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Scribe has complied a group of hints and helpers for Myst™ and Riven™ players who may be struggling, a sort of Frequently Asked Questions guide for those who would use it. If you find these hints helpful at all, or perhaps not so much, please feel free to drop Scribe a line at scribe@rivenguild.com. He will be happy to answer any questions or comments you may have.

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Riven/Myst Hints

Myst Hints

2. 1. Can't Figure out where to go first? 
The Library
5. The Observatory
6. The Spaceship
7. The Clock Tower
8. The Cabin
9. The Selenitic Age
10. The Stoneship Age
11. The Mechanical Age
12. The Channelwood Age

Riven Hints

2. 1. Can't figure out what to do first?
The Temple Island
5. The Jungle Island
6. The Book Assembly Island
7. The Survey Island
8. The Rebel Moiety Age
9. Activating the Fire-Marbles
10. The 233rd Age
11. The Prison Island

Myst

Myst island is setup in a rather laid back way, There is no certain area you must go to first or strict rules to follow in this respect. You basically have free range of the island, its different aspects, and its secrets. I would suggest that first time players walk around and get a good idea of where everything is and how to get there before you really start in with the game play. This way, you'll have a much better perspective on what you're doing, and hopefully, won't get as frustrated when you get confused.

Bearing that in mind, you're ready to play. Your first big hint as to what you have to do in Myst is the note that is sitting near the steps up from the dock to the Observatory and Library. Reading it, it says: Catherine,

You do just that to get the message. To do it, simply walk around the island and count all the Marker Switches, those triangular pillars with the up/down handles on the top, and go back to the small room under the hill. To get there, simply turn left from the position you first start the game at on the dock and depress the blue paneling. You'll find a set of stairs that leads down to an ante-chamber which has a small podium in the center. That is the imager. To input the number of Marker Switches walk up to the podium and turn around 180 degrees so that you are facing the stairs again. You will see a small piece of paper with a notation scripted on it. In the upper-left hand corner of the panel you'll see a little red square. Push it to reveal the controls for the holo-imager. Then simply enter the number of Marker Switches and the message will be downloaded into the podium. Walk back over and press the center yellow button to begin the playback. What you do after that is up to you….

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2. The Library

The Library is probably the most crucial part of Myst. In a way it is the center of the action, all major decisions are made here, as well as housing the red and blue books and giving you access to the Tower. As you enter the Library you will see several things. A map of Myst Island, a book case, two pictures (one of a lowered book case and another of an open doorway) a fire place, and one red and one blue books. I suggest you go to the bookcase first before anything else and read everything that is accessible (still readable). After you have done this you can start exploring Myst.

To begin using the Tower as your guide go to the Map. If all the icons around the island (Starship, dock, Clock Tower, etc) appear then you are ready to go. If not, then go around and turn all the Marker Switches that aren't on to the 'ON' position. After this is done you will be able to rotate the Tower in the direction of the icon on the screen that represents that part of the island. To rotate the tower grab hold of the blinking round cursor for the tower and hold down on the mouse key until you can see the sweeping arm move across the screen. When it reaches certain points on the island the arm will hesitate, and if you release the mouse button there, the tower will be pointed in that direction.

To go up into the Tower click on the picture of the lowered bookcase and ascend the steps that will appear. Go back down the tunnel to the elevator and take it to the top of the Tower. From there you have two choices, a picture of a book (the slotted window that points you in the direction of that linking book) and a key on the other side of the room (which gives you the access key code to get to that book). To leave again go back to the Library and click on the picture of the open doorway. From there you should be able to find your way to whichever linking book you're looking for.

The red and blue books are actually traps set by Atrus to capture greedy explorers. They hold Sirrus in the red book and Achenar in the blue book… Atrus' sons. As you go around the game and collect the pages for the respective books (red pages for the red book and blue pages for the blue book) and input them in the correct book the image of that son will get clearer and he will be able to see you better as you will be able to see him better.

