(Max): So in short, what was the inspiration or the basis for the D'ni language? Can you tell a bit about the origins of it? I suppose it's very Non-English, but does it for instance have any Arabic, Hindi, Japanese or some Asian influences? Or any correlation to other common languages and speech patterns?
RAWA: Hmm... I realize that most will not understand this, but it is very difficult for me to be OOC as 'RAWA v2.0' here rather than IC 'Dr. Watson' when I'm literally 'In the Cavern'. It just feels so wrong. Having said that, it is an interesting story that I don't think has been told before, so we might as well go for it. Just don't tell Dr. Watson or the other DRC members.
RAWA: I have always loved languages of all kinds. Just the idea that (somewhat) arbitrary combinations of sounds, and/or symbols could be imbued with 'meaning' is cool. A secret 'code' that groups of people more or less try to adhere to, to imperfectly share information with each other. What I say is not necessarily what you hear, even if we supposedly speak the same language. This is why I joke about taking things literally. Everything I hear, I try to 'hear' as many different interpretations as possible, and pick the most literal to respond to, even if I know they meant one of the other possible interpretations. It drives people nuts. A very simple example:
My son: 'Can I have a soda?'
Me: 'I believe you are 'able' to, but you are not 'allowed' to.'
This comes from years of typing up email responses and having to go through every single word over and over, knowing y'all were going to dissect every syllable. BTW - Don't dissect this, please. It won't stand up to it. I got used to trying to guess what would be misinterpreted and trying to be very specific to address those reactions before they happened. I was not always successful, but I did always do my best to try to be clear, even if the answer was basically, 'I can't tell you that, yet.'
Back to the language story. In sixth grade, I had the chance to take just a little bit of German during our lunch breaks. The idea that not just words changed from language to language, but entire modes of thinking fascinated me. Then in high school, I took two years of Spanish. A whole 'nother mindset. New grammar concepts. I don't remember many of the specifics, but the basic concept stuck with me. The rules are pretty arbitrary and could theoretically be just about anything.
The important thing is that everyone agrees to abide by them and use them the same way, or no meaning can be conveyed from person to person. What I say is not what you hear if we do not agree on how the 'code' should be encoded/decoded. Some of this is unavoidable, because we bring our own experiences to the conversation. When I say the word "watermelon", my concept of "watermelon" is slightly different than your concept of "watermelon". When I say "watermelon", I remember eating waaaay too much watermelon when I was very young and getting sick from it. I could not eat watermelon again for years, and I still do not really eat it. If you never had a negative experience with watermelon, you probably do not have any of those connotations connected to it.
Back to languages, sorry for the bunny trail. My next "languages" were from Tolkien. Wow. Clearly he had waaaay too much time on his hands. Amazing. Inspriring. Then came Hebrew. All just basic stuff, no formal classes, just bits and pieces I was picking up. After that was Tenctonese from a movie called Alien Nation (Mandy Patinkin, 1988). Their language in the movie was very complicated with clicks and pops and they had a script that looked like an EKG heartbeat with dots and wavy lines. I tried to figure out if they did all the work to make it real, or if they just faked it with randomness. Turns out it was pretty detailed. Cool.
Then the TV series Alien Nation came out. Still good, but the language in the TV show was a simpler version. Knowing how long it takes to translate, and how hard it is to get actors to say "gibberish" in the first place, I certainly understood. The TV show's version of the language was easy to figure out. Standard English word order for the grammar. Many words were simply anagrams of their English counterparts. I recorded every episode on VHS tape, and watched it back. Keeping track of the subtitles. Learning new words. "Tagdot tay monga su. To tay mish uray." = "Tagdot (a character name) is among us. It is his time." (This is 25 year-old memory. I believe I am remembering it correctly, but I may have messed it up a little.)
The point was - they got an "A" for effort from me - that it wasn't just random. When I started at Cyan, Myst's other languages were gibberish. See Achenar's recordings to the Channelwood natives. That was all recorded before I was hired. When it came time for Riven, I asked if I could take a stab at it. It might not be perfect. It might not be pretty. But it wouldn't just be random. I could at least do something like the TV version of Alien Nation did. I had no idea what I was getting into.
I was always a good student. I was a pro at English grammar. "linking verbs: have, has, had, do, does, did, am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been", "Types of sentences: declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory", "Pronouns: nominative, possessive, objective", "who/whom?" "11 rules for the comma" No problem. I had a great English teacher, Miss Gaupp. She's 84 now, and still teaches English! Her father lived to be 105. so she might teach a whole 'nother generation!
D'ni was mostly based on Hebrew as far as the alphabet structure works. Hebrew uses a dot on some of the letters to change some consonants from a fricative like "v" to a stop like "b". Tongue and lips are in the same basic position, the dot just tells you if you completely stop the air or not. For vowels, Hebrew usually uses an extra letter a yud (y) to make a dipthong. I simplified it a little and used the same dot that is used for consonants, only when it's on a vowel, it becomes a dipthong, usually sliding from the original sound to an "ee" sound.
The language using suffixes and prefixes to show number, subject, etc. are concepts I remembered from Hebrew and Spanish. Small words attach together (agglutenative) "And, the, etc." attach to the words they modify. Hebrew and German do this. The number system and alphabet evolved together - this is from Hebrew. The combination of base 5 and base 25 came from the idea: what if I use my right hand to count like tick marks and my left hand to keep track of how many sets of tick marks I have. Their coordinate system (polar coordinates) came from Rand first.
I am starting a website where I plan to start releasing more and more information about D'ni. Stuff that has not been released before. It's an ambitious project. It sounds good on paper, but in my current state I am coming up with ideas much, much more quickly than I can ever hope to execute them. My To-Do list gets exponentially longer. We're going to need a lot more "back burners" on our proverbial stove. And once i'm back to work full-time on Obduction, these new projects are definitely going to take a hit.

