[TECHNICAL NOTE: Longer Writings, like this Preface, which might extend beyond one screenful of text, will appear in multiple columns, as in an ancient scroll, and may be read by moving the text itself left or right. However, for readability, lists and other apparati are displayed in a single column that can be shifted up and down.]

Two previous selections from the Archives Pertaining to Egderus Scriptor have been made public under the title We Descend, rendered into hypertext form by Bill Bly, Curator. Volume One was published in 1997 as a standalone computer application distributed by Eastgate Systems; Volume Two was brought out in the online journal The New River, Fall 2017. In addition, a 'preliminary view' of Volume Three appeared in The New River, Fall 2019. The edition you are reading now, the Final Selection of Writings from the Archives, presents Volume Three in full.

Volume Three contains not only a new gathering of writings, it also highlights recent research on the Archives as a whole: previously unknown texts have come to light, presentation technology continues to transform at an intense and increasing rate, new methods of preparing a writing for publication have likewise developed, and certain assumptions that guided the construction of previous volumes have had to be updated — in other words, nothing unusual in the realm of literary scholarship in the current era.

Some inconsistencies may therefore be detected when comparing certain narratives between one volume and another; the Curator begs indulgence for electing not to smooth out these irregularities until time and resources become available to devise a Complete Edition integrating the writings of all three volumes into one. Until then, each separate volume offers a portrait of a particular stage in the development of our understanding of these remarkable writings, their authors, the work of previous curators, and the world(s) they all committed themselves to bringing to us.

Reading this hypertext

As with many hypertexts, We Descend may be read in more than one way.

The simplest method is to follow the PATH, which departs from the word 'Begin' on the TITLE page; this procedure will take you through somewhat less than half the Writings in this Volume. At the bottom of each text field, activate the link 'on >>' to go to the next Writing along the PATH, and '<< back' to retrace your steps. (Note that employing the directional controls on your reading device may have a different effect.) Activating the 'PATH' link that sits between these two in the navigation bar will show you a list of all of the Writings in this introductory sequence.

The PATH constitutes a tour of the Writings that will introduce you to all the persons in this volume of We Descend and some of their stories. At the PATH's end, you will arrive at an interstitial directory called the LANDING, displaying links to the Writings you have not yet seen, to the INVENTORY (a list of Authors), and to other apparati that will be useful in exploring the Archives further.