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3. The Observatory

The Observatory is located to the immediate west of Library. This is one of the trickier puzzles to solve, so if you don't pick up on ALL you have to do right away don't be discouraged.

First, rotate the Tower, via the Map, to the mast of the sunken ship at the dock. Then go back to the Tower and check the key. There will be three dates and times there of certain times in history or future. Write down these times and then go to the observatory. When you get there turn the light switch off and sit down in the chair in the center of the planetarium. Pulling down the overhead display will give you the dates and times you need to input. When you have put one of the date/times you got from the Tower into the computer a constellation will be displayed on the screen. If you sketch this constellation out, as well as the others, and go back to the Library, to the blue book on the top shelf you should be able to compare it to the pictures listed in the back.

Remembering or writing down the pictures you get, go out to the water fountain in the center of the island, directly north of the Library. There you will find these and the other images posted on pillars. Enter the sequence of images you got from the constellation and wait. If you did it right you should hear the sound of the sunken ship rising out of the water. You can now go aboard and to the Stoneship Age.

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The Spaceship is one of the most prominent features of Myst Island. It is also, unfortunately, one of the hardest things to accomplish. At least, it was for me.

First off, get the key access in the Tower for the Spaceship. This will be in volts, but it'll be a double digit number, so write it down or memorize it. Next go to the tool-shed-like place a little ways north of the Library. Descending down the stairs you'll come to a door, behind which is a long row of power coil generators and a control board that activates them. Entering the number you of volts of your key code, what the needles rise. When the voltage is correct exist the tool-shed, but turn around so that you are facing the entrance. You will see a little path to the upper right hand side of your screen. Follow that path until you reach a power cabling tower. Climb the tower and through the switch to reset the breakers.

Following the path back to the Spaceship, you will see another cabling tower a little ways off the cement path that originates at the Library and leads to the Spaceship. Go reset that breaker too.

Now you're ready to brave the Spaceship. When you get there, merely touch the door and it will open. Inside you'll find a piano and a control switchbox. In order to activate the Spaceship, you must enter the correct strings of a harmony from the piano. The fingering to the piano is listed in the back of the crocked blue book on the middle shelf of the Library bookcase. If you draw this fingering it will be easier to understand. Take that back to the Spaceship piano and play out the fingering. Now go to the controls and move the slide bars up and down until you have the right cord for each note. When you're sure you have it right pull down on the level to reveal the Selenitic Age book.

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The Clock Tower, another noticeable part of Myst is located to the far north, a few meters off shore. To reach it first go to the Tower, rotated to face the Mechanical Gears located to the southwest. Then go get the access key, it will be in the form hours and minutes and another three digit sequence. Take this to the north shore where a box with two dials sits. Turning the little knob will adjust the hours hand on the clock face. Turning the large dial will adjust the minutes hand. Input the time you were given and depress the red button. A path should appear to allow you to walk to the Clock Tower.

Once inside you will see a large gear with many hanging counter weights. Pull the handle down until the number sequence you were given is displayed vertically on the gears. Once it is you will hear the sound of gears being turned and a small gear in front of you will rotate.

Go back to the Mechanical Gears to the southwest and you will find them open and the Mechanical Age linking book.

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The cabin is one of the less prominent places on Myst, but is also very important. First go to the tower and rotate it so that the large tree is visible through the window slot. The key access will be in the form of a three-digit code. Now go back to the cabin and open the safe with that code. Inside you will find a pack of matches, use these to start up the boiler. Once you get the boiler going strong you will hear loud gears turning and the tree outside will be moving slowly upwards. When it gets to the top reverse the wheel and turn off the boiler, the tree will descend and you will able to ride it down into the ground. There you will find the Channelwood Age book.

