Tag: Shows

  • August 2025 All Guilds Meeting Summary

    August 2025 All Guilds Meeting Summary

    Here is the summary for the 184th All Guilds Meeting, moderated by Claidi Song, along with the raw and cleansed chatlogs!

    Contents

    1. Guild of Messengers Website
    2. Mysterium
    3. Events in the Cavern
    4. D’ni Language Classes
    5. R’Tayrtahn’s Story Nights
    6. Miscellanea

    Guild of Messengers Website

    Korov’ev reported [a bit too soon, evidently] the loss of the Guild of Messengers news site, and addressed a few immediate repercussions:

    1. the community calendar is based on Google, so the public link is still valid; Bitly-based short URL versions are also available: US, EU, UK, RU, JP.
    2. Raw and cleansed chatlogs since 2016 (and a few from before that) are available from Korov’ev’s Dropbox folder, but perhaps saving them in a wiki could be a better option.
    3. The tutorials about MOULa errors and installing shards on macOS and Linux are being imported into the Guild of Writers wiki; as an added benefit this will allow anyone to update and fix these tutorials, as they have fallen behind the latest developments.
    4. Rel.to admin login depended on the GoMe website, so the Myst-specific URL shortening tool is locked and unchangeable at this point.
    5. AGM summaries, new Age announcements, etc. are in the most uncertain position at the moment; for now they’ll be posted in this subreddit.

    Mysterium

    ☛ The Mysterium 2025 (virtual) shirts are now available in the New Messengers Pub, so grab them while you can!

    ☛ The 2026 edition of Mysterium will be held in Portland, Oregon.

    ☛ The Creativity Prompt for August is “Bubbles”. Entries for the “End of Ages” prompt for July were from Calum Traveler and Talashar.

    Events in the Cavern

    ☛ The Cooking Sessions are on the first Monday of the month at 12:00 KIT, via Twitch, in the Guild of Caterers’ Hood. You can find past recipes and recordings at Skyisblu’s blog and YouTube channel.
    However, due to travel she will skip September’s session. In October, she will show a luscious chocolate cake recipe inspired by suggestions made during post-stream discussions.

    ☛ IwonK will host a Wonky Talk (on her Twitch channel) on Friday 15 at 15:00 KIT in the Guild of Cookies’ Hood by the heek table. This month’s topic will be “Hungarian Games”. Feel free to suggest interesting games she could talk (and draw) about. As always, there will be cookies!
    Besides streaming, IwonK is making some games of her own as a year-long gamedev challenge, using Bitsy; you can find them at her itch.io page.

    ☛ Every Saturday, Ereshkigal is hosting an Ancient Stories event at 15:00 KIT in Chiso Preniv, reading folktales, translated ancient texts, historical fiction from all over the ancient world, as well as the occasional historical-inspired fan fiction.

    ☛ Babbel will host her next classical music program in the Hall of Kings in Ae’gura, on Monday 18 at 12:00 KIT. The theme for this month is yet to be announced.

    ☛ Augur’s Speculative Fiction Book Club will discuss their current book, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, in Nezetahn(1)’s Hood’s Eder Delin, on September 13 at 12:30 KIT. Everyone is welcome to discuss their opinions on the book, using either voice or text chat.

    ☞ For a more complete list of upcoming events, check our calendar. Times and events may change at the last minute; you can find the latest updates at:

    D’ni Language Classes

    Shokhootahn Rehn had two updates, one for the D’ni Language Classes and one for the Story Nights. Augur completed the final exam and passed the D’ni 201 class; votahret ah’shem khebahrtahtahvom! He also decided to continue his studies to become a teacher in the Guild, and will be mentored by Shokhootahn Ana.

    Visitors are asked to not post pellet points into the hood imager: one of his former students and a close friend, Yutiel Yoshi, who passed away in 2018, is listed there. He has refrained from posting pellets to maintain her name at the top, as a form of memorial.

    D’ni Language Classes schedule (click to expand)
    • Those who would like to attend the lessons should contact Rehn, preferably on Discord (r’Tayrtahn#1317), or via KImail (#80428). Be sure to include your KI number, so that Rehn can send you a reply!
    • The Guild of Instructors’ Hood will be open and public unless a class is in session. Classes are individual.
    • Daytime openings are on Monday to Friday, at 10:00, 11:00 or 12:00 KIT, depending on the student’s schedule.
    • Evening openings are on Monday to Thursday, at 20:00, 21:00 or 22:00 KIT, depending on the student’s schedule.
    • Daytime availability is subject to change with little or no notice. Last-minute changes to class times will be announced via Magic Bot (#27527) or Mimi Bot (#71459); to be notified, add both as buddies, then PM them “advert”.

    R’Tayrtahn’s Story Nights

    Story Night Europe and Original Story Night will continue this month with the story of young Atrus as told in the novel, Myst: The Book of Atrus. Eventually they will cover all of the books and games, as well as the three human attempts at the restoration of D’ni.

    R’Tayrtahn records videos of the sessions (via an avatar named “I’m a bot, do not message”), that he will eventually upload to his YouTube channel. Be careful if you PM r’Tay or the bot during the events, as messages will be visible in the videos 😉

    Videos now also come with auto translated captions in French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish. Automatic translation often has trouble with words like “D’ni” or “linking books”, so your mileage may vary 😉

    Story Nights schedule (click to expand)
    • Story Nights are held in Tsahno’s Hood every Saturday, gathering at the fountain at around 23:00 KIT, with the story starting at about 23:30 KIT.
    • For Story Nights – Europe, the gatherings are on Saturday starting at 13:30 KIT, with the story starting at about 14:00 KIT.
    • On All Guilds Meeting days, the event will begin at 14:00 KIT or 30 minutes after the meeting, whichever is later.
    • The stories are told using voice chat, so you will need to have your speakers, headphones or KI devices on. If you would like a reminder, please send r’Tayrtahn (#58324) a KImail with your KI number included in the text, so that he can add you to his buddies list.

