Newbie Guide

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Revision as of 06:25, 9 January 2009 by Soludra (talk | contribs) (→‎Basic Commands: Beefed up the first three subsections of this section.)
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Welcome to the newbie guide. In this document you will find a comprehensive introduction to Achaea. You will not find in depth information on each and every discussed item, but you will find pointers to other sources of information. If you are new to the lands and/or mudding in general we invite you to read on.

What are MUDs?

A MUD (or MUCK, MUSH, MUG, MOO, MMOG, et cetera) is most commonly referred to in the verbose as a Multi-User Dungeon. In a MUD, you can find interaction with many other players in addition to computer-controlled personas, or denizens, as we like to call them - all in text.

But how can you play a computer game without graphics? One oft-used metaphor compares the experience of a text-based MUD versus a graphical game to that of reading a book versus watching a movie. Sure, there are no pretty pictures, but you'll find that the world we weave with words can be more vivid, more complex, more interactive and immersive, and more compelling than any fancy CGI.

Many of the specifics of this MUD will be delved into enough for you to learn, so we won't go into too many details here.

The Achaea Concept

Once you have created a character and logged on to Achaea, you will find yourself in a world unlike any you are accustomed to. It is important to note that this world's setting is one of medieval ages and, as such, you won't find any modern technologies to role play with. You will, however, find a large host of magical and supernatural circumstances to play with.

Achaea takes place in a fantasy environment that combines elements of classical Greece and Rome, medieval Europe, India, and ancient Persia with the elements of a wide variety of player imaginations.

In Achaea, there is no one goal that everyone is working to achieve. You can kill monsters and beasts, and a wide range of other creatures and sentients to ascend to the level of Greater Dragon, where you can take on the form of the fierce dragon on your whim. You can toil on quests with intricate plots and storylines to earn permanent recognition for your efforts in that area. You may also choose to excel in politics and become the feared or respected ruler of a city-state or House. You may even make your living as an artist or author in the Fellowship of Scarlatti. You can become a feared warrior or thief, a respected protector and champion, or any number of personas including, but not limited to, the jovial court jester and the skilled magi who manipulates the elements.

The path is open to you, and though the actions of others may influence your character, only your decisions will set your true path.

Connecting to Achaea

There are many methods to connect to Achaea, only a few of which are discussed below.

The Nexus Client

Our NEXUS client is available HERE.

Once the nexus client is loaded, you have the choice between character creation and logging in. We'll cover character creation later, so for now let's assume you are logged in.

There are five status bars on the bottom, left-hand corner of the client. You may note their meanings below.

  • The first is a light blue arrow, which measures your experience.
  • The second is a red heart, which measures your health.
  • The third is a blue water drop, which measures your mana.
  • The fourth is a yellow person, which measures your endurance.
  • The fifth is a purple square, which measures your willpower.

On the top, left-hand corner of the client you can find a compass that indicates obvious directions from the room you are standing in. The eight cardinal directions are indicated with arrows. Stairs to the right indicate up or down. Doors below the image indicate in and out exits.

You can click on the appropriate direction to walk rather than typing them in.

The client opens in a small window that can not be resized. If you wish to make it larger or smaller, you must first click the detach button in the upper right-hand corner. After doing so, do not close the remaining window, as this will disconnect you from Achaea.

For advanced users, you may find alias, macro, and reflex (trigger) functions in the client as well.

Other Methods of Connecting

Other methods are preferred by some to connect to Achaea. It can be rather confusing to find one that is above the rest with all of the options available out there, but we do have a short list of favourites we don't mind sharing if it will help you out.

When connecting with an external client, connect to www.achaea.com at port 23, or 208.185.247.26 at port 23. You can also connect to Achaea via port 2003, with the same IP address given above.

  • zMUD is arguably the best client on the market.
  • RoAClient is available at no cost and is fairly light while maintaining the offer of numerous functions.
  • MUSHclient offers a number of features and boasts a high speed.
  • Portal is a fully customisable client that works in win95/98.
  • TinyFugue is a favourite among UNIX users.
  • WinTin is out there. This writer knows nothing about it but it came highly recommended.
  • Rapscallion for Macintosh users is a free choice for those running the Classic OS.
  • Cantrip is a good client for Macintosh users running OSX and higher.
  • Gmud is a free client that offers simplicity, aliases, triggers, and logging. Good for use with dial-up connections.
  • The Mud Connector offers a vast list of MUD clients for you to choose from, with information on each.

Creating a Character

Character creation in Achaea is not a difficult process.

If you are logging in from the Nexus client, look to the right-hand side of the client for a button for character creation.

If you are logging in from an external client, you will be prompted with a numerical list about whether you want to use an existing character (enter your character's name) or create a new character. Simply type in the number associated with creating a new character and the process will begin.

Once you have begun this process, you will be prompted to choose your character's name, race, and sex, then voilà: you are an Achaean.

Acceptable Names

When choosing your name, you should keep the following things in mind.

First and most important: If Romeo, Juliet, or one of our Immortals asks you to change your name, then change your name. We don't like to spend our time arguing with you about why Superduperlovechildofdeath is detrimental to the RP atmosphere that we try to maintain. And no, we don't believe you, Superduperlovechildofdeath, when you say this is your real name that your real parents gave you in real life.

The best name is not a real word. This name is your own creation. It has vowels in all the appropriate places to keep the consonants apart and can be pronounced out loud without seriously damaging one's tongue. It has no nasty words within it, either.

Words or names you might hear in real life are okay. Not great, but okay. These can include anything from Michael to Fiddler. These names can be improved upon, but are not forbidden if you can't think of anything better.

More often than not, boasting a poor name will result in being asked to change it. Several things can make a name poor. Read on for more details.

  • silly names. Omelette is silly. Bourgeois is too. Frop isn't.
  • offensive names of any kind, even dictionary words.
  • multiple words (thegreatone, slowhead, lordsmith).
  • trade or protected names (Cocacola, Microsoft, Nabisco).
  • a name from a book, story, song, or game (Drizzt, Nerevarine, Sephiroth).
  • any of these above with their letters reversed (Tzzird, Remohlive).
  • any of these above with slight variations (Sefiroth, Froddo, Gollom).
  • onomatopoetic words (Kerplop, Buzz, Hiss, Ribbit).
  • refer to anything in Achaea (Ashtan, Celani, etc).
  • names overly similar to existing Achaean immortal names.

