering around the City, really giving myself an opportunity to really look at the place. Not just the City either, every other Age in my bookshelf. I’ve been through them so many times, walking, taking Yeesha’s Journey. I never just looked. I never just sat in the rain of Eder Kemo or lay down at the top of Gahreesen and watch the blue sky rotate. I’ve never just enjoyed listening to the strange tree-frog noises in Kadish, or the beating sun of Eder Gira as I waded through the cool waters.

I wish I knew more about these Ages, who wrote them and if the end result measured up to the expectations to the Author. Were these Ages merely medeocre? Were they what the Author had imagined as he put ink on paper?

It is calming, just enjoying the existance of these Ages. Still, I have little direction for my own.

The proof that I can Write is clear. Still mind-boggling, breath-taking and awe-inspiring, but clear. It’s now time to decide what the first Age of many will be. I’ve been so obsessed with actually accomplishing the technical side, I haven’t given myself any time to consider the creative side of the Art. What sort of Age will I create?

I’ve visited many Ages, all so unique, so beautiful in their own separate ways. What will be my own opus? Did the D’ni writers conciously create a world that would reflect their soul? Perhaps in the act of Writing, the Age was instinctively imbued with that sort of personal beauty?

Listen to me, talking about an Age’s “instinct”, as if it were alive, how foolish of me! I can’t allow myself to get swept up to the point where I truly lose grip on reality and accept what I see as magic. I sometimes allow myself to call it magic, true, but I always recognise that there is science behind all of it, even if I cannot comprehend how it functions.

There can be beauty in that too.

I’ve written the word ‘island’ into two more books now. Each one with an active link. Each one a world contained within a portable package. What will these three island Ages be like? Full of dangerous creatures? Steaming hot or frozen in the coldest winter’s night? Completely devoid of life? Writing a single word leaves the possibilities endless.

And yet, I cannot link to them. I cannot risk my safety to a blurry concept of an Age that I wrote with no training. What if, by curving a particular character too sharply, I cause a link to an Age full of poisonous air? I still have no clear understanding of how an Age is chosen. I suspect the D’ni didn’t either.

So, without risking my own life, how can I possibly gauge my success? I have three books with ‘island’ as the only form factor for a link to an Age, and I cannot see the results of my work.

If only the training wall still worked, I could retrieve a Maintainer’s Suit. I doubt it would do much to protect me, but it would ease my mind.

This is a roadblock that could potentially stall my work… What to do…

I celebrate for writing a single word into a Descriptive Book. I applaud myself, as if I had accomplished some great work. I sit now, with the books I found in the chests in Jaren. I’ve been flipping through the books to examine the work.

I sit in absolute awe of the works. The books are filled. Characters to words, words to sentences, sentences to pages. Pages and pages and pages. All to create the author’s vision. Each word is as important as the last, slowly chipping away at the blank stone. Each word like a ripple of water, slowly eroding rock, shaping the Age.

How can I ever measure up to such greatness? Even a medeocre Age must take a great deal of time and effort! These men are giants, and I am merely a follower, in their shadows. I have no right to congratulate myself yet. I have lain a single brick. These men built D’ni.

I…I’ve done it. I’ve actually done it!

I, Giles, have written an Age! Created a link across unknowable space and time to another world!

I knew it was different the moment my pen touched the page. The ink almost burned into the page. My hand began to move almost on it’s own, driven by the pen.

island.

My God, I have created something miraculous! My hand felt the tingling sensation, the link must be active!

The first step has been taken, but the journey will need ten thousand more…

The weight of this task now dawns on me.