Linking book
From MYSTlore
Linking books are books with linking panels that can be used to create secondary links to Ages. D'ni society preferred to use them instead of descriptive books as use over a prolonged period of time could damage the book. They were also much smaller than descriptive books which made them more portable, and multiple linking books could exist for one descriptive book. When changes were made to a descriptive book, its linking books would shift to link to the altered Age, and upon the destruction of a descriptive book, its linking books ceased to work.
[edit] Mechanics
The term seems to refer to two forms of book which were created in slightly different ways. Gehn, confused as he was about D'ni technology, mixed up several features of these books, although it seems that Atrus worked out how to create both types.
The first kind could only link to the place in which they were written. The link was formed by a description being written into the book about the area surrounding the writer. If the area changed to a significant degree after that point the book would cease functioning. The writer needed no knowledge of the contents of the descriptive book to write these links. Books such as these were used to create links to specific points in an Age as the D'ni had very little control over the linking location of descriptive books.
The second kind involved taking key phrases from the descriptive book and transfering them into the linking book. This created a secondary link to the same location as the descriptive book and did not require the writer to enter the Age first. These books were used by the Guild of Maintainers to enter an Age for the first time in their Maintainer suits as the descriptive book did not fit (see the Book of D'ni). Atrus also used this form of linking book for Spire and Haven (the Prison Ages) as he states in his journal that the linking books were created outside the ages themselves.
A specialized type of linking book was used to transport heavy loads from harvest Ages.
In the Book of Atrus, Gehn tells Atrus that linking books must contain phrases from the target Age's descriptive book and be written at the intended link-in point. In fact, it is not necessary that both these conditions be fulfilled.[1]