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The Selenitic Age may very well be the hardest to get to, but it also one of coolest and most interesting. Once you step out of the Spaceship you will see the same cement apron/walkway that was on Myst, but the surrounding land is different. Most of it is desolate, and barren after the catastrophic meteor shower tore the island apart. To the northeast, the path leads first to a small access shed/bunker that is built into the cliff-face. There is another kind of slide bar for its lock. Moving a little ways farther north you'll find the road forks into three directions.

To the far left is an oasis with running water, plants, trees and one of the pages. A small box houses a red button and when pushed that button turns on the microphone that hangs about the pool of water.

Taking the middle fork leads to a suspension bridge over a huge chasm. Another microphone hangs over the pit and the flames from within the chasm are picked up by the mic once it's turned on.

The third fork leads to a huge old clock tower like the one off the north shores of Myst Island. It too has a microphone to pick up its broken sounds. Continuing down this path leads to another fork.

To the left is a decline into a cluster of fluted crystalline structures. Wind blows by and through these pillars, causing a harmonic hum. This hum is picked up by its own microphone when the red button is depressed.

Following the right fork eventually leads to a port hole next to what appears to be a broken dock. As wind rushes over the port hole it creates a howl that is picked up on yet another microphone. Descending the port hole you'll find a tunnel that leads to an island in the middle of the little lake. At the top of this island is a huge radio antenna with a metal compartment that you can open. Inside is a control panel with several buttons. The five buttons that you clicked before are pictured there and you need to enter the correct frequency of each to get the right slide-bar code for the bunker. If you click on a button and rotate the antenna around you will eventually find the right frequency. When the arrow stops blinking and you can hear the sound from the microphones perfectly you have the correct frequency. Then simply click the advance button and finish the pattern.

Taking that sequence back to the shed/bunker, the slide-bar you will find to be much easier than the one that brought you here. Inside you will find a long titanium stairway that leads down. Around a corner you enter a large room with a puffer-fish-shaped mine runner in the center. Inside you find one chair with a control panel. Pushing the foreword button the mine runner will descend into maze. At the end of each interval the panel beeps or trills a different sound at you, indicating which direction you are suppose to go. If you hear a bell, go north. If you hear a bird sound, go west. If you hear a airbrake, go east. If you hear a bell clank go south. The correct maze sequence is: N, W, N, E, E, S, S, W, SW, W, NW, NE, N and SE. At the end of the maze you will exit the mine runner and walk down the hall into a room with a podium in the center and the Myst linking book sitting on it.

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When you arrive at the Stoneship Age you understand why it is called that, it lives up to its name, you're on a 'ship' surrounded by 'stone'. In order to turn the lights on there are several things you need to do. First make sure that the water is pumped out of the lighthouse, by depressing the third button on the pumping station (barrel out in the water toped by umbrella). Then go down the stairs and turn the valve on the chest so that the water leaks out and then close it so that water can't get it. Go back out to the pumping station and pump the water back into the lighthouse. Now go back in and use the key that is chained on the floor to open the chest that has floated to the surface. Inside you'll find a key, use this to open the loft above your head.

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The Mechanical Age is definitely the sleekest of them all. Everything is metal, studded and riveted. Crossing the bridge to the fortress you find yourself at a fork between two rooms. To the left are Sirrus' egotistical, arrogant accouterments, to the right is Achenar's psychopathic room of death. Behind the chairs of each room are secret compartments that house the pages, among other things. Following the hallway around back you find a connecting hallway that leads to a closed elevator. Pushing the button on the wall will let the stairs drop out and you can descend them into another basement room. A control board is sitting in front of a large gearing system. Turning the knobs until they line up and turn red will open the elevator above you. Go back up and into the elevator. Click the up button to take it to the 'attic'. Then click the middle button and step out. A timer will run for five seconds or so and then the door will slam shut and the elevator will descend to the middle area, between the two floors. This allows you to get to the top of the elevator and to the fortress gear controls. Rotating the gears like the holographic imager does in Achenar's room you can turn the fortress 90 degrees. You can then go outside and walk across the bridge to the other islands. On a podium on the other two islands is the code to the Myst book. Take these two parts of the code back to the first island in the south and enter them into the control panel. The stairs will descend and you will see the Myst book.

