The game begins on a very sad note. You can hear the weariness and sadness in Atrus' voice as he speaks. You're treated to a review of what has gone before and a foreshadowing of what is to come. Pay attention to what is said because there are many important hints throughout it. Once the speech ends, you'll appear in the first of the game's Ages: K'veer.
Take a moment to adjust the game settings to your comfort and when you're ready, let us proceed. The room you are in was Atrus' prison (for those of you not familiar with the Myst universe). There are some Bahro around, but they run away when you appear here. There are also frequent tremors that make the whole building you're in shake.
The room is empty except for a desk to the left of your starting point. On this desk you will find a bound book with the title Myst. You can pick it up to examine but it's impossible to do anything else to it now. Turn around and approach the door that was in front of you when you linked in.
Examine the right side closely and you will find a handle. Click on it to open the door. Exit this room and proceed down the stairs to the left. Go past the hall and down some more stairs until you find a lamp with a blue fire marble.
Collect your journal, which will allow you to take notes and store pictures, and the camera. The camera allows you to take pictures. Each picture you take also works as a save point. You can also write some notes below each picture so that you know what you were doing when you left the game last time.
Enter the opening in front of you and you'll exit below a staircase into a large chamber with a link bubble. The inside of the bubble flashes from time to time showing you different Ages. Enter the bubble to find the Tablet. The Tablet is secured to a pedestal by four clamps, the freeing of which will be the object of the game (well, one of the objects). Touch the Tablet to have it respond to you. When the game lets you, exit the bubble.
As you do, Yeesha will link in behind you and talk to you. Listen to her speech carefully. Particularly note that she doesn't want you to give the Tablet to her when you free it and that she says she can't hold it any longer. This will be very important at the end of the game. Yeesha sounds very embittered and somewhat disturbed.
So, now you know what you have to do: collect what has been scattered, return it to this pedestal and free the Tablet. When Yeesha tells you to begin, you'll be linked to a different Age, known as the Cleft for those who have played URU.
You'll be greeted by Esher, a D'ni. Listen to his speech (which is also filled with important hints) and notice that Esher doesn't like Yeesha very much. He sounds a little bit arrogant and patronizing. Throughout the game he will appear at key points and tell you things that you need to know or do in order to proceed. That doesn't mean you have to like him. You will also come to know his true nature as you progress through the Ages.
When he leaves and you're free to move, take a look around. Examine the drawings that recount the family history, notice the huge stone dagger from Riven and the hole filled with water in the middle of the area you're in. You're at the top of the volcano that leads to D'ni.
To the left of the dagger (when facing it) is a big boulder without drawings. Go behind it to find a hole. Climb down the hole to arrive at a cave that leads to the first of the rest areas. There are some a Bahro in here. Cross the cave and exit to a tunnel on the other side.
In front of you there's a crate with a lamp on it and the first of Yeesha's journals. Pick it up and Yeesha's voice will read it for you. These journals help you establish what has happened to Yeesha as well as showing you the mental state she is in. There are twelve of them and you will collect them all before leaving this Age. They will be stored, along with your Journal, camera and book with Esher and Yeesha speeches on the options bar that can be pulled down from the upper right section of the game window.
To the right of the crate, further along the tunnel, there's another journal near a yellow lamp. Go pick it up and read it. Continue forward until you arrive at the opening on the wall. Use it to enter the first of the rest areas.
When you enter it you'll see an Imager to your left that contains a recording from Yeesha. Press the blue button to hear it. She is quite angry in it. There's also a drawing of the Great Shaft on a cot opposite the entrance, a broken KI dispenser (the KI is a reference to URU and won't be used in this game at all) and a pedestal with a link book that leads to a nexus Age called Direbo.
I call it a nexus because this Age is used merely to link to all the others. Link there. Esher will be there and give another speech. He'll call Direbo a rest Age and talk about the pedestal, the slate and the Bahro. He will also tell you to touch the pedestal and come to Taghira, the first Age. Do not do this yet. Once you have done the Great Shaft completely, you'll do the Ages one by one.
A small note on sequence: the Ages can be done in whatever sequence you like as they are all independent from each other (with a small exception: there's one hint in one of Esher's speeches given in Noloben that will help out in Laki'ahn). I chose to do them in the order listed in the link books of Direbo, that is, Taghira, Todelmer, Noloben and Laki'ahn.
When he finishes the speech, turn around, go to one of the gated bridges and open it by pressing the blue button on the post. The fire marble swings around and goes from blue to yellow. Do the same at the other gate. Don't bother to cross the bridges yet as they're both locked at the ends. When this is done, link back to the rest area.
In the middle of the room there is another cot with Yeesha's third journal. Pick it up and read it. When you're done exploring this area, go out to the tunnel and go past the crate.
On your right you'll see some D'ni writing and two D'ni numbers: 20 and 15. Copy them to a piece of paper. These will become important in another Age. Past the numbers there's an opening on the wall that leads to a large chamber. Enter it. To the right there's a door with a broken switch by it. When you try to cross the room to the other side, Esher will appear and tell you a bit more of his history and that you need to open the door.
Before you do though, continue across the room to the cul-de-sac at the other end and pick Yeesha's fourth journal by the lamp. Return to the main room and approach the door Esher told you. Use the switch lever by it (switch it to the right) to open it up. Exit through this door to a tunnel.
Cross the tunnel to arrive at the Great Shaft. Don't bother following the spiral path to your left down, because it is broken and won't let you get to the bottom. Go to the right and Esher will appear and deliver another of his speeches. This one is about Ti'ana, Yeesha's great grandmother. He also talks about another rest area that has another link book to Direbo.
Continue up a small stair and turn left. Pull the leaver toward you to release a counterweight and make an elevator come up. Step into it, pull the handle and enjoy the ride down. Exit the elevator and proceed around the left to the rest area. Enter it.
Inside you'll find Yeesha's fifth journal atop a cot on the wall, another broken KI dispenser and another link book to Direbo. Link there and open the gates as you did for the first island. You can now walk from Direbo island two to Direbo island one. The island numbers are the D'ni symbols you see on each link book to Direbo. When this is done link back to the Great Shaft.
Exit the rest area and continue to the left until you arrive at a second elevator. To the left of the elevator there's another lever with Yeesha's sixth journal by it. Pick it up and read it. When done, pull the lever to the left of it to release a counterweight. Wait for the elevator to come up. Step into it and pull the handle to go down.
