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The D'ni Restoration Council, or DRC, was originally called the D'ni Restoration Foundation, or DRF. The DRF was founded by Elias Zandi and Richard A. Watson in 1992, when they decided to bring in some friends and hire specialists to aid them in rebuilding D'ni. When Elias died in 1996, he left the remainder of his once-significant wealth to the foundation. Watson was in shock at the sudden passing of Elias, and decided that he needed help with running the restoration. In 1997, Watson brought several he knew into the DRF as managers, and changed the name to the DRC to reflect the council format he chose for the organization. He took the position of chairman, but each of his friends had voting rights for all major decisions. The purpose of the DRC was to oversee the restoration of the D'ni Cavern and Ages so that they might eventually be opened to the public. The DRC was not the first effort to rebuild D'ni. That distinction went to Atrus, his Averonese allies, and the survivors of the Fall of D'ni that they had managed to find hiding in various private Ages. Atrus' attempt, made about 150 years before and which was chronicled in Catherine's journals, became known as the First Restoration and the DRC recognized it as a predecessor to their own. The Second Restoration, 1997 to 2003. The DRC began the task of restoring the D'ni Cavern for public display methodically, and with a great deal of care taken for the safety of visitors and workers. John Loftin had lost his life in an avoidable accident in 1991, and the memory of that stayed in the minds of the council members for the remainder of their time in the cavern. In July of 2002, Dr. Watson and Rand Miller from Cyan Worlds worked with Authorized Explorer IMForeman to broadcast a live tour of the D'ni Cavern to attendees at Mysterium in Philadelphia, PA. That same year, the DRC announced that UbiSoft Entertainment had signed on to fund the restoration of the Cavern. At the beginning of 2003, explorers began arriving in the Cavern without the permission of the DRC. These individuals were let in by Yeesha and Jeff Zandi, and forced the DRC to divert their efforts toward restoring a number of D'ni Neighborhoods for those "unauthorized explorers" to inhabit. Later that year, the DRC began grudgingly accepting more of these explorers and unofficially opened the Cavern to the public. Throughout the time that the DRC allowed unauthorized explorers into the Cavern, they maintained an extreme displeasure for the meddling of Yeesha and Zandi in allowing the public into D'ni before the DRC was ready to accommodate them. Explorers were often cautioned against trusting their Relto Books to get them out of dangerous situations, and for a time, the DRC actively attempted to remove Bahro artifacts such as Journey Cloths from their locations throughout the Cavern and Ages. The Second Restoration, 2004 to 2006. In February 2004, UbiSoft Entertainment terminated its funding for the DRC's efforts, effectively forcing the organization to shut down. Later that year, Victor Laxman began to allow small groups of explorers back into the Cavern on an "at-your-own-risk" basis, and no plans were announced to continue the restoration. In late 2005, Victor Laxman returned again, gathering his former colleagues from the council minus Dr. Watson, to begin tentative work to resume the restoration effort. Larger numbers of explorers were invited to visit the Cavern, and over the next year, the DRC held several Town Hall meetings with explorers to discuss what the future might hold. The Third Restoration, 2006 to 2008. Eventually, the DRC acquired a new source of funding from a group represented by venture capitalist Cate Alexander. Ms. Alexander was not a terribly popular figure. The DRC took issue with her interest in results over safety, and the explorers took issue with her no-nonsense attitude and her generally dismissive behavior when it came to community concerns. No one could say, however, that Cate was ineffective at getting results. Almost like clockwork, the DRC opened a new area or Age to the public roughly once a month for nine straight months. The new DRC was also much more accommodating and trusting of the use of Relto Books by explorers. Several of the DRC Council members had elected to take Yeesha's Journey by that time, and several Ages were even released without any sort of Linking Book back to the Nexus or to the Cavern, counting on all explorers having immediate access to their own escape mechanism. Still, despite their ubiquitous use throughout the explorer population, some decried the DRC's apparent lack of concern for safety in not putting back-up links to the Nexus in every Age they opened, while others took issue with the often shoddy state of the Ages, wondering why the DRC had chosen to release them with what were sometimes rather obvious safety deficiencies. Tetsonot was a favorite for these sorts of complaints. The debate over the priority of safety in the restoration came to a head when, in May of 2007, Michael Engberg's daughter Willow (or "Wheely", as she was known in the Cavern) was killed by a Bahro after she fell into an isolated chamber in Tokotah II, following a series of earthquakes in Ae'Gura. The incident also claimed the life of her friend, Rosette Taylor, whom she was exploring with at the time. Michael Engberg quit the DRC over the incident, and the rest of the DRC Council was left shaken. As 2007 came to a close, Ms. Alexander announced that she would no longer be funding the restoration effort. Despite an all-out effort on the part of Victor Laxman and Marie Sutherland, no additional funding could be found, and the DRC once again abandoned their efforts. The Cavern was shut down in April of 2008, and has remained closed ever since. The DRC Staff: The DRC was a collection of experts in various fields, and employed a variety of engineers as support. The council members were:
Contractors: The DRC has only employed one person full-time who was not a council member or a restoration engineer, and that was Douglas Sharper (2002 - 2007). Restoration Engineers: To help with the massive effort of restoring the D'ni civilization, Restoration Engineers (or "ResEngs") were hired by the DRC council members. Later, once the Cavern was opened to the public, these ResEngs were tasked with assisting newcomers by providing orientation classes and assisting explorers who became stuck during their travels. The following individuals have been employed by the DRC in the past:
What the Restoration Phases meant: The DRC's restoration phases were their way of organizing and reporting the status of a given location or Age. Members were in charge of the overall progress based on their specialties, but that was not a rigid definition of what they did overall. Instead, the person in charge of a phase level was responsible for keeping track of the progress of their phase in any given location and reporting its progress in council meetings. They also were the ones to give a location their approval to pass into the next phase. In the field, each DRC member had more specific tasks they performed, depending on what they were good at. For example, Michael Engberg was their go-to expert in structural analysis and safety, and he helped where his advice or opinion was needed no matter what phase the location was officially in or who was in charge of restoring it on site. Phase 1: Initial Mapping. During this Phase, basic maps and documents were created for the Age or location being restored. These documents were detailed further in Phase 3. Dr. Kodama was the head DRC member in charge of this phase. Phase 2: Structural Analysis. All structures and supports were examined for integrity and safety. Dr. Kodama also headed the completion of this phase. Phase 3: Detailed Analysis. The Age or location was given a thorough examination by a survey team, which created extensive maps and additional documentation on the area. Dr. Sutherland was in charge of this phase. Phase 4: Restoration. This was the most extensive phase, during which all machinery was repaired, structures were secured, and cleanup was performed. Mr. Engberg was in charge of operations in this phase. Phase 5: Limited Access. In this final phase before completion, the Age or location was opened for limited access by authorized explorers. Dr. Sutherland oversaw the operations of this phase. |
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