Gadar, Guild Age of

The Guild of Legislator's Age, where legal records were stored in the Great Library of Legislation. (BoT 167-8) These records stretched back over six thousand years, the handwritten minutes of countless Council meetings and hearings, of guild committees and tribunals, and private communications between Guild Masters.

Gahreesen

Gahreesen, sometimes called Garrison in English, is an Age that once belonged to the Guild of Maintainers. This is where explorers get their KI devices.

For more information please see the (DRC Gahreesen) page.

garo

The D'ni word for mighty. (FMTR 97)

Garohevtee

In the D'ni language this word means "Great Words." The Garohevtee were a special set of characters used to compactly symbolize important ideas. With these characters whole concepts could be reduced to one complex symbol. These were the characters used to write Descriptive Books. (BoA 50-51)(FMTR 97)

Garternay

Garternay was the original homeland from which the D'ni came to Earth. In the D'ni language the name Garternay means "root of the Great Tree" and refers to the Great Tree of Possibilities.(BoD 308)(D'ni Essentials)

Gate, The

The Gate was a massive structure which, according to Gehn, marked the southernmost boundary of the D'ni kingdom. Atrus saw it across a great expanse of marble floor "filling the whole of one end of what was clearly a vast cavern, the huge stone barrier plugged that space from wall to wall, its surface filled with what seemed like an infinity of intertwined shapes - of men, machines, and beasts; of flowers and shields and faces; and D'ni words, some of which he recognized - all of it cut from a jet black granite that seemed to sparkle in the light from Gehn's lantern." (BoA 79, 80)

Gate of Traitors, The

The gate of the cavern where the Cells of Entry were, very deep in the rock beneath D'ni. (BoT 254-5)

Gehn

Son of Aitrus and Ti'ana, Gehn was half human, half D'ni. He was named after his great, great paternal grandfather. (BoT 203) He was apprenticed to the Guild of Books when he was 4 years old, and survived the great destruction of D'ni when he was 8. His wife died giving birth to their son, Atrus, when Gehn was 19. At that time he went down to the ruins of D'ni and apparently began to study the Art of Writing from materials he found there. He went back to the surface briefly to bring his then 14 year old son to D'ni. Roughly three and a half years later, after making murderous attacks on his son and generally demonstrating his insanity in various ways, he was imprisoned in Riven, his 5th Age. (see also Atrus' Family Tree)

Gemedet

(1) Six-in-a-line. The most popular of D'ni games, played on a complex three dimensional grid, nine squares to a side. Pieces, called stones, were moved with a tool, long tweezers, called re'dantee. (BoT 181)

(2) The Age that Anna and Aitrus wrote together. (BoT 159-160)

Geran, Master

An old blind Master of Surveyors who was a prominent member of the expedition to the surface of Earth. He died during the great earthquake that damaged The Well. (BoT 8, 57)

Gihran, Grand Master

Grand Master of the Guild of Linguists. (BoT 126)

Gira

Eder Gira was one of the garden Ages of the D'ni. In this Age we have seen an active lava fissure, desert ground, waterfalls, pools and caves.

Goshen

One of the leaders of the terrorist group Blood of Yahvo. He was imprisoned in 4815 DE by King Demath, and released by King Yableshan in 4865 DE during a heinous kidnap and murder plot.

Government

The Government of D'ni was comprised of the Council, the High Council, and the Five Great Lords, all members of the 18 major Guilds. At the head of the government were the Five Great Lords, men who had each served as the Grand Masters of their Guilds. These Five also sat upon the High Council, which included all the current Grand Masters from each of the 18 major Guilds. (BoT 113) All 23 members of the High Council also belonged to the largest group, the Council, which was comprised of Guild Masters elected to the honor by other members of their Guilds. Altogether the Council had more than 360 members. (BoT 93, 198)

Grand Masters

Each Guild had one Grand Master who was the head of the Guild. The Grand Master of each of the 18 major Guilds sat on the High Council. When a vacancy occurred among The Five Great Lords, one of the Grand Masters was promoted to take his place, becoming a Great Lord. Another Grand Master would be chosen to take the new Great Lord's place in the Guild and on the High Council. (BoT 50, 113)

For further information read this letter from Richard Watson to the Riven Lyst. (RAWA's email)

Gravitation Age

One of the Ages written by Atrus. For more information please see the excerpt from Atrus' Gravitation Age journal. (Gravitation Age)

Great Lords

The Five Great Lords made up the highest body of D'ni government after the time of the Kings ended. They sat as part of the High Council, yet they were also a separate entity and often, where they deemed appropriate, acted without the High Council.