Exit the elevator and climb down a carpeted stairway to the left. At the bottom Esher will tell you about the Shaft and to raise the floor and power the fans to provide you with fresh air so you can enter the tunnels below. Unfortunately, I have found no way of visiting the tunnels below in spite of the raised floor and working fans...
Anyway, once the speech ends continue forward and enter the opening on the left. You can see a Bahro down there. Follow it down to the right until you get to a room with a machine that has a blue button on it. This is part of the puzzle to raise the floor. The machine works on a timer so don't press the blue button just now. First let us find the other machine. Once you get your bearings and know where the buttons are, we will return here. Before you go though, pick up Yeesha's seventh journal from the floor and read it.
Exit to the right or left as both lead to the same room. This is the bottom of the Great Shaft. Notice a raised cylinder in the centre of the room with a button atop it painted in red with a D'ni symbol. This button will only work after you have pressed the other two, so for now leave it as is. Continue across the room and exit through the opposite wall.
Follow the stairs to another timer machine. This one has a yellow button. Now that you know where all the buttons and machines are you can raise the floor. Remember that you will be on a timer so try to do it as quick as possible (although the time given is more than enough to perform the task).
Press the yellow button and exit the room to the bottom of the Great Shaft. Cross to the other side, go up the stairs and press the blue button. Return to the bottom of the Great Shaft and press the button on top of the raised cylinder in the middle of the room. Now relax and wait for the ride to end.
Once at the top make your way to a previously impossible to get to opening (somewhat opposite the opening that led to the room with the Bahro). Enter it and you will see Yeesha's eighth journal on the floor to the right, below a machine. Move the switch lever on this machine to the left to power the first of the fans.
Turn to the left and cross the door that leads to yet another rest area. This one contains an imager with a recording from Yeesha which you can listen to by pressing the blue button on it. There's also another link book to Direbo, the third one that leads to island three. As before, link there, open the gates and link back here. You now have access to three Ages: Taghira, Todelmer and Noloben. Only one more to go.
Return to the elevated floor and press the button to go down. When the floor comes to a rest, get ready to make it go up again. Only this time you won't go up with it. Go to the room with the blue button and press it. Cross the Great Shaft to the other side and go to the room with the yellow button. Press this one and return to the Great Shaft. Press the red button and back away from the section of the floor that rises up.
Note: Steffen Beyer sent me an email saying that instead of doing this again to raise the floor, exiting the game to the desktop and running it again (don't forget to choose continue) will produce the same effect. If you don't mind the wasted time with reloading the game it might work for you.
Once you can do it, approach the pit in the middle of the Shaft and find a ladder to climb down (there are three on the inner wall of the pit). Make your way to the centre and pick up Yeesha's ninth journal. Do not bother with the button here as it makes the raised floor come down. Find the wall that hasn't got a ladder on it. This one has an opening to a tunnel that ends at another fan control. Turn the switch lever to the left to power this fan. Now that the floor is raised and the fans are working, you'll have access to the last of the four Ages. All you have to do now is find the fourth rest area.
Turn around and start walking down the tunnel. You'll notice that a service ladder has dropped from the ceiling. Climb it to another tunnel section. At the top turn to the left and go to the closed door. Yeesha's tenth journal is by the switch lever that controls this door. Pick the journal and open the door by throwing the switch lever to the right. The opening leads to the Great Shaft.
Instead of going through it, turn around and go along the tunnel to the other end. Enter another big chamber with a door to your right and another to the left. Supposedly, the door on the right leads to D'ni, but the switch lever is missing so there's no way of opening it. Near this missing switch lever you'll find Yeesha's eleventh journal.
Go through the other door to find the fourth rest area. This area has another imager with one Yeesha recording, a broken KI dispenser, the twelfth Yeesha journal on a cot in the wall and the link book to Direbo island number four. Pick the journal, read it and listen to the recording. By now, you should have a pretty good idea of what is going on with Yeesha and also many hints and clues about what to do at the end.
But first things first: link to Direbo and open both bridges. Also say goodbye to the Great Shaft, as we won't be returning here. You are now ready to start solving the puzzles present in the four Ages. Island number four holds the bubble that links to Laki'ahn, the fourth Age.
Still in Direbo, make your way to island number one (you can see the numbers by looking to the link books in each island) and enter the link bubble there. Inside there's a pedestal with a slate on it. This slate has a sort of house shaped contour. You'll see that each slate has a unique shape.
This slate will be used on our journey through Taghira. Pick the slate by clicking on it. Notice that the slate is now represented at the bottom left of the screen. It will be used to draw symbols and ask for the assistance of the Bahro.
Note on the use of the slates:
The slate has two spaces on the left side: one that has two lines crossing (used to erase the slate) and one that is currently empty. This one will be used for storing an Age special Bahro action. On the right side of the slate there are more empty spaces that will be used to store Age specific link locations. You will come across these symbols as you explore each Age. I hope you are good at drawing because the Bahro are sometimes very picky at the way a drawing is made. To use a slate you draw a symbol and drop the slate on the floor. When you back away, a Bahro will link in, look at the slate and perform an action according to what is drawn on the slate. If he doesn't understand the drawing or the slate is dropped with nothing on it, the Bahro will return the slate to the starting point of the Age (useful sometimes).
Take a look at the pedestal. Now that you've removed the slate, there's a symbol for the shape of the slate that was there. Below the space the slate occupied there is also Direbo's Age symbol which looks like three trees (three rectangles with a line coming out at the bottom of each) sprouting from a semicircle. This symbol is currently unlit which means you can't use it to link. To the left of this symbol is a smaller version of the slate contour, which is lit. Press it to link to Taghira.
Welcome to snowy Taghira. I consider this one of the beautiful Ages of Myst. When you link in and exit the bubble, Esher will be there to give you another speech. He talks about the burden that is the slate and that you should release it. He also says that Taghira is a prison Age. To prove him right you just have to walk around, after he leaves, and realize that there's no way out.
Approach the tunnel in front of the link bubble and you'll hear a sound like ice cracking. If you look down you'll see a drawing that closely resembles the slate you are now holding. Remember Esher's words about releasing the burden and using the slate to set you free? Drop the slate here and the floor will crack. A Bahro will link in and take the slate back to the pedestal inside the link bubble (this will only happen once you step away from the bubble.)
