Atrus
From MYSTlore
Atrus (Atrus[?]; born 9411 DE (1756 AD)) is son to Gehn, and grandson to Ti'ana (the first human to meet the D'ni) and therefore descendant of both human and D'ni ancestries. Together with Catherine, whom he met on Riven, he became the parent of two sons, Sirrus and Achenar, as well as a daughter, Yeesha.
Atrus proved to be one of the most influential and important figures of post-D'ni history and essential in their refoundation. One of the most prolific writers and inventors, he liked to explore the secrets of the Art and the worlds he linked to. There seemed to be no limit to Atrus' genius since he was able to build singlehandedly whole structures, machines and devices of exotic technology, a trait which he passed to his sons.
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[edit] Biography
When Atrus was born, his mother Keta died. His father Gehn, left the infant to his mother, Anna and left to study the lost civilization of the D'ni.
Atrus was raised in the Cleft by Anna and lived by trading with traders that passed by the cleft. As a child he showed many of the traits he would as an adult: curiosity, a fondness for projects and working with his hands. Atrus had a pet cat named Pahket, which he renamed Flame. Flame died after rolling in toxic plants growing near the Cleft and then licking her fur but Atrus responded with a stoic response to her loss. He grew up listening to stories from the fallen D'ni empire narrated by Anna. Atrus also attempted to construct a battery powered by a fissure of the Volcano, but the experiment resulted in an explosion.
When he was fourteen Gehn returned and took him to D'ni, promising to Anna that he would return him in "three months". There Atrus saw finally saw the places he knew from the stories of Anna. Together they went to a library of D'ni and found Kortee'nea so that Gehn could teach Atrus to Write; he also intended to indoctrinate him into his vision of D'ni's future: gods ruling over their Written creations. However Gehn did not return Atrus back as he promised, and they lived together in K'veer, along with Gehn's mute servant, Rijus, learning D'ni language, studying the Art, and partially restore the damage that occured during the Fall. Gehn also, reveals to Atrus that his grandmother was indeed that 'Ti'ana' of the history. Atrus' feelings for Anna are wounded for keeping this fact from him.
Atrus perhaps met his first "friends" in Age 37, an Age written by his father, where Gehn ruled as their god. Gehn presented himself there, however Atrus started to befriend the natives, Koena, Salar and others. Gehn and Atrus found out that the natives revered a geological-weather phenomenon known as the Whiteness. Gehn, in order to be the only entity to be revered in the Age, made some corrections to the book and made the phenomenon disappear. Like all Gehn's ages, this one eventually became very unstable.
Atrus eventually wrote his first Age which he named Inception, which Gehn did not consider it worthy for a name or a number. However Gehn honored his son's first creation by initiating a Korfah V'ja ceremony to be held in Age 37. However during the ceremony, a great storm and earthquake occurred, caused by Gehn's alterations, and the two "gods" link back to D'ni.
Atrus played with Gehn's feelings about being gods, and pleaded him to do something to save the world. Gehn then made many deletions from Age Thirty-seven's descriptive book. When Atrus linked back, he realized it was a new age that was very much like Age Thirty-seven before Gehn arrived and that the people of the original Thirty-seventh Age remained sealed to their doom. Then Atrus came to doubt that Gehn's explanation of the Art was correct and that Ages existed before a Link was made.
After having a large argument with Gehn, Gehn starts criticizing Inception and deleting words from the book, ruining it. When Atrus asks him a chance to fix the link of the Age 37, and about whether a Writer is indeed a creator or just describes an already existing Age, Gehn maddened throws the book in the fire destroying any hopes about linking back for ever.
The next night, Atrus decided that Gehn was insane and attempted to flee to the Cleft. While his father is intoxicated and sleeping, he steals his book of maps and notes that Gehn is constantly referring to; they contain directions to return to the Surface, but was caught in the tunnels by Rijus and imprisoned in the basement of K'veer with sealed exits. Atrus attempted to break a way out with a pickage, but this resulted in a cave-in which further blocked his exits.
