User:Immortal Imp

Immortal Imp--User Page
At the moment, I am using this page as a test page for a new article I am writing: Ages in Myst

Ages in Myst
In the popular computer game, Myst, which was released in 1993. A basic premise of the game is that some people are able the create (or "write") new worlds into existence. This skill is called the Art, and it is possessed, among others, by a character named Atrus. These worlds that he writes are called Ages. In the game Myst, the player must travel to various Ages to solve the mystery. Below is a list of the different Ages to which the player travels.

Myst Island
This is the first location that the player visits; it is the first thing that the player sees once the game itself commences. The player has little choice but to wander around the buildings that are scattered across the island, and try to find some purpose. The centre of the island is the Library, which contains several books, most detailing the Ages which the player must also visit. Also to be found is a pair of books, one red, one blue, set upon separate shelves. Next to each book is a loose page of the same colour. Also present within the room is a fireplace, a painting showing the outline of the island, and two separate paintings, one showing the view from the doorway, the other showing the bookcase. Next to the library is a building with a domed roof, a dentist-chair-like piece os furniture, and a console. Further along the path is the dock, where the game begins, and a ship which is mainly submerged beneath the water. On a hill nearby is a huge pair of gears, one emerging from the ground. At the Library door, there is an avenue lined with marble columns. Each column has a box to accompany it, and in the middle of the avenue is a basin, with a submerged model of a ship. Further along the path, the player can see two buildings: on one side is a log cabin, which contains a furnace. Next to this is a path which leads on to a tall tree surrounded by a wall. On the other side of the main path, there is a covered set of steps which leads down underground, to a large bunker. The path also continues down to the shore, where there is a pair of wheels protruding from a box. Offshore is a tower set upon a gear-shaped base. Also, next to the Library, the player can find a stone path which leads out to a rocket ship. Another notable feature of the island is a number of waist-high wooden pedestals, atop which is a large switch. These are later identified as marker switches, and also prove consequential to solving the game.

The Stoneship Age
This Age is reached through the submerged ship on Myst Island. The Age appears as a cluster of sharp rocks emerging from an endless ocean. The largest of these rocks appears to have both the bow and the stern of a ship protruding from it. In addition to this, a spiral ramp leads to a telescope set at the top, and a pair of plank paths lead variously to a short tower, and a stand covered by an umbrella. The player's mission in this Age is to find the pages belonging to the two special books in the Myst Library, and also to find a way to return to Myst. No other information is given, and no other people appear. However, one of the books in the Library gives a short history of the Age. According to Atrus' journal in the Library, when he first Linked to this Age, the cluster of rocks on which the game takes place were once inhabited, first by two boys, then Atrus himself and his sons, and then a number of other people. A tree is mentioned as well. What has happened to these between the writing of the journal and the time that the game takes place is unclear.

The Selenitic Age
This age is reached through the rocket ship on Myst Island. The Age consists of an island, with an almost-round bay in one part, an 'oasis' on a hill, and a large cluster of tall, natural obelisks reaching out of the ocean. The other notable factor is the chasm, a fiery gap in the surface, which was mentioned in Atrus' journal on Myst Island. In this Age, the player must first solve a combination lock, which involves various sounds from around the island, and then negotiating an extensive underground maze. Another important mission is to find the pages belonging to the two books in the Myst Library. According to Atrus' journal, this Age was once beautiful, but some sort of meteor storm when he first arrived destroyed much of it. When he next Linked back, he found the great chasm, and a round crater (which becomes the bay), and he also discovered an extensive undergound cave network. As in the Stoneship Age, it is unclear what caused the changes between the journal and the game. In the journal, no mention is made of an ocean.