Explorers Memorial

The Explorers Memorial is a monument of four rings with a scrolling list of names, located just outside of the Kahlo Pub on Ae'gura Island in the game, Myst Online: Uru Live (MOUL). Below is a list of the names that currently appear on the memorial, both real people and fictional characters. For more information on the real community members who have been lost to us, please visit the In Memoriam page.

Richard "ShadowCats" Bader, Jeannie "jmb30321" Barcus, Janet "Pehpsi" Burress, CAGrayWolf, James "Aquila" Carpenter, Virginia "Terra" Cinova, Cindy Farrar, Willow "Wheely" Engberg,* Gandhar, Jahuti, JDrake, Katzi, William “oldmanjob” Maier, Mo'zie, Len "Flyboy" Mumbower, Myst'Aken, Perlenstern, Mark “Zardoz” Plummer, Ramsine, Jim "Dust'ei" Rhodes, Josef Riedl, Sil-Oh-Wet, Rosette Taylor*

* Non-Player (fictional) Characters who died as part of a story line in the cavern.

Background

Prior to the installation of this memorial, community members had created memorial webpages/sites, memorials in other worlds (There, Second Life), and even their own Uru ages to honor fellow Myst/Uru community members who had died. Additionally, they had requested that Cyan create a memorial in Uru and Cyan indicated as early as June 2006 that “something along these lines” was already planned.

In early 2006, during the D’mala era, the NPC "Wheely" was introduced as being Willow Engberg, daughter of DRC member Michael Engberg. She spent quite a bit of time with the explorers in the cavern so that by May 2007, she was well known among the players and many were fond of her. On May 18, 2007, the NPC “Rosette” was introduced as a close friend of Wheely’s from Portland, Oregon. The MOUL episode, “Scars” began May 19, 2007 with a “Safety Alert”(WM) KI-mail from the DRC warning explorers to be cautious in the Kahlo pub area due to new cracks being discovered there. The next day, Wheely and Rosette were in the cavern doing marker missions. Other explorers, concerned for their safety, tried to convince the girls to stay out of the city, but failing that, joined them with the intention of keeping a watchful eye and steer them away from the dangerous area. But the girls managed to slip away alone to the city and shortly thereafter, they disappeared from everyone's KI. DRC members and explorers began searching for them while other explorers held vigils and waited both in the cavern and on the forums for more news. Bahro were seen in the city and low rumbles were heard coming from the area of the Kahlo Pub where it was discovered the ceiling had collapsed. Explorers soon learned that Rosette had died in the cave in and Wheely was trapped there. As the DRC attempted to rescue her over the next day, explorers anxiously listened to relayers in the cavern or watched the forums for any news. On May 22nd, they were stunned to learn of her death just before rescuers were able to reach her.

History

On June 26, 2007, DRC member Marie Sutherland unveiled the memorial outside of the Kahlo Pub saying, “It seems I should say something for this occasion, but I don't have the words. We have spent the last month trying to decide how to memorialize the explorers that we've lost. Nothing I can say will do justice to their memories, so I won't even try. But this will be a small token.” The initial names on the memorial at that time were Janet "Pehpsi" Burress, James "Aquila" Carpenter, "JDrake", Willow "Wheely" Engberg, Phil "phend" Henderson,*** Maureen "Mo'zie" Jannot, "Rasmine",** Jim "Dust'ei" Rhodes, and Rosette Taylor.

** “Rasmine” was actually “Ramsine,” a member of the German community which informed Cyan of the error and it was corrected.

*** NPC Phil "phend" Henderson had been a DRC Restoration Engineer who was believed to have died in late 2003 when a wall in the cavern collapsed. Although his body was never found, he was presumed dead and his name was included on the memorial when it was initially installed. However, phend re-appeared in the cavern on August 3rd, 2007 and his name was eventually removed from the memorial.

Following the unveiling, the DRC sent a KI-mail to all explorers, “Wheely Memorial”(WM) announcing the memorial and requesting submissions of the names of other explorers who had passed away, along with a description of how each contributed to the restoration.

Over the years, new names have been added. Three community members (CAGrayWolf, Jahuti, and Gandhar) died while the cavern was closed between April 2008 and January 2010 and their names were added when the cavern re-opened in 2010.