Retrieve the slate and head to the cracked ice. You will fall through and gain your freedom. Go outside and look up. In front of you there's a wooden ladder, and on the wall above it, a symbol. This one looks like the upper half of a spoke wheel, with three spokes (or a sun symbol, if you prefer). If you draw this symbol on the slate, drop it and step away, a Bahro will appear and perform their special action for this Age, which is, turning up the heat. Notice the steam rising from the ground up there.
Also notice that the empty left space on the slate now holds the sun symbol. ^>From now on, whenever you need to use it, just press this symbol and the game will repeat your drawing. Very handy feature.
If you try to climb the ladder with the slate, you'll find that you can't. Going around and up the snowy path to the left of the entrance (with your back to it) will also prove impossible as the game won't let you jump down. So, drop down the slate and climb the wooden ladder. A Bahro will take the slate to the starting pedestal.
Once up there, approach the pedestal and copy the drawing there to a piece of paper. This one looks like a ship anchor: the bottom half of a semicircle with a vertical line perpendicular to it. When you're done, press the slate symbol on the pedestal to link to the starting pedestal. Retrieve the slate, step outside of the bubble, draw the anchor symbol and drop the slate. Step away and this time the Bahro will take the slate to the proper pedestal.
Make your way there by once more falling down the hole, exiting to the courtyard and climbing the wooden ladder. Retrieve the slate from this pedestal. If you examine the slate now, you'll see that a new symbol has been added to the right empty spaces and that there are three more empty spaces. That means you'll have to find three more symbols. Continue through the bridge to the right.
Once on the other side keep going forward until you reach a village. As you approach the grassy mound in front of you, you'll see the second pedestal for this Age. This symbol looks like a hut with an antenna and a small vertical line inside it (or a light bulb resistance). Draw it on the slate and drop it. Step away and let the Bahro place the slate on the pedestal. This will give you a new symbol on the slate as well as freeing your hands for other tasks that you'll have to perform shortly.
Advance towards the hut in front of you. When you're almost at the top, Esher will link in and perform another speech. This one is about the prisoners of Taghira and the transitional quality of existence (how deeply philosophical). When he finishes, proceed to the hut and enter it. Inside you'll find a map with red circles and blue circles. I'll try to reproduce it as best as I can with ASCII characters:
+---- +------------+Where:
Exit the hut, go down stairs and to the back of it, via the left side. On your way there notice where three large pipes meet and sink into the floor. These pipes have three switches with red screws near them. Each switch can be set to a right, centre or left position. Opposite this station, there is another station with three pipes but these have blue screws. As you can't do anything to them now, proceed to the lake.
You can't cross it because it's frozen, but the lay out of the pipes is the same as the map inside the hut. Come back to the hut with the map and climb the slope to the left (with the hut behind you). Esher will appear at the top and explain about the life present in the water of this Age and how it craves it. He also tells you that you can make the Bahro bring the heat to you.
Now, to save you a bit of going back and forth I'll explain what you have to do. Summoning the heat will cause steam to form and be transmitted to the pipes allowing you to operate the red and blue switches which will in turn transport heat to the lake where the organisms present in the water will form a bridge allowing you to cross to the other side. However, in order for the steam to reach the red and blue stations you have to go to each of the hut like structures and turn all six of the switch levers from left to right. Do so now (one in the structure by the central hut, three in the ones on the right slope and two on the ones to the left of the hut when facing it).
After this is done, go to one of the stations and use the slate to call for heat. Once there is steam in the pipes, the switches in the station will rise up and let you set them to a position. What you need to make sure is that you can make the organisms create a path as big as possible.
Look at the map above. Each switch will determine if steam flows to the right or to the left when it comes to a junction. In the case of the red switches you want to set them to (from left to right): left position, right position and left position which will make the steam go up, then right and then up. For the blue station, following the same reasoning, set the switches (left to right) like so: right position, left position, left position.
So, now that you know what you need to do, go pick up the slate and approach one of the stations. Call the symbol for heat, and drop the slate. Back away and let the Bahro do his thing. Pick the slate, approach the station and set the switches. Before the steam runs out, go to the other station and do the same.
Now, if you're fast, you can still run to the lake and traverse the organic path to the other side. Be careful not to fall into the water or you'll have to restart the path. There is only one point where you can exit the path onto the ice on the other side. You can see it as a small tongue of ice that reaches close to the path on the upper left side of the lake.
If you're not able to cross it before the steam runs out, just ask the Bahro again for some steam and cross the lake afterwards. Once on the other side, Esher will give a speech about the tombs of the D'ni. He finishes by telling you to make Bahro bring you to the keep as it will run from you. When he leaves, approach the pedestal on the left. Copy the symbol to the slate. This one looks like a person with a zipped up jacket. Drop the slate, back away and let the Bahro take the slate to the pedestal.
You know have three of the four symbols for this Age. Only the last one to go to let you link to the Keep. Approach the link bubble on the end and it will float away from you. You can still make out the symbol on the pedestal, so try to draw it as best as possible. It is made of two horizontal rectangles united by two vertical small lines. Try to draw the rectangles as big as you can. If you look around you, you'll see the drawing resembles the tombs. Try to get it as close to a tomb as possible. Drop the slate, back away and wait for the Bahro to link the slate to the bubble.
If it didn't work, that is, if you don't see the Bahro linking to the Keep, pick the slate again and try a new drawing. Once it works, go to the pedestal with the third symbol and use the lit slate symbol to link to the start of the Age. On the rim of the pedestal there should be all of the Age's symbols. Press the tomb one to link to the Keep at the end.
Once you link there Esher will explain about the Keep and that it exists at many places at the same time. When the speech ends, enter the Keep, press the slate from Taghira to release the first clamp and to finish this Age. Click on the lit slate symbol for this Age to link to the start, and once there click on Direbo's lit symbol (the three trees on a mound) to link there.
After you arrive on Direbo, go to island number two. Enter the bubble there, pick the slate (this one has an inverted diamond shape) and touch the lit slate symbol on the pedestal to link to Todelmer.
