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CAVERN BASICS SEMINAR
PART ONE
[a class for new explorers in MOUL, created by Inanna of Myss Terrie's bevin]
INTRODUCTION
The CAVERN BASICS SEMINAR is in two parts. In the first hour we will cover how things work within the Cavern. In the second hour we will tackle technical issues that affect computer performance.
AGES and INSTANCES
We refer to our individual ages as INSTANCES. We all have instances of each age, of our bevin, and of the city. There may be subtle differences between instances. When you explore one of the prime ages with another explorer, each of you is on a separate journey even though you are working together in the same instance. The journey cloths mark the progress of each explorer separately.
Some linking books, both in the bevin and in Relto, are BEVIN-INSTANCED – only used by bevin members. On Relto you will have books that can be shared with guests just by raising the top tab. Your CITY BOOK and BEVIN book are bevin-instanced. Your CLEFT book can not be shared with anyone.
LINKING BOOKS and LINKING STONES
A LINK BOOK has an opening page which marks the link in spot for that age. Some books get additional pages as you explore.
In the Cleft and the subsequent prime ages, you will be searching for JOURNEY CLOTHS. The cloths mark your progress through each age. The last cloth touched is active. If you open the book
A LINK STONE is created by the Bahro. The stone is stationary but may add a page to your CITY book. The Bahro are notorious for moving the stones around, so don’t be surprised that a stone that was there yesterday is not there today.
THE ICONS
Move your cursor to the bottom of the screen to bring up icons for RELTO, the KI, the WRENCH, and the LOGOUT icon. From this last icon you can leave URU or change to a different avatar.
THE KI
You get your KI by going to your bookshelf and opening the book on the far left. This links to your BEVIN. Once in the bevin go to the LINKING ROOM and link out through the book on the far left. This will take you to GAHREESEN. Follow the signs to the ki dispenser to get your ki.
The ki has two interface screens – FULL and MINI. The top right button toggles the two views. On the left of your screen is a list with AGE PLAYERS – for those in the age with you, BUDDIES – people you meet along the way, and NEIGHBORS – those who share the same bevin with you. AGE PLAYERS can only be contacted while you are in the same age with them. Adding them to the BUDDIES list allows you to type chat to them from anywhere inside URU. Your NEIGHBORS are also available from any location. The >name< indicates that the person is in range for voice chat if you have a microphone enabled.
There is an EYE icon and a BOOK icon in the center of the ki. The EYE operates a CAMERA and the BOOK opens a JOURNAL ENTRY page. The middle right button MUTES the sound and bottom right button MOVES the ki around the screen. The bottom center button CLOSES the ki.
In the full screen you will see a number of icons, lists and functions. Your bevin membership and ID # are listed here. The time displayed is the same for all in the Cavern and is called KI TIME or KT. Some may refer to the time as CT for cavern time, but this is easily confused with Central Time and is not encouraged.
To the left of center is a box which holds the name of the explorer you are sending to. Under that box are three icons – a KEYBOARD, a SHIRT, and GEARS.
The keyboard is the FOLDER icon. Clicking a folder will show all the entries in that folder. The INCOMING folder contains everything that is sent to your ki. When you receive anything your Ki will flash.
Keep in mind that the ki can only hold 15 ENTRIES, pics and journal, at once, spread across all the various folders. Only the incoming folder holds more, but as soon as you move something from incoming to another folder, it adds to the 15 limit.
If you wish to delete a picture, journal entry, or message, open it and click the boxed dot to the right. Only messages from DRC can not be deleted.
The shirt is the PLAYER icon with lists of AGE PLAYERS, BUDDIES, and NEIGHBORS. There is an IGNORE list if you do not wish to see chat from certain people. To see all your neighbors, open the PLAYER icon and then the NEIGHBORS list. You will see those online and their current locations. Those who are offline are listed alphabetically by name with their KI ID numbers.
To add someone to your BUDDY list find the name among the age players and click the triangle at the BUDDY list. If the person is not present in the age with you, then type in the KI ID# and the person will be added.
The RECENT list contains the name of every explorer you have encountered since your avvie last logged on. This is valuable if you find that you need to communicate with someone but did not note the KI ID# at the time.
You can move names to the folders as you wish, except for NEIGHBORS. Only those who have joined your bevin can appear in that list.
The GEARS icon has settings for chat size and fade time, as well as information about the number of people in your bevin.