Having a forbidden name can result in the loss of your character if you do not change it. Forbidden names include profanity, racial slurs, stuttering letters(bobbbbbb), keyboard jokes(asdf), and those most likely unpronounceable(klzgt).

One final thing about names: You may see other adventurers with names that aren't in the good or okay categories, and while unfortunate, that can't be immediately rectified in many cases. These names have slipped through the cracks until they became well known, but it shouldn't prevent you from choosing a name that will improve the overall quality of roleplay you, and those around you, experience. Around the year 490 A.F., a servant to the Divine called the Namer announced to the realm that he changed the name of a more experienced adventurer proving that just because a bad name gets through doesn't mean it will remain that way.

Choosing a Race

The race you choose when you first enter Achaea is what you are considered to be born as. There are ways to change your race later, all of which involve reincarnation, but we aren't at later right now, are we?

Each race in Achaea has statistics. The most average position any statistic can be is 12. Anything higher than 12 is higher than average, and lower than 12 is lower than average. This is not a bad thing - it all balances out.

Each of these statistics means something.

  • Strength is related to how much physical damage you can do.
  • Dexterity is related to how well you dodge physical attacks.
  • Constitution is related to how much health and endurance you have.
  • Intelligence is related to how much mana and willpower you have, as well as how much magical damage you can do.

Many races have racial advantages and/or disadvantages. Atavians, for example, can fly, and grooks can regenerate in water. For examples of disadvantages, rajamalans have difficulty waking up and heal slowly from elixirs, and trolls have trouble recovering balance and equilibrium.

Another kind of racial advantage or disadvantage is tolerance. Horkvali, for example, are more resistant to blunt damage than most other races but are weak to poison damage, while xorani are resistant to fire but weak to cold damage.

The races available are Dwarf, Human, Mhun, Troll, Tsol'aa, Atavian, Horkval, Grook, Rajamala, Xoran,Siren (female only), and Satyrs (male only).

The Achaea TOS

The Terms of Service, which everyone must agree to during character creation, can be found here.

Achaea Policies

These are the Achaea Policies in summary. If you need more information on any of them, please read section 15 of the help files either on the website or while logged in(HELP 15).

  • HELP 15.1 (HELP POLICYSUMMARY) is a summary of many of the policies, but is not all inclusive.
  • HELP 15.2 (HELP UNDERAGE) details the policy that restricts those under the age of 13 from playing Achaea.
  • HELP 15.3 (HELP YOUR ADVENTURER) explains the policies on your character. No sharing your character. No transferring your character. No logging on to two or more characters at once. Plus many more things you need to know.
  • HELP 15.4 (HELP PLAYERKILLING) discusses killing other adventurers. It is allowed, within reason.
  • HELP 15.5 (HELP HONOUR) informs you of things that can get you in deep trouble with the administrators, even if they may seem like a good idea at the time. You should not, for example, force a disconnection from the game to avoid death.
  • HELP 15.6 (HELP ROLEPLAYING) lists the forms of communication on which you must practice good role play. While roleplaying is optional in Achaea, stepping out of character in front of others can be upsetting to those who come to role play and as such is against our policies.
  • HELP 15.7 (HELP SPAMMING) contains definitions of spam and just how much we dislike it here.
  • HELP 15.8 (HELP TRIGGERS) will tell you exactly how far you are allowed to go with triggers. Complete automation is not an option.
  • HELP 15.9 (HELP HARASSMENT) explains that harassment is strictly forbidden, and what can and will happen if you break this policy.
  • HELP 15.10 (HELP AFK) details our policy on being Away From Keyboard. It is, quite simply, not permissable, and anything that happens to you while you are AFK is your own responsibility, including administrative punishment.
  • HELP 15.11 (HELP LANGUAGERULES) discusses the policies on using obscene or derogatory language. It is not allowed.
  • HELP 15.12 (HELP ISSUES) explains what an issue is and how to use it. Issues have to do with customer service and, in some cases, the violation of our usually-adhered-to policies.
  • HELP 15.13 (HELP ILLUSIONS) lists the devious types of illusions that are forbidden, and how to avoid falling victim to them.

The Trial of Rebirth

After choosing a name and race for yourself, you will enter the Trial of Rebirth, an introductory tour of Achaea's basic mechanics. You will appear north of New Thera, where an old crone will arrive to guide you to the Tree of Life, Yggdrasil. Inside this tree is the Flame of Yggdrasil, within which you must be immolated to begin your rebirth.

Pasiphae will be waiting to greet you when you regain consciousness, in the land of Ceylon. Pasiphae will be your guide as you gain your first levels of experience, eventually leading you to obtain a dragon orb. Along the way you will also meet and interact with Severian and Gruul.

Some of the things you will learn in the Trial are:

  • How to check your status and inventory.
  • Essential commands (LOOK, WHO, etc.) and basic movement.
  • Purchase, use and transfer of items.
  • Basic geography of Sapience.
  • How to use and learn your skills.
  • Basic combat (brawling).

To obtain the dragon orb, you must utilize your combat skills to defeat a fire guardian. After taking the dragon orb to Pasiphae you will be able to select a Class, be offered the chance to choose a City for your home, and be able to join a House. If you are quite new to Achaea, Houses and Cities can offer you a group of people to help you out. A House is a group of like-minded individuals who generally help each other to become stronger via friendship and structure. We highly recommend that you join one of your choice.

As you can see, you will have a lot of things to learn, but you can progress through the Trial as quickly or as slowly as is comfortable for you.

After the Trial

After the Trial, you will find yourself at the Ring of Portals. From here, you can reach many locations of interest across the realms. HELP WHATNOW has a large amount of very useful tips and pointers, which may be useful as you begin your adventures. Romeo and/or Juliet, our resident Newbie Guides, may be in the Ring of Portals, available to answer any newbie-related question you might have. You can TELL Romeo <message> or TELL Juliet <message> to speak with them privately, or use NEWBIE <message> to speak on the public Newbie channel.

If you chose not to select a Houe or Class during the Trial, or you are simply not happy with your choices, you may speak with Certimene, the Class and House Administrator. Certimene may be found by taking the northeastern exit from the Ring of Portals, or walking to his office on the Isle of Delos.

Registration

It is important to register your character soon after the Trial of Rebirth in order to avoid being purged from the system too quickly. While registered characters may still be purged, they are not purged nearly as quickly as otherwise.