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The Channelwood Age, unlike the other Ages, is completely devoid of technology of an advanced sort (except for Achenar's holo-imager). You come out in the center of a large complex of wooden walkways, in the distance is a windmill. Walking toward it, you follow a ramp that leads up with a tube running along beside you. Turn on the valve to let water run down the pipe, it powers whatever you have it channeled into. There is also a switch to turn on and off the water flow within the windmill at its crankshaft. Following the pipe back out you channel it into the elevator so that you can go to the next level, into the village. Direct the flow of the water by turning the nozzles to the left or right depending on which way you want to channel the water. Get in the elevator and take it up to the village. Then go around until you reach the inner most lookout hut. In it you'll find a switch that opens the door to the stairway down to the ground level. Go back down and direct the flow to the other elevator to go up to the second story of the village. There you'll find three rooms. The first is Achenar's Play room with wooden masks, candles and a large 'chomping' board in the center. The next room is Achenar's bedroom. In the far corner is a holographic imager with four messages on it, next to it is the blue page. Two are in the language of the Channelwood people. The other is a message from Sirrus to his brother. The other room is Sirrus' bedroom (extremely palatal!). There is stuff everywhere, but the main page is easy enough to find.

Go back down to the ground level and direct the flow of the water out to the far elevator you can't get to. You first must use the telescoping pipe to extend the hydropower across to the elevator. Then go all the way around and pump the water into the hidden bridge activator, then back into the elevator and ride it to the Myst Book.

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Now that you have all the pages in both the red and blue books follow the brothers instruction to open the fire place. I can't tell you what to do from here, but if you pieced together both of the "Marker Switch Vault Access" pages, then you should know how to do what has to be done.

Riven is setup much the same way that Myst is, laid back. You have basically free run of the islands of Riven at first. Later you discover quicker ways to traverse the distances, but at the beginning you simply have to walk around. You start off on the Temple Island, a general central area for the game and a good place to start. The closest things to you right at the start are the Gateroom, the Temple, and the Maglev. The Maglev is your method of transport within the islands of Riven for the most part and are marginally quick. A good place to start is in the Gateroom. It is a pentagonal room with five scarab beetle wall hangings. The icons inside give you a sort of vague impression of what happened on which islands. The Temple gives you a good look into the religious practices of the Rivenese during Gehn's administration. You also get a sneak peak at some of Gehn's haunts. The best place to go from here is the Jungle Island.

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The Temple Island is where you start in the game, located in a regionally central location in the islands of Riven. It is mainly used as an Administrative Center for Gehn to command the Rivenese citizens. The entrances and exits are via: Maglev, Fire-Marble Dome, and cross over bridge from the Book Assembly Island. The Great Dome is located in the center and is the most prominent feature, aside from the Gateroom. It is the powerhouse for the rest of the islands of Riven and powers the Fire-Marble domes. It also houses the only opening to the Star Fissure, a critical feature of beating Riven.

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The Jungle Island is the biggest by far of all the Riven islands. When you first get there via the Maglev you will see sheer rock face little else. There is a small rock tunnel up to your left built out of a cave. Take that until you reach a fork, there is a upper path and lower path. You probably want to take the upper path first, which leads to much more than the lower path. As you climb up you will cross over a wooden bridge and enjoy a stunning view of Riven. Your path turns into a wide logging run and you come to a three branched fork. The right most path leads to a mine car to the Book Assembly Island, the middle leads to the Jungle, and the left most leads to the village. The Jungle is a very important feature in Riven. It houses the Jungle Island Fire-Marble, one of the counting marbles, and a gigantic epitome of the Whark. The Whark totem is actually a hidden elevator which you can enter by opening the Whark's mouth (a small button is sticking out of the top of the right statute at the end of the path) and climbing the stairs. The Fire-Marble is accessible from here, as is the Lookout Tower which Gehn uses to control the iris on the village gallows. You can access another Maglev from the basement level by riding the Whark Elevator downwards.