Whoa! Can I just say wow? This Age blew me away. It reminded me a bit of Ahnonay's space version but this one is much more beautiful. Take a look at the scenery and when you're ready, follow the path to the left until you meet Esher in a red room filled with machinery. He'll talk about how Todelmer was built to study the heavens and that they were never allowed to finish it. He'll also advance a bit more on D'ni history and Yeesha.
Once he leaves, go around the dais to the right and find your way to the very back of the chamber. You will find some kind of large porthole window with two levers below it. One moves up and down and the other moves left and right. This is a power switch and the trick here is to make the light from the window become has bright as possible. Roughly, you need to set the left lever to the middle position and the right lever to the right. You'll know you have the right spot when the rim starts to spin.
Once you've powered this machine, return to the entrance and climb the dais. Go to the right and all the way to the back. Turn left to an out of order telescope viewer (it shows static on the monitor). What you will do here is set some coordinates so that some cables that are blocking the path up to the top of the spire are lifted out of the way. Since this is the only telescope that isn't working, it follows that the fallen cables belong to it.
Remember those D'ni numbers you found on a wall back in the Great Shaft? I told you they'd be important and asked you to copy them. Set them on the telescope by using the left slider and the top slider on the control panel. For the left slider, zero is at the bottom and for the top slider, zero is on the left. Set the left slider to the D'ni number 20 and the top slider to the D'ni number 15. Press the green flashing button to set the coordinates.
Exit the red room and proceed to the left, up two stone stairways and then a metal stairway. Once at the top you'll now see the broken cables hanging from the air and the passage is now passable. Continue to the very top of the spire. Once at the top you'll find a lot of structures and a telescope to your right. Before you do anything with it, proceed to the right and find the dome with an open door. Enter the room beyond and proceed to the back where there's a map on the wall.
Take a look at the map: four red 'pac man' symbols connected by lines to a big blue cross circle, two other blue cross circles and a green line connecting two of the blue cross circles. This is a map of the Age. The 'pac man' symbols represent the four big telescopes, the blue circles represent the smaller telescopes and the green line represents a tram that you will have to ride at some point in this Age.
For now, turn around and return to the door. Close it by pressing the white button. Another white button is revealed behind the door. Press this one also to activate a secret stairway behind you. Climb down it. At the bottom, you'll find an access to the tram. There are two levers on the right. The top one controls the tram travel direction and the bottom one controls the movement. Make sure the top one is pushed to the right (when facing it) and pull the bottom lever down once. This will make a big gear upstairs spin and allow you to see the second pedestal symbol.
Go back up the stairs and out of the dome. Remember to leave the secret stairway open so that you can move freely. Make your way to small telescope I mentioned when you arrived up here. Click on the lens to sit down and use it. The telescope has three controls: a slider on the left that makes it tilt up or down, a slider on the right that makes it swivel left and right and a lever (also on the right side) that allows you to zoom in and out.
If you didn't mess around with the telescope before, it should be aimed at a spire. Use the zoom control to zoom in. Notice the 'pac man' symbol with a set of D'ni numbers to the right of it. Adjust the telescope so you can better view the symbols on the spire. Copy them to a piece of paper, and you'll have your first set of coordinates for the machines in the red room (the numbers shown are 13 and 24). This set is for the machine that shows the first quadrant of the sky (upper right section missing on the circle).
Move the telescope to the left until you are looking between two curving up arches and zoom in. You'll be looking through the space between two spokes of a big gear and will see another small telescope in the distance (as long as you moved the tram downstairs once). Adjust the view until you are able to see the first of this Age's pedestals, to the left of that telescope. The symbol on it resembles three circles uniting through three concurrent lines into a single circle on top (or a meteor shower... well sort of). Get out of this telescope.
Enter the dome, go down the stairs and make your way to the tram controls. Push the upper lever to the left and pull the bottom lever down once. This will set the tram on the right position for you to be able to access it from the other side. Now, make your way to the top of the dome and exit. Draw the symbol for the first pedestal on the slate and drop it. Back away and let the Bahro link the slate to the pedestal.
If you want, check through the telescope to make sure that the slate is now there. Whether it is or not, you need to make your way back to the start of the Age so that you can link from the starting location to the first pedestal. If, when you arrive at the start bubble, you find the slate on the pedestal, you have to retry the drawing as the Bahro didn't understand it. If the symbol is on the lower rim of the pedestal, touch it to link there.
Once on this new spire, pick up the slate and then go to the telescope. This one you need to swivel to the right until you can see the same spire you saw from the other telescope. Once you have it centred, zoom in to discover the second set of coordinates for the fourth quadrant viewer (bottom right section is missing). They are above the door for the red room. The D'ni numbers for this one are 6 and 1. When you're done, go to the pedestal and link to the start of the Age.
Go to the red room and set the coordinates for both viewers (the closest ones on the left and on the right). Don't forget to press the green button. You need to do this so that you can see the symbol for the second of the Age's pedestals which is obscured from view by the gears that command one of the big telescopes. Now go back to the start and link to the first pedestal.
Go to the small telescope and swivel it to the left (pull left bottom lever down) so that the big telescope comes into view. Aim at a circular opening above the pulsating red light in the centre of the big telescope and if you zoom in you should see the symbol for the second pedestal. It kind of looks like a magnifying lens with the handle at the NE position and a lollypop with the stick on the bottom overlapping each other (I know, my descriptions aren't very good, but this is a text only walkthrough so bear with me).
Exit the telescope, draw the symbol on the slate, drop it. Let the Bahro take the slate to the second pedestal and use the pedestal here to link to the starting location. Press the lit symbol there to link to the second pedestal. Once there do not pick the slate. Move towards the dome and Esher will appear to deliver another speech. He says your destiny lies above and that you have to make the Bahro help you reach it. You cannot open the door to the dome, because there's no power on this spire yet.
Return to the pedestal and follow the stone stairway down. Ignore the telescope here as it won't show you anything of use. Approach the tram and climb down into it (if you have the slate with you, you won't be able to climb into the tram). Once in the tram, exit towards the open doorway and climb the stairs to the back. You will find another window power machine that you'll need to turn on to provide power to this spire. Set the left lever so that the knob almost lines up with the horizontal bar and the right lever a bit off centre to the right. When the rim starts to spin power is on.