    Miscellanea

    ☛ This month, the Age Expeditions in Deep Island will visit Pre Swaltu0 by Tolip Ydob, then more ages from 2006: Tyndior, Prad, Ahra Pahts (only the city around the shells), and The Maze.
    In The Open Cave, they will continue the First Journey in Teledahn, Gahreesen and Kadish Tolesa.

    That was it for this month. Please consider donating to keep the Cavern open!

    June ended with the CavFunding at 40% (CavCon 2.4) and the reserve at 618%.

    The next All Guilds Meeting is planned for Saturday, September 6 (Leetahr 24, 9681) at 13:00 KIT.

    Until then!

  • Moula Summer Festival 2025

    Moula Summer Festival 2025

    Moula SummerFest 2025: Streams of Friendship

    August 4–10

    This year’s SummerFest will focus on activities in the cavern using audio streams and video streams. For the first time, SummerFest will show how Ages make it into Moula, but also how they are tested before being added to Moula. Another video stream will show what The Open Cave shard has to offer.

    Audio streams will provide various music genres, a Music Quiz and a new DJ is making his debut during SummerFest.

    For those who want a little bit more action, another game of Cone Race is held to see who gets the cones in the fountain the fastest.

    PodHopper #7116825

    Festival Schedule as PDF

  • The Cavern Today 51: Infinity in a Bottle

    The Cavern Today 51: Infinity in a Bottle

    Just in time for Mysterium 2025, we bring you our Summer 2025 edition, featuring:

    • Cavern News with Dalken Starbyne
    • TCT Talk with Esto, Maurus and Sh’aeri, with our thoughts on Myst (2020)’s Rime update & more
    • Music Piece: “Ascending the Void” by Sasha Strange
    • Special report on the 2025 R.A.D. Contest
    • TCT Talk addendum

    The Cavern Today is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify & other services – as well as The Cavern Today’s website.

  • June 2025 All Guilds Meeting Summary

    June 2025 All Guilds Meeting Summary

    Here is the summary for the 182nd All Guilds Meeting, moderated by Claidi Song, along with the raw and cleansed chatlogs!

    Contents

    1. OpenUru
    2. Mysterium
    3. Events in the Cavern
    4. Events in the Shards
    5. D’ni Language Classes
    6. R’Tayrtahn’s Story Nights

    OpenUru

    ☛ There are a few known bugs in the latest update: the Nexus is missing the links to the Explorers’ Emporium and to Sameehn; the Kalamee’s and Sameehn’s  book share function in the Emporium are not fuctioning. These will fixed soon.

    ☛ The 2024 Mysterium T-shirts should be added to the Ae’gura Messengers Pub later this year. For this year’s designs, there is no space on the table! Another table will be added, but the new additions may not be ready in time for Mysterium.

    ☛ The East Wing of the Ae’gura Messengers Pub is planned to be opened soon.

    Mysterium

    ☛ The schedule for Mysterium 2025 is live, and includes two excursions: on Friday, breakout rooms at Breakout Games, Atlanta/Buckhead; on Saturday, trip to the Georgia Aquarium.

    ☛ Tickets may be purchased through July 1st. As a reminder, guaranteed hotel dates expire on July 9, while premium registration closes on June 16. Swag, excursions, and early standard registration close on July 1st. Writing & Art Table submissions closes July 15.

    ☛ You can find more info on Mysterium on BluSky, Facebook, Discord, and their website.

    ☛ The Creativity Prompt for June is “Beach“, the deadline is June 30. Entries for the “Chicken” prompt for May were from Kelly, Kefrith, Redwoodrroad, Calum Traveler, and Talashar.

    Events in the Cavern

    ☛ On Monday 2, Skyisblu made a (meat-free) black bean burger, loaded with taco-themed spices, grilled to perfection, and served with a whole lot of tasty toppings.
    The Cooking Sessions are on the first Monday of the month at 12:00 KIT, via Twitch, in the Guild of Caterers’ Hood. You can find past recipes and recordings at Skyisblu’s blog and YouTube channel.

    ☛ After a month hiatus, the Karaoke Parties, hosted by DonahooDJ, are back to their original time slot, 16:00 KIT in the New Guild of Messengers Pub.
    The stream is at http://2.58.194.54:8494/. There is a cap on the number of people who can listen; if that is exceeded, Seeker will provide the alternative stream. To participate, you will need to submit a Karaoke Card.

    ☛ IwonK will host a Wonky Talk (on her Twitch channel) on Friday 20 at 15:00 KIT in the Guild of Cookies’ Hood by the heek table. This month’s topic will be “Kids in Games“. Feel free to suggest interesting games she could talk (and draw) about. As always, there will be cookies!
    Besides streaming, IwonK is making some games of her own as a year-long gamedev challenge, using Bitsy; you can find them at her itch.io page.

    ☛ Every Tuesday, Ereshkigal is hosting an Ancient Stories event at 11:30 KIT in Mir-o-Bot’s Eder Gira (PM “link” to Mir-o-Bot #32319 or MinBot #9292763 to get there), reading folktales, translated ancient texts, historical fiction from all over the ancient world, as well as the occasional historical-inspired fan fiction.
    Currently they are telling the story of Theseus, the young Athenian prince who goes to Minoan Crete to fight the sacred bull and free his people from oppression by the Minoans.

    ☛ Augur’s Speculative Fiction Book Club will discuss their current book, A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers, in Nezetahn(1)’s Hood’s Eder Delin, on July 12 at 12:30 KIT. Everyone is welcome to discuss their opinions on the book, using either voice or text chat.

