Entry 28 - Akuna Minkata

There are times when these game make me feel so thick.

Last night in Minkata, I began checking out the coordinates I had plotted on the map. Despite that calculating my walking and running speeds working very well (walking: 9.2 units/sec, running: 23 units/sec) it became obvious as the night wore on that the locations on my map were not corresponding to much of anything. Needless to say, I didn't find any more of the linking stones. After stubbornly checking out all the locations, I decided to call it a night.

I was laying in bed when the obvious hit me - the numbers in the books are not coordinates, but directions - like for a treasure map. Anyone who has done any orienteering should be immediately familiar with what is going on (walk north 100 m, south-east 80m, ...). Fortunately, the software I used to generate the maps makes it pretty easy to shuffle my already worked out vectors end-to-end. Here's what the first map should look like.

Corrected Minkata Map To Linking Cavern 1

The location at the end of the last arrow corresponds almost exactly to where the nearest linking cavern is. This is most certainly it. Just to explain the numbers on the map, the coordinates beside each vector are the distance numbers, straight from the book in the library, and the direction angles. For the angle, I called the top zero and then each arrow (see book image from previous entry) going clockwise is one unit - giving twenty units making up a complete rotation (I know this is supposed to correspond to the D'ni angle measurement that is in a calibrated KI - 62500 whatevers equaling 360 degrees - but just counting the arrows is easier here). I also included a return vector on each map to make getting back easier (though for the first one you are always within sight of the cage anyway).

Obviously, I'll be trying this out when I get a chance to get back to Minkata. I've been debating whether to just head straight to the end location in each map or follow the path given by the directions in the book. I've decided to follow the path for two reasons. One, there could easily be something along these paths that I would want to see, and two, some of the paths go a long way out from the cage. If I have my calculated final position is out by even a little bit or I am off on the angle I'm running, I could easily miss the linking stone. I strongly suspect there are numerous landmarks (blue flags, bones, etc.) along the proper path to help me keep going the right way. In the end, I think following the path is the safer way.

HC