Please provide correct information as you register your character. We will not sell or give this information away, but it is necessary to have it on file in case you ever need support for your character. When interacting with support - whether to request a lost password or another reason - you will be asked to provide your registration information in order to compare it the information on file, in order to prevent against impersonation.

Nothing particularly personal is requested for registration. You need simply provide your name, e-mail address, date of birth, and country of residence. In addition to that, we ask you how you heard about Achaea, so we know which advertising techniques are paying off.

Basic Commands

The following sections explain some basic information on the mechanics of Achaea. These commands are highly important, and you will likely use them many times over your time in the realms. As a general rule of thumb, commands follow similarly to written English (i.e. to tell Sarapis something, you would TELL SARAPIS SOMETHING).

Item Manipulation

Item manipulation is more than just simple pushing and pulling, though oftentimes you can and should do so. You can also turn, touch, tap, and do any number of emotes toward objects. (A list of emotes can be found within HELP EMOTELIST) Often, you may also DROP/PUT an item on the ground or another object, or TAKE/GET an item from the ground or another object. Containers can hold items within themselves, such as backpacks and satchels. For example, to put a journal within your pack - assuming you have both in your possession - simply PUT JOURNAL IN PACK. To remove it, you can GET JOURNAL FROM PACK. You cannot PUT an item on the ground, but you can DROP it there. Contrariwise, you cannot DROP an item into another item, but you can PUT it there.

Journals, such as the one we just took back out of our pack, can be READ, as can many other objects in the realms, such as books, signs, and plaques. If the object has multiple pages, you can READ <object> PAGE <number> You may be able to WRITE within an object, using the same syntax as READ, if you are the author of the item. (See HELP JOURNALS for more information)

The most common action performed on an object is to PROBE it. Probing details more information on the item than you might notice at a glance, such as its weight, physical description, et cetera. You can also WIELD an object that is in your possession, and THROW it if you are so inclined.

Communication

There are many ways to communicate with other players in Achaea. Most, if not all, are used widely throughout the realms. A few of the most common are SAYs and TELLs, among others.

Using SAY, you can speak to everyone in your room. For example:

Say Boy, says sure are fun!

translates to

(to you) You say, "Boy, says sure are fun!"
(to everyone else) Superduperlovechildofdeath says, "Boy, says sure are fun!"

You can also use a single or double quotation mark - ' or " - preceeding any text to SAY it.

Using TELL, you can speak to one specific person in private, whether they are in the room with you or not. This person must be logged into Achaea and be on the same plane as you are, as well as within telepathic range on that plane (i.e. a tell from Shallam to the icy northern Tundra will probably not work). For example:

Tell Sarapis I like to send tells!

translates to

(to you) You tell Sarapis, "I like to send tells!"
(to Sarapis) Superduperlovechildofdeath tells you, "I like to send tells!"

In addition to tells and says, there are dozens of other ways to communicate, including HNT (housenewcomertell), CT (citytell), CLT (clantell), NEWBIE (the newbie channel), SHOUT (heard by nearly everyone in the realms), and YELL (a softer shout to everyone in the general area). There are also a variety of SAY-alikes such as CHANT and SING (see http://www.achaea.com/irex/helpview/help.php?q=SAY HELP SAY]), and many other unique ways of communicating with others. (See HELP CHANNELS for more information)

If the person you wish to speak with is not in the realms, you can leave them a message for them to read when they return. Simply use MESSAGE <name> <message> (or MSG instead) to send one, and the recipient will be notified of this message upon their next login. To read a message, you can MSG READ # for a specific message, or just use RM to read the next unread message. The message system is very complex, and you can see all the things you can do with them by using MSG on its own. (See HELP MESSAGES for more details)

Getting around

There are many ways to get around, such as using the Ring of Portals or using a class ability, but the most basic of movement is simply to walk. First, one must know where one is. To look around, simply LOOK. You will see the room's visual description, a list of any objects and denizens within the room, and a list of any other adventurers in the realm. Arguably the most important part of LOOK, however, are the exits listed at the bottom. To view these without the rest of the information, you can simply use EXITS (or just X).

To move in a particular direction, type that direction! To go north, type NORTH (or N). To go southeast, type SOUTHEAST (or SE, which is noticeably shorter). There may be other non-standard ways to leave a room, such as ENTERing something, but in such cases it is easiest to simply try it yourself.

As a newbie, if you get lost you can use the PORTALS command to return to the Ring of Portals. As explained earlier in this guide, it is a hub of portals leading to many useful locations across the lands. Whether you are a newbie or not, however, you can also use landmarks. Simply WALK TO <a nearby landmark>, and you will move one room in the direction of that landmark (assuming no other obstruction). HELP LANDMARKS lists all of the available landmarks. To discern how far away from a landmark you are, you can use DISTANCE TO <landmark>

Getting information about yourself

It is very likely that at some point, you will want to gain information about yourself.

SCORE

You can type SCORE to see your current score. This has a wide range of implications. Your score contains information such as what level you are in experience, how much experience you need to get to the next level, what your name, title, and race are, what your alignment currently stands at(based on a good or evil scale), what ranks and positions you currently hold in organisations such as City, Order, and House, how much health, mana, endurance, and willpower you currently have and how much you are capable of having, your racial statistics, and your clans. There are other tidbits in there as well, but you can find them.

STAT

Typing STAT tells you the current status or state of your character. Whether you are dressed, drunk, tired, hungry, and a few other useful tidbits.

STAT STATS

STAT STATS tells you your bashing and PK statistics. Here is an example: 

    Adventurer Kills
    ----------------
    Number Slain : 2      Total Levels : 161    Avg Level : 80
    
    Denizen Kills
    -------------
    Number Slain : 70     Total Levels : 4745   Avg Level : 67

In this example, the player in question has killed two other players whose levels added up to 161 and had a combined average of level 80. This player has also killed 70 denizens(or non-player characters) whose levels added up to 4745 and had a combined average of level 67.

LOOK SELF

You can see what you look like with LOOK SELF or a number of variations, including LOOK ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT SELF, LOOK MYSELF, and LOOK AT MYSELF.

This shows the personal description you have written, detailing the physical appearance of your character, as well as any clothing being worn.

When writing your description, keep in mind that the first few words can not be changed. If you are a grook, for example, your description must start with "He is a frog-like Grook and is".

In order to set your description, just type DESCRIBE SELF (description).

