Sirrus and Achenar
Sirrus and Achenar are fictional characters in the computer game Myst. They are the original game's primary villains, and reappear in Myst IV: Revelation.
Character overview
Sirrus and Achenar are the sons of Atrus and Catherine, and the eldest of their three children.
Sirrus
Sirrus (D'ni: Sihrus/[Sirus]) is the younger son of Atrus and Catherine, commonly paired with his brother Achenar. In Myst, Sirrus was played by Robyn Miller. In Myst IV: Revelation, Sirrus was played by Brian Wrench. Judging from his possessions and writings found throughout the Myst ages, his primary interests are wealth and power.
Sirrus is first seen inside the red book on Myst Island in Atrus' library. The book is revealed to be a type of trap or prison that Sirrus claims that his father had incarcerated him in. At first, the book has many pages missing, and when first opened without the pages, the player can not see or hear Sirrus at all due to the static blocking the gateway image. When the first red page is put into the book, Sirrus is able to barely see someone looking into his red book. He implores the player to find more red pages which are scattered in the four remaining ages of Myst. With each page he can see out of the book more clearly. As the vision becomes clearer, he shouts out not to pick up the blue pages belonging to his brother Achenar's blue book. He gradually explains that once enough pages were gathered, that he can escape and reward the player. [1]
At the end of the game, if he so chooses, the player leaves Sirrus imprisoned, and instead frees his father, Atrus, from his prison in the locked basement in K'veer in D'ni. The player waits in D'ni, and when they return to the island of Myst, the red and blue books that act as the two sons' prisons have mysteriously disappeared, with burn marks in their place.
Later, in Revelation, it is discovered that the brothers are in fact not dead. Twenty years later, they escaped their prisons with yet another sinister plot.
Sirrus' greed and lust for power have not been tempered by 20 years of exile. Sirrus' plan, after escaping from Spire, is to capture his sister, Yeesha, and use a memory-transfer machine in Serenia to transfer his mind to hers. He would thus trick Atrus into teaching him the Art, then returning to his own body so he could kill his parents and rule over as many worlds as he desired. Achenar, believed to be part of this plan, convinces the Stranger to release Yeesha and restore her memories, ending Sirrus' mad bid for dominance. Though Yeesha's memories are restored, the result short-circuits Sirrus' mind, killing him.
Achenar
Achenar (D'ni: Akehnahr/[Akenar]) is the older son of Atrus and Catherine. In Myst, Achenar was played by Rand Miller, who also played Atrus. In Myst IV: Revelation, Achenar was played by Guy Sprung.
Achenar is the first son of Atrus and Catherine, commonly paired with his brother Sirrus. The game eventually explains that Achenar is apparently mentally unstable, and becomes obsessed with violence and death. He owns many torture instruments. He is an accomplished hunter, and enjoys mounting trophies of his kills. Achenar is depicted as having a knack for languages and interacting with indigenous cultures, first in Channelwood.
Achenar is first seen inside the blue book on Myst Island in Atrus' library. The book was revealed to be a type of trap or prison that Achenar claims that his father has incarcerated him in. At first, the book has many pages missing, and when first opened without the pages, the player can not see or hear Achenar through the static blocking the gateway image. When the player puts the first blue page into the book, Achenar is able to barely see someone looking into his blue book. He implores the player to find more blue pages which are scattered in the four remaining ages of Myst. With each page he can see out of the book more clearly. As the vision becomes clearer he shouts out not to pick up the red pages belonging to his brother Sirrus' red book. He slowly explains through the static that he could escape and reward the player. Like his brother, he claims Atrus and Catherine are dead, and that his brother is responsible for the destruction of the Ages. [2]
At the end of the game, if he so chooses, the player leaves Achenar imprisoned, and instead frees his father, Atrus, from his prison in the locked basement in K'veer in D'ni. When they return to the island of Myst, the red and blue books that acted as the two son's prisons have mysteriously disappeared, with burn marks in their place. Later, in Myst IV: Revelation, it is discovered that the brothers are in fact not dead; 20 years later, they escaped their prisons with yet another sinister plot.