Heading toward the village you will pass a lookout tower who will alert the villagers to your presence. Farther on is a cave with medieval or early Rivenese drawings in it. As you approach the village you will be walking on a dock made of wood. In the distance is the village and the submarine. The village is built on the cliff face and you ascend ladders to get where your going. When you get to the first hut take the path that leads behind and to the left of it. You will come to a submarine. Pull the handle to rise and lower the submarine. You'll probably want it lowered first. There is little else in this part of the village except the first hut (if you knock on the front door five times a woman glances out and slams the window in your face.

To see the rest of the village go back the way you came on the path until you get to the first fork. Continue descending until you reach a small lagoon where 'sunners' are sunning themselves. Next to the sunners is another of the counting sphere which give you the number and sound of a Rivenese animal. You want to right down which symbol (number) goes with which sound. Keep going down the path until you reach another lookout tower. Descend that ladder down to the second flight where you will find a small dried up pond and another counting sphere. The first flight leads to the submarine which you'll use to see the rest of the village. Get inside it and familiarize yourself with the controls. To your right is a control bar that moves the sub forward, to your middle are two controls. The top on turns the sub around 180 degrees while the second lower on controls which path you take when you come to a fork. There are five different places you can go: The dock, the gallows, the school room and the tower. Go to the tower first, it is the second air bubbles when traversing the track. Go up the ladder to the small room and through up all the paddles to extend the bridges of the other track stops.

A good place to go from here is the school room where you learn the D'ni/Rivenese counting system by playing the hangman game in the left-hand corner of the room. There is also a holo-projector in the center of the room with Gehn's face appearing when you activate it. Around the room are the letters of the D'ni alphabet on the upper walls.

The other area you can go is the gallows, once you've closed the iris. You can ride the trapize up to the second level that runs around the rest of the village. Directly in front of you is the prison cell where a man sits bored. Opening the cell you find he has disappeared. To open the secret passage way turn up the sewer grate in the center of the floor and pull up on hidden handle. This will remove a section of the wall and expose a hidden passage way. This passage leads to a fork which goes first to the left where you'll find a small ledge that opens out onto the ocean. Going backward from here you'll want to turn on all the lights. First illuminate the light at the mouth of the tunnel by grasping and turning the bulb. Now turn around and walk until you can barely see. Now look around until you find a similar looking light. Keep moving back along the tunnel until you get back to the passage entrance and have turned on all the lights. Now go back until you reach the large cement block. Opening this will expose another passageway that will lead to a large ceremonial room. On the far wall is a circle of water suspended vertically, around you are small, swat looking pillars with images of different Rivenese animals on them. If you correctly enter the sequence of animals from the counting spheres you'll open the circle of water and expose the linking book to the Moiety Age.

Once you leave the jail cell you can get back down to the first level and the dock by pushing down a ladder that hangs ready at the end of the surrounding walkway.

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4. The Book Assembly Island

The Book Assembly Island is pretty much self explanatory, it is where Gehn has the books for his Art made. Riding the mine car over you first are spit out at the wood chipper. Climbing down this ladder you will find yourself on the edge of great crater lake. Around the outsides are little except for one lone building standing a few meters from you. As you climb up the walkway to the Boiler Room you notice an indicator on the outside of the door that reads red. Go out and make sure that the valve on the power director is pointed toward the boiler. If it isn't then switch it so that it is. Then come back and go around the walkway until you reach the mechanical controls of the boilers. There you'll find a double pipe that directs the power flow in two directions. To pump the water out of the room first turn the indicator toward the 'off' position and wait until the heat lowers. Than turn the director back toward the tube and through the wheel, opening the vent. This will lower the water out of the boiler. Now turn the director and and switch it to the handle. Throw the handle to lower the floor level to the door's height. Now go back around and open the door. Inside you'll find little except the pipe the water went out. Follow that until you drop out of it on the other side of the crater's lip.

