Both were taken at the San Cristobal fortress in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. Work on the fortress started around 1540 and steadily continued for about 200 years. It must have looked ominous to ships heading in to San Juan Bay with 450 cannon facing the sea.
Yes, very Myst-y. I'm a big fan of all the games in the Myst series. One thing I noticed while playing Riven is that near the beginning, if you look over the cliff, you can distinctly see the faces of two children in the upper left corner. Likely the author or artists kids. It might also have been a hint to the player to keep an eye on things other than what's right in front of their nose, eg look for patterns in rocks, etc. Good advice!