Climb the stairs all the way up and press the white button on the doorway to make the secret stairway appear. Climb it to the top to find the special action symbol for this Age, which looks like an inverted T with two circles (the left one is set higher than the right one and the vertical line separates them). Copy this to a piece of paper. Behind you at the back of the room there's the same map that was on the first dome.
Exit the dome by opening the door and go pick up the slate at the pedestal. Retrace your steps, now with the slate, back to the tram. Enter it and pull the lever to start the ride. When the tram stops halfway, copy the coordinates for the third quadrant viewer (bottom left section is missing) and notice the stylized planet above the coordinates. This is a hint for another puzzle. The numbers for these coordinates are 4 and 5. When you are ready, pull the lever again to finish the ride.
When the ride ends exit to the platform, climb up and out of the dome and make your way down the spire to the red room. Approach the farthest machine on the left and enter the third set of coordinates there. If you use the zoom buttons (top right of the viewer) you should be able to see a bit of the planet. Now, time to do some magic. The leftmost one is the farthest zoom and the rightmost one is the closest.
Esher said to make the Bahro help you, so draw the special action symbol and use it (the inverted T with two circles symbol). Time will go back and the planetary alignment will shift. The objective here is to get the rings around the planet perfectly vertical (just like the drawing you saw with the third set of coordinates). Use the symbol twice and that should do it.
You can check the position of the planet rings by clicking on the leftmost and middle button and compare it with the planet drawing. When it looks like the planet drawing you saw earlier, press the rightmost zoom button of the viewer and you should see the final pedestal and the corresponding final symbol. This one looks like two circles, a smaller one inside a bigger one and a third small circle drawn at the NE position on the outside bigger circle. Draw it on the slate, drop it, let the Bahro link away and go to the link bubble at the start of the Age. Press the third symbol on the rim to link to the Keep.
Once there Esher will give another speech. This one is about the power of the Tablet. He'll say that the first half of the journey is complete and that the decision approaches. When he finishes, climb down the metal ladder to find the Tablet bubble below you. Enter it and touch the slate for this Age. The clamp will be released. Press the slate lit symbol to link to the start of the Todelmer. Once there, press the Direbo symbol to link out and conclude Todelmer.
Once in Direbo, make your way to island number three and enter the link bubble. Pick up the slate (this one is like a rectangle but with a rounded top) and press the lit slate symbol on the pedestal to link to Noloben.
Exit the link bubble and make your way to the left of the beach. Here you'll find Esher who will give another speech. This one is about Noloben. He says it's his Age. This was also the Bahro's home and they didn't like it when Esher came here. Funny enough, I wouldn't like if Esher came to my house, acting like he owned the place. But that's just me...
When he links out, continue to the left and you'll find a small stall with a curious display of symbols on the wall behind it. The upper cloth has four holes in it and on the stall there are four recipients surrounding what seems to be a large stone egg. On the ground, there's a slate with three circles. Each circle has a vertical line sprouting down from it (it looks like three lollypops).
If you examine the slate on the ground, you'll see it's very much like the one you're carrying (shape wise that is) only that it's upside down. This means that the symbol also is upside down. If you turn it right side up, the three lollypops become three raindrops. This is the special Bahro action for this Age: to summon rain.
Copy the symbol to your slate, drop it, and step away. Let the Bahro summon the rain and when he is gone, approach the stall. Notice that the recipients are filling up with water. When the rain stops and when the sun comes out, copy the symbols reflected on the water to a piece of paper, maintaining their relative positions. This is essential to solving the next puzzle.
I'll try to describe them as best as I can:
(1) Top left: two vertical lines crossed by two horizontal linesOnce you have these, go to the left, past the link bubble and stop when you arrive at a drying fish station (or those could be hanging shells). Turn around and spot the molehills on the ground. Drop the slate here. Don't worry, the Bahro won't pick it up. This is another clue to something you'll find out soon: they Bahro are terrified of snakes. You have to drop the slate or you won't be able to climb up the ladder.
Look up and you'll see a rope hanging down. Pull it to release a ladder. Climb up and go forward to the large egg shaped structure. This structure (Esher's laboratory as you'll soon find out) acts as a Rosetta stone, letting you translate the symbols from the beach into their equivalent for the four rotating stones that control the doors to Esher's laboratory.
First off, I'd like you to go around the structure and close all the windows that are open. This will help you identify the symbols you need more easily. The symbols from the beach are on the inside and the symbols for the stones are on the outside of the windows. Each symbol on the inside corresponds to the symbol on the outside of the same window. Pick a window and try to see if you can find one of the symbols from beach. When you find it, leave that window open, go to the corresponding window on the other side and open it. Then return to the first window to make sure you have opened the right window. If it is indeed the right window, return to it, close it and take note of the symbol on it. Do this for all four symbols or to, save you the trouble, here are the correspondences (using the numbers from above):
(1) - three horizontal linesNow, to help you out, find the window that has a circle with a dot on the centre and the ladder to the beach should be behind you. This will help you out identify each of the rotating stones. To find out which symbol goes to each rotating stone I went to each of the stones and wrote down each of the symbols present there. If you're facing the window with the circle and the dot, the rotating stone to north east of you is the only one that has the power symbol. So, based on that one and on the relative positions of the other symbols, set the rotating stones like so:
NE - circle with vertical line (power symbol on a remote control)To set a rotating stone, rotate the top half so that the symbol you want lines up with the line drawing on the flat face of the rotating stone. When this is done, return down to the beach. Pick up the slate, and stay close to the wall on the left. Follow it until you get to a nook with an entrance to a passage. The passage leads to Esher's laboratory and if you set the rotating stones above correctly you should have no problem getting there. Notice that there are a lot of snakes slithering around the ground here.
Once you arrive at the laboratory, you will see the first pedestal for the Age, sporting a symbol that reminds of a dynamite detonator, only this one has a small vertical line on the bottom too. Copy it to the slate. If you drop it and back away, no Bahro will come to collect it. Climb the stairs to the right and Esher will appear. He'll explain why the Bahro won't come here: the snakes bind them and prevent them from linking. He reveals his sadistic nature disguised as a quest for knowledge as well as trying to plant more suspicion towards Yeesha and the Bahro. He asks you to go to the top of the refuge, but to do so you have to seal the refuge, that is, close the doors again.