Follow the trail you find until you get to the second level outer doors. There you'll find a port hole that leads down. Beyond it is a ladder you can use to climb up and down to the second level faster. Just make sure that you leave the hatch open. Behind you is a set of double doors. Opening them admits you into a starkly lit room on a scaffolding. Following the scaffolding brings you to a cage on a pulley, this is a frog trap. If you have the power indicator out in the center of the lake turned toward it you can activate the pulley. Open the cage and place a frog pellet in the center. Now drop the cage and wait about 30 or 45 seconds. You'll hear an echoing snap. Haul the cage back up and you'll find a frog inside. This was Gehn's disgusting means for getting the ink he needed to write with. Above you is a ceiling fan, which is probably on. If it is go back to the double doors, ON THE INSIDE, and close them. This will reveal two branches off the scaffolding. One goes to the left and descends to the Fire Marble Dome, the other goes right and runs along the outside of the island. Follow that until you reach a lever with a piece of cable running into it from both directions. Turn it off. Now go back and the ceiling fan should be off. You can climb through the tunnel provided by opening up the ceiling fan's door and climbing up. It runs through the rock face to the inside of Gehn's Riven office and lab.

Inside are many interesting things, including Gehn's journal. Inside is a detailed account of what has happened recently and why he's done what he's done. There is also a five symbol number code written in D'ni. This give you access to the Fire-Marble Domes when you understand the counting system. There are two doors in the room. One leads out to the scaffolding that runs along the inside of the crater. The other goes out back to the Maglev station. You can call the car by touching the blue 'ashtray holder' next to the front door inside the office.

Staying on the inside crater path takes you to an opening in the side of the cliff and a causeway has been erected that leads back to the Great Dome on the Temple Island. However, you need to direct the flow of the steam from the Temple Islands Geo-Thermal Cap to lower the bridge.

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The Survey Island is arranged quite differently from the other Islands. There are three ways to the Survey Island, two Maglev and the Fire-Marble Dome. The upper level is all very pretty and becoming to the eye. Ascending the stairwell outside of the Maglev station you come to the northern most point. Moving south you encounter a lagoon on a plateau, surrounded by whark tusks and crawling with live insects. A group of rock outcroppings are spiking out a head of you down the path. Moving through to the center of the spikes you find a circular hole cut out beneath the walkway, showing you a room lit in red right below you. As you keep moving south you find yourself moving through what appears to be other plateaus on top of the one you're standing on. Up ahead you see a crack in the wall of a cliff face. As you near it you see that it is actually an elevator you can ride up to the third floor.

On the third floor is a suspension bridge that looks out and 'surveys' the rest of Riven. At the end of which is a control panel arranged to look like the five plateaus below you. As you look you realize they look like the four island of Riven you have seen. Pushing one of the buttons, you see that the lagoon water is sucked up and bubbles out on the top of that plateau.

Turning around you can see another area of the third floor on the other side of the wall. Moving through it you come to a little pond, surrounded by a walkway. Directly in front of you is a metal room that is only accessible if one of the buttons on the bridge is depressed. Inside is a holographic imager that displays the topography of that particular island. Also there is a depression where that island's Fire-Marble Dome is located.

It is a good idea to draw out each island as it appears on the five-by-five grid because you're going to need that when you activate the Fire Marbles.

Also in the pond is the Survey Island's Fire Marble Dome.

On the Lower Level, basement, of the Survey Island you find a room lit in red. Through the handle you will find that a golden coffer elevator arises out of the 'water'. Climbing inside you can ride it down to the Survey Islands Subbasement or Even-Lower Level (hehe).