DEF

DEF, short for DEFENCES, will tell you which defences currently protect you. What you see in DEF will change depending on the defences you gain and lose through your actions and the actions of others.

TIP: "Your mind is racing with enhanced speed." is the myrrh defence, which helps with learning lessons.

Getting information about other people

When interacting with other players, it tends to help if you can get at least a little information about them (so you don't say hello sir to a busty siren, for example). Well, good news: You can!

WHO LISTS

Who lists tell you who is obviously around. It will not tell you those who have used powerful abilities to conceal their identities.

QW and BW give you a short list of who is online and in the same part of the world as you(not off plane, dead, or in the far reaches of the continent).

WHO tells you the same thing as QW and BW, but in list form and with titles.

CITYWHO, CWHO, or CW tells you who in your city is around.

HOUSEWHO, HWHO, or HW tells you who in your House is around.

ORDERWHO or OWHO tells you who in your Divine Order is around.

NEWBIEWHO or NWHO tells you who of your fellow newbies are around.

RACEWHO or RWHO tells you who of your race is around.

CLANWHO or CLWHO tells you who in the selected clan is around.

CLAN 2 WHO tells you who in the specified clan is around.

The list goes on, depending on which organisations you end up joining over time.

An important one is WHO HERE, which tells you who is in the room with you if their presence is obvious.

HONOURS

HONOURS is a very helpful command. You can HONOURS SARAPIS, for example, to find out that he is the Logos, a male Immortal, and was born before time was counted.

If you check the honours of a mortal, you will get a much more detailed sheet to work with, including which public clans they are in, which city they are in, what their title, sex, and race is, their birthday and age, which very notable tasks they have completed, most of their current rankings, whether they are joined to another mortal, and more!

Getting information about the world around you

At some point, probably one very soon, you are going to want to know how to find out about the world around you. There are many ways to do this, and maps (see below) will most likely prove to be of great importance until you learn your way around.

In order to find out what area you are in, you can SURVEY. Survey tells you the area name first, the environment second, and the plane third (this will almost always be the Prime Material Plane).

Once you know the area, you will know which map to look at.

You can also SQUINT or GLANCE in directions to find out what lies ahead, and LOOK or QL in your room to see what is around you. EXITS or X will tell you the exits from the room if you need them in a pinch, though they are usually shown when you enter the room or look around in it.

Maps

Maps can help you to find your way around. They generally show rooms as squares and directions as lines leading to the north, northeast, east, southeast, et cetera, to get to different rooms.

The Newbie Channel & Newbie Guides

The Newbie Channel is there specifically for you to ask questions on during your newbiehood, to help you get a good start. You can use it by typing NEWBIE <YOUR QUESTION> (perhaps this would read as NEWBIE How do I regain health?).

The Newbie Guides are Romeo and Juliet. These beings spend 100% of their time helping newbies, and they love their job. Don't be shy about sending them a TELL or asking on the NEWBIE channel if you have a question, because they thirst to help you settle in.

Newbie Areas

There are two areas that were built with newbies in mind. Older players cannot enter these areas, so you don't need to worry about starting out with people 200 times your might to deal with. These areas are known as Minia and Lodi, and will be detailed below.

Auma & Poraeus

Auma and Poraeus are kind old dragons that enjoy helping newbies as much as Romeo and Juliet do. They will help you to travel between Minia and Lodi if you ask very nicely. Try walking up to Auma and say, "Please take me to Lodi." and see how she gently carries you across the continent to the valley of Lodi. Poraeus will do the same, but to Minia from Lodi. They can be located near the entrances to their favoured areas.

Minia

Minia is a land that only newbies and the guides (Romeo and Juliet) can enter. It is full of quests and denizens that are suited for the level of a newbie. This is the perfect place to get accustomed with killing denizens and doing quests for experience and gold.

Vellis, the butterfly collector, stays at the Ivy-covered archway to Minia, where he hands out butterfly nets for those willing to help him out.

The Pixie Village

Playful pixies live in the Pixie Village. These pixies are in a long-time war with the Imps of the Ember Tower, since the scorned Imp Lord could not handle the rejection of the Pixie Queen. You can find the Pixie Village by heading northeast from Vellis.

The Ember Tower

The Ember Tower is crawling with mischievous imps who war with the pixies of the Pixie Village. The source of the war can be traced back to the Imp Lord being scorned by the Pixie Queen, and not handling it very well. The Ember Tower is located at the end of the trail heading southeast from Vellis.

Miba, the Pygmy Village

The Pygmy men and women that live in Miba Village love the taste of the meat from the dog-like race of kobolds found in the Libra dungeon. Among the Pygmy are skilled hunters that capture kobold slaves to do their bidding. Miba is located by taking a northern turn along the trail to the southeast of Vellis.

The Libra Dungeon

The Libra Dungeon houses a race of dog-like men and women called Kobolds. The Kobolds are fairly bitter about their loved ones being enslaved and eaten by the Pygmy people. The Libra Dungeon can be down beneath the trail leading southeast from Vellis.

Lodi

Lodi is located east off the Raphaelan Highway between Shallam and Delos. While it is a newbie area like Minia, many would suggest it is better suited for more experienced newbies. In Lodi, there are a lot of quests that can be considered somewhat harder than the ones in Minia. Among the inhabitants are farmers, gnomes, wildcats, miners, and even a pair of trolls.

The Village of Gorshire

The Village of Gorshire is situated on the southern side of the Valley of Lodi. It is home to a small community of gnomes who are enemies of the evolved wildcats near the fields.

The Wildcats' Lair

The wildcats have been lead by Scylina, Queen of the Wildcats since they evolved into sentient felines a number of years ago. Before that, they were your average family of wildcats living in a cave. Scylina and her kin are in a constant state of hostility with the rest of the inhabitants of Lodi. You may find their lair in the northwestern parts of Lodi.

The Mines of Lodi

Absent-minded miners spend their time in the Mines of Lodi, offering payment to any who can locate their lost possessions or help them out with their bat problem. Find the mines in the eastern part of Lodi.

Gaining Experience

The easiest way to gain experience is to bash denizens; you can also complete quests to gain experience. Most players opt for a combination. When you choose to bash in a certain area and find out about the quests in that area you can gain more experience and a bit of gold in the same amount of time.