Don't bother climb all the way to the top just not. The ladder that will allow to get outside once at the top is inaccessible for now. Pick up the slate and exit the laboratory to the beach. Draw the symbol for the first pedestal and drop the slate. The Bahro will come, touch it as if to link in, and leave the slate where it is. Pick it up and check to see if the symbol has been added to the empty spaces on the right. If it has, pick up the slate, head to the laboratory again and place the slate on the pedestal. You need to do this so that the new symbol appears on the main pedestal inside the link bubble. Pick up the slate again.
Go outside and check on the pedestal inside the bubble. If the symbol is there, you are ready to proceed. Go to the ladder to the upper reaches and climb it (remember to drop the slate near the ladder so you can climb). Go to each of the rotating stones and make them move so that the four symbols you previously set them too are no longer set. This will close the laboratory. Climb down, pick the slate, and go to the link bubble. Leave the slate on the pedestal here. Use the symbol for the pedestal to link to the inside of the laboratory.
Climb the stone stairs up to the wooden platform. At the top, go around the platform until you see a wooden ladder leading up and an easel in front of you. Approach the easel to find several anatomical studies on the Bahro performed by Esher. You will also find a slate symbol with a wavy line. This is the snake symbol that Esher talked about. It will allow you to perform certain actions that require a Bahro to stand on a given spot for a bit longer than usual.
When you're done with the easel, turn around and climb the wooden ladder. At the top, go to the cage and use the double ladder on its face to climb atop it. At the top of the cage, climb the now accessible wooden ladder and exit to the top of the Laboratory. You'll come out in front of the second pedestal for Noloben. Copy the symbol to a piece of paper. This one is made of two circles with two small horizontal lines coming out of the mid section of the outer circle (or someone with a Mexican hat holding a pole).
Turn around and on the other side there's a viewer with a drawing on the ground. If you stand on the drawing, you'll see a door opening on a tree. Inside is the Keep bubble. This is where you're going to have to use the snake symbol, because the door only remains open as long as someone is standing on the drawing. But first you need to get the slate here.
Return to the pedestal, and press the lit small slate symbol to link to the start of the Age. Once there, pick the slate. Exit the bubble, draw the second pedestal symbol on it and step away. Let the Bahro link away with the slate. Enter the bubble and use the second pedestal lit symbol to link there. Pick up the slate and draw the snake symbol.
Now, once you drop the slate with the snake symbol on top of the drawing on the floor, you'll have to be fast. The Bahro will link in but he won't pick the slate until the snake symbol disappears. This will give you time to link to the start bubble and from there make your way to the Tree where the Keep bubble is, traversing a tunnel to get there. As soon as the symbol disappears from the slate, the Bahro will pick it up, standing on the drawing on the floor and at the same time opening the door for you.
When you're ready, drop the slate on the drawing, turn around and use the pedestal to link to the starting bubble. From there, turn around, exit to the left and proceed past the stall where you found the rain symbol. Continue along the beach until you see an entrance into the wall on the left. Enter the tunnel and cross to the other side. On exiting the tunnel, continue to the left until you are facing the tree door (you should see it across the water), If you're in front of the door, it's possible to cross the water to the other side. Once there, wait for the door to dissolve, allowing you entry into the Tree and Keep bubble.
Now, copy the symbol here to a piece of paper. This one is made of a large centre circle surrounded by four small ones at the NW, NE, SE and SW positions. Once you have the drawing, return to the start bubble by pressing the small lit slate symbol on the clamp inside the Keep bubble.
Pick the slate, exit the bubble, draw the Keep symbol and drop the slate. Wait for the Bahro to link away with the slate and then enter the start bubble. Press the lit Keep symbol which should now be on the rim and you'll link to the Keep. When you arrive there, Esher will give another of his speeches. This one is about distrust, particular the one he thinks you feel for him. In my case, he's right: I wouldn't trust him farther than I can sneeze.
He will talk about another option at the end: the possibility of taking the slate to Myst, as Yeesha won't follow you there. When the speech end, enter the Keep bubble and touch the slate on the pedestal to release the third clamp from the Tablet. Once this is done, link to the start bubble and from there link to Direbo.
Cross the bridge to island four and get ready for the final Age: Laki'ahn. Enter the bubble, pick the slate (this one has a round shape) and press the small lit slate symbol on the pedestal to link to Laki'ahn.
Ah, Lakhi'ahn of the sandy beaches... this Age would make for a fine resort/SPA. Just look at that water. Doesn't it make you want to dive in? The red butterflies, the swaying palm trees: it's just beautiful. But let's get back to the game.
Looking around you'll see that Esher is waiting for you at the top of a small stair in front of what he'll call a Trade house. Go to him and listen to the speech. He'll muse over Laki'ahn as it was and paint a rather bloody and gory image of it. He'll also say that this door is locked but the Jeweller's door on the other side can be unlocked.
When he links out, approach the window on the left and peer inside. There's a strip of paper with geometric figures on it, on top of a table weaved mat:
Diamond, hexagon, triangle (base side up), square, circle
Copy these to a piece of paper as they'll come in handy in a bit. When you're done, climb down the stairs, go past the bubble and turn to the right. Proceed along the beach until you find two large boulders with dried green seaweed on them. There's a gap between them you can squeeze through. Do so.
On the other side you'll find a lot of bones and a very strange looking bird near a boulder with the special Bahro action symbol for this Age. Copy it to the slate. This one is made of three horizontal wavy lines. It is used to summon gale winds, which we will be doing in just a bit. Exit this site via the path between the boulders on the other side, and you'll see a lagoon with a strange metallic gate.
Wade into the lagoon and enter the gate. Proceed halfway through the canal and turn to the left. There's a broken section of wall that will allow you to climb to a grassy courtyard. Proceed forward and to the right to find a windmill structure.
This windmill will allow you to change the position of a cage inside the canal you just went through, allowing you to gain access to the first pedestal for this Age and afterwards, access to the rest of the Age. But in order to operate the windmill you'll need wind. That's where the Bahro come in.