Following the walkway you walk a twisting trail to an antechamber. To the left is a Maglev station, to the front is the Whark Room. (Note: If this is the first time you've been here you'll see one of Gehn's Scribes [like me!] run away and jump in a Maglev). Inside the Whark Room is a raised dais on which sits a rotation chair. Turn the chair around, it reclines and you get a sprawling view of a huge glassed in 'aquarium'. Turn the small levers to your left and right down, drops a viewer. On the left one is a double button. The left on gives you a camera view of Catherine's Cell on the Prison Island. The right is a camera view of the rotating camera in the middle of the village on the Jungle Island. On the second viewer is a five button rotator that turns on and off the different Whark lights of the different islands. One of them is the Survey Islands and the light above your head comes on giving you a view of Whark swimming up, eager to please.

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The Rebel Age is probably the coolest place in the game. I once spent four hours looking at the same scene through cell window, that's how cool it is!

Once you link into the Moiety Age things start to happen. In front of you is a large lake, in surrounded by mountainous crags. In the center of this lake is a huge old stump, on top of which the Moiety have constructed a gigantic adobe hive sort of thing to live in. Turning around you walk into a recessed cave area. You see some kind of statue in the center and go toward it. You hear talking, and as you spin around you see two Rivenese. One fire a drugged blowgun dart at you and you pass out. You have vague images of coming to briefly on the boat ride over, and after that you awake to find yourself in a cell many stories up in the Moiety Hive. The cell door opens and Nelah (Catherine's old friend) walks in talks to you some in D'ni and gives you a couple of books. Then she leaves. The books are you one man prison linking book, and Catherine's Journal with a letter inside for you. Also inside is the Star Fissure code for the telescope viewer back on the Temple Island. A few minutes later she comes back and gives you the linking book back to the Jungle Island.

There is an empty bowl on the table and a light over head. Outside the cell you Moiety going about their business in their hut-like homes and guards moving about, keeping a watchful eye now and again. Every time you come back to the Moiety Age after the first time you will link in out by the cave and the only place you'll be able to go is to the epitome statue of Gehn and link back to the Jungle Island cave.

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Activating the Fire-Marbles is not easy… BY NO MEANS! In fact is probably the hardest puzzle on the game to solve. It is a multi step process that you have to do in the correct order, or it probably won't work. But don't lose heart! It can be done, it just takes doing.

Blue Prison

Green Temple

Yellow None

Orange Survey

Red Jungle

(Broken or Purple) Book Assembly

Which gives you the correct color marble scheme for what island represents what marble. But you still have to enter the correct pattern, and that is the hard part unless you are really good at visualizing (or have a map of Riven like the one you get in the strategy guide!). But for those of you who aren't I have included a close approximation of the correct pattern.

When this pattern is implanted, the switch dropped, and the button pressed you should hear a loud explosion and the pumping apparatus will kick back. Now you can go to the Fire Marble Domes and open them up. But do it with in five minutes otherwise sometimes it won't last and you'll have to do it again.

You open the Fire Marble Domes by taking the five number code that is provided in Gehn's Book Assembly Island journal and converting that into Base 25. When you've done this, you can then move the slider bars to the correct slotted position and hit the button. The sliders will run back and the Fire Marble will open.

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 8. The 233^rd Age

Gehn's 233^rd Age was created to be a retreat of his. A place he could go, to be away from the bothers and annoyances of Rivenese life. It was also a test to see if he could use the Art on Riven and make more linking books. Constructed on golden mountains, Gehn's office is the only building as of yet on the 233^rd age (and probably ever to be!). It is a large radar like dome that sits atop on of the mountains and has two levels. The main level, where you link to is his office. The lower level is where Gehn lives.

