Welcome to the Achaean newbie guide. Upon this page you will discover a comprehensive introduction to Achaea and its basics. While not every topic is explored in excruciating detail, we will frequently point you to other sources of information if you wish to learn more beyond the basics we explain here. If you are new to the lands and/or MUDs in general, read on!

What is a MUD?

The acronym MUD (or MUCK, MUSH, MMOG, etc) is most often expanded to the phrase "Multi-User Dungeon". In a MUD, a player interacts with other players alongside non-player characters - NPCs as they are called elsewhere, though we prefer the term denizen. That's nothing new on its own, but in a MUD, there are no graphics. Everything is represented by text (often coloured). But how can you play a computer game without graphics?

One oft-cited example is the comparison between reading a book versus watching a movie. Sure, there are no pretty pictures, but you might just find that the world woven with words is more vivid, more complex, and more immersive, and more compelling than any fancy CGI. It is much the same with MUDs. We don't need to worry about graphics or high-tech hardware, so we can focus on quality gameplay and a vast, immersive world.

First Impressions

Once you create a character and logged onto Achaea, you will find yourself in a world unlike any other. 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.

It is important to note that as this world is primarily medieval/mythological, you won't find any modern technologies such as computers or television. You will, however, find a host of magical and supernatural tools and abilities to utilise, often in the form of the skills associated with your class or unique objects called artefacts.

Not all players seek to achieve the same things. Two popular ways of gaining experience are through hunting and questing. With enough experience, you can ascend to the level of Greater Dragon, where you gain the ability to assume the form of a powerful dragon.

Some quests of the lands - many which contain intricate plots and detailed storylines - will earn honourable and permanent recognition for your efforts. You may also choose to climb the political ladder and become a feared dictator or benevolent ruler of a city-state or House.

There is any number of other paths you might take - master bard, Champion or Assassin, trend-setting - and it is up to you to follow that path. Though the actions of others may influence your character, only your decisions will set your true path.

Connecting to Achaea

There are many clients that connect to Achaea. They include browser-based, downloadable, and mobile app versions. The best options to play Achaea include:

The Nexus Client: The official client of Achaea, Nexus runs in a web browser (like Google Chrome) and will work on all internet-ready devices operating systems, including Windows, Macs, and Linux. Mobile users, however, may find it operates with limited functionality. Please read HELP NEXUS for more information.

The Mudlet Client: This is a third-party downloadable client for PCs. You can find this client on the MUDLET HOME PAGE. Once you download it, have it connect to achaea.com and either port 23 or 2003. Both ports work.

The Mobile Client: This client works for Android devices. You can DOWNLOAD ANDROID or read HELP ANDROID to get started.

VIP Mud: If you're visually-impaired and use a screenreader, then this free MUD client is fully-accessible including scripting capabilities. You can visit the VIP Mud website for more information.

Other Clients: You can visit the Achaea website to learn about other third-party clients which could either be free or require purchase.

Character Creation via the Nexus Client

Character creation in Achaea is easy. Your first step is to click the PLAY NOW button on the Achaea home page. While you can login with an existing character, the steps for creating a new character are:

Selecting a Race

There are a dozen from which to choose starting out. Clicking on any name on the intro screen gives a brief overview and lists any racial bonuses.

The races available to newbies starting out include Atavian, Dwarf, Grook, Horkval, Human, Mhun, Rajamala, Satyr, Siren, Troll, Tsol'aa, and Xoran.

Selecting a Class

A distinguishes you from others, offering a set of three which allow you to take on any number of identities, including a brave knight, a magical elementalist, or a cunning thief.

The 17 classes are available to adventurers are Alchemist, Apostate, Bard, Blademaster, Druid, Infernal, Jester, Magi, Monk, Occultist, Paladin, Priest, Runewarden, Sentinel, Serpent, Shaman, and Sylvan.