(Zeke): Could you give us a little more background on the bahro (something we dont know about them) and where the bahro concept came from?
RAWA: Sorry, Zeke. I still hold too much hope that we will be able to reveal that in a game or novel to just spill it now. RAWA v2.0 may be chattier than RAWA v1.0 was, but I still would rather you experience these things for yourself than simply be told them.

(Zeke): Why is Myst island closed off to the public did you plan to have Myst island released to the public at some point?
RAWA: In Uru, I expect? Yes, like everything else when Uru was initially designed - we were leaving ourselves a great deal of freedom for future expansion.

(Zeke): Where are the D'ni bathrooms? Did they have ages that they went to for the bathroom?
RAWA: My long-running, standard answer for that is: "That's why we don't allow you to swim in Myst..."

(Zeke): Why was the jump feature so important in this game?
RAWA: When you plan a game that is meant to evolve and change and grow over time, you want as many options on the table as possible. As many arrows in your quiver, tools in your belt, spices in your cupboard, [insert your analogy here] as you can get. Especially when it comes to puzzle creation. You wan the flexibility to make completely new kinds of puzzles than were made anywhere in the game before.
Don't get me started on the original plans for the pods (Negilahn).
Picking things up with your hands, for example. Kicking the traps into place in Eder Kemo. That was never meant to be the final interface. But it worked as a stop-gap until grabbing/ holding/pushing could be implemented at a later time. Then Uru was canceled before it began, and all those grand plans sit unfulfilled.

(Acorn1): We know from a recent interview with David Wingrove that a draft of the Book of Marrim exists. But we also know it's been on the back burner for years. You've told us not to give up on it. Is there anything you can tell us about what would need to happen to that draft in order to ready it for publication?
RAWA: It's on my bucket list. It won't be great if I write it, but there are several critical bits in it that have to be told, and told right. The rest of the "filler" story, I don't care quite so much about. The outline we worked on with David was good and all, but <shrug>.

(Mister Magic): Are there any updates in the pipeline that you can let us know a bit about?
RAWA: Which pipeline? MOULa? I'm out of that loop, sorry. Obduction? We are hard at work. I have been in the office several times, briefly. Much to my wife's frustration. On Thursday, Ryan Warzecha literally asked me one question that I had to think about. It completely drained me, and I had to stop to recharge.
My RAWA v2.0 joke about the upgrade is more accurate than you probably think. As soon as I try to engage my brain in any meaningful way, I immediately, literally feel myself slow down. The clock starts ticking, and my energy is quickly dissipated. The more of my brain I try to use at once, the faster the energy is gone. So the joke now is that they get to ask me one question per day, and that's it.

(Tai'lahr): I greatly enjoyed the YouTube video of you singing, RAWA, so my question is: Is there any chance you could be convinced to submit a song or two to be played during the weekly Uru Karaoke event?
RAWA: You're too kind. It's awful. I was too tired to play well or sing well. The lyrics drive me crazy when they "pop" a word down to the next line as they expand. But it did its job - proves I have all the pieces to make -something- work. Now it just needs some love and time.
RAWA: More stuff will be placed on my YouTube channel. I've already recorded the next one, I'm just working on the graphics and lyrics. Once that next one's up, I'll go back to redo As a Deer. That was mainly for my aunt. it's her favorite song that i play

(cskid13): Can we call the content that is currently being created by the Intangibles "canon?" So, in other words, will their version of Kahlo be the "real" Kahlo, etc.? (cskid13)
RAWA: Our philosophy has not changed. What happens in the Cavern happens in the Cavern. We just roll with the punches and try to weave everything into the story as best we can. We certainly didn't plan for any of the Cavern closings, but they are part of the story now. If y'all make Kahlo, it will be some version of Kahlo. If the DRC ever gets funding to come back, they might find an "older" Book that links to another version of Kahlo, just like your Yeesha book does.

