Timeline of CRON

[XEL II]

Has anybody got a clue as to where Ron Bolinger could be contacted? It would be interesting to speak with him on some detailed information on the background on Ancients, seedships, etc. He was instrumental in its creation.

[Corlagon]

I've tried already.
He doesn't seem to exist on the net.

{edited out a misunderstanding}

[Avonu]

Nope, I'm still having problems with that. If the land is its cargo, then it must be in a kind of a cargo hold, which means that there would be no sun anywhere and that the ship itself is much larger than the land.

Maybe cargo was on top of carrier vessel? Like for example LNG carriers.

VARNs wouldn't be "one-sided XEEN", there are also spaceships part as we can see from MM6.

MM6 VARN was clearly reference to Star Gate franchise and was launched 1000 years before VARNs from MM1-3. He could be easly an older desing.
Also VARN is an "one-sided" XEEN - it has limited area, probably dome above it (force-field) which holds atmosphere inside and emulates sun and sky.
As you can see in WoX outro, there are something floating above Xeen both sides and also rays from Xeen are not straight lines but rounded, like they are hitting some invisible dome.

[GreatEmerald]

Huh, so a CRON could carry VARNs by using grappling hooks. Well, that's plausible, I guess. And "wind warmed by the stars" sounds suspiciously like Solar Sails.

Avonu, there is little difference between the cargo hold being at the top or the bottom in space. As for the lines, wasn't that the outline of the new planet? Or, well, if those were flat, they would have hit mountains and all.

[Avonu]

Well, you asked how it could look like, so you got an answer.
Upside, downside, leftside, rightside, darkside - it doesn't matter. As we seen in Xeen case, artifical gravity was very advanced on Nacelles projects.
Transpot ship could also look like mothership from Independence Day for example. Just replace ships launched at beginning of movie with VARNs.

About rays, projectors were palced outside Xeen mainland, in corner of it (and beyond it - there were space between land with projectors and Xeen mainland), so I guess no hitting at mountains were possible.

[GreatEmerald]

Hmm, if you look at the picture closely, those lines do come from above the ground. Though in game they were in the same level as normal ground IIRC. Or was it on the skyway?

[Corlagon]

You ought to have a look at the actual cutscene. The rays stem upward from the Altar of Joining, bounce off of some invisible surface in the sky (the supposed dome Avonu mentions) and then quadrisect towards the reflectors.

[MMXAlamar]

Do you think the tendrils in MM3 are holding up the landmass of the Isles? It just looks like the spaceship is pretty far underwater.

Also because of the Sleepers in the elemental planes, XEEN would have to have been created after the start of CRON's creation (because of the Elemental Lords doing battle) so CRON would have to be older than XEEN, but not necessarily VARN. And what about Terra, which had to have been around before VARN at least?

[Corlagon]

Do you think the tendrils in MM3 are holding up the landmass of the Isles?

Well, I doubt they're just serving as pretty decoration.

[MMXAlamar]

So about the Isles of Terra, when you go underground into the pyramid network there are different ship sectors. Are each of those sectors separate VARNs? If so, than how does CRON come in and explain the elemental history behind the planet? I'm assuming each planet with elemental planes needs to have a CRON.

[Avonu]

No, each sector is sector of Shikbath Zera. You take a long trip underground from pyramid. Do you remember the elevator in Tomb of VARN (which was also exit from it)? I think the same way you can go to these sectors in MM3.
I suppose that Sikbath Zera under sea of Terra is also CRON vessel.

[MMXAlamar]

Hmm interesting! So each of the Pyramids overland must represent a VARN, while the giant ship underneath is a CRON. I'm assuming that the purpose of CRONs are to control the elemental manipulation, so there has to be a CRON on every seeded organic planet, no?

Also, I know there's only one pyramid I can think of on Xeen, and that's the Dragon Pharaoh's Great Pyramid. Does this mean there's only one VARN that seeded Xeen? What about the transport pyramids that lead from cloudside to darkside?

[Avonu]

Xeen is another project, unique one. Probably another desing.
Why do you want put CRONs and VARNs everywhere?
I am sure the Ancients have many more class of vessels then just CRON, VARN and XEEN.

[GreatEmerald]

And you don't really need CRONs for seeding except for carrying your VARNs. Elemental manipulation is not needed for people to live on planets. It is only needed to create CRONs and probably VARNs.

[Corlagon]

so there has to be a CRON on every seeded organic planet, no?

No. Like I said, the Shikbath Zera crashed into the oceans of Terra (Sheltem's doing), ending its world-seeding mission, but this wasn't its purpose. Terra is the only planet known to have a sunken worldship on it.

[XEL II]

IIRc, it wasn't Shikhbath Zera that crashed. Shikhbath Zera was seedship that originally settles on Terra, before the VARNs formed the Isles (i.e. it brought the original underwater civilization). The underwater kingdom was destroyed by repercussions during Sheltem's implantation of VARNs. And Shikhbath Zera, even though it's a seedship, is never stated to be a CRON.