Bashing

Bashing is used to refer to the killing of denizens. Each denizen you kill has an experience value. Of course the experience value you are given for a certain denizen depends on its level. You can estimate the level of a denizen using CONSIDER.

If you bash an area not frequented by other players you may kill denizens that have been alive longer. This offers you an experience bonus of up to 50% <<Right?>> added to the base experience gain for a denizen.

Where to Bash

There is a very useful guide to bashing in Achaea located on the Achaean Forums. [1]

Levels 1+

  • Minia - pixies, imps, hellcats, firesprites
  • Lodi - all except guard pigs, wildcat queen and soldiers
  • All major cities except Eleusis - baby, young, and normal rats.

Levels 10+

  • Minia - kobolds and pygmies
  • Lodi - guard pigs, wildcat queen and soldiers
  • All major cities except Eleusis - old and black rats.

Levels 20+

  • The Great Rock (ophidians, especially warrior ophidians, afflict and team - reserve for higher levels)
  • Bopalopia
  • Tasur'ke (avoid sharks till much higher levels)
  • Actar Valley
  • Hounds in bog near Ashtan

Levels 30+

  • Manara Burrow
  • Petra (you can be enemied to the city of Ashtan for hunting here)
  • The Underground Lake by Blackrock
  • Jaru (you can be enemied to the city of Shallam for hunting here)

Levels 35+

  • Rheodad
  • Enverren Marsh
  • Manusha
  • Cavemen village in Dun Valley
  • Garnok and Thalagor, the orc and ogre villages at the foot of Dun Fortress
  • Sangre Plains
  • Forestwatch* and buckawns in Northern Ithmia (avoid bottom half of Forestwatch till higher levels)

Levels 40+

  • Green Lake
  • Ulangi
  • The Aeraithian Falls
  • Mhojave Desert (hyenas, rattlesnakes, sidewinders, foxes, monitor lizards)
  • El'Jazira
  • Genji
  • Polyargos (harpies, lepers - lepers cripple you)
  • Dwarf and orc camps within Siroccian Mountains
  • Western Vashnars
  • Shala-Khulia
  • Riparium
  • Aran'riod
  • Kamleikan
  • Inbhir Ness

Levels 50+

  • Dun Fortress (not topmost level till higher levels)
  • Manticore Caverns (not queen manticore or ferocious manticores)
  • Maze beneath Maim's mansion*
  • Scorpion pit*
  • Azdun (except the graveyard, Lachesis, vampires)
  • Goblin village
  • Arcadia
  • Thugs in sewers of Ashtan, Shallam, Hashan. Bloodleeches in Cyrene's sewers (may be more difficult than thugs).
  • Black Forest (do not attack Treekins unless you want to be enemied to Oakstone)

Levels 60+

  • Kasmarkin*
  • New Thera (you can be enemied to the city of Ashtan for hunting here)
  • Darkenwood
  • Aalen forest (including Tsol'aa village and grizzly bears if careful)
  • Moghedu (not keepers, knights, bodyguards, or Great Mhunna till higher levels)
  • Shastaan
  • Harae*
  • Southern Vashnars
  • Sea Lion Cove
  • Mysia
  • Tomacula
  • Parts of Belladona's Keep*
  • Shala'jen Monastery*
  • Confusia

Levels 70+

  • You're big enough to explore and find hunting spots for yourself!

* If an area is listed with a * behind it that means it has a lot of denizens that afflict. This is a good place to bash if you want to practice curing, but make sure to have cures on you if you attempt to bash this area.

NOTE: Remember that aside from your level your ability to fight, heal, and your skill levels determine the right place to bash. If you find an area is getting to easy, attempt to explore another area that may offer more experience, if it is too hard try to go to lower level area.

Quests

For the quests in Minia and Lodi you can refer to HELP NEWBIEQUESTS. In it you will find pointers about how to complete a scope of the available quests in the areas. There are also quests not listed in that file that you may find out about by greeting denizens and finding out about items lying around. In the other areas quests are not described and they are increasingly difficult to figure out. Sometimes simply greeting the denizens is not enough; you may need to ask them about specific things or people you have noticed in and around the area.

In addition to these local quests, there are a few quests called honours quests. Honours quests are extremely difficult to figure out and are far beyond the scope of this document. When you complete an honours quest you will get a line added to your HONOURS reference so that others can see you have successfully completed one of these illusive quests.

Making Gold

Many things you may want or need cost gold, therefore you need to find out how to make gold early on in the game. The main ways to make gold for a newbie are ratting, catching butterflies, completing quests, and fishing.

Ratting

The cities in Achaea are infested with rats. If you chase and kill these rats you can sell them to ratmen. As a reward for helping to keep the cities clean you will get a bit of gold in return. HELP RATS lists the value for each type of rats and the ratman or woman of each city.

Butterflies

Perhaps the best known quest in the lands of Sapience is the butterfly quest. Greeting Vellis of Minia allows you to obtain a butterfly net. With this net you can catch butterflies found in Minia and a few areas surrounding Minia. After you return a net with butterflies in it, Vellis will pay you for each butterfly you caught. Some butterflies are harder to catch than others and are thus worth more money. A detailed explanation of how to make money using this quest is listed in HELP BUTTERFLIES.

Quests

Aside from the butterfly quest, there are many more quests in the lands that let you make money. The easiest ones are in Lodi and Minia where opposing sides are willing to offer you money for each corpse of their enemies you may be able to give them. There are more things you may be able to do for money, though, often requiring you to help a denizen to complete a certain task for them.

Fishing

The art of fishing is something that takes practice. Depending on your survival skill and sense of timing, it can become very profitable. It may not be the first thing you will do to make money, but as you progress it could become more interesting to learn how to fish effectively. HELP FISHING details the process.

Shopping

After making all that gold you can start spending it. Of course you could try and convince others to sell you items, or you could gamble it all away, but a more obvious approach is to start shopping!

Buying from stores

Across the lands you will find stores, mostly in cities and in some of the villages as well. A store allows you to execute the command WARES and will show you a list of items you may buy. To look at a particular item you can LOOK <item> while visiting the store and to see more details you can PROBE <item> as well. If there are more items of a specific type you can use the number to reference the item you wish to examine, for instance: PROBE BOXERS1234.

Buying from denizens

Some denizens may also offer wares, if they do you can ASK <denizen> WARES and look at what they are offering. If you decide that you want to buy something from a denizen you BUY <item> FROM <denizen>.

