Blood of the Bahro...

phalkon13 · **Posted:** Tue May 29, 2007 9:24 pm

Ok, forgive me if this has been talked about, but after rewading a few things.... I have my own ideas as to just how severe the slavery of the Bahro was. The Ink, and the Paper were closely guarded secrets of the Art, and were lost when the D'ni fell. Now, only a handful of individuals can still create new links to new Ages. My thought is this:
[spoiler] The gland necessary to produce the efect of space-time travel was a part of the Bahro, so would it be safe to assume that the "ink" used to write with was either an extract of this gland, or even the blood of the Bahro itself?
And even then, if the blood didn't produce the effect of time-space travel, did it lock the bahro into slavey?
That would be a much more dire scene, and fit with the darker views of Yeesha, wouldn't it?
Imagine: The Inkworks, somewhere hidden in the building, a cell or groups of cells scattered throughout. Tubes lining the bars of the cells, rom which pours the very Vitae of the Bahro..... Scary, huh?

Would make sense for the cell in Teledahn, if the original D'ni who owned it had is own provate stock of Bahro to create his own Ink and Paper.... [/spoiler]
Creepy, huh? Just a thought.
-Phalkon13-

Rils · **Posted:** Tue May 29, 2007 9:46 pm

Interesting idea... But hasn't it been fairly well established that the Ink was made from beetles?

Kolian · **Joined:** Thu Nov 09, 2006 12:04 am **Posts:** 441

Well, that's what they say. Has anyone ever actually found one of these beetles and checked out the ink from it?

Monkeyboy · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2007 11:52 am

And what if they ran out of beetles, so that is why they started using Bahro?

diafero · **Joined:** Sun Apr 01, 2007 9:00 am **Posts:** 134

As far as I know the D'ni first saw the Bahro in the cavern, on Earth. But they wre able to link long before that, as they actually linked to the cavern. Nevertheless I'm not 100% sure about this.

Erik · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2007 2:50 pm

Gehn used beetles for his ink, but I don't think the D'ni used beetles as ink.

Beetles sort of "ate" the ink. That's why you have those beetle cages in Gahreesen, so that nobody could cross the waiting room with a Linking Book.

Also, beetles beat the pen in Ahyoheek. I think that's once again because the beetles "ate" the ink.

So, I don't think the beetles were also used for ink.

And about the Bahro... scary thought... but I don't think that's the case. Also, it seems that only a few D'ni knew about the Bahro. The Guild just couldn't use the Bahro for ink I think, because if people would find out...

Robert The Rebuilder · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2007 7:11 pm

And what would the inkwell look like?

:shock:

Maratanos · **Posted:** Thu May 31, 2007 12:18 am

Okay......

You are aware that this is in the realm of non-falsifiable conspiracy theories, right?

LuigiHann · **Joined:** Thu Oct 12, 2006 10:07 pm **Posts:** 837

Well, if I'm not mistaken, Gehn wrote Riven with those beetles included, because they could be used for ink (Just as he wrote in the Great Tree because it could be used to make paper). That suggests to me that he wrote the age with Writing in mind, and given his respect for D'ni traditions, he would have planned to Write the same way the D'ni did.

isomorphic · **Joined:** Tue Feb 13, 2007 4:36 pm **Posts:** 92

Maybe the beetles are just cannibals, and they are really the source of the ink.

Cycreim · **Joined:** Wed May 10, 2006 10:37 pm **Posts:** 661

Two things... there was a theory going around that the Bahro were somehow related to ink beetles. Not sure if that carries any weight, but it was an interesting theory.

Second, how is D'ni ink actually produced? Is it created from beetles? Are the beetles used to locate the ink? Or is it a by-product of the beetles, like honey is to bees?

Frisky Badger · **Joined:** Tue Mar 20, 2007 6:48 pm **Posts:** 746

LuigiHann wrote:

Well, if I'm not mistaken, Gehn wrote Riven with those beetles included, because they could be used for ink (Just as he wrote in the Great Tree because it could be used to make paper). That suggests to me that he wrote the age with Writing in mind, and given his respect for D'ni traditions, he would have planned to Write the same way the D'ni did.

I don't think the beetles in Riven are the same as those used to create ink. Maybe I'm wrong, but didn't Gehn have to do a whole lot of experimentation with the inks and books he used. In the end it still wasn't right so he discovered a way to "power" the books. I'm pretty sure Gehn never knew how the ink was made. He used ink that he found around the cavern to write his Ages.

trylon · **Joined:** Mon Aug 28, 2006 10:35 pm **Posts:** 72

Frisky Badger wrote:

I don't think the beetles in Riven are the same as those used to create ink. Maybe I'm wrong, but didn't Gehn have to do a whole lot of experimentation with the inks and books he used. In the end it still wasn't right so he discovered a way to "power" the books. I'm pretty sure Gehn never knew how the ink was made. He used ink that he found around the cavern to write his Ages.

Having the correct raw materials and knowing how to use them is two entirely different things...
It'd be like having the correct sand for microchips...Making those chips from th sand is a totally different thing....

Yali · **Joined:** Tue May 09, 2006 6:09 pm **Posts:** 427

Gehn also spoke of a special chemical used to activate the ink. It can be seen in a jar on his office desk. It's red.

My official Yalian theory is that the Bahro and the ink beetles are indeed related. The ink beetles are what the D'ni used for their ink, as Gehn did, and that they must have been native to Garternay, in order for the D'ni to have started making Ages in the first place.

My theory is that the Bahro and the D'ni have a long history prior to Earth. The fluid used to activate the Ink could very well be an enzyme from within the Bahro, whilst the ink could be either from them, as their blood, or from the beetles, also as their blood.

My reasoning for how the two species are related is that:

a) They're both insects.
b) They both have wings, blue eyes, and similar "claw" like apparatuses.
c) They both have a biological/innate connection to the fabric of the multiverse.

Kolian · **Joined:** Thu Nov 09, 2006 12:04 am **Posts:** 441

My theory is that the Bahro are, in fact, Teenage Mutant Ninja Beetles.

Seriously though, while we cannot ever prove that the D'ni did not harvest Bahro parts for linking materials (thus, Maratanos is correct in saying that this is not falsifiable), it should be possible to figure out just what the process of ink production was in no uncertain terms. If we figure out where the Bahro come from natively (if they come from anywhere natively and examine the local wildlife, we may even be able to find some evolutionary link between Bahro and Beetles (or not).

Blood of the Bahro...

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