(maggie696): this brings our prepared questions to an end. We have only one last request - that you would visit us more often
RAWA: Hope springs eternal that we eventually have to officially "burn that bridge while we're crossing it" (tm).

(10/10 15:58:46) [X]:
(10/10 15:58:49) [X] cheers
(10/10 15:58:54) [X] cheers
(10/10 15:58:58) [X] cheers
(10/10 15:59:27) KathAveara: Shorah Rawa!
(10/10 15:59:30) [X] cheers
(10/10 15:59:33) [X] cheers
(10/10 15:59:37) [X] cheers
(10/10 15:59:40) Acorn1 cheers
(10/10 15:59:40) maggie696: Welcome one and all to CAVCON Awareness 2015! We would like to remind you that even a small donation will help to keep everything that you see today alive and available for all of us to enjoy. Please consider a contribution.
(10/10 15:59:42) Night-Tripper claps his hands
(10/10 15:59:46) [X]: Welcome RAWA!!
(10/10 15:59:49) Vector Prime 2.0 waves hello
(10/10 15:59:55) Janeerah: welcome
(10/10 15:59:59) Christian Walther: Shorah RAWA
(10/10 16:00:00) [X] claps her hands
(10/10 16:00:00) Larry LeDeay: Yes
(10/10 16:00:05) maggie696 cheers
(10/10 16:00:06) Abjab cheers
(10/10 16:00:10) Kerryth returns from the surface, waves to the explorers and cheers for RAWA
(10/10 16:00:14) Max: welcome RAWA
(10/10 16:00:15) Larry LeDeay claps his hands
(10/10 16:00:16) Strazsha cheers
(10/10 16:00:17) SeppoIo waves hello
(10/10 16:00:20) [X] cheers
(10/10 16:00:22) ghaelen: Shorah Rawa, hope you are feeling good today
(10/10 16:00:24) skuavi II: im glad to see you rawa
(10/10 16:00:26) Piri 919 claps his hands
(10/10 16:00:28) Davide claps his hands
(10/10 16:00:33) Max claps his hands
(10/10 16:00:35) Mirphak: hello, welcome RAWA !
(10/10 16:00:36) RAWA: Apologies, I am a little slow. I have forgotten much.
(10/10 16:00:39) Night-Tripper: bravo0
(10/10 16:00:42) Hummingbird leans right
(10/10 16:00:44) Lushun: Shorah RAWA!
(10/10 16:00:46) [X]: You found us!!
(10/10 16:00:48) [X]: ^^
(10/10 16:00:49) Tai'lahr: Shorah, RAWA!
(10/10 16:00:52) AlanDJ: You are most welcome RAWA, many thanks for being with us tonight
(10/10 16:00:56) Kerryth: You are not the only one. *chucles*
(10/10 16:00:59) maggie696: Where would you like to be RAWA?
(10/10 16:01:02) skuavi II: hola snick
(10/10 16:01:11) jean-baptiste waves goodbye
(10/10 16:01:19) Piri 919 leans right
(10/10 16:01:25) giovanni4: Buona sera RAWA!
(10/10 16:01:43) Hummingbird leans left
(10/10 16:02:10) Kneb: shorah RAWA
(10/10 16:02:26) Hummingbird: Howdy Rawa!
(10/10 16:02:27) Night-Tripper: gone?
(10/10 16:02:37) Max: did he crash out?
(10/10 16:02:39) Abjab: Need a Guild shirt ??
(10/10 16:02:42) Strazsha: Yes
(10/10 16:02:45) Charura: Seems he did
(10/10 16:02:47) maggie696: Think so
(10/10 16:02:47) Max: you scared him?
(10/10 16:02:51) Miyu: coffee time
(10/10 16:02:52) Abjab: Awww..
(10/10 16:02:55) Strazsha: If we all sit quietly will the crashing be less likely?
(10/10 16:02:57) maggie696: Must have been me
(10/10 16:02:57) Calum Traveler: i think he poofed.
(10/10 16:03:04) Chroma: he was here, looks like he crashed
(10/10 16:03:05) Ro'Jetthe: Have him sit in the soft leather Lazy Boy recliner.
(10/10 16:03:06) Calum Traveler: i dont see his name on age players anymore ._.;
(10/10 16:03:07) Night-Tripper: that he did
(10/10 16:03:12) Abjab: hes back in Relto
(10/10 16:03:16) Hummingbird: Hi Calum, long time no see.
(10/10 16:03:29) Abjab: still online my ki says
(10/10 16:03:29) KathAveara: He's on his way back
(10/10 16:03:30) Night-Tripper: overwhelmed by the adulations