    ☛ PodHopper made three announcements: first, he is organizing this year’s Summer Festival, planned for the week of August 4–10. The theme for this year is “Streams of Friendship“. It will showcase all the streams and activities that make the Cavern feel alive. Anyone who would like to contribute an event is invited to contact PodHopper, even if it does not involve using a stream.
    Second, PodHopper has set up a new website from where he will broadcast future streams. He did this because of the policy of the Caster website to track visitors. This is separate from UruTunes, which is a link aggregator and will be updated soon with the new link. A stress-test was held on Monday 9.
    Third, and related, in about a month he will move the rest of his website to this server, allowing to shorten the domain name a bit, and more importantly enable https for it.

    ☞ For a more complete list of upcoming events, check our calendar. Times and events may change at the last minute; you can find the latest updates at:

    Events in the Shards

    ☛ Prad hosting Ayoheek Nights on The Open Cave, every Monday at 14:00 KIT, in the Ayohikers’ Hood. His gamemaster avatar is Ayohiker.
    When he started this event, he added a rule: “make sure that everyone has the chance to choose the first symbol in a round – with more than two players we hop the round entry clockwise”, to even the playground.
    Recently he decided to let go of that rule, to accelerate the gameflow (and because most players have enough practice, by now).

    ☛ Claidi relayed a message from Korov’ev about his Fan Age Expeditions, held every Sunday at 11:00 KIT. The third cycle is ending soon, likely by the end of this month.
    For the fourth cycle, he will experiment with splitting them between Deep Island and The Open Cave (MOUL): one Sunday we’ll visit a fan Age on Deep Island, the other a Cyan/fan Age on The Open Cave.
    On TOS, participant will get an invite to a dedicated avatar‘s instances, and will be free to revisit them later; old-timers may remember the ‘Public Avatar’, as a similar use of an avatar.
    For Cyan Ages, the focus will be trying to see them from perspectives a single explorer usually can’t get (e.g. see the Teledahn hut being drained).

    ☛ The Open Cave has a website and a Discord server. Deep Island has a forum section on the Guild of Writers’ website.

    D’ni Language Classes

    Shokhootahn Rehn had two updates, one for the D’ni Language Classes and one for the Story Nights.

    Visitors are asked to not post pellet points into the hood imager: one of his former students and a close friend, Yutiel Yoshi, who passed away in 2018, is listed there. He has refrained from posting pellets to maintain her name at the top, as a form of memorial.

    D’ni Language Classes schedule (click to expand)
    • Those who would like to attend the lessons should contact Rehn, preferably on Discord (r’Tayrtahn#1317), or via KImail (#80428). Be sure to include your KI number, so that Rehn can send you a reply!
    • The Guild of Instructors’ Hood will be open and public unless a class is in session. Classes are individual.
    • Daytime openings are on Monday to Friday, at 10:00, 11:00 or 12:00 KIT, depending on the student’s schedule.
    • Evening openings are on Monday to Friday, at 20:00, 21:00 or 22:00 KIT, depending on the student’s schedule.
    • Daytime availability is subject to change with little or no notice. Last-minute changes to class times will be announced via Magic Bot (#27527) or Mimi Bot (#71459); to be notified, add both as buddies, then PM them “advert”.

    R’Tayrtahn’s Story Nights

    Story Night Europe and Original Story Night will continue this month with the story of the Fall, which will last for the next 5 weeks. Eventually they will cover all of the books and games, as well as the three human attempts at the restoration of D’ni.

    R’Tayrtahn records videos of the sessions (via an avatar named “I’m a bot, do not message”), that he will eventually upload to his YouTube channel. Be careful if you PM r’Tay or the bot during the events, as messages will be visible in the videos 😉

    Videos now also come with auto translated captions in French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish. Automatic translation often has trouble with words like “D’ni” or “linking books”, so your mileage may vary 😉

    Story Nights schedule (click to expand)
    • Story Nights are held in Tsahno’s Hood every Saturday, gathering at the fountain at around 23:00 KIT, with the story starting at about 23:30 KIT.
    • For Story Nights – Europe, the gatherings are on Saturday starting at 13:30 KIT, with the story starting at about 14:00 KIT.
    • On All Guilds Meeting days, the event will begin at 14:00 KIT or 30 minutes after the meeting, whichever is later.
    • The stories are told using voice chat, so you will need to have your speakers, headphones or KI devices on. If you would like a reminder, please send r’Tayrtahn (#58324) a KImail with your KI number included in the text, so that he can add you to his buddies list.

    And that was it for this month. Please consider donating to keep the Cavern open!

    The next All Guilds Meeting is planned for Saturday, July 5 (Leesahn 3) at 13:00 KIT.

    Until then!

  • May 2025 All Guilds Meeting Summary

    May 2025 All Guilds Meeting Summary

    Here is the summary for the 181st All Guilds Meeting, moderated by Claidi Song, along with the raw and cleansed chatlogs!

    Contents

    1. OpenUru
    2. Mysterium
    3. Events in the Cavern
    4. D’ni Language Classes
    5. R’Tayrtahn’s Story Nights
    6. Miscellanea

    OpenUru

    ☛ On Tuesday 6, at around 9:00 KIT, a new content update will be released! It will include the Age of Sameehn, available on release … but not in Chiso, or the Nexus!

    Mysterium

    ☛ Registration for Mysterium 2025 is now open: early standard registration is $25, while premium registration (admission plus a shirt) is $40. Additional swag is also available with your registration through July 1st, including Direbo bubble coasters and a Golden Tablet lanyard charm, both by Kelly “Rayne” Coston.