As you link in, you see many different things about the room. To your immediate front is a domed table with writing implements strewn about it. To your left is a Cannen, or musical recorder. Farther left is a port hole that leads downwards. To your right is a large boiler and a heavy metal door.

After you push the call button Gehn comes in, slowly I might add and pretends like he doesn't know what to do with you. He struts about, slowing removing his goggles, gloves, and gun and keeps up a running monologue of his tale of woe.

Eventually he gets bored of it and takes your linking book from you. He examines it, but still isn't convinced. He asks you to go first.

Now you have a decision to make, you can either go into the one man prison and hope that'll he'll follow you, or you can decline. If you decline he tells you that he'll give you some time to think about it. He dismisses himself and tells you to call him back when you're ready to make your decision. The way to beat this is to take the leap off the lions head, as it were, and brave the hard road. You have to go into the prison and wait to see if he will switch places with you.

Once you are outside of the cage you can lower it by through the big switch that's to your left. In the lower level are several rather interesting things. Including: a tapestry, a holoprojector with the image of Keta (Gehn's former wife, and Atrus' deceased mother), two portraits, a desk with Gehn's Personal Journal and a globe on it, and a bed. The globe is a key. Once you click on it, it'll make a combination of five sounds before it opens, at least one repeating.. This is the combination to Catherine's elevator cage on the Prison Island.

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The Prison Island is actually the stump of the Riven Tree, a huge, old tree that the Rivenese used to live in before the planet tore itself apart. Now then it is merely an incredibly large stump. But because it has drifted many kilometers away from the other four islands, it is secluded, and a good place to put a prison. You can't really see the whole thing, its that big.

The elevator does go up and down without putting in the combination. Once you get to the top, Catherine walks in and is surprised. She tells you that she thinks the combination is in Gehn's office and that she thinks he may be watching them as they speak.

Once you put the combination in, the elevator cage turns around and it goes up. Catherine is ecstatic when she learns that you captured Gehn. She tells you to go open the Star Fissure and that the combination is in her journal.

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There are three or four different endings to Riven. I didn't even know about the other three until I had actually beat it. The one where you 'win' is where you have done everything right and followed Catherine's instructions. You open the Star Fissure port hole, remove the stop from the base of the telescope and push five times on the down level/button. The telescope breaks the glass over the star fissure and the seal is broken. All hell breaks lose and the island rips itself in two. This signals Atrus, who comes asking you where Catherine is and where's the book. Then she comes around the corner and embraces her husband. They tell you that you did more than they could have ever imagined, and that the villagers are safe in the Rebel Age. Then Catherine links back to D'ni and Atrus bids farewell as he too disappears. That's just about the time when you fall off the edge into the Star Fissure… I

In other endings you either are shot by Gehn, confronted by Atrus when you haven't freed Catherine, or simply fall off the side without talking to anyone. In all case you leave by way of the Star Fissure.

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The following are some cool Myst, Riven, and D'ni stuff that I've found, written, or appropriated. Feel free to use whatever you want. Never mind that crap people always say about not being able to link to this page because of too many hits… I really don't care. Further if there is anything that you like, feel free to drop me a line at wagner_51@hotmail.com .

http://www,geocities.com/Area51/Station/5092/TaleofaTiredFifthAge.doc

/Area51/Station/5092/dniscrip.zip

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I have a few cool Riven/Myst links. If you have any good ones that you think I'd like, you can send them to me at scribe@rivenguild.com.

My personal webpage: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Station/5092 .

Eternity (a friend's webpage): http://www.angelfire.com/ri/arts .

Rivenguild.com: http://www.rivenguild.com .

A cool look at Cyan's new project: http://www.rivenguild.com/GRID .

Or go to the official Cyan website at: http://www.cyan.com .

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There are many ways you can get a hold of me (Scribe). Either email me at: wagner_51@hotmail.com, or at: scribe@rivenguild.com. Or you can leave a message in my guestbook or a post in my board room at: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Station/5092/index.html.

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