This first chapter is a very short introduction. You begin the game standing under the dome of Catherine's Sun Room overlooking a sprawling desert vista. A voice behind you causes you to turn and see Catherine, wife of Atrus carrying her new daughter Yeesha.

She apologizes for her husband's tardiness explaining that he has been concerned with security lately. She then moves over to the left and sits down on the bench to play with Yeesha. You are free to move about although your choices are limited to only the two doors. The one to the right (opposite the bench) is locked, so you are forced to enter the remaining door (opposite your starting position/view).

Enter the study and head to the right to search the room. Ignore the books lying on the table, but you can open the book on the pedestal. This is the book for Gehn's Fifth Age (you may know it as RIVEN). The link panel is not functioning, as that world no longer exists.

Turn to look at the desk. You can zoom in on several items including various pictures and the letter. You may recognize the pictures of Sirrus and Achenar - they were the two evil brothers in the original Myst. Read the letter from Atrus to "Tamon" to learn the seriousness of Atrus' suspicions of intruders sneaking into his library. Move off to the left toward the center of the room then turn to the right to face the tapestries on the wall.

The tapestries depict scenes of Atrus' search through the various Ages for D'ni survivors. You can even zoom in on portions of these pictures to learn the entire story. Apparently Atrus and Catherine have located over 1,800 D'ni survivors. Unable to repair their great city that had been destroyed by earthquakes and other disasters he decided to write a new Age called Releeshahn.

Moving toward the back of the room you approach the book of Releeshahn secure inside a crystal sphere resting on a wooden pedestal. The orange ball to the right is a D'ni Fire Marble, which possesses great energy and generates a bright light. You can click to zoom in on the book and when you zoom back out Atrus will enter the room behind you. You will automatically turn to face him as he begins to talk to you. He gives you his journal with lots of valuable information about the Releeshahn Age. This appears in your inventory as Atrus moves toward his desk to get the key to unlock the sphere protecting the book.

About this time a crazed man materializes in the room behind the book. He grabs the Fire Marble and throws it at Atrus igniting the tapestries. During the confusion he smashes the sphere and takes the book. Before you can react he opens the book and vanishes as he links to the new destination. The book falls to the floor and you approach it. Touching the animated panel, you begin your journey to J'nanin - the Lesson Age.