Buying from other players

If someone has something you want and is welling to sell it to you, you can also buy from another player. There is of course a chance that they will take your money without handing over the item, therefore we advise you to only buy from those that you trust.

Selling goods

If you have an item you can no longer use and are over level 11 you can use MARKET to offer it to another. The market channel is only meant for buying or selling items or services.

Customising Your Character

As you progress exploring the lands you might want to add more detail to your character. Detail helps you to roleplay with more consistency and shows others what you are like. Here we try to describe a few of the many ways you can detail your character.

Your Description

One of the first things you will want to do normally is to describe your character. Your description is what someone who looks at you sees. You can use DESCRIBE ME <description> to edit your personal description. It will always start with "<name> is a <sex> <race> and is ...". The easiest way is to try a simple example and look at yourself, so try DESCRIBE ME tall. and have a look. Of course a good description is usually somewhat longer than that. Description guidelines are detailed in HELP DESCRIPTION.

Clothing Yourself

After you have described yourself and are still only wearing the simple clothes you were given during the introductory tour you might want to find something more interesting to wear. Around the lands there are many shops with different clothing items and there are also tailors that can design custom clothing and jewellery. Shopping for clothing seems to be something that some male and female characters enjoy very much. Your clothing will be listed at the end of your description.

Your Warcry/Motto

Your warcry and motto are simply phrases that you may customize, and then use in a similar way as emotes. If you have a warcry/motto set, you can use WARCRY/MOTTO to say that particular phrase.

  • SET WARCRY <message> - sets your warcry to that message
  • SET WARCRY CLEAR - clears your warcry completely
  • SET MOTTO <message> - sets your motto to that message
  • SET MOTTO CLEAR - clears your motto completely

Note that your warcry/motto will be displayed in your honours. You may have only a motto, or only a warcry. Also, warcries and mottoes are to be kept strictly in-character.

Your Background

Backgrounds are a chance for players to write their history before the age of 18 and continue it with chapters as new things happen.

Here are some important things you need to know about backgrounds, in case you ever plan to use them.

COMPOSE BACKGROUND takes you into the Achaean editor, where you can write your background down. Please be VERY careful, as you can never alter this once it is saved. We strongly recommend writing it offline, running it through a spell-checker, proofreading it, proofreading it again, then submitting it when you are completely satisfied.

COMPOSE HISTORY takes you into the editor to compose a new chapter of your background. Like backgrounds, they can never be altered once saved.

COMPOSE HISTORY TITLE <CHAPTER #> <DESIRED TITLE> (perhaps this would read, COMPOSE HISTORY TITLE 7 Chopping the Redwood Tree) assigns a title to a chapter number.

VIEW BACKGROUND <CHARACTER> (perhaps this would read VIEW BACKGROUND SARAPIS) shows you the background of the person you choose, assuming they have allowed you to read it. You can also simply VIEW BACKGROUND, without supplying a name, to read your own.

VIEW HISTORY SUMMARY <CHARACTER> shows you the chapter summary of the person in question. Omit the character to view your own.

VIEW HISTORY <CHAPTER> <CHARACTER> (perhaps this would read, VIEW HISTORY 7 SARAPIS) will show you a specific chapter in detail. Omit the character to view your own.

SET HISTORY PUBLIC/ALLIES/PRIVATE to control who can view your character background.

Class and Skills Learning

Myrrh

Myrrh was once used to give an additional bonus to the lessons that you learn, and was normally required by Guilds and Houses to be used when learning to reduce the number of lessons needed to reach vital skills.

Now it has been proven that myrrh no longer increases your lessons' effectiveness, although it will reduce the amount of time necessary to complete a learning session.

Weapon Proficiencies

Weapon proficiencies allow you to become a master of a weapon, increasing your potential accuracy and damage when using that particular weapon. Some classes are given a free proficiency if you take them. These classes are:

  • Bards - rapiers
  • Druids - quarterstaves
  • Infernals - longswords
  • Jesters - blackjacks
  • Paladins - longswords
  • Priests - maces
  • Runewardens - broadswords
  • Sentinels - handaxes plus either spears or tridents
  • Serpents - whips
  • Sylvans - quarterstaves

For everyone else, you must spend 100 lessons on gaining the proficiency and then practise with the weapon until you've mastered it. Simply LEARN PROFICIENCY IN <weapon name> FROM <teacher> when you have 100 lessons available. To aid adventurers in gaining these proficiencies, there are several proficiency teachers in the lands.

  • Straight, edged swords - Swordmaster Colbey, of Delos
  • Rapier and scimitar - King Tu'eras, of the Tsol'aa
  • Polearms - Captain Korlosh, of Delos
  • Maces, flails, etc - Lieutenant Serentesh, of Delos
  • Battleaxes, handaxes - Shale Ironrock, of Delos
  • Spear, javelin - Etarni the Hunter, of Tomacula
  • Warhammer - Geld, of Hashan
  • Dagger, dirk - A shady-looking man in Hashan
  • Quarterstaff - Seasone
  • Lance - Lady Lhadia, of Matsuhama's temple
  • Trident, Whip - Clynalia, of Delos

Gaining a Class via Certimene

Certimene, who can be found in Delos, acts as Administrator for all Classes. In order for Certimene to induct you into any class, you must be at least level 5. All you need to do to gain a class through Certimene is ASK CERTIMENE JOIN <classname>. This is the only way you may become a member of any class.

Learning Skills

A skill is a group of abilities. Examples would be Survival and Subterfuge (a serpent class skill).

To train in a skill, you need to either learn from another player who has more training in the skill than you, or from a denizen tutor.

You can learn anywhere for 1 to 15 lessons at a time in this manner, and the more you learn, the more the skill will progress, giving you access to new abilities. Learning one lesson at a time can be very tedious, and it is suggested that you stick with groups of 15.

The syntax to train a skill is LEARN # <skill> FROM <tutor>.

It is suggested that you use myrrh when you learn, as it will speed up the process to some extent.

When you learn from other players, they will gain a small lesson bonus. While this bonus isn't much, training others regularly over time can help a tutor rise in skill rank.

As you train a skill, one way to judge the process is by the skill rank you are currently at. The skill ranks are as follow:

  1. Inept
  2. Novice
  3. Apprentice
  4. Capable
  5. Adept
  6. Skilled
  7. Gifted
  8. Expert
  9. Virtuoso
  10. Fabled
  11. Mythical
  12. Transcendent

As you advance in levels, you will gain bonus credits that can be converted to lessons. The process can be seen in HELP 19.4 (HELP CREDITS)

Public Teachers

There are numerous denizens that can help you advance in your skills via training.

