Art (Myst)

The Art (D'ni: Rehgehstoy) properly referred to the D'ni ability, study and mastery of writing special Books that describe and link to Ages: different worlds. The origins of the Art are lost in the times of Garternay, and it was believed by the D'ni to have been delivered to the Ronay (the ancestors of the D'ni) by Yahvo the Creator.

The description for an Age is put into a unique Descriptive Book, written in a special form of the D'ni language and using special Books and Ink. Only one Descriptive Book can Link to an Age, but there can be multiple Linking Books pointing to the same Age. These Books need not all necessarily point to the same location in the Age. For example, the Linking Book found by the Stranger at the beginning of Myst points to the island's pier, whereas those found in the various related Ages, such as Channelwood, point to Myst Island's library.

Linking Books have a viewing panel called a Linking panel that shows a picture of the target location. The panel is interactive: by merely touching it, the person Links to the Age.

Only members of the Guild of Writers were taught and allowed to write descriptive books, and one of the Guild of Maintainers's jobs was to ensure the Ages' stability. While some D'ni including Gehn believed that the Writers created the Age, and therefore Writers held God-like powers over the Ages they linked to, most of the D'ni, including Gehn's son Atrus, did not believe so, and realized that by Writing a Link they only Linked to a pre-existing Age.

Support for this view is that destroying a Descriptive Book does not destroy the Age: it merely severs the Link. However, small changes to an Age can be written into the Descriptive Book. See also Definition of an Age.