Selecting a City

Click on the name for a one-sentence summary. NOTE: Your choices may be limited based on the class you picked in the previous step. Forest-based classes may only reside with other nature preservationists in Eleusis, and devotion-users can only join other zealous beacons of righteousness in Targossas

Character Information

This section is where you choose information specific to your character including:

Name: A good name feels fantasy, but isn't from a book or movie. If your name is overly silly, offensive, or sensitive for some other reason, then after your adventures begin you might receive a notice directing you to read HELP NAMES, which offers more information and instructions for changing your name.
Gender: You may choose to be male or female. The exceptions to this are that all satyrs are male and all sirens are female.
Password: Never share your password with anyone. Your password should be difficult for others to guess but something you will remember. You can read HELP PASSWORD for more information.
Email Address: Registering your character helps give Achaea an idea of the demographics of the player base, and gives players ways to keep their account safe. HELP REGISTRATION explains more about these benefits.

After you complete these sections, click Finish and your first adventure will automatically begin.

Achaea Policies

Before diving in and starting your first adventure, it's worth taking a moment to read the help file (or scroll, as they are often called) HELP POLICY SUMMARY. This is a short summary of our Achaean Policies. You can find a full list in the scroll titled HELP 15.

Adventurers who break the rules may be subject to loss of rolepoints or some other form of divine punishment up to and including permanent shrubbing. Ignorance of these rules is no excuse for breaking them.

The references are provided by the [administrators] for your own benefit. The vast majority of Achaean adventurers have no difficulty abiding by these policies.

Initial Quests and Registration

Escape from Miba

After choosing a name and race, you will begin your first adventure called Escape from Miba, an introductory tour of Achaea's basic mechanics. You find yourself in a dark, dank cell which you share with an old man. He explains you've been captured by pygmies and offers you a way to escape. You can use the SPEEDUP command up to nine times to increase the pace of your adventure.

At this point you may notice some words are in all caps or underlined. For example:

You can either click the answer, or type SAY YES / SAY NO to select one of the choices.

Words in caps are often an indication that this may be a command you can type. Romeo and Juliet often employ the same technique.

Before you know it, you will have learned how to check your inventory, unlock doors, and fight denizens, like the pygmy guard. Tips will help you learn about selecting a target and using newbie-friendly attacks known as brawling, an ability in the Survival skill which works for anyone regardless of class or race.

This initial adventure is short but packed with opportunities to use basic commands to help get you used to navigating the realm. Escaping the pygmies teaches you how to:

look at your surroundings and see items there,
find directions to exit a room,
drink health elixir from a vial to recover health,
follow another person to form a hunting group,
put things in your pack,
receive and activate a boar tattoo,
give things to another person,
spend lessons to increase your skills,
see your current skills and abilities,
and learn the basic fighting skills for your class.

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

The Cultists' Conspiracy

After you escape the dungeon, you will find yourself at "Lakeside highway", just outside the newbie land of Minia. The next thing you'll want to do is look at your tasks, which assist you in discovering the world around you. These tasks will lead you to confront Beku, a meeting which does not end well. You'll have better luck once you reach Level 10.

Hunting and questing in the newbie areas are the best way to gain levels of experience. While you can do the tasks and follow The Cultists' Conspiracy quest line at your own pace, it is best to get your tasks and quests done sooner than later. Once you reach Level 21, ogres will prevent you from entering the newbie lands.

If you get stuck, then you can always use the PORTALS command to return to the Ring of Portals. The scroll titled HELP WHATNOW and the Newbie Quickstart Guide both contain vast number of tips and pointers as well. You might also try and TELL ROMEO <message> or TELL JULIET <message> to speak with them privately, or use NEWBIE <message> to speak on the public Newbie channel.

After you defeat the cultists of Great Rock, one of your helpful companions will congratulate you over the city channel of your city. If you have completed the required tasks up to this point, defeating the cultists will unlock your city tasks.