Before you summon the wind, though, go to the back of the windmill, climb up into the control area and familiarize yourself with the controls. You'll see three levers and two buttons:
- the big lever on the left releases the windmill brake allowing it to spinNow you know what does what, climb down from the controls, draw the wind symbol and drop the slate. Wait for the Bahro to summon the wind, pick the slate, climb into the controls again and do the following:
- pull big left lever onceWhen this is done, make your way to the canal, enter the larger open cage and make your way to the small cage with the pedestal on it. Climb on and look at the pedestal. Copy the symbol to the slate (two square triangles standing apart or an equal sided triangle split in half) and drop it by the pedestal. Move away and let the Bahro link in and put the slate on the pedestal. When this is done, pick it up, return to the windmill and once more summon the wind. At the controls do the following:
- pull big left lever onceThis will turn the opening on the cage with the pedestal towards the now open canal and let you proceed on your journey. Now, go back to the start bubble via canal, then courtyard with the wind symbol and the beach. Once there, enter the bubble and link to the first pedestal using the lit symbol on the rim below the space for the slate. When you appear near the pedestal, climb down into the water and proceed along this new canal to the flooded Arena.
On entering the Arena you'll see a large pillar atop a ramp, with the second pedestal for the Age on top of it. Climb up the ramp and look on the wall behind the pillar. You'll find four grey buttons with some red crystals above them (in pairs and with lids), a central golden button, and a weighing station to the left (with the pillar on your back). Each of the four grey buttons has a symbol on it with a different number of circles. From right to left, the number of circles increases from one to four.
This is a weight puzzle. What you have to do here is to figure out how much you weigh with the slate and how much the pillar weighs. Why? Because you need to set the counter weights (the grey buttons) in such a way that when you link to the second pedestal the pillar will hold your weight and allow you to access the footbridge directly above your head.
So, let us start. Begin by weighing yourself at the weighing station to the left. Step onto the pressure plate and you'll see that you weigh two red crystals on the three circle line, plus one crystal on the one circle line, which means you weigh (2 x 3) + (1 x 1) = 7 red crystals.
Now, to get at the pedestal, push each of the grey buttons so that the red crystals above them are covered. When you're done, press the central golden button and the pillar will lower.
Copy the symbol on the pedestal to the slate (it looks like a torso and a head above it or a circle above a rectangle without the base). Drop the slate and let the Bahro do his work. Once the slate is on the pedestal, pick it up and let's find out how much the pillar weighs when it is set to be on level with the footbridge. If you fiddle with the grey buttons and the golden button you'll find out that the pillar weighs (1 x 3) + (2 x 2) + (2 x 1) = 9 red crystals.
Note: Rasmus sent me a note saying that you must add +1 for your own weight if you are carrying the slate (or subtract 1 if not). Otherwise you'll be too heavy and the pillar will sink to the bottom. This note is more of a suggestion for those of you that are just skimming the walkthrough. If you're following it, you don't have to worry about it as I have calculated the correct weight with the slate in mind.
This means that if you want the pillar to take your weight and allow you access to the footbridge, the counterweight must be set to 9 + 7 = 16 red crystals or (2 x 4) + (2 x 3) + (1 x 2). If all the grey buttons have their red crystals covered, press:
- grey four circles button twiceAfter this, press the golden button to set the counterweight. Let the pillar rise and go down the ramp into the water. Exit to the left and follow the canal to the end. At the end continue forward and drop into the courtyard where you found the wind symbol. From there make your way to the link bubble at the start and use the lit symbol for the second pedestal to link there.
When you appear on the pillar it will begin to lower. When it stops, turn around and walk onto the footbridge. Go to the left until the end of the path. At the end turn to the left and press the red button there to open a metal gate in the Arena. After that, return to the footbridge and go right to meet with Esher and listen to another speech. He'll talk about the harvest of the gems (i.e. the hearts of the beasts) and revel in it. Quite the sadist, our little Esher. Starting to mix qualities from Sirrus and Achenar, aren't you?
When he links away, approach the door to your left. Remember the piece of paper with the geometric shapes you saw through the window at the start of the Age? This lock has them all, with the exception of the triangle with the base side up. Since you can't turn the lock upside down, this means the paper you saw was upside down, which in turn means the order you should press the buttons on the lock will be reversed on the paper. So, what you need to do is press the buttons in this order:
Circle, square, triangle (base side down), hexagon, diamond
As soon as you do, the door opens. Enter the trade house and take a look around. You can see a lot of Bahro hearts lying on various surfaces, the code for the door on the table in front of you and several art pieces on the walls. Go to the room on the right. Go past the painting depicting the slaying of a beast and behind a chair you'll find, on top of a table, another piece of paper with a colour sequence on it. This one shows: red blotch, red blotch, green blotch and blue blotch. Make a note of it for future reference.
When you're through with exploring the trade house, head outside and climb down into the water, via the broken wall section on the stands. Enter the gate you've opened by pressing the red button on the other side. This is sort of a maze like structure. Proceed forward and turn left at the end. Continue forward from there to the first intersection and turn right there. Forward again until you reach a big metal circle on the floor.
This is another elevator puzzle. Only this time you'll need the help of the Bahro to get you up to the second floor. Go past the elevator and look at the counterweight on the left. At the end of this corridor there's a pressure plate. The elevator will rise if there's some one standing on the plate. Since you can't stand on the plate and take the elevator up, a Bahro will have to help you.
Draw the symbol found on Yeesha's seventh journal (the one with a circle top left and a curved Bahro figure turned to the right) on the slate and drop it on the plate. This will ensure you have enough time to set the counterweight and get to the elevator, as the Bahro will link in and sing a bit apparently. Turn around, walk to the counterweight and set it as high as it will go. Walk to the elevator and wait for the Bahro to link in. When he does the elevator will take you up.
Note: I've had a lot of emails from people saying that they couldn't get past this puzzle by using the snake symbol. Instead they used the symbol found in Yeesha's seventh journal, the one described above. That's why I opted for presenting that as the correct solution and leaving the one that worked (and still works) for me as a side note.
If you draw the snake symbol (the one from Noloben) on the slate and drop it on the plate, it might work for you as it did for me. But if after you tried it, it doesn't work, then use the symbol in Yeesha's Diary. This will save you a lot of headaches.
On the upper floor, take a look around. There are four corridors, each with a coloured jewel visible from here. Remember the paper with the colour blotches form the trade house? This is where you'll use it. Find the red corridor that hasn't got the elevator controls like the one downstairs (if you were facing the pressure plate downstairs when the elevator came up, it's the corridor you're facing now). Proceed to the end of it and press the red button. At the intersection, turn right (where the other red button can be seen) and go that way. Press the red button. Turn right to the green button and go that way. Press the green button and turn left to the blue button on the wall. Go to it and press the blue button. Wall opens to the outside allowing you to exit through it.