According to the DRC's notebook on King Kerath, the last D'ni King, in 6977 DE Kerath abdicated the throne and gave the power of the Kings to the first Five Lords in D'ni History. They were Lord Taeri of the Guild of Messengers, Lord Hemelah of the Guild of Healers, Lord Moleth of the Guild of Caterers, Lord Kedri of the Guild of Writers, and Lord Korenen of the Guild of Analysts. (King Kerath Notebook)

Great Zero

The Great Zero is a polar coordinate system for the Age in which it's located. It can be likened to the surface system of longitude and latitude.

The Great Zero in D'ni is atop the pinnacle of the island of Ae'gura in the main D'ni Cavern. A quote from the DRC's notebook on King Ri'neref explains how the Great Zero was established in D'ni. "As had always been the case with the Ronay, a group of surveyors was sent to D'ni before the group officially moved there, to establish the Great Zero and the line emanating from it. A monument was built on the Great Zero in the year 0 DE." * Editor's Note: Ronay is the name the D'ni called themselves when they lived on Garternay, their original home Age.

A footnote in the DRC notebook about King Ri'neref says, The Great Zero itself was usually based on a prominent natural landmark within an Age. From the Great Zero a line was drawn, usually toward Magnetic North, to aid in navigation, construction, etc.

In D'ni on December 8, 2003, Marie Sutherland said:It acts like a beacon of sorts. Everything is measured from that location.

For more information please read the DRC notebook about the Great Zero (Great Zero Notebook), and see the DRC Org's (Great Zero) page.

Greeting

A traditional D'ni greeting was a taking of both hands, the fingers linked. (BoT 159-160)

Guilds

The guilds were a great part of the social and political organization of the D'ni. The D'ni government was comprised solely of guild members from the 18 major guilds. (BoT 50)

The 18 major guilds of D'ni at the time of the Fall were the Guilds of: Analysts, Archivists, Books, Cartographers, Caterers, Chemists, Engineers, Healers, Ink-Makers, Legislators, Linguists, Maintainers, Mechanists, Messengers, Miners, Stonemasons, Surveyors, and Writers.

In addition, there were many minor guilds such as the Guild of Artists. (BoT 50) These minor guilds apparently had their start during the reign of King Mararon. Among the first minor guilds created were the Minor Guilds of Architecture, Bankers, Educators, and Miners. The Guild of Miners became a major guild many years later under the reign of King Naygen (King Naygen Notebook). For more information about the roots of the minor guilds please see the official DRC King Mararon Monument Book.(King Mararon Monument Book)

Each major guild had a different colored official cloak, which was part of the official guild uniform.

"...their whole culture was one of finely drawn guild demarcations and task specialization..." -Aitrus (BoT 46)

According to the DRC notebook on King Ri'neref, the D'ni guilds were meant to be flexible, and to serve the needs of the people at the time. (King Ri'neref Notebook) The guilds of D'ni changed over time, and were different from the guilds of their ancestors on Garternay, their original home Age. (see also King Naygen Notebook)

Guild Cloaks

D'ni guildsmen wore cloaks to distinguish their association with a guild and their rank and status within the guild. (BoT 50) Each major guild had its own symbolic color. We don't know the colors even for each of the major 18 D'ni guilds, nor if the minor guilds followed suit. So far we know that pale blue was used by the Surveyors, bright red by the Writers (BoT 46), burgundy by the Maintainers (BoT 119), and purple for the Ink-Makers (BoT 298)

It seems that for everyday wear, a guildsmans's cloak could be black trimmed in his guild's color. (BoT 136-7) They had ceremonial cloaks for special occasions that were likely full color. (BoT 50)

The cloaks were decorated with symbols that specified the rank and status of the wearer. A young guildsman without rank had eight symbols, placed four to each side beneath the lapels. The Five Great Lords had only one symbol. (BoT 50)

Guild House

The Guild House, or the Great Hall of the Guilds (BoT 107, 134-5) was situated in the oldest part of town in the great D'ni Cavern on Earth, and surrounded by the halls of all the major guilds. It contained the Council chamber (BoT 107) where matters of state were discussed, laws passed, and important cases were tried. (BoT 134-5, 195-198, 238-9, 281-2)

Guild Symbols

Each guild had its own symbol. Specific information about the symbols is scarce. The Guild Symbol for the Guild of Maintainers is an unblinking eye above an open book. (BoD 84) The symbol for the Guild of Writers is a pen nib and a book. (Cyan) Guild symbols were used to mark guild association. Some of the houses occupied by senior guildsmen in the district of J'Taeri bore huge pentagonal stone shields decorated with guild symbols. (BoA 112)

Myst, Riven, and all things D'ni are the creation of Cyan Worlds, Inc.

The D'ni Desk Reference