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Ahnonay - Part 1: Quab Island

Ahnonay is a special Age in many ways. For example, it is the only Age that makes use of a reception Age before you can link to the actual Ahnonay Age. Also, the linking panel of the Ahnonay linking book shows quite a different picture from what you're actually going to find there.

One note: If you're on "The Open Cave" shard and have the Cat Relto page, you better turn that Relto page off during your visits to Ahnonay...

Obtaining the linking book

Just like Er'cana, the linking book to Ahnonay can be found in the Watcher's Sanctuary. So you need to link to the Nexus first, then select the Watcher's Pub as that is what it is called in the Nexus. When you arrive, walk to the left where you found the Er'cana book. The Ahnonay book is on the pedestal to the right of the DRC notebook.

Use the linking panel from the Ahnonay book and you will be transported to the "Ahnonay Cathedral". Walk forward, open the doors and continue walking until you reach a pedestal with the actual Ahnonay linking book. Before using that book, notice the decorations on both sides of the wall? These are clues to the final puzzle in Ahnonay, just like the clues in Kadish Gallery for the Age Kadish Tolesa. By the way, the same clues for this Age are also in the Kadish Gallery on the upper level. So let's make a drawing of these decorations. It's these symbols in thick black lines that you need. Forget about the colors, they play no role at all. You can also skip the repeating decorations with four spheres in it. The order in which they should be, is as they are when you enter the Ahnonay Cathedral and walk towards the pedestal with the linking book. So, skipping the ones with the four spheres in them, you need the first one on your right, the next one on your left, the next one on your right, and so on. When you're done, use the linking book on the pedestal.

Finally, Ahnonay!

You have finally arrived in Ahnonay. It appears to be a small horse-shoe shaped island. On the ground you can see some crab-like creatures that are called quabs. In the distance you can see a few more islands that may be inhabited or may have been inhabited in the past. In the middle of the island you're currently standing on you see a pool and in it some sort of device. What it is for you will learn soon. Also, notice the blue lights arranged in a circle in the top section of the device.

A strange device in the middle of the pool

Let's explore this island a little more. It's not that big an island, so it shouldn't take that much time. Walk along the first rock wall on your right. The quabs will move away when you pass by them. When you've reached the end of the first rock wall you can see another small island to your right. The island has a tower on it and light is coming from inside the tower. If you look closely, you'll also notice that there is another quab on that island. Continue walking over the main island. On the third rock wall to your right, you find the first shellcloth. So touch it.

A strange tower on a small island

Continue walking over the island until you reach the end. There's a pedestal with a linking book back to the Ahnonay Cathedral. If you use it now and link back to Ahnonay from there, you will end up at the beginning of this island and nothing will have changed. But you have found only one cloth, so there should be more to Ahnonay than what you've already seen so far. Actually, there's a whole lot more to this island. You just need to find it.

Chasing quabs

Let's walk back and chase some of the quabs into the water. Just keep chasing the quabs and try to steer them in the direction of the water. At the edge of the island they will usually jump in the water themselves. Sometimes however, they jump off the island and land on the edge of the cliff and the water. They need to be entirely in the water, so check that they are, before moving on to the next quab. When you have chased a few more quabs into the water, take a look at the device in the center of the pool. Notice the blue lights? Fewer lights are lit up than before. So the device apparantly detects the quabs. But it also detects people. You can see that when you walk a little bit while looking at the device. One blue light will follow you wherever you walk over the island. So the device can detect anything that moves over the island. Most likely, this is done using pressure sensors on the surface of the island.

Quab hiding behind the rocks

You have chased a few quabs off the island into the water. Let's chase the rest of the quabs off the island. Some will be hidden on or behind the rock walls, so make sure you look everywhere on the island to find them all. Assuming you have not used the linking book on the pedestal to the Ahnonay Cathedral yet, one quab usually remains on the small island with the tower. If that's the only remaining quab then when you look at the device in the center of the pool, you'll see that there are 2 blue lights still lit. One is lit because of the quab on the small island, the other is lit because you are still on the main island.

One thing to note: The detector in the pool detects anything on the island or the smaller island with the tower. The detector does not detect anything that is in the water. The grass and trees are also not detected by this device

Now, how do you chase the quab on the small island into the water? I know of two ways to do it:
1) The adventurous way,
2) The lazy way.

The adventurous way involves jumping into the water and swimming towards the small island with the tower. However, the currents are so strong that you will never reach the small island. So you need a less direct approach. Find the rock wall with the shell cloth on it. On the right side of the cloth is an opening in the rock wall. Walk through this opening and climb the rocks on the back side of the rock wall. You'll see a few large rocks sticking out of the water. Position yourself in front of these rocks and make a standing jump forward (i.e. a jump from a standing position as opposed to a running jump). When you land on the first rock, position yourself to make another jump to the next rock. Again, a standing jump forward will do. Now that you are on the second rock, prepare to jump in the water. Here too, a standing jump forward will do, although a running jump is ok too. When you dive in the water, keep swimming forward (using the same keys as for running) in the direction of the closest island in the distance. Try not to look for the small island yet, if you do, you will not be able to move forward and you risk being pulled away from the small island by the strong currents. It is ok to look at the tower just once after a few seconds swimming, so you can correct your course if nessasary.

If all went well, you will be able to reach the small island with the tower. Sometimes the quab here already left, if not, now is the time to chase it in the water. You can walk the stairs and look around the tower, but there's nothing you can do here at the moment. Do notice however, that on one side of the tower a door is visible but closed for now. Jump in the water and swim back to the main island via the small waterfall. Once you've reached the pool there are two places where you can get back on land. The easiest way is if you swim a little to the left of the pool and find the place where the slope is less steap. There's also another place on the right side of the pool where you can get back on land but here you need to do an extra jump to climb back on land. (Actually, there is another place where you can get back on land from the outside of the island near the tower, it's just that it's difficult to reach due to the strong currents.)

The lazy way involves linking away from Ahnonay and linking back. When you link back to Ahnonay, the quab on the small island will be gone, but the quab will now be on the main island, usually with a few of his quab friends. So, you'll have to chase a few more quabs into the water and you're done.

* End of Part 1 * Next: Ahnonay Part 2: Past, Present and Future

AhnonayPodHopper KI # 7116825