AVATARS
When you first entered URU you created an avatar – sometimes called an avvie. You chose a name, gender and appearance. The gender and the name are linked to an identification number, and can NOT be changed except by deleting the avvie and starting over. Every other aspect of your appearance can be changed at any time by going into the wardrobe in your Relto hut. Keep in mind that the people you see are avatars and are limited to what is in the wardrobe. However, men may play as women and women as men. Older players may appear as young hotties, and the very young will seem to be adults.
I use the term MC for “mouse controller” to describe the surface self. Rather than trying to figure out who is who in real life (RL), I suggest that you treat all as the individuals they appear to be.
AVATAR EMOTES
Many of you have already found a list of these. One such list is posted on the imager at Myss Terrie’s bevin, as well as in several other bevins and online. Emote commands begin with a / and even as your avvie performs the requested action the text of the action appears in the chat.
You can create a more personal emote by typing /me does something. The /me will be translated to your name and the message is in third person. If you would like to try this now type /me is attending a class.
To leave a message for others while you appear to be snoozing peacefully type /afk. Others will a message saying that you have returned to the surface.
If you want to perform an action through a keyboard shortcut and without any typed text, press Control and 1-7.
• Ctrl + 1 – wave
• Ctrl + 2 – laugh
• Ctrl + 3 – clap
• Ctrl + 4 – dance
• Ctrl + 5 – talk
• Ctrl + 6 – sneeze
• Ctrl + 7 – sit
RELTO
No one can come to Relto without a direct INVITATION from you. The invitation is made by opening the Relto book and clicking the left SHARE page. While in 3rd person POV you will see the book icon. Put the icon on your guest as soon as you can see your guest’s name and click. Give your guest time to reply to the invitation.
In front of the hut is a pillar with a linking book to the CLEFT, which is where your exploration begins. Also outside is an empty circular stone structure that looks like a fire pit. It is called the STACK; over time sections of rock rings are added that mark your progress. As more things are available for Relto you can decide which ones you want to display, further customizing your Relto’s appearance.
Inside the hut you have the wardrobe and two book shelves. For the moment we will concern ourselves with the shelf to the left of the wardrobe. Over time books will be added to the shelves as more areas open for exploration. For most of the ages you visit a book appears on the shelf or a page is added to a book already there. Any page with a folded corner can be turned to reveal other pages.
When you first come to Relto there is only one book on the shelf. It is on the top shelf, far left and is your BEVIN LINK BOOK. In the bevin you find instructions to use the ki, as well as a link to the GREAT ZERO ANTECHAMBER where you can update your ki to receive MARKERS.
Over time, as you visit ages most will appear as link books on your Relto bookshelf. For the moment we have a lot of shelf space but it will fill up over time.
BEVIN
Every new explorer is assigned to a DRC BEVIN. You may be alone or with others. The neighbors online are in the bottom section of the ki list to the left of the screen.
The bevin has several areas. The COURTYARD is where you linked in and has a fountain – in which you may sit, splash, dance and jump. There is an imager to the left of the telescope where bevin members post information and pictures. The imager to right contains a list of recent bevin visitors.
Below the courtyard is the WATER GARDEN, with its beautiful coloured lights. Between the base of the stairs and the water garden is the Ayoheek table. Commonly called HEEK, this is a D’ni variant of rock-paper-scissors. In Heek pen beats book, book beats bug, bug beats pen. To play the game two or more players must be seated at the table. Heek is a great way to pass the time here.
Cross the garden to the back stairs to reach the UPPER COURTYARD. There are small variations in the bevins. Some have oriental lanterns. Some have a giant D’ni clock. Some have both lanterns and clocks. Some have no decorations at all.
To the left of the clock the first door leads to the CLASSROOM. Next to the classroom is the EGG ROOM, meant for quiet contemplation of the Great Seed. Each alcove can be closed and the door is timed to open on its own after 5 minutes.
Across the upper courtyard is the LINKING ROOM, also known as the BOOK ROOM. In the center of this room is the bevin’s link to the NEXUS. On the far left is the link book to GAHREESEN. On the far right is a link book to the GREAT ZERO ANTECHAMBER. At the back center is the bevin’s instance of one of the two garden ages, TSOGAL and DELIN. And in the front center is a linking stone to the bevin’s instance of THE CITY.