    ☛ After July 1st, swag will no longer be available to pre-order and standard registration will increase to $30.

    ☛ You can find more info on Mysterium on BluSky, Facebook, Discord, and their website.

    ☛ The Creativity Prompt for May is “Chicken“, the deadline is May 31. Entries for the “Thawing” prompt for March–April were from Redwoodrroad, Calum Traveler, Belle, Talashar … and a bonus one from Cyan!

    Events in the Cavern

    ☛ On Monday 5, Skyisblu will make a sugar cookie, a quick, fully customizable recipe with only three ingredients; it makes a great addition to a dessert platter or afternoon tea tray for Mother’s Day – which is coming up soon.
    The Cooking Sessions are on the first Monday of the month at 12:00 KIT, via Twitch, in the Guild of Caterers’ Hood. You can find past recipes and recordings at Skyisblu’s blog and YouTube channel.

    ☛ PodHopper will host a Celtic Night event (with celtic and mystic music) on Friday 9 at 13:00 KIT in the Eder Delin of the Guild of Healers hood.

    ☛ IwonK will host a Wonky Talk (on her Twitch channel) on Friday 16 at 15:00 KIT in the Guild of Cookies’ Hood by the heek table. This month’s topic will be “Male protagonists in Games“. Feel free to suggest interesting games she could talk (and draw) about. As always, there will be cookies!
    Besides streaming, IwonK is making some games of her own as a year-long gamedev challenge, using Bitsy; you can find them at her itch.io page.

    ☛ Babbel will host her next classical music program in the Hall of Kings in Ae’gura, on Monday 19 at 12:00 KIT. The theme this month is “Vive la France!”.

    ☛ The revived Cavern Choir at the time of writing has 6 male singers and 4 female singers; they need more female singers, so if you are interested please contact Babbeltje40 (aka Vrouwdinges)  or Prad (#08406189).
    They still have some undecided candidates among their singers for the first song. There are plans for a concert consisting of three songs in August at the MOULa Summer Party.

    ☛ Augur’s Speculative Fiction Book Club will discuss their current book, This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, in Nezetahn(1)’s Hood’s Eder Delin, on May 31 at 12:30 KIT. Everyone is welcome to discuss their opinions on the book, using either voice or text chat.

    ☛ Every Tuesday, Ereshkigal is hosting an Ancient Stories event at 11:30 KIT in Mir-o-Bot’s Eder Gira (PM “link” to Mir-o-Bot #32319 or MinBot #9292763 to get there), reading folktales, translated ancient texts, historical fiction from all over the ancient world, as well as the occasional historical-inspired fan fiction.

    ☞ For a more complete list of upcoming events, check our calendar. Times and events may change at the last minute; you can find the latest updates at:

    D’ni Language Classes

    Shokhootahn Rehn had two updates, one for the D’ni Language Classes and one for the Story Nights.

    Visitors are asked to not post pellet points into the hood imager: one of his former students and a close friend, Yutiel Yoshi, who passed away in 2018, is listed there. He has refrained from posting pellets to maintain her name at the top, as a form of memorial.

    D’ni Language Classes schedule (click to expand)
    • Those who would like to attend the lessons should contact Rehn, preferably on Discord (r’Tayrtahn#1317), or via KImail (#80428). Be sure to include your KI number, so that Rehn can send you a reply!
    • The Guild of Instructors’ Hood will be open and public unless a class is in session. Classes are individual.
    • Daytime openings are on Monday to Friday, at 10:00, 11:00 or 12:00 KIT, depending on the student’s schedule.
    • Evening openings are on Monday to Friday, at 20:00, 21:00 or 22:00 KIT, depending on the student’s schedule.
    • Daytime availability is subject to change with little or no notice. Last-minute changes to class times will be announced via Magic Bot (#27527) or Mimi Bot (#71459); to be notified, add both as buddies, then PM them “advert”.

    R’Tayrtahn’s Story Nights

    Story Night Europe and Original Story Night will continue this month with the story of the Fall, which will last for the next 6 weeks. Eventually they will cover all of the books and games, as well as the three human attempts at the restoration of D’ni.

    R’Tayrtahn records videos of the sessions (via an avatar named “I’m a bot, do not message”), that he will eventually upload to his YouTube channel. Be careful if you PM r’Tay or the bot during the events, as messages will be visible in the videos 😉

    Videos now also come with auto translated captions in French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish. Automatic translation often has trouble with words like “D’ni” or “linking books”, so your mileage may vary 😉

    Story Nights schedule (click to expand)
    • Story Nights are held in Tsahno’s Hood every Saturday, gathering at the fountain at around 23:00 KIT, with the story starting at about 23:30 KIT.
    • For Story Nights – Europe, the gatherings are on Saturday starting at 13:30 KIT, with the story starting at about 14:00 KIT.
    • On All Guilds Meeting days, the event will begin at 14:00 KIT or 30 minutes after the meeting, whichever is later.
    • The stories are told using voice chat, so you will need to have your speakers, headphones or KI devices on. If you would like a reminder, please send r’Tayrtahn (#58324) a KImail with your KI number included in the text, so that he can add you to his buddies list.

    Miscellanea

    ☛ This month, the Fan Age Expeditions in Deep Island will complete the Secret of the Rainbow Journey, by exploring Edereden by J.J. Jaguar. Then, they will visit Kohdalahn and Tyldalahn by Itep Edor, Corvus and others. The month will close either in Alabaster’s Depths by Dulcamara (if possible), or in the Maintainers’ Gateway by Melvin.

    And that was it for this month. Please consider donating to keep the Cavern open!

    March ended with the CavFunding at 69% (CavCon 2.7) and the reserve at 682%.

    The next All Guilds Meeting is planned for Saturday, June 7 (Leebro 9, 9681) at 13:00 KIT.