The mention of the CRON being sunked in the database is apparently the remnant of MM3 original concept (Neil Hallford mentioned that it has the worldship crashing on Terra). This is probably MM2 CRON crashing in Terra's sea due to interference created by Sheltem during or after the implantation of VARNs.

[Avonu]

IIRc, it wasn't Shikhbath Zera that crashed. Shikhbath Zera was seedship that originally settles on Terra, before the VARNs formed the Isles (i.e. it brought the original underwater civilization). The underwater kingdom was destroyed by repercussions during Sheltem's implantation of VARNs. And Shikhbath Zera, even though it's a seedship, is never stated to be a CRON.

The statue of Water Mane, fabled ruler of the Great Sea, stands in the center of the Maze from Hell. Water Mane was the ruler of the Great Sea in a time when there was no land to break up its depths. The civilization of Terra lived beneath the waves in a coral city, until one day there was a tremendous storm that seemed to last forever and Water Mane’s kingdom was lost. When the storm finally subsided the Isles of Terra were left floating in the wounded sea. This statue is perhaps the only remnant of that lost civilization.

"Because of interference created by the renegade Guardian, Sheltem, the CRON and most of the VARNs carried by this vessel were lost in the Great Sea of Terra."

The mention of the CRON being sunked in the database is apparently the remnant of MM3 original concept (Neil Hallford mentioned that it has the worldship crashing on Terra). This is probably MM2 CRON crashing in Terra's sea due to interference created by Sheltem during or after the implantation of VARNs.

Log Entry XL99D: Back on the Wire at last! The security system is mine to control, now, along with the rest of CRON. CRON is moving within Schwartz-Heinrich matter transfer range as I dictate this entry. I have placed a copy of my personality in the computer to direct the transfer of Terra's VARNs to the surface of Terra and then pilot CRON into the sun. I have also had the opportunity to ambush Corak and separate his memory module from his body. I left the module where I overcame him and locked his body in a cave miles away. I'm sure I'll never see him again. So adieu, wretched CRON. Terra awaits me.

Log Entry XL99E: At last! I HAVE RETURNED TO TERRA! It is good be back on the Terran Wire. There is much work to be done supervising the implantation of the VARNs onto Terra. Now that I'm back there are going to be some changes around here...

Log Entry XL9CC: CRON has not thrown itself into the sun, and I fear that it has no plans to do so in the near future. My nav computers indicate that it is on course to exit the system in three months, none the worse for my sabotage. My revenge on the Ancients will have to wait.

Log Entry 10: Sheltem has escaped CRON and returned to Terra! He ambushed and defeated me in combat, separating my memory core from my body and placing it in stasis in a cave. Fortunately, some natives of the CRON vehicle rescued me from my plight and saved CRON from Sheltem's plan to pilot it into the sun. The VARNs that were to be released on Terra have done so on schedule, revealing that Sheltem still follows one of his directives. I wil use the matter transfer device to achieve planetfall once again on Terra. With Sheltem gone at last, CRON will be permitted to continue its star seeding mission uninterrupted from here on.

Log Entry 11: I have arrived on Terra once again, and the landscape is a bit different from my last visit. Four VARN. descended on the planedt while I was in stasis and Sheltem is busy assimlating the people, plants, and animals into the existing biosphere. His process seems flawed, however. I can't help but detect a faint callousness toward his people. The adaptive process is unnecessarily harsh, the timetable needlessly swift. Another character flaw to add to the list of problems that must be fixed with the S.H.E.L.T.E.M. unit. If it can be fixed at all.

Log Entry 12: AFter much time and effort, I have determined that Sheltem
resides in the original seedship that first settled on Terrra. The ship is entirely underwater, but several matter transfer sites exist on the sruface of the planet dissguised as pyramids. The pyramids have denied me access, of course, but that problem can be solved through the Wire. I feel conficent that I will have Sheltem in custody soon.

[XEL II]

So what? None of these quotes says "Shikhbath Zera is a CRON", and the Isles were formed by four VARNs that were to supplant the indigenious (fully oceanic) ecosystem.

[Avonu]

OK, let me explain this once again:

From MM3 we know that CRON and some of it VARNs we lost under sea of Terra. Some. But other landed and created Isles. Why? Because:
1) Sheltem was taken from Terra before MM1 starts.
2) It takes time (decades at least) to develop kingdoms and fractions on Terra. It couldn't be done just between MM2 and MM3 (max few years). And none of MM3 text suggest that these kingdoms, hostility between wizards, caverns below Blistering Heights, etc. were formed when Isles of Terra were one land (read: in space when they were carried by Seedship). Also IIRC in manual there are further clues about that.
3) Shikbath Zera, if carried CRON, should be much larger then CRON itself. Does it look that?
4) Four VARNs from MM2 CRON formed islands which were lost when original CRON and most of its VARNs sunk. And Sheltem was busy to "assimlating the people, plants, and animals into the existing biosphere" of these modules.

[GreatEmerald]

Sooo... Whose VARNs are the Isles of Terra, if any? CRON's from Gates to Another World? If so, wouldn't there be a carbon copy of the Secret of the Inner Sanctum overworld on one of the Isles, since it was the fourth VARN?