Unlike his power-hungry brother Sirrus, Achenar had changed a great deal in 20 years of exile. Though it appeared from his journals that he was descending deeper into madness, Achenar had found the path to redemption while spending time with the "tribes" of simian creatures called Mangrees in the Age of Haven, where he had been imprisoned, and also through the visits with his sister Yeesha. When Sirrus kidnaps Yeesha in order to transfer his memories into her body, Achenar steals the Lifestone that powers the memory transfer device, and uses it to help restore her memories when Sirrus' plan is foiled. As a result, Achenar is forced to breathe the toxic gases from the shrine, sacrificing himself for his younger sister.
Youth
As explained in the spin-off comic book The Book of Black Ships, Sirrus and Achenar grow up on the Age of Myst. The two boys were very intelligent, and created many useful devices and projects to help their father in the Ages he linked to. As time passed, Atrus gives them free rein to the books, which all describe and link to the fantastic Ages that he had visited. Under the books' influence, however, they both grew greedy and obsessed with power.
As explained in Myst III: Exile, Atrus tried to teach them The Art, writing five Ages - the Lesson Ages - to guide them on the underlying concepts of Age-writing. When they made it to the Age of Narayan, Age of Civilization and the home of Saavedro, their greed took complete control of them. They convinced the people of Narayan to abandon their traditions, inciting a civil war that, as a result, left Narayan's eco-balance destroyed. Eventually, they led Saavedro to J'nanin, tied him up, and imprisoned him there, having destroyed all ways out. The repercussions of their evil deeds play out in the game (in which they are referenced, but not encountered).
Betrayal
In the first game, the brothers' eyes turn to the red and blue books which Atrus had left on the island of Myst. He had written the two Ages within, Spire and Haven, to entrap greedy explorers that might stumble upon his island, and warned the brothers not to enter those Ages.
They were then taken to Catherine's Age of Serenia, where they plan to forcibly learn The Art by removing the knowledge from Atrus' head. However, their plan never comes to fruition, due to arguments between the brothers.
Eventually, they devise a plan to rid themselves of their ever-vigilant parents forever. They trap their mother in Riven, and their father on K'veer in D'ni. They then destroy and burn most of the Ages of Myst.
Finally, they link into the Ages of the Red and Blue books. Achenar links through the blue book, which leads him to the Age of Haven, while Sirrus links through the red book, leading to Spire. They soon realise that the Ages are prisons. The Island of Myst is left uninhabited for some time, since all of its previous inhabitants are trapped on four different Ages.
Eventually, a mysterious stranger finds his/her way onto the island and uncovers the truth about the brothers. After Atrus (and later, Catherine) is freed, he takes revenge upon his sons by destroying the red and blue books.
Revelation
In Myst IV: Revelation, Atrus and Catherine have another child — their only daughter Yeesha. Living in their new home on Tomahna, they decide that the time has come to see if their fallen sons have reformed. For this purpose, Atrus writes a special linking chamber into the descriptive books of the two prison ages. Atrus, Catherine and Yeesha all visit both of the brothers several times, over a period of many months.
In order to determine whether either of them have reformed, Atrus once again calls upon his good friend, the stranger, to help him. While the stranger was visiting, and Atrus was away on Rime, an explosion occurs in Tomahna, and Yeesha is kidnapped.
The brothers have taken her back to the Age of Serenia, with a new sinister plan — ostensibly, to extract the knowledge of The Art from her head. Fortunately, the stranger follows them there to save her.
Ultimately, it is revealed that Sirrus had been the sole kidnapper, while Achenar had followed him there to try and save her. His years in exile have reformed him, while Sirrus's have only served to make him more bitter and greedy. Sirrus has been planning all along to use one of Serenia's dying Memory Chambers to transfer his mind into Yeesha's body, thereby fooling Atrus into teaching him The Art.
In the end, the stranger follows Sirrus into the dream land of Serenia and destroys his mind (freeing Yeesha's in the process), while Achenar is forced to break open the gas chamber sustaining the giant flower so that the two protagonists can succeed. After Yeesha is saved, Achenar dies of gas poisoning, a sacrifice which ensures his redemption and ends the tale of the two brothers.
See also
External links
- Brotherly Love -- a Sirrus & Achenar fansite
Template:Atrus heritage (Myst)
| Myst games |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Uru games | ||
| Novels and fiction | ||
| Related topics | ||