    Until then!

  • April 2025 All Guilds Meeting Summary

    April 2025 All Guilds Meeting Summary

    Here is the summary for the 180th All Guilds Meeting, moderated by Claidi Song, along with the raw and cleansed chatlogs!

    Contents

    1. OpenUru
    2. Mysterium
    3. Events in the Cavern
    4. D’ni Language Classes
    5. R’Tayrtahn’s Story Nights
    6. Neyyah
    7. Miscellanea

    OpenUru

    ☛ The winner of the fourth Rapid Age Development contest was the Sahnkep Pod by Jrius. Special mention goes to Philip’s Pod 5, as it was his first Age. Congratulations!
    If you’d like to visit the Pods yourself on the Destiny shard, the files are available on the Guild of Writers’ forum thread.
    Reportedly, at least two participants are planning to polish their creations to bring them to MOULa, but it may be a while before they show up on a Minkata shard.

    ☛ The Chiso and Kirel audio podia are under inspection to fix a low volume issue. The Age of Sameehn is being tested for release.

    Mysterium

    ☛ Shirt and pin designs have been picked. The front design is by Kelly Coston, while the back is by Curator. The three pins are: “Explorer” By Laughing Pineapple, “Pirbird on a Beach” by Kelly and “Todelmer” by m13.

    ☛ Submissions are still open: events through April 30, writing and artwork through July 15.

    ☛ You can find more info on Mysterium on BluSky, Facebook, Discord, and their website.

    ☛ The Creativity Prompt for March–April is “Thawing“, the deadline is April 30. Entries for the “Rime” prompt for January–February were from Kefrith, Durin, Calum Traveler, TeaL, and Talashar.

    Events in the Cavern

    ☛ Eternal Seeker’s Country Evening will move one hour earlier, starting on April 10; it will now start at 12:00 KIT and run until 14:00 KIT.

    ☛ This month Skyisblu had to skip her Cooking Session, due to health issues. She might attempt an impromptu cooking session later in the month.
    The Cooking Sessions are on the first Monday of the month at 12:00 KIT, via Twitch, in the Guild of Caterers’ Hood. You can find past recipes and recordings at Skyisblu’s blog and YouTube channel.

    ☛ Babbel and Prad are planning to revive the Cavern Choir, which has been missing for too many years. For that, they need singers;  people interested in participating are invited to join the Server van VrouwDinges Discord server, #moula-choir channel (note that the invitation link will expire on April 11).
    The songs will mostly be simple, so you will not need choir experience; the first will be the canon Dona Nobis Pacem. The backing and demo will be found in the Discord channel, or a link ingame via KImail.
    The result will be presented to the Cavern either on a MOULa event (e.g. the Summer Festival) or even as its own separate event.

    ☛ IwonK will host a Wonky Talk (on her Twitch channel) on Friday 18 at 15:00 KIT in the Guild of Cookies’ Hood by the heek table. This month’s topic will be “Women in Games“. Feel free to suggest interesting games she could talk (and draw) about. As always, there will be cookies!
    Besides streaming, IwonK is making some games of her own as a year-long gamedev challenge, using Bitsy; you can find them at her itch.io page.

    ☛ Every Tuesday, Ereshkigal is hosting an Ancient Stories event at 11:30 KIT in Mir-o-Bot’s Eder Gira (PM “link” to Mir-o-Bot #32319 or MinBot #9292763 to get there), reading folktales, translated ancient texts, historical fiction from all over the ancient world, as well as the occasional historical-inspired fan fiction. They are currently reading a story about Khaemwaset, an Egyptian prince and sorcerer who is also the son of a pharaoh.

    ☛ Babbel will host her next classical music program in the Hall of Kings in Ae’gura, on Monday 21 at 12:00 KIT. The theme this month is “Koninklijk”, meaning “royal” in Dutch.

    ☛ Augur’s Speculative Fiction Book Club will discuss their current book, This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, in Nezetahn(1)’s Hood’s Eder Delin, on May 31 at 12:30 KIT. Everyone is welcome to discuss their opinions on the book, using either voice or text chat.

    ☞ For a more complete list of upcoming events, check our calendar. Times and events may change at the last minute; you can find the latest updates at:

    D’ni Language Classes

    Shokhootahn Rehn had two updates, one for the D’ni Language Classes and one for the Story Nights.

    Visitors are asked to not post pellet points into the hood imager: one of his former students and a close friend, Yutiel Yoshi, who passed away in 2018, is listed there. He has refrained from posting pellets to maintain her name at the top, as a form of memorial.

    D’ni Language Classes schedule (click to expand)
    • Those who would like to attend the lessons should contact Rehn, preferably on Discord (r’Tayrtahn#1317), or via KImail (#80428). Be sure to include your KI number, so that Rehn can send you a reply!
    • The Guild of Instructors’ Hood will be open and public unless a class is in session. Classes are individual.
    • Daytime openings are on Monday to Friday, at 10:00, 11:00 or 12:00 KIT, depending on the student’s schedule.
    • Evening openings are on Monday to Friday, at 20:00, 21:00 or 22:00 KIT, depending on the student’s schedule.
    • Daytime availability is subject to change with little or no notice. Last-minute changes to class times will be announced via Magic Bot (#27527) or Mimi Bot (#71459); to be notified, add both as buddies, then PM them “advert”.

    R’Tayrtahn’s Story Nights

    Story Night Europe and Original Story Night will continue this month with the story of the Fall, which will last for 15 weeks.

    Eventually they will cover all of the books and games, as well as the three human attempts at the restoration of D’ni. As this year the holidays fall mid-week, there will be stories for the entire month of December.