On exiting the maze, you'll find the third pedestal. This one has a symbol that looks like a Y but then the upper lines fork into two Y themselves. Copy it to a piece of paper and use the pedestal to link back to the start (you need to recover the slate). Once at the bubble, pick the slate, exit the bubble, draw the third pedestal symbol, drop the slate and let the Bahro link away with it. Enter the bubble again and use the lit third symbol to link to the third pedestal. Pick the slate once you get there.
Turn to the left and go to the shore. You'll find a shipwreck there along with Esher who delivers yet another speech. He's impressed with you, and talks about the way of the Kresh (the maze you just navigated) and reveals a bit of xenophobia towards the outsiders who tried to rebuild D'ni (DRC hard hat anyone?). When he finishes, turn right and go forward between a large boulder with seaweed on your left and a pond with a boulder on your right. When you arrive at another pond, turn left and go towards the structure you can see in the distance.
This is another weight puzzle. The objective here it to balance the beam in front of you so that two openings that are currently blocked allow you access to a lookout point (if you want, go behind the boulder to the right of the stones and cables and you'll see a door attached to the beam blocking an entrance). I solved this puzzle by trial and error, messing around with the rocks and cables until the beam looked balanced to me.
There are seven rocks (that act like weights) and seven suspended cables that set the rocks up or down. Numbering the rocks 1 through 7, left to right, here's how you need to set them:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
d u d d u u u
where d means down (or on the ground) and u means up (or suspended). When they're set, behind the boulder to the right of the stones and cables, circling to the left and enter the opening. Follow the tunnel all the way up to the lookout point. Once up there go to the window and you'll see a far off island. It's the Keep. On the flag to your left outside of the window there's a symbol that you can't quite see. Time to summon the wind again.
Use the wind symbol, drop the slate and let the Bahro do his thing. Approach the window, pick the slate and copy the symbol on the flag to the slate. This one is hard to describe. It looks like half of a fish with its tail to the right and the head to the left like the other half is under the water. When you have it on the slate, drop it and let the Bahro link away with it to the Keep.
Make your way down and to the third pedestal. Use it to link to the start bubble and from there use the Keep symbol on the rim to link to the far off island. You'll be ejected from the bubble and Esher will deliver his final speech. The speech is about treasures and the Tablet. He'll make his goodbyes, and tell you about the choice you'll have to make. He'll also take the opportunity to slander Yeesha a bit more and tell you that he has unlocked the book in K'veer allowing you to link to Myst and bring the Tablet to him.
When the speech ends, take a moment to save the game by taking a picture (this is in case you want to see the alternate endings). After the save is done, enter the bubble and touch the slate. The final clamp is released and you're automatically linked to K'veer.
Pick the Tablet by clicking on it and walk out of the bubble. If you approach Yeesha with it she'll open her arms to receive the slate. Before you give it to her think about all that you've read, seen and listened throughout the game.
You know that whoever holds the Tablet, commands the Bahro. You also know that the poor Bahro have been slaves for a long time. Don't you think it's time they took command of their own destiny? Yeesha told you not to give the Tablet to her, as she wouldn't be able to hold it. Esher craves the power the Tablet holds and if you've been listening to him, you know that is not the kind of person you should give the Tablet too. So, what to do? There's a third option. You can drop the Tablet and let the Bahro take it. That way, the Tablet will be theirs and their slavery will come to an end.
Drop the Tablet and step away from it. The Bahro will link in and take it. Then he'll take you. You'll see Yeesha fall on her knees and deliver a most emotion filled speech. Three Bahro will link in.
After a bit, you'll be linked to Releeshan and witness the reunion of Yeesha with her very old father, Atrus. Listen to their reunion and witness all that goes on. Atrus talks about hope, a new beginning and a new D'ni. A very happy note on which to end the game and the Myst journey.
Another character links in and you'll see Esher getting his just dessert. He'll cuss up a storm at you, Yeesha and everyone. Yeesha delivers him to the Bahro to do as they wish with him.
Yeesha will then deliver her final speech, also on a note of hope. A truly inspiring speech. Watch her walk away with her father, the Bahro spread his wings and take flight and enjoy the view of Releeshan: absolutely stunning and beautiful. Only wish there were more Myst titles so that we could explore it.
Roll on credits with Releeshan as a backdrop. After that, the game ends.
There are three alternate endings to the game:
First alternate ending: give the Tablet to Yeesha - Approach Yeesha and give her the Tablet. She won't be able to hold it and it will fall between her hands. She will then look crestfallen and dejected and walk way without saying a word to you. After a bit she'll link out.
If you then leave this chamber via the exit under the stair to your left, you'll be able to reach the room in which the game began, by following the corridor and the stairs up. Once there, use the Myst book to link to Myst Age. Make your way to the Library. The Age is in disrepair and decaying all around you. At the Library you'll meet Esher and he'll say how you made the wrong choice after all he helped you with and that you are now trapped here. He'll link out and leave you in Myst, where there is nothing to do...
Second alternate ending: give the Tablet to Esher - Go past Yeesha and leave this chamber via the exit under the stair to your left. Continue up the stairs to the room where the game started. Use the Myst book to link to Myst Age. Make your way to the Library. As with the other ending, the Age is in disrepair and decaying all around you.
Enter the Library and place the Tablet in the metal support you find there. Esher will link in and prove how evil and mad he is. He'll insult you, show his full arrogance and deliver a very long speech about what he'll do with the power the Tablet gives him. He'll even cackle a few times and throw in a couple of giggles. As you can see, he's clearly a few cards short of a full deck. When the speech ends, you'll find that you are trapped... Myst island is your End, forever.
Third alternate ending: leave the Tablet alone - Exit the keep without picking the Tablet and make your way to the room where the game started, via the exit under the stairway to the left. Once you're there, use the Myst book to link to Myst Age and make your way to the Library. Esher will be there waiting for you and once more throw a tantrum because you didn't choose to give the Tablet to him. Afterwards, he'll leave and you'll be trapped in Myst forever.
Edited from original by Orlando Soares
Related: Official Prima strategy guide (PDF), via Internet Archive