We have been traveling for a good day, and have stopped not far from a river of lava. I remember reading in Cyan's books that Atrus and Gehn once crossed this river as well. I will have to read tonight more about it, as I feel more and more drawn to the journey that Atrus' family took to get here. Another connection. I am being called once again to D'ni. We've found a nice little rest spot here in the wall, and are anxiously awaiting morning so that we can finish our journey and arrive in the cavern. I have packed a small inflatable raft that should allow us to transverse the lake and get us to the Ferry Terminal in Ae'gura. I cannot wait to see the view of this beautiful city from afar. I have waited for this day for years and finally, I will see with my own eyes what Atrus, Gehn, T'iana and Yeesha saw. What they felt when they first looked upon the caverns of D'ni.

Journey Down

Taking the journey down the Great Shaft took the entirety of Monday evening. The elevators there still do not work, but the fans are running. Rather than risk the danger of the walkways collapsing, my friend and I decided to repel down.

Its been quite a few years since the last time I repelled down a rockface, but it all came back to me as I took my first couple of jumps off the edge of the top of the Great Shaft. Luckily there were plenty of stops along the way down to rest. Many of the Eders along the way provided an invaluable rest stop for us on our journey. Unfortunately for us, none of the Nexus there were functional. Not that it would matter, my KI no longer seems to function either. As we made our way down to the bottom of the three mile high shaft, I couldn't help but wonder how the D'ni were able to craft such a magnificent accomplishment. Years it took them to get to the surface, and sadly it proved to be their own undoing. If fear and greed had not overtaken the D'ni, I can't help but wonder if I'd be here today, traveling down this shaft to them, to live among them rather than follow in their proverbial footsteps.

After the long journey down the shaft we decided to rest at the bottom for awhile. The fans still work, a testament to D'ni technology. My friend is scared. He's never been down here before, and he fears we may get lost trying to find our way to D'ni through the tunnels.

I admit I'm a bit scared as well. I've never made this journey before. I've always just linked to the cavern through Relto. But I need to finish this. I need to see what T'iana saw when she first came down here. Something in me yearns to see it through her eyes. And Atrus' and Yeesha's. I have to know.

Returning to the Cavern

This evening my friend and I made our way back down to the D'ni Caverns. After hearing rumors that the cavern had been reopened, we decided to take the long way down, in the hopes of finding others along the way. We began our journey at the Cleft, after securing the area, and being confident little had changed, we traveled over the fence and grabbed this great picture of the volcano. We then headed down into the caldera of the volcano. The Riven Dagger and Bahro tablets were just as I had last seen them. My friend and I decided to take a break and have a nice lunch inside the caldera. After about an hour we packed our things up and began our descent into the tunnels above the Great Shaft.