Serenia
From MYSTlore
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|---|---|
| Serenia | |
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Written by Catherine | |
| before 9438 DE (1783 AD) | |
| Serenia's ecosystem | |
| Connected places | Tomahna, Dream |
| Journal | Serenia Journal |
| Link-in points | Cave, memory chambers |
Serenia is the one of the last Ages written by Catherine. Once Ti'ana died, Catherine gave up writing any more Ages.
Contents |
[edit] History
According to the Serenian legend, many lifetimes ago, a child from the village contracted a fever and died. His parents buried him under a waterfall, and built a balloon to take him there. Once they landed, they set him down beside a giant flower and slept. All night the mother’s tears never stopped flowing. Eventually they sank through the ground and bathed the flower’s roots.
Moved by the tears, the flower told the parents to carry their child into her pistil to preserve his memories so they could visit him whenever they wished. Then the flower passed one of the tears back through the roots, turning it into a container to hold memories, and the father dove underwater to collect it. And that is how the Memory Chamber (actually a fungus) first displayed her power to the Serenians.
Atrus and Catherine, as well as little Sirrus and Achenar had befriended the Serenian Protectors, but they did not keep up. In 9462 DE the brothers were in Serenia while plotting how to trap Atrus and steal his memories until a fight foiled their plans.
In 9478 DE the couple started to visit Serenia again after many years. Atrus brought Yeesha to Serenia when young in order to educate her about the Art. Yeesha spent some time with the Serenians and learned much about their customs and history.
In December 2001 (Leevobro 9657) a team of Canadian archaeologists linked to Serenia. It is unknown if they were affiliated with the DRC. The Protectors, still alive and well, shared oral histories concerning their fungal flower, explaining that it was put to service some 2,000 years before Atrus or his family members visited.[1]
[edit] Geography
Like all of Catherine's works with the Art, this Age looks like it was written based on a dream, and doesn't quite feel like any age written by Atrus, Gehn or any other D'ni. Upon entering, one finds himself inside a cave, from where a labyrinthine path guides the traveler through a forest of tree-shaped rocks. Other features of this area include spore-producing willow-like trees, geysers of soap bubbles and flowers that drop a kind of incandescent sap. The traveler can also find some clearings dedicated to the elemental spirits that reside there: the fire spirit (clearings surrounded by ever-burning rocks), the water spirit (circular pools of water) and the air spirit (clearings circled by stones). Also, one will find mechanisms that are related to the water flow through this part of the Age.
Beyond the stone forest there is a courtyard where Serenian butterflies keep flying around, like some shiny fairies, being regularly fed by one of the Protectors. Here it is also possible to find the Dream Room, where the Protectors dream to get in contact with the deceased Ancestors of the village. Through the courtyard there is a series of steps that lead to the Memory Chamber, where the memory globes which already are filled with the memories of the Ancestors are stored. Here is the place where a "non-Protector" person who needs to dream is taken. Across the Memory Chamber there is another, old and decayed Memory Chamber, not used anymore because once a Memory Chamber starts to die, its interior becomes poisonous to living beings. The last remarkable feature of the age is the gigantic statue of the face of a boy, which contains the Life Stone inside it. On top of the boy's face, there is a tube, which the Protectors blow to call for transportation (or help) from a village across the water, for Serenia is an island where only the Protectors are allowed to stay.
Serenia is more than meets the eye, for there is another part of the Age which has no physical embodiment: Dream, a place where one can go to seek help from the Ancestors.
[edit] Background
Serenia is often considered to introduce exceptional and unique elements in the D'niverse which have been described as "New Age". In Serenia, the player is introduced in supernatural entities, visions and spirit guides. The Serenian Journey Cloth reminds of palm reading.
Of course supernatural elements already exist in the D'niverse, such as the linking books, or the D'ni Prophets, however these belong to a different kind of fantasy.
[edit] Appearances
References
- ↑ Prima's Official Guide to Myst IV: Revelation