His only way out, was a book to the Age 5 of Gehn. When linking to Riven he nearly drowned, but was safely rescued by a native named Erlar. Erlar brought him to the village where he met Katran (Catherine) and her cousins. He and Catherine fell in love and he decided to repair the flaws in Riven before living with her on (what he thought to be) her Age of Myst. The two of them decided that it would be best to trap Gehn on Riven in order to prevent more suffering under the rule of his pen. While attempting to trap Gehn on Riven by destroying the last Linking Book as he used it, he was recaptured. With the aid of Catherine and the appearance of the mysterious Star Fissure he succeeded in trapping Gehn and escaping to Myst. It was to his amazement that he discovered Anna had been watching over him all along.
[edit] Myst
Atrus spent the next 30 years writing Ages and exploring them, building structures and aiding the people he met. He married Catherine and had two sons, Sirrus and Achenar whom he took along in his explorations. Atrus showed a wholly different attitude towards his Ages than his father, since he communicated with their people and even helped them. He attempted to expand the civilization of The Rocks by writing a ship, and afterwards by building a beacon. Most significantly, he helped the inhabitants of Mechanical to thwart an attack by the Black Ship Pirates. Also he sympathized with the people of Pran who were ravaged by the Chochtic.
He continued to dream of restoring D'ni someday, but was unwilling to risk even the slightest possibility of giving Gehn access to Myst. It was to ensure that Gehn was indeed trapped that he experimented with remote viewing of Ages on first Everdunes then Rime. In an attempt to educate his sons the Art, he created the Lesson ages and befriended Saavedro of Narayan to educate the boys.
But he had given his sons too much freedom and without his knowledge they grew mad with visions of riches and power, sprung forth by the endless possibilities of the books. They declared themselves kings of his Ages, ruling and destroying their people. They tricked Catherine into going to Riven, then Atrus to K'veer, taking a page from his Myst book to trap him. There, Atrus discovered that Riven had entered its final days and devoted himself to keeping the Age stable enough so he could one day make the trip to rescue Catherine. He was rescued by the Stranger, whom he sent to Riven to trap Gehn in a Prison Age and find Catherine. This was accomplished, and Atrus and Catherine were reunited.
[edit] Later Years
At last Atrus could search for survivors of the Fall of D'ni and rebuild the cavern. During this time the lost link to Terahnee was discovered, and although Atrus originally planned to settle the survivors here instead, they soon learned of the evils hidden behind Terahnee's surface appearance. After the cataclysmic plague had receded, Atrus gave the people of Terahnee some guidance and laws, but with the D'ni returned to the cavern, the two Ages separate once more.
Deciding the cavern should not be rebuilt, he wrote an Age, Releeshahn, for the survivors, and dwelt himself in Tomahna with Catherine and their new daughter Yeesha. Although he had been skeptical about prophecies at first, he eventually came to believe in Yeesha's future destiny, which she would go out into the desert to find, leaving him and Catherine alone in Tomahna.
Some time later, after Catherine's death, Atrus reflected on how much he had lost throughout his life and abandoned Tomahna for Releeshahn. He would be there to see Yeesha return as the Grower, her burden lifted.
The last person known to have met him was Dr. Watson, in 2005 AD (9661 DE), in Releeshahn.
[edit] Writings
- Mechanical Journal
- Selenitic Journal
- Channelwood Journal
- Stoneship Journal
- Spire Journal
- Haven Journal
- Rime Journal
- Journal in Rime
- Riven Journal
- Releeshahn Journal
- Atrus' Prayer
Atrus family tree
| Gehn senior | ∞ | (unknown) | Edit this box More detail ➡ |
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| Kahlis | ∞ | Tasera | ||||
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| Aitrus | ∞ | Ti'ana (Anna) | ||||
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| Gehn | ∞ | Keta (Leira) | ||||
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| Atrus | ∞ | Katran (Catherine) | ||||
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| Achenar | Sirrus | Yeesha | ||||
[edit] Background
The name Atrus is believed to be influenced from the mythological name Atreus.
Atrus is portrayed in the Myst series by Rand Miller. Atrus is certainly the most prominently featured person in the various Myst games and novels and the basic protagonist of the saga (perhaps second to the Stranger). The Stranger meets Atrus in person at the end of Myst, the afterwards in all intros and epilogues of the subsequent games.
Atrus has yet to appear in Uru Live.
[edit] Appearances
[edit] Featured
- Book of Atrus
- Myst
- Riven
- Book of D'ni
- Myst III: Exile
- Myst IV: Revelation
- Uru: Ages Beyond Myst
- Myst V: End of Ages