    R’Tayrtahn records videos of the sessions (via an avatar named “I’m a bot, do not message”), that he will eventually upload to his YouTube channel. Be careful if you PM r’Tay or the bot during the events, as messages will be visible in the videos 😉

    Videos now also come with auto translated captions in French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish. Automatic translation often has trouble with words like “D’ni” or “linking books”, so your mileage may vary 😉

    Story Nights schedule (click to expand)
    • Story Nights are held in Tsahno’s Hood every Saturday, gathering at the fountain at around 23:00 KIT, with the story starting at about 23:30 KIT.
    • For Story Nights – Europe, the gatherings are on Saturday starting at 13:30 KIT, with the story starting at about 14:00 KIT.
    • On All Guilds Meeting days, the event will begin at 14:00 KIT or 30 minutes after the meeting, whichever is later.
    • The stories are told using voice chat, so you will need to have your speakers, headphones or KI devices on. If you would like a reminder, please send r’Tayrtahn (#58324) a KImail with your KI number included in the text, so that he can add you to his buddies list.

    Neyyah

    Cid, on behalf of Aaron Gwynaire of Defy Reality Entertainment, presented the upcoming Myst/Riven inspired game Neyyah. The game is finally getting close to its release, tentatively planned for the mid of the year. A demo was released a month ago for Steam’s Next Fest.

    You can wishlist Neyyah on Steam; the Patreon page offers various additional perks, such as a physical big box copy of the game. You can also follow Defy Entertainment on most social media, such as YouTube and Discord. At the time of writing, only the Windows platform is listed, and the game does not seem to be available on GOG.

    Miscellanea

    ☛ This month, the Fan Age Expeditions in Deep Island will visit two Ages by Semjay, Tovaht Bay and Ahreesen Melin. Then they will visit the Great Tree Excavation by TikiBear, a ‘special’ version of the Great Tree Pub, and Greenwood Cottage, originally by Kierra and completed by Melvin. The month will close with the quest for Quilla’s piano, starting in Elonin by Dulcamara.

    And that was it for this month. Please consider donating to keep the Cavern open!

    CavCon for March is not available at the time of writing. February ended with the CavFunding at 99% (CavCon 3) and the reserve at 713%, with no extra expenses.

    The next All Guilds Meeting is planned for Saturday, May 3, 2025 (Leefo 11, 9681) at 13:00 KIT.

    Until then!

  • January 2025 All Guilds Meeting Summary

    January 2025 All Guilds Meeting Summary

    Here is the summary for the 177th All Guilds Meeting, moderated by Claidi Song, along with the raw and cleansed chatlogs!

    Contents

    1. Hosting Events
    2. OpenUru
    3. Mysterium
    4. Events in the Cavern
    5. D’ni Language Classes
    6. R’Tayrtahn’s Story Nights
    7. Miscellanea

    Hosting Events

    Claidi Song relayed a message from Minasunda, pointing out that special events – e.g. annual festivities like Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Halloween, etc, or the opening of a new Age, or community anniversaries like MOULa’s opening or Myst’s release – should take priority over weekly or monthly events.

    It would be reasonable for hosts to negotiate skipping or postponing their events on those particular occasions, or at least accept that another event will take place at the same time. Unfortunately that does not always happen without hosts getting offended.

    After dealing with such situations for many years, Minasunda has announced she no longer feel able to organize or coordinate these special events. She will still do the daily announcements.

    OpenUru

    ☛ Tweek announced a Rapid Age Development contest is planned to be held in February; more details will be announced soon. The theme will be a Pod Age; participants will be assigned a basic pod shell file (for Blender or 3ds Max). Entries will not need to be MOULa-ready, but at least working on the Destiny shard.

    As with previous editions, the intention is to encourage potential builders with a challenge with specific limits in size and time. Tre’bivdil and the Vothol Gallery were originally built for similar contests. It will be up to each builder if and on which shards to submit these Ages for release.

    Mysterium

    ☛ The 2025 edition of the convention will be held on August 1–3 in Atlanta, GA. The writing and artwork table is open for submissions until July 15.

    ☛ The Creativity Prompt for January–February is “Rime ” (in any sense), the deadline is February 28. Entries for the “Hearth” prompt for November–December were from Calum Traveler and Talashar.

    Events in the Cavern

    ☛ IwonK will host a Wonky Talk (on her Twitch channel) on Friday 17 at 15:00 KIT in the Guild of Cookies’ Hood by the heek table. This month’s topic will be “Racing Games“. Feel free to suggest interesting games she could talk (and draw) about. As always, there will be cookies!

    IwonK is also making some games of her own as a year-long gamedev challenge; you can find them at her itch.io page.

    ☛ Every Tuesday, Ereshkigal is hosting an Ancient Stories event at 11:30 KIT in Mir-o-Bot’s Eder Gira (PM “link” to Mir-o-Bot #32319 or MinBot #9292763 to get there), reading folktales, translated ancient texts, historical fiction from all over the ancient world, as well as the occasional historical-inspired fan fiction.

    Recently, they have finished the tale of Bagoas and the tragic life of Alexander the Great. They have now started an ancient Egyptian ghost story, written two thousand years ago and involving magic, court intrigue and mummies.

    ☛ Babbel will celebrate her birthday on Monday 6 at 13:00 KIT in Kirel, with non-classic music. She will also host her regular classical music program in the Hall of Kings in Ae’gura, on Monday 20 at 12:00 KIT. The theme for this month is yet undecided at the time of this post.

    ☛ Vittorio Brunetti (Korov’ev) announced the release of episode 16 of The Lost Art, “The Growers“, a machinima series by MystiTech Productions set in the Cavern, a few years in the future.

