Author Topic: Rigel's Journal  (Read 2791 times)

Paul Debrion

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Rigel's Journal
« on: October 29, 2009, 12:32:07 AM »
I had the urge to try a bit of an experiment, so lets see what happens.  ;D

Since I'm borrowing the rules of another fictional universe to do this, I've pretty much figured there isn't going to get many readers no matter what I do with it.

The purpose behind this is mostly to try out this style of writing and see how it can be used in a fantasy setting like Touhou, so any feedback at all would be useful even if it is negative.


You don't have to have know anything about Myst to understand this.
All you need to know is that the D'ni are a race of people who are pretty much identical to human beings, except they live longer, have far above average intelligence, and can use The Art. The Art is a technique the D'ni use to travel between worlds. It involves writing a book with a description of the intended world in order to cause the book to become a portal to the world closest to the description in it. The worlds that these books connect to are called Ages.


The style draws a lot of inspiration from the journals of Sirrus and Achenar, except without the malicious intentions.





***



My name is Rigel, or at least that is the name I have chosen for myself. I am D?ni, or at least I am partly of D?ni descent. To be honest however I?ve rarely thought of myself in that manner, having lived as an ordinary human being for most of my life. It has been so long since I left the D?ni to start my own life that it seems that all that?s left of my heritage in that regard are my natural talents in art and science as well my skill in what is known as The Art.

I have decided to start a new journal for this project. I believe this one in particular may change the course of my life forever.

I have already sorted out my worldly obligations so I can devote all my time to this project. I must admit that it was difficult for me to quit my job teaching Physics at the local university because I like passing my knowledge on to others. However, they probably would hire me again should I decide to return, my expertise is always in demand.

While this was not the first time I have applied The Art, it was by far the most difficult. This was the first time I have ever attempted to write a Descriptive Book in an attempt to link to a pre-determined Age, or perhaps to be more precise, an inaccessible part of an Age I?m already in. I don?t believe there ever being any recorded instances of The Art being used in this manner, though there is nothing to suggest that it wouldn?t have worked. After all, the pursuit of knowledge often involves finding new ways to apply what you already have.

Getting the information I needed to write this Descriptive Book was difficult at times. I had to do considerable research into legends and folklore regarding Gensokyo as well as filter out anything that might compromise the effectiveness of the book. Unfortunately, this by itself fell just short of the detail I needed to write the book. I was about to give up on this project until found information regarding a girl by the name of Renko Usami who was a Physics student in Kyoto, Japan. I immediately sent her a letter claiming to be a writer (which wasn?t too far from the truth) wanting to write a book on the legends surrounding Gensokyo. She along with her associate, Maribel Han, provided me with enough information regarding Gensokyo to complete my Descriptive Book and enable the link.

It seems my hard work paid off. I now hold in my hand the finished Descriptive Book I?ve spent the last year and a half trying to write. I have calculated 99.57% chance that this Descriptive Book leads to my intended destination. That?s a sure thing as far as I?m concerned, there is no such thing as 100% certainty after all. Now I have to write a Linking Book off of it for regular use and lock this one in my safe for future reference.

I have a lot of preparing to do and I think I?ll have to make a few trips to some of my other Ages to gather everything I?ll need, but I should be arriving in Gensokyo before the end of the month.




***



First Day
   
I have arrived safely just as I had planned and exactly where I wanted to be. It is very peaceful here, a nice change from the city life I had been getting used to. I chose this spot in the forest just outside the main human settlement because it is remote enough for me to work in peace while still being close enough to a populated area that I won?t be too isolated.
   
First things first, I had to secure this Linking Book so that nobody other than myself can just come along and use it. I had already planned this ahead of time and brought what I like to call a ?security dome? through with me. I had constructed it beforehand using the proper materials and more or less following the blueprints Atrus had written up so many years ago. It?s basically a small dome hut made of a special metal of sorts that houses a case with the book inside. For most intents and purposes, trying to get in by brute force is impossible, or about as close to impossible as you?re going to get anyway.