(10/10 16:03:34) Abjab: ok
(10/10 16:03:42) Calum Traveler: let's give him a little space first this time?
(10/10 16:03:47) KathAveara: xP
(10/10 16:03:50) Calum Traveler: make sure he links in properly before we overwhelm him
(10/10 16:04:18) Vector Prime 2.0 waves hello
(10/10 16:04:25) RAWA: So sorry.
(10/10 16:04:32) maggie696: No problem
(10/10 16:04:34) Acorn1: Welcome back!
(10/10 16:04:34) Tai'lahr: Welcome back.
(10/10 16:04:38) Emor D'ni Lap: WB RAWA
(10/10 16:04:42) maggie696: Is this your choice of place?
(10/10 16:04:46) giovanni4: CIAO RAWA!
(10/10 16:04:48) Kneb: wb Rawa
(10/10 16:04:53) Snickuster: I'm thinking conference room is best
(10/10 16:04:59) Snickuster: That's the point of it
(10/10 16:05:02) Hummingbird: WB RAWA
(10/10 16:05:10) maggie696: Not our choice Snick
(10/10 16:05:11) KathAveara: Let's ask Rawa where he wants to be
(10/10 16:05:16) Paparazzi cheers
(10/10 16:05:22) Tai'lahr: Dang.
(10/10 16:05:24) Calum Traveler: yeah, sounds like an idea to me
(10/10 16:05:25) Max: again?
(10/10 16:05:25) Emor D'ni Lap: poof again
(10/10 16:05:30) Acorn1: Drat
(10/10 16:05:30) Snickuster: Sounds good
(10/10 16:05:32) Cpt.Jericho: Aaaand crashed again...
(10/10 16:05:44) KathAveara: Has he gone again?
(10/10 16:05:49) Larry LeDeay: Yep.
(10/10 16:05:51) Lushun: oh
(10/10 16:05:52) Night-Tripper: umm this is the creator?
(10/10 16:05:52) Calum Traveler: kirel, we may have a problem.
(10/10 16:06:02) Snickuster:
(10/10 16:06:11) KathAveara: Oh dear
(10/10 16:06:16) Kemmo Gehrah: What a party!
(10/10 16:06:16) Max: weeeell... we have to be patient...
(10/10 16:06:19) Strazsha: Could we TRY to not type and emote? Someone can speak for all of us to welcome, say how happy we are, etc. but
(10/10 16:06:28) Emor D'ni Lap: Wish one of us were in direct contact with Angela
(10/10 16:06:29) Lushun: Sure Max
(10/10 16:06:29) Charura: he keeps getting OBDUCTED I think Rand is at the helm lol
(10/10 16:06:29) Strazsha: if we all keep doing it I believe he will kieep crashing
(10/10 16:06:36) maggie696: Well if he can't stay, he did provide me with the answers to the questions we submitted............
(10/10 16:07:09) Max: don't all stand so close to Link In Spot...
(10/10 16:07:18) Stone: nexus said there are 72 people here
(10/10 16:07:24) Larry LeDeay: He's back on.
(10/10 16:07:24) Abjab: Might be his shirt (Obduction)
(10/10 16:07:28) Cantor: He is back
(10/10 16:07:39) KathAveara: Wretched bah'ro
(10/10 16:07:44) Abjab: give him a greeters shirt ??
(10/10 16:07:53) Cantor: Relto now
(10/10 16:08:40) Cantor: Nexus
(10/10 16:08:40) Kneb: would you speak to us RAWA
(10/10 16:09:01) Cpt.Jericho: How many are we here at the moment?
(10/10 16:09:14) Emor D'ni Lap: WB RAWA
(10/10 16:09:23) [X]: were about 70 last count
(10/10 16:09:24) Vector Prime 2.0 waves hello
(10/10 16:09:40) Janeerah: hello again
(10/10 16:09:41) maggie696: Let's get going then!
(10/10 16:09:44) RAWA: where's a res eng when you need one?
(10/10 16:09:45) skuavi II: wb rawa
(10/10 16:09:47) maggie696: Hello everyone and welcome to the climax of our CAVCON event! I'm thrilled to introduce our special guest - please give him a huge welcome.
(10/10 16:09:54) [X]: to escort you in?
(10/10 16:09:56) Max: please RAWA.... move away from the Link In Spot
(10/10 16:09:56) Janeerah: ion vacation
(10/10 16:09:57) Tai'lahr: That's just what I was thinking, RAWA. <G>
(10/10 16:09:57) Cantor: Hahahahahahahah