The first tutors you will most likely come across are city tutors. City tutors will teach any newbie that wishes to train from them, but will only teach citizens of their city once the person is above newbie status.

City tutors are limited in how much they can teach you. Their knowledge only extends to Skilled in any skill.

The different city tutors are as follows:

If you are confused as to where they are, many can be reached from the Ring of Portals. Otherwise, citizens of any given city will know where their city tutor is. It can't hurt to ask!

Once you have advanced to Skilled in any skill, you will be limited, for the most part, to House or order tutors. Usually, you must belong to a specific organisation to use their tutor.

There are two major exceptions to this rule: Tyrandiel in the library of Thera and Onorol in Shastaan. They can teach anyone any skill up to Transcendent.

Houses

What are Houses?

Houses are a collective of like-minded individuals who work towards the same goals, as well as aiding each other in said goals. They can provide useful support to newbies in the form of explaining skills and what to learn, giving directions to different areas to hunt, and providing goals to work towards. They also often provide training in antitheft. They are also a great way to meet friends and learn more about Achaea.

These are only a few of the things houses can provide, but they are the most useful for newbies.

Joining a House

When considering what house to join, you should take the time to decide what your character's interests are and what you want him or her to work towards as a goal. There are many houses, so it can take a bit of time to research them all, but it can pay off in the end.

To view a list of houses, check HOUSE LIST.

Each house will be listed similar to the following: 

Short Name      A  In Which City  Long Name                         Patron
--------------  -  -------------  --------------------------------- ------------
Sentaari        Y  Shallam        The Sentaari                      Mithraea


The Short Name is used for commands involving the house. The A signifies whether or not they allow auto-induction via Certimene. In Which City describes which city the house is based in. (Some houses require you be a part of the city they are in.) The Long Name is the official name of the house. The patron is the Divine that has lent His or Her support to the house.

To view the information on a particular house, check HELP HOUSE <house short name>.

If you have already chosen your class, you may notice that some houses do not accept certain classes. There is a quick way to check what houses accept your class. Use HOUSE LIST <class name> to do so.

Assuming the house allows auto-induction, from here you can simply go to Certimene and ASK CERTIMENE JOIN <house short name>. You are now part of a house! Make sure to say hi on HNT.

If the house does not allow auto-induction, you will need to contact someone from the house that can induct you.

If you check HELP HOUSE <house short name> you will notice this 


 [CURRENTLY IN THE REALM]
Newcomer aides:
Able to induct:


You may contact anyone listed under able to induct and ask to be inducted. They will help you from there.

Cities

What are Cities?

Cities are organized groups of players that are given a chunk of land, plus a political and economical system. Each city has its own cultures, laws and policies, and residents that are unique.

Joining a City

Healing

Healing Health

There are two methods of healing your health that everyone, regardless of class, has available to them. There are abilities that allow you to heal yourself, but that is something you should try to learn on your own.

Firstly, you can SLEEP off your wounds. This will restore your endurance, exhaustion level, and damage all at the same time. It may take a few minutes, so be patient! You can WAKE up at any time, though it may take you a while to break free of your dreams.

Secondly, you can buy health elixirs in most every city. Vials filled by a non-Transcendent concoctionist, or Seasone, will last for 50 sips. Vials filled by Transcendent concoctionists will last for 60 sips. When you have a health elixir, you need only to DRINK HEALTH to be restored a good deal of your health. There is a short time before you may take another drink, and sipping from a vial when off of this balance will result in a wasted sip.

Healing Mana

There are two methods of regaining your mana reserves that are available to everyone, regardless of class.

Firstly, you can MEDITATE to regain willpower and mana. This may take a few minutes, and doing anything in the middle of meditation will break your concentration.

Secondly, you can buy mana elixirs in most every city. Vials filled by a non-Transcendent concoctionist, or Seasone, will last for 50 sips. Vials filled by Transcendent concoctionists will last for 60 sips. When you have a mana elixir, you need only to DRINK MANA to be restored a good deal of your mana reserves. There is a short time before you may take another drink, and sipping from a vial when off of this balance will result in a wasted sip.

Healing Endurance

There are several abilities that players can learn that will aid in the regeneration of endurance, but the only method available to all players is SLEEPing. To leave your slumber before your endurance and exhaustion level have been fully restored, simply WAKE up.

Healing Willpower

There are many ways to regain your willpower, but only one method is available to everyone, regardless of their class. You can MEDITATE to begin regaining mana and willpower. Doing anything before your meditation is complete will stop the process.

Afflictions

Plants

Smoking/Pipes

Elixirs and Salves

Combat Basics

Player-Killing Rules

Geography & Movement

Newbie Portals

The Gods have given all players under level 21 special access to the Ring of Portals, where you may enter some of the more important landmarks around Sapience. Before you reach level 11, you will have unlimited uses of the portals. When you reach level 11, you only have 20 more uses of the portals, and at level 21 you may no longer access them at all.

The Ring of Portals

  • Northeast: Certimene, the Class and House Administrator
  • East: Vinci's Tattoo Emporium
  • Southeast: The Land of Minia (and Vellis, butterfly man)
  • Southwest: The Isle of Delos
  • West: Seasone, the Seller of Potions and Elixirs
  • Northwest: The Valley of Lodi
  • Down: Tyrandiel, the wise

The Northern Portal Room

  • North: Central Market of Ashtan
  • East: The Garden of Epicurus in Ashtan
  • Southeast: Hall of Learning in the Academy of Hashan
  • Southwest: Liirup of Hashan
  • West: The Bazaar of Hashan
  • Northwest: The Ratman of Ashtan

The Southern Portal Room

  • East: The House of Averroes in Shallam
  • South: Indalecio, the Academician of Cyrene
  • Southeast: The base of the Eleusian Gatehouse
  • Southwest: Jorj, the city caretaker in Cyrene
  • West: The Artisan Plaza in Cyrene
  • Northwest: Crazy Hakhim in Shallam
  • Northeast: Zanzibaar Street in Shallam
  • In: Maric, the Ratman of Mhaldor

Basic Geography

Landmarks and the WALK TO command

There are a number of landmarks over sapience that are known to all by the age of 18, and so if you are within 50 rooms of the landmark and not in a subdivision or the wilderness you can move towards it by the use of a simple command.

