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The Riven Journals is the name of an interactive website launched to promote the release of Riven: The Sequel to Myst. Visitors could browse a series of journals, presumably written by Gehn, and had the opportunity to solve some puzzles, after which they were rewarded with a picture from Riven. Initially there was just one journal, but more were gradually added, reaching a total of five.
The website was not designed by Cyan, but by Organic Online, which hosted www.riven.com at the time. As such, although the journals provide some background information, they weren't made with the intention of being considered canonical.
The website eventually closed, but the files were salvaged by fans. Myst fan RIUM+ collected the resources, both from relic websites, and an employee of Organic who had a server dump. Even so, the website used 1996 code of SSI, SQL, Perl scripts, PHP and Java, intended to run in early versions of IE and Netscape Navigator, the code was not compatible to more recent technology used by modern browsers. It was necessary to update the website's code.
As of 2023 the "restored" Journals are browsable but, again, not fully playable, as Java support is phasing out from modern browsers.
Journal One[]
The first journal to appear on the site, Gehn writes some musings about the ink; it also shows that the columns of the Gate Room are actually tree trunks, that the ink is produced by beetles (explaining why his inkwells have this shape), and that the Gate Room is powered by an underground stream.
The puzzle consists of typing some letters in the correct order in order to complete a 3x4 grid. Typing "EACH FLOWS INK" completes the image, and the D'ni text "pod remen ah lem" appears. As a reward for solving this puzzle the player will be shown a render of the Gate Room.
Journal Two[]
The second journal added to the site contained a description and some other information on the sunners.
The puzzle consists of choosing a combination of primitive aquatic creatures, and create five successful "generations" that led to the evolution of the sunner. The player is rewarded with a rendered picture of sunners.
Journal Three[]
Picture rewarding the player who completed the puzzle
The third journal added to the site details the conception of the Mag-Lev tracks and cars designed to cope with the shifting islands of Riven, which caused the obsolescence of the bridges.
The puzzle is to find the correct distance of the tram's components, and giving to each the correct amount of energy.
Journal Four[]
The fourth journal contains the story of Klvino, a D'ni nobleman and explorer.
The player has to find the locations on map where Klvino's body parts fell, according to the legend of the Guild of Maintainers; by pressing the correct five sections, the timepiece opens, otherwise it is reset. They are rewarded with a render of Gehn's timepiece.
Journal Five[]
A book with a mechanical spine, broken in 3 sections. Three drawings appear on the side of the book: a human, an animal, and a spider.
The player has to press a button in the spine, rotate the middle section, and then press a button on the top. Once this is done the Linking Panel displays an interactive version of the fireplace puzzle found on Myst Island. If the correct code in entered the puzzle will be replaced with an image of Gehn's personal emblem. It appears this should link to a second part of the puzzle, but does not currently appear to be functional.