Registration

It is highly recommended that you Register your character. This is in addition to the email address you gave when creating your character for the first time.

Registration helps you keep your account safe, manage multiple characters on the same account, or reset your password. While registered characters may still be purged, they are not purged nearly as quickly as otherwise.

Registration will ask for your:

real name
e-mail address
date of birth
country of residence

In addition to that, we ask you how you heard about Achaea. This tells us where to keep advertising so we can get more awesome players like you.

Basic Commands

The following sections explain basic information on the mechanics of Achaea. The commands are your key to accomplishing everything from killing a rat (KILL RAT) in a city to completing a complicated series of quest resulting in a special line being added to your honours.

The SHOW Command

The most basic of all commands is SHOW. Using this command, you can see things about your character that fall into one of three categories:

Things available elsewhere in the same form, like your bank accounts, honours, or rift
Changed or combined versions of some things available elsewhere, like a list of orgs, gold, or your stats
Information you won't find anywhere else, such as the amount of lessons left in a skill

Communication

Communicating with other adventurers is one of the most important aspects of Achaea. As such, you have many options for communicating and forming communities within the lands. Most of the commands are self-explanatory and include:

The SAY command allows you to say something to others in your current location. Verbs like SING, WHINE, MUTTER, SNARL, and SCREAM work in place of SAY, allowing you to enhance your words.
Use the TELL command to communicate with others who are not in the same room with you. Using the CONFIG NAMETELLS ON command allows you to send tells using someone's name without TELL at the start. The TELLS command shows the last 50 tells you received, regardless of when you received them.
You can YELL something to everyone in your immediate area.
When you SHOUT, your voice carries across the lands. Shouting requires use of a Ram's Horn Except for some powerful adventurers with the ability to hear you, only the Divine know who is shouting. Spamming, insulting, and gloating are frowned upon via this method of communication.
The NEWBIE channel exists for you to ask questions and request basic assistance during your time as a newbie. Due to its nature, some topics might be considered insane by other adventurers. It is important to note that the newbie channel is not available for idle chatting.
Messages are another form of communication between players. Use MSG as a standalone command to see all the available ways to use this feature.
The news allows adventures to communicate with each other in non-real-time by writing posts available to be read at your leisure. You can read the news from anywhere, even while sleeping, but must be awake and in the news system to write a new post.

The rules for using language in Achaea are simple. Do not inflict overly obscene language on people who you do not _know_ are willing to hear it, and do not use discriminatory language (racist, homophobic, sexist, etc) AT ALL, in any circumstance. HELP LANGUAGE RULES explains more.

Getting Around

Basic Movement

You have several options for moving around in Achaea. The most basic is to use the exits listed when you type LOOK or QL. The directions are at the end of the room description. You can GLANCE <direction> or GL <direction> to see what lies beyond an exit. The possible exits are N/NORTH, NE/NORTHEAST, E/EAST, SE/SOUTHEAST, S/SOUTH, SW/SOUTHWEST, W/WEST, NW/NORTHWEST, U/UP, D/DOWN, IN, and OUT.

Landmarks

If you are within 100 steps from a one of the places in your list of landmarks then you can WALK TO <landmark> directly. Landmarks are especially useful if you are lost and unsure of where to go next.

Doors

Sometimes you may encounter doors which may be open, closed, or locked. The commands for doors include:

OPEN - To open an unlocked door. OPEN DOOR NORTH (etc).
CLOSE - CLOSE DOOR DOWN (etc). Doors may lock upon closing in some cases.
LOCK - Have the proper key, then LOCK DOOR <direction>.
UNLOCK - Have the proper key, then UNLOCK DOOR <direction>.

For example, to go through a locked door to the north for which you have a key you would UNLOCK DOOR NORTH and OPEN DOOR NORTH before you could go NORTH into the room to the north.