(10/10 16:10:00) AlanDJ claps his hands
(10/10 16:10:00) Larry LeDeay claps his hands
(10/10 16:10:06) Miyu claps her hands
(10/10 16:10:11) [X] cheers
(10/10 16:10:12) Christian Walther claps his hands
(10/10 16:10:12) maggie696: This discussion may not proceed as we earlier envisioned but we are grateful to have RAWA in our midst under any circumstances. He will be providing answers to the pre-submitted questions. The possibility for follow-up questions will be entirely dependent upon how he is feeling as we progress.
(10/10 16:10:13) Lushun claps her hands
(10/10 16:10:13) westar claps his hands
(10/10 16:10:15) Davide claps his hands
(10/10 16:10:17) Max claps his hands
(10/10 16:10:21) Acorn1 claps her hands
(10/10 16:10:26) Night-Tripper claps his hands
(10/10 16:10:27) Meh cheers
(10/10 16:10:30) Hummingbird claps her wings
(10/10 16:10:32) Vector Prime 2.0 cheers
(10/10 16:10:35) Kerryth cheers
(10/10 16:10:39) RoboticBrad claps his hands
(10/10 16:10:40) RAWA: is this better?
(10/10 16:10:47) maggie696: RAWA's well-being is the top priority and we ask for your patience if there is a need to restrict or terminate our interactions. And now...........Dr. Watson!!!
(10/10 16:10:49) Cantor: Much : )
(10/10 16:10:51) Abjab:
(10/10 16:10:52) ghaelen claps
(10/10 16:11:14) RAWA: .shorah, biv-rov, ga chev b'shem-tee biv b'fah-see.
(10/10 16:11:16) Chroma: Really Korov'ev? is that so? I really dont have any excuse whatsoever for not supporting my community now!!!
(10/10 16:11:21) maggie696: May I begin with the first question?
(10/10 16:11:33) Zeke365: Everyone he at the founatom area
(10/10 16:11:46) RAWA: That was off the top of my head, which is not very trustworthy of late... for some reason that may or may not become clear to me at the moment.
(10/10 16:12:08) Cantor: : )
(10/10 16:12:09) Kerryth:
(10/10 16:12:25) Tai'lahr: The linguists will let you know. ; )
(10/10 16:12:39) Zeke365: Yes mobe over toward the fountain
(10/10 16:12:42) Patricio: maggie, should we come in here?
(10/10 16:12:46) RAWA: What I was trying to say, was Hello, everyone, and thank you all very much!
(10/10 16:12:57) Cantor: YW
(10/10 16:12:57) Calum Traveler: hello, RAWA
(10/10 16:12:57) Christian Walther: and I even understood that
(10/10 16:12:57) Paparazzi claps her hands
(10/10 16:13:01) Max: a bit laggy... so please don't move too much...
(10/10 16:13:07) Tai'lahr: Yeah, I got that much. : )
(10/10 16:13:10) Zeke365 we all appearciate what you do
(10/10 16:13:10) ghaelen sends RAWA (and everyone) hugs
(10/10 16:13:12) Max claps his hands
(10/10 16:13:36) maggie696: We are at the fountain - a minimum amount of chatter would be appreciated
(10/10 16:14:13) Emor D'ni Lap: thank YOU, RAWA, for being such a huge part of building this MYST/URU universe
(10/10 16:15:13) RAWA: It is likely that you've heard about my recent surgery, I suppose. I am doing fine, but I tire quickly and easily.
(10/10 16:15:28) RAWA: if I get too tired, my wife will take over typing for me
(10/10 16:15:38) KathAveara: Good to hear, Rawa
(10/10 16:15:46) RAWA: First question, please.
(10/10 16:15:50) Calum Traveler: glad to hear you're doing well, RAWA,
(10/10 16:16:07) maggie696: So in short, what was the inspiration or the basis for the D'ni language? Can you tell a bit about the origins of it? I suppose it's very Non-English, but does it for instance have any Arabic, Hindi, Japanese or some Asian influences? Or any correlation to other common languages and speech patterns? (Max)