WALK TO <landmark> - This will move you one room closer to the landmark providing that you are able to walk normally. It takes roughly one second of balance, and so it is impractical to use in combat, although if you are lost it is a great help.

DISTANCE TO <landmark> - This will tell you how far away the landmark is from your current location or if it is further than 50 steps away.

Current landmarks

  • Ashtan Entering the Main Gate of Ashtan
  • Cyrene The Cyrene Gates
  • Eleusis Base of the Eleusian Gatehouse
  • Hashan Porta Aquila
  • Mhaldor The gates of Mhaldor
  • Shallam Outside the great gates
  • Actar Narrow entrance to a hidden valley
  • Azdun In the courtyard of a ruined castle
  • CaerWitrin Dejourdie Street at the town entrance
  • Delos On the Delosian Bridge
  • El'Jazira Inside the falconer's tent (a hatchery)
  • Enverren A boggy place
  • Gheladan Hills near the southern old road
  • GreatRock Cavern within the Great Rock
  • Jaru The Jaru Crossroads
  • Lodi Narrow entrance to the Valley of Lodi
  • Manara Beneath the Granite hills
  • Minia Ivy-covered archway to Minia
  • NoT North of New Thera
  • Petra Village intersection
  • Shastaan At the Shastaan well
  • Tasur'ke The Tasur road nearing the gates

Note: Explorer ranking IS affected by using the landmarks command exactly as though you were walking normally.

Special and Magical Movement

Death

Praying for Salvation

If you find yourself no longer among the long of the living, you may PRAY FOR SALVATION. Upon doing so, you will be instantly transported to the halls of Maya, where she will determine if you are to be granted another chance at life or not.

Other Methods of Resurrection

Should you find that you do not wish to pray to the Great Mother for salvation, you still have a few options available to you. If someone has your corpse and happens to like you, they may take it to and immolate it in the Flame of Yggdrasil. Also, if a devotion user comes across your corpse, they may use their devotion to invoke the power of goodness and resurrect you that way. Finally, if you find that your corpse has been lost, or worse, decapitated, you may still be brought back to life if you find your way to a grove and have a friendly forestal resurrect you via the powers of the forest.

Experience Loss

When you die, it is inevitable that you will lose a part of your soul, and thus, some of your gained experience. How much you lose is dictated by how you are brought back to life. Levels of experience loss, in descending order, are as follows:

  • Being immolated in the Flame of Yggdrasil.
  • Praying for salvation.
  • Being resurrected by devotion or grove.

Basic History and Mythology

Much of the history of Achaea, from Creation to the Modern Age, may be found here. A shorter span of time, from Creation to the aftermath of the War of Humanity, is recounted in the in-game help scroll HELP MYTHOS.

Credits

Issues and Customer Service

Advanced Communication

Sometimes, you may find the need to convey something to Sapience in general or to someone who is currently not in the realms.

Shouts

Shouts are the cheapest form of mass communication available. To shout, one must first find a Ram's Horn. They're located all over Sapience, usually in places of high altitude such as the Vashnars. Placing exactly 100 gold in the Horn (PUT 100 gold IN HORN) allows you to SHOUT <message> across Sapience for everyone who is not deaf to hear.

Shouting is generally anonymous unless the shouter identifies themselves, or is a Dragon, or the listener has the ability of Recognition in Vision. Depending on your level or the level of others, the shouting voice will be different, you may use STAT to see what your own voice will be like.

It is also noted that your shout is only of a finite length and attempting too lengthy a shout may cause you to momentarily pass out.

Messages

Messages are favoured by many adventurers as a free long distance form of one to one communication. Certain places in Sapience are considered 'off plane' or just too far away for people to communicate via tells, hence the use of messages. Achaea's administration or system also sends messages on occasion for a variety of reasons, including items decaying, or bestowing and loss of Divine Favours while you are not in game.

When you receive a message, you will be alerted either with the in game alert:

'You just received message # from Playername.' if you are in game at the time receiving or '*** You have new messages ***' if you received the messages while not in the game.

In order to read the message you may use RM or READMSG to read the first unread message, or MSG READ # to read a specific message.

Should you wish to send someone a message simply MSG <person> <your message>.

There is a whole slew of things you can do with the MSG function. Simply entering MSG without a target will reveal all the possible actions to be done with this syntax.

Postal System & Letters

One way for adventurers to communicate with each other is through Achaea's postal system. Letters may be sent to anyone, no matter where they stand on the continent. To begin correspondence, find a postal office and, with 100 gold in your hands, REQUEST LETTER. You may then WRITE LETTER to enter Achaea's editor, or PUT <item> IN <letter> to deliver a fun gift! When you are finished, MAIL LETTER TO <person>.

Letters will decay in ten months, so if your recipient does not log in to the game during that time period, the letter will never be delivered. As a result, you may not wish to send heaps of gold or expensive armour through the mail unless you know for sure that your recipient will be around to receive it.

Newsboards

There are several ways to communicate with other characters in game, including tells and other organisation channels. In addition, these organisations have newsboards that members may post to and read from.

Every House has a newsboard for both its novices and its full members. Each city has its own newsboard. If you are a member of a clan, you can probably access that clan's newsboard. There are also public news boards, an area for the administration to make announcements, and a poetry section.

To view what newsboards you have access to, use NSTAT. This will also display the total number of articles on that board, and the highest post number that you have read.

To read an article, simply use READNEWS <section> <post number>. To view a group of posts on a newsboard, use NSUMMARY <section> <starting post number>. For instance, NSUMMARY PUBLIC 8000 will display posts 8000-8019, and then you may READNEWS PUBLIC 8014 to view that particular post.

Writing news posts requires a bit more work. You must find one of Sapience's many newsrooms, and when inside one, use NEWS. From there, you must type SECTION <section> to enter the board that you wish to post to, and then WRITE. You'll be prompted as to what to do, and then you will enter Achaea's editor. For more help within the editor, use *HELP.

Forums

The official Achaean Forums are a place for the players of this game to chat and discuss the world of Achaea. The forums are completely OOC (Out of Character) and so taking sensitive information from the forums and bringing it into the game is frowned upon, and may get you in trouble with the administration.

There are also rules that must be followed when posting on the forums: Achaea's Forum Rules

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