If I recall correctly, Atrus noted that his son Sirrus was able to destroy them through the use of a technique involving resonance and charged crystals. To keep my options open I have linked to Spire and retrieved such a crystal and tuned it to the appropriate frequency. I?ve placed it in dome with an appropriate triggering mechanism that should allow me to safely demolish the dome from the inside should I ever need to.

The dome?s gate is locked by a combination lock that changes its code every day based on an algorithm that I must say I am quite proud of. Even if someone was able to work out the algorithm, the logic needed to actually use it is probably beyond that of the average human.
   
I intend to setup residence and workshop here. I have also prepared for this beforehand and that in itself was an interesting engineering project for me. In order to save time, I?ve have already fabricated most of the necessary components in one of my other Ages. The building will be brought in piece by piece and assembled here using tools and equipment I?ve already brought in with me. This is basically an improved version of the system of expanding components I had developed specifically for this purpose, except this time I re-worked my measurements so that the components can be brought through the security dome door. Of course, just to be sure I double checked the size of the security dome door as soon as it was set up to make sure they parts fit through. If all goes as planned, my new home away from home will be fully assembled in about a week.
   
I did run into a bit of an unexpected surprise however. One should always expect surprises even when using The Art, since even the description needed to write the book only covers a small fraction of what actually awaits you on the other side. While surveying the surrounding area I have spotted at least two houses within walking distance of my campsite. It appears that I?m not the only one who chose to take advantage of this location.




***




9 Days since arriving in Gensokyo

My new home and workshop is complete for the most part. Unfortunately it took longer to bring the materials through than I had anticipated. I have brought similar structures through linking books using this technique before, but not with a security dome in place. It appears that I have underestimated the obstacle it would pose and the little bits of extra time spent working larger components through the doors seem to have added up more than I thought. Still, everything is going more or less as planned.

What I found rather unusual is that it appears that nobody from the nearby village has noticed my presence yet. Normally when I link to a populated area and set up in a spot like this I usually get visitors within the first week, peaceful or hostile. This doesn?t seem to be the case this time.

What I have noticed is that the local mushrooms appear to give off noxious fumes during certain times of the day. While not necessarily deadly, the fumes are rather unpleasant and could possibly be hazardous to humans with weaker immune systems. These fumes may explain why people from the village would have reason to avoid this area. Perhaps I had best not venture too much further into the forest until I can find out more about this.

Because of both possible threat these mushrooms may pose and the potential benefits they might have, I have taken several samples of these mushrooms for further study.

So far I have been too busy with the construction of my new dwelling to attempt to make contact with human village or either of my neighbors. I shall attempt to do this as soon as possible.
I'll come up with an evil scheme later. First, it's time to build a giant robot!

You can't have a good evil scheme without a giant robot!

Paul Debrion

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Re: Rigel's Journal
« Reply #1 on: October 29, 2009, 05:54:13 PM »
I'll go ahead and finish this off by throwing these two short bits in as well.

First one is a set of informal notes of sorts. The second is basically venting frustration. They lack date or time since they are more something a character would jot down underneath an already existing entry.



***


Mushroom notes

It?s as I suspected. While there are no obvious toxins present in the mushroom spores that would pose an immediate risk, they can potentially cause breathing problems. This won?t prevent me from navigating the forest, but it would probably be best to avoid heavy concentrations.

There is something rather suspicious about these mushrooms though. They appear to give off release a significant electrical discharge when ignited.


***


DAMN IT ALL! I think one of the mushrooms must have gone off and blown a hole through the wall behind my workbench. I?ve patched it over for now but eventually I?ll have to link back and re-fabricate this part of the wall, and I won?t be able to do that for at least another week!

As if things couldn?t get any worse, it appears that one of my books has gone missing! I KNOW SOMEONE OR SOMETHING HAS BEEN LOOKING THROUGH MY BOOKSHELF! I know this because I had sorted them earlier and now they?re not in the order I left them in! It wasn?t an important book all things considered, but I can?t have random thieves just walking right in whenever they please!
I'll come up with an evil scheme later. First, it's time to build a giant robot!

You can't have a good evil scheme without a giant robot!