Flying

Flying is possible if you are a member of the atavian race, have some type of flying mount or pet, or have some other special item or ability which gives you that power. FLY takes you into the skies, and LAND puts you back on the ground. If you are flying over a garden or forest environment, then you can LAND TREES to land in the treetops. It is possible to DIVE to the ground, which causes plummet head first to the surface of the ground with a sickening crunch.

Maps

There are two types of maps in Achaea, layout and illustrated. You can use the MAP command in the game at any time to see what lies around you, and MAP RADIUS 5 to expand it to its largest portion. The scroll titled HELP MAPS explains more.

Item Manipulation

There are many commands for interacting with items in Achaea, some of which are required to make an escape from the pygmies in your very first adventure. These commands work for both items you can hold in your inventory or wield in your hands, like a vial or a sword, and permanent fixtures, such as a fountain or a locked chest, which are too heavy to pick up.

The item manipulation commands include:

GET - Gets something from the ground or a container.
DROP - Drops an item. DROP 50 ASH vs. DROP ASH.
GIVE - Give an item to another being, like GIVE 5 CHOCOLATE TO DAVID. For gold, always use the amount: GIVE 1000 GOLD TO JANE.
PUT - Put an item in something. PUT GOLD IN PACK or PUT 5 JOURNAL IN PACK.
EX, EXAMINE - See what a creature looks like, or how tough it is.
P, PROBE - Information about something and what's inside it.
BREAK - Destroys certain fragile items.
KNOCK - Indicates your presence on one side of a door.
LIGHT - Firecrackers, Pipes, and LOTS of other things!
SMELL, TASTE - Food, drinks, elixirs, and sometimes other things.
READ - Letters, books, signs, posters, plaques, inscriptions, etc.
WEAR - Wear an item that you hold.
REMOVE - Remove an item that you are wearing.
WIELD - Wield an item. WIELD LEFT or WIELD RIGHT for handedness.
UNWIELD - Cease wielding an item.
POINT - POINT <thing you are holding> AT <who or what>.

Six basic commands which could be useful almost anywhere depending on the object are: PULL, PUSH, RING, SHAKE, TURN, and TOUCH.

Adventurers who wear weapon holders or a backstrap to hold their shield, can use the following commands:

SHEATHE- Sheathe a weapon.
DRAW - Draw a weapon from its respective holder.
DRAW STRONG - Draw a weapon from its respective holder with a flashy slash.
DRAW SALUTE - Draw a weapon from its respective holder in a salute.
LASH - Lash a shield to a backstrap.

It is possible to THROW a wielded object. HELP THROWING explains more about this method for interacting with items.

Examining Yourself and Others

There are a few commands dedicated to learning more about yourself. These commands include:

SCORE/SC - This is the first way to get information about your character. Based on the status of your character, it will show you a plethora of facts. HELP SCORE explains them in greater detail.
QSC - This command shows a quick score which only displays information relative to the status of your well-being.
HONOURS <person> - This shows information about another adventure or a Divine. HELP HONOURS suggests other ways to use this command.
LOOK <person> - LOOK <person> to see their physical description.
DEFENCES or DEF - The defences command brings up a list of beneficial things currently affecting you. DEFENCES BRIEF shows a less verbose list.
DIAG ME - This ability allows you to diagnose your ailments.

The WHO Lists

There is a plethora of commands which allow you to see who is in the realm with you at any time. The WHO command shows everyone on the same plane and visible to you. Other ways to use the command include, but are not limited to:

BW/QW - An abbreviated version of the WHO list
QWC - An abbreviated version of the WHO list colour coded by city affiliation.
QW <match> - Shows only names that match, for example QW TEC would show Tecton and Telendrieth but not Titonus or Trey.
QW <city> - Shows members of a city. Using ROGUE will show cityless adventures.
CWHO - A who list showing members of your city
CLASSWHO - Shows members of your class
HWHO - A who list showing members of your house
RWHO - Shows members of your race

These lists only show adventurers who are online and visible. Some adventurers, although present in the realm, may be hidden from the lists for any number of reasons. HELP WHO explains more about the various who lists and commands for using them.