Leaving the linking room through the opposite door and walking along the upper walkway you come to a large room, variously called THE THEATRE, THE AUDITORIUM, or THE COMMUNITY ROOM.
UPDATING YOUR KI
The instructions for the ki are in a NOTEBOOK on the big desk in the classroom. Use the far right book to reach the GREAT ZERO ANTECHAMBER, where you will find another notebook and another ki machine. Upon putting the ki into the machine, the ki will be upgraded to receive the first 15 markers.
MARKERS
The upgrade will give you 15 dull GREEN lights around the left rim and a white circle to the left of center. To COLLECT a marker you need to be close enough to it for the white circle to flash red. You will also hear a sound. Click the red circle and one of the rim lights will turn bright green. When you have collected the first 15 markers return to the antechamber and upload them into the machine, which will add a link into Nexus.
From the GREAT ZERO you will receive 15 dull RED lights along the rim. Any marker you collected on the first run can not be collected again.
For more information about green/red markers and subsequent calibration markers, visit
http://www.uruobsession.com
MARKER GAMES
You may be invited to take part in an explorer-created marker game or you can create such a game for yourself and your friends. The instructions are in the notebook in the bevin classroom.
BAHRO CAVES
The caves are usually behind a large locked door. To get to the cave you have to get the door opened. Not every age accesses the Bahro cave in the same way.
In the PRIME AGES you must find all seven journey cloths before the door will open. In the two Bevin GARDEN AGES it takes a team of eight working together to unlock the door. In other ages you must step through the light symbol or sparkly portal for transport.
You will find yourself inside a large cave standing on a ledge. In the PRIME AGES you will hear Yeesha speak and see a pillar standing at the edge. Touch the hand symbol on the wall, the pillar will crumble to sparks.
In many ages you will see a rotating ring of stone. Again, touch the symbol on the wall to collect the totem, which will crumble and be added to the STACK on Relto.
Your Relto linking book does NOT work inside a Bahro cave. To leave the cave jump through the hole in the center and you will be returned to Relto.
BAHRO TOTEMS
These are the PILLARS and STONE CIRCLES that you find in the bahro caves. Click the symbol on the wall. The totem will crumble to sparks after which you jump back to Relto. Keep in mind that your Relto book will NOT work inside a bahro cave.
THE NEXUS
The NEXUS is a transportation hub, activated b. You will see a screen of links. At the very top under the BIG BUTTON is the name of your BEVIN.
You have CITY LOCATIONS and a link for the Ferry Terminal. Upon visiting the city you will find more Nexus machines in other areas. Putting your ki into the machines will add those links to the City Locations links in Nexus.
The PRIVATE LINKS are those sent to you by other explorers, to their bevins and instances of ages. The PUBLIC LINKS will show you all the bevins that you can visit. Keep in mind that the Nexus holds only a fixed number of entries at a time and bevins fall off the list all the time. To visit a bevin not currently displayed you will have to find a member of that bevin to either send you an invitation or open the bevin by putting it back on the list. The PERSONAL LINKS will take you to all your age-instanced invites.
PODS and PORTALS
The four POD AGES have linking books in the CITY MUSEUM. After you visit each pod the book will be added to your Relto shelf. At specific intervals a PORTAL opens in the pod. As you walk through the portal you are transported to a bahro cave. Touch the symbol on the wall to collect the bahro totem.
To learn more about when the portals will appear in each pod, visit
http://www.uru-reallife.com/dnidatetime/release5/map.html
RELTO PAGES
These are single sheets of paper that will enhance your Relto. You click on the page to see what it is, then click it again to add it to your Relto book. Should you desire change a collected feature, open the Relto book and flip through until you find the page you wish to change. If it is bright green it is ON; dark green is OFF. Click the page to toggle between ON and OFF. You will only see the change when you link out and later back to Relto.
PERSONAL ITEMS
In addition to homey touches for your Relto, you will find clothing, additional music, and feathers in various ages. To acquire clothing just click on it when the cursor fills in. You will then be wearing the item. If it is not your style, you can take it off in the wardrobe and leave it there.
Please type /look in pocket. At present you will probably only find lint. When you enter any age or pod, type /get feather. If there is a feather present you will read that it has been put in your pocket. Feathers must be gathered in the correct order and in the correct amounts.
And no, I have no idea why we get feathers. Type /get teacher. I suppose there are times when the silly wave passes through the DRC offices. If you type /fly you will see what I mean.
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