    ☛ A memorial for explorer Bella, who recently passed away, will be held on January 10 at 15:00 KIT, in the Ae’gura plaza. Requests or memories can be sent to Isa via KImail (#11584648) or Discord (isa.2167).

    ☛ For a more complete list of upcoming events, check our calendar. Times and events may change at the last minute; you can find the latest updates at:

    D’ni Language Classes

    Shokhootahn Rehn had two updates, one for the D’ni Language Classes and one for the Story Nights.

    Visitors are asked to not post pellet points into the hood imager: one of his former students and a close friend, Yutiel Yoshi, who passed away in 2018, is listed there. He has refrained from posting pellets to maintain her name at the top, as a form of memorial.

    D’ni Language Classes schedule (click to expand)
    • Those who would like to attend the lessons should contact Rehn, preferably on Discord (r’Tayrtahn#1317), or via KImail (KI# 80428). Be sure to include your KI number, so that Rehn can send you a reply!
    • The Guild of Instructors’ Hood will be open and public unless a class is in session. Classes are individual.
    • Daytime openings are on Monday to Friday, at 10:00, 11:00 or 12:00 KIT, depending on the student’s schedule.
    • Evening openings are on Monday to Friday, at 20:00, 21:00 or 22:00 KIT, depending on the student’s schedule.
    • Daytime availability is subject to change with little or no notice. Last-minute changes to class times will be announced via Magic Bot (KI #27527) or Mimi Bot (KI #71459); to be notified, add both as buddies, then PM them “advert”.

    R’Tayrtahn’s Story Nights

    Story Night Europe and Original Story Night will continue this month with the stories of the 26th king, Yableshan, and his successors Emen and Me’emen. There will be no story on Saturday 11, due to family obligations.

    Eventually they will cover all of the books and games, as well as the three human attempts at the restoration of D’ni. As this year the holidays fall mid-week, there will be stories for the entire month of December.

    R’Tayrtahn records videos of the sessions (via an avatar named “I’m a bot, do not message”), that he will eventually upload to his YouTube channel. Be careful if you PM r’Tay or the bot during the events, as messages will be visible in the videos 😉

    Videos now also come with auto translated captions in French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish. Automatic translation often has trouble with words like “D’ni” or “linking books”, so your mileage may vary 😉

    Story Nights schedule (click to expand)
    • Story Nights are held in Tsahno’s Hood every Saturday, gathering at the fountain at around 23:00 KIT, with the story starting at about 23:30 KIT.
    • For Story Nights – Europe, the gatherings are on Saturday starting at 13:30 KIT, with the story starting at about 14:00 KIT.
    • On All Guilds Meeting days, the event will begin at 14:00 KIT or 30 minutes after the meeting, whichever is later.
    • The stories are told using voice chat, so you will need to have your speakers, headphones or KI devices on. If you would like a reminder, please send r’Tayrtahn (KI# 58324) a KImail with your KI number included in the text, so that he can add you to his buddies list.

    Miscellanea

    ☛ The Fan Age Expeditions in Deep Island will kickstart the year exploring the Cathedral by DenDwaler. They will then investigate the mysteries of Alabaster by Dulcamara. Closing the month, or perhaps starting February, they will then begin the adventure in Laki’anay by the New Age Project.

    And that was it for this month. Please consider donating to keep the Cavern open!

    The next All Guilds Meeting is planned for Saturday, February 1st, 2025 (Leevosahn 25) at 13:00 KIT.

    Happy New Year!

  • News Roundup #31

    ☛ Anthony Kleine posted an interesting two-part article about fixing the loading speed between nodes in Myst IV. There is no support yet for Revelation in ScummVM, but if it will be added, this is a tweak that could definitely be considered.

    ☛ In episode 121 of the Video Game History Hour podcast, Cyan co-founder Rand Miller took VGHF library director Phil Salvador on an exclusive tour of the Cyan Vault.

  • The Cavern Today 50: You are You (ft. Semjay)

    The Cavern Today 50: You are You (ft. Semjay)

    For our Holiday 2024 edition, we’re pleased to bring you a milestone – our fiftieth regular episode of The Cavern Today! Join us as we close out 2024 with:

    • Cavern News with Dalken Starbyne
    • Skit
    • A Year-In-Review TCT Talk with Alhon, Dalken, Esto, Maurus and Sh’aeri
    • Music Piece: “Explorers’ Emporium Suite” produced by Semjay
    • Interview with community Agebuilder Semjay
    • Chapter IV of “Deep Dive with Esto Centura,” concluding the Preafter era
    • Sh’aeri’s “That’s Just Me of Course”

    The Cavern Today is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify & other services – as well as The Cavern Today’s website.

  • December 2024 All Guilds Meeting Summary

    December 2024 All Guilds Meeting Summary

    Here is the summary for the 176th All Guilds Meeting, moderated by Claidi Song, along with the raw and cleansed chatlogs!

    Contents

    1. Explorer Memorial
    2. OpenUru
    3. Mysterium
    4. Events in the Cavern
    5. D’ni Language Classes
    6. R’Tayrtahn’s Story Nights

    Explorer memorial

    The meeting began with the sad news of the passing of explorer Bella, impromptu DJ during nightly gatherings in the hoods and Ae’gura, playing requests for anyone listening.

    A memorial will be held on January 10 at 15:00 KIT, in the Ae’gura plaza. Requests or memories can be sent to Isa via KImail (#11584648) or Discord (isa.2167).

    OpenUru

    ☛ Calum Traveler thanked those who attended the opening of the Explorers’ Emporium on Friday 6. The pipeline for the next update is already opened, but nothing new has been added yet, aside from a list of minor bugs to fix.

    ☛ With the latest update, D’ni fairytales can now be found and read around Elonin, to enjoy a bit of what the D’ni might have read at bedtime or in their free time.