Newbie Areas

New adventurers have exclusive access to three areas reserved for newbie access only: Minia, Lodi, and Mount Gheladan. After an adventurer reaches Level 21 these lands become off limits, so while in the newbie areas you are never crowded out by more experienced hunters or questing explorers.

One of the easiest way to reach the newbie lands is via PORTALS. Once there, you can READ SIGN to see where the portals lead or use Landmarks and WALK TO <area>. Additionally each of the three areas has its own special dragon that will transport you between the newbie lands.

IN MINIA: Find the dragon Auma (NE from the archway to Minia) and say, "Take me to Lodi please." or "Take me to Gheladan please."

IN LODI: Find the dragon Poraeus at the entrance to Lodi and say, "Take me to Minia please." or "Take me to Gheladan please."

IN GHELADAN: Find the dragon Lasuna at the entrance to Gheladan and say, "Take me to Minia please." or "Take me to Lodi please."

Minia

The land of Minia lies just off the Prelatorian Highway near the Aureliana forest. There are plenty of quests to keep you busy, like curing a sick kobold or returning textbooks to the Pixie Schoolteacher, and things to kill such as hellcats or Beku, the pygmy chieftain.

Vellis, the butterfly collector, resides at the Ivy-covered archway to Minia, where he hands out nets to anyone, regardless of age or level, who wishes to catch butterflies. If you linger too long, then you may incur the wrath of this otherwise kindly old man.

You can READ SIGN at the ivy-covered archway to Minia for directions to the four primary areas within Minia. These areas include:

The Pixie Village

Along the northern reaches of Minia, the inhabitants of the Pixie Village are ruled by the Pixie Queen, a diminutive yet imposing woman whose sworn enemy is the Imp Lord.

The Ember Tower

At the southeastern edge of Minia, the Ember Tower teems with mischievous imps who do the bidding of the Imp Lord, a gnarled who carries a jewelled spear and whose only goal is to make the Pixie Queen suffer. Ord, the hellcat trainer controls fierce felines who guard the tower.

Miba, the pygmy village

A group of pygmies led by the nefarious Beku, the pygmy chieftain, maintain a collection of kobold slaves, putting them at perpetual odds with the dog-faced creatures of the nearby dungeons.

The Libra dungeon

The Libra dungeon houses a race of dog-like beings called kobolds, who are fairly bitter about the enslavement (and consumption) of their loved ones by the pygmies. The Libra dungeon may be found beneath the trail southeast from Vellis.

Lodi

The valley of Lodi lies within the Putoran Hills, west off of the Raphaelan Highway. You can earn gold and experience by helping various denizens, such as killing wildcats for Constable Beck or exterminating bats from the mines.

The village of Gorshire

Gorshire is a quaint village situated in the southern portion of the Putoran Hills within Lodi. It is home to a community of gnomes, the sworn enemies of the evolved wildcats who prey on livestock to the north.

The lair of the wildcats

Deep within the northwestern area of Lodi, Scylina rules over her fellow wildcats. The Wildcat Queen and her kin hold such deep hatred for the gnomes that she will pay for their corpses.

The Lodi mines

The miner foreman, Dorven, oversees this undermanned mine and is always looking for adventures to help pick up the slack, whether it is eliminating pests from the mines or running shipments to his partner in Delos.

Mount Gheladan

The most recently discovered of the newbie lands, Mount Gheladan is nestled in the central Vashnar Mountains, to the west of the Dakhota Hills. Upon its slopes live the Nilari and Murinae, two warring tribes of humanoids who have place bounties on the other's heads. Beneath its surface also lurk the warring hornets and bees.

Points of Interest

The Nilari village

The Murinae caves

The beehive and hornets' nest

Gaining Experience