    ☛ Claidi interviewed Semjay about the Emporium and about her story in the Myst community. She confirmed that there is no Relto page available in the Emporium, and that no public instance is planned; most likely, Mir-o-Bot will provide one.

    We will soon post an extended dedicated post with the interview.

    ☛ A Rapid Age Development contest could be tentatively be held on January. As with previous editions, the intention is to encourage potential builders with a challenge with specific limits in size and time; entries will not need to be MOULa-ready. Tre’bivdil and the Vothol Gallery were originally built for similar contests. This time the proposed theme would be a Pod Age; participants will be assigned a basic pod shell file (for Blender or 3ds Max).

    Mysterium

    ☛ The 2025 edition of the convention will be held on August 1–3. The writing and artwork table is open for submissions, until July 15.

    ☛ The Creativity Prompt for November–December is “Hearth”, the deadline is December 31. Entries for the “Falling” prompt for September–October were from Calum Traveler, Bastiko, Talashar, Rahshahth.

    Events in the Cavern

    ☛ Korov’ev made a quick announcement about the Fan Ages Expeditions he is hosting on the Deep Island shard, every Sunday at 11:00 KIT. They are currently mid-way through the large, industrial Age of Elsewhere, by Denost.

    However, to celebrate the opening of the Explorers’ Emporium, on Sunday 8 they will take a detour to Zahlto (aka the Emporium) and to Terahgram. Semjay’s later Ages, Tovaht and Ahreesen Melin, will be the subject of future expeditions.

    ☛ IwonK will host a Wonky Talk (on her Twitch channel) on Friday 20 at 15:00 KIT in the Guild of Cookies’ Hood by the heek table. This month’s topic will be “Christmas“. Feel free to suggest interesting games she could talk (and draw) about. As always, there will be cookies!

    IwonK is also making some games of her own as a year-long gamedev challenge; you can find them at her itch.io page. Moreover, she recently got accepted at a local university, studying Game Design!

    ☛ On Monday 2, Skyisblu capped off the year with a recipe for a Christmas-inspired Victoria sponge cake, to honor the grand opening of the Explorers’ Emporium. The Cooking Sessions are on the first Monday of the month at 12:00 KIT, via Twitch, in the Guild of Caterers’ Hood; the next show will be on February 3. You can find past recipes and recordings at Skyisblu’s blog and YouTube channel.

    ☛ Babbel will host her next classical music program in the Hall of Kings in Ae’gura, on Monday 16 at 12:00 KIT. The theme this month is “Christmas Requests“.

    ☛ Every Tuesday, Ereshkigal is hosting an Ancient Stories event at 11:30 KIT in Fahets Highgarden, reading (via stream) folktales, translated ancient texts, historical fiction from all over the ancient world, as well as the occasional historical-inspired fan fiction, and also a collection of D’ni fairytales Ereshkigal wrote as a kickoff event.

    ☛ For a more complete list of upcoming events, check our calendar. Times and events may change at the last minute; you can find the latest updates at:

    D’ni Language Classes

    Shokhootahn Rehn had two updates, one for the D’ni Language Classes and one for the Story Nights.

    Visitors are asked to not post pellet points into the hood imager: one of his former students and a close friend, Yutiel Yoshi, who passed away in 2018, is listed there. He has refrained from posting pellets to maintain her name at the top, as a form of memorial.

    D’ni Language Classes schedule (click to expand)
    • Those who would like to attend the lessons should contact Rehn, preferably on Discord (r’Tayrtahn#1317), or via KImail (KI# 80428). Be sure to include your KI number, so that Rehn can send you a reply!
    • The Guild of Instructors’ Hood will be open and public unless a class is in session. Classes are individual.
    • Daytime openings are on Monday to Friday, at 10:00, 11:00 or 12:00 KIT, depending on the student’s schedule.
    • Evening openings are on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, at 20:00, 21:00 or 22:00 KIT, depending on the student’s schedule.
    • Daytime availability is subject to change with little or no notice. Last-minute changes to class times will be announced via Magic Bot (KI #27527) or Mimi Bot (KI #71459); to be notified, add both as buddies, then PM them “advert”.

    R’Tayrtahn’s Story Nights

    Story Night Europe and Original Story Night will, for rest of the month, retell the stories of king Ji, Dimahth and Yahbleshahn. Eventually they will cover all of the books and games, as well as the three human attempts at the restoration of D’ni. As this year the holidays fall mid-week, there will be stories for the entire month of December.

    R’Tayrtahn records videos of the sessions (via an avatar named “I’m a bot, do not message”), that he will eventually upload to his YouTube channel. Be careful if you PM r’Tay or the bot during the events, as messages will be visible in the videos 😉

    Videos now also come with auto translated captions in French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish. Automatic translation often has trouble with words like “D’ni” or “linking books”, so your mileage may vary 😉

    Story Nights schedule (click to expand)
    • Story Nights are held in Tsahno’s Hood every Saturday, gathering at the fountain at around 23:00 KIT, with the story starting at about 23:30 KIT.
    • For Story Nights – Europe, the gatherings are on Saturday starting at 13:30 KIT, with the story starting at about 14:00 KIT.
    • On All Guilds Meeting days, the event will begin at 14:00 KIT or 30 minutes after the meeting, whichever is later.
    • The stories are told using voice chat, so you will need to have your speakers, headphones or KI devices on. If you would like a reminder, please send r’Tayrtahn (KI# 58324) a KImail with your KI number included in the text, so that he can add you to his buddies list.

    And that was it for this month. Please consider donating to keep the Cavern open!

    The next All Guilds Meeting is planned for Saturday, January 4, 2025 (Leevosahn 3) at 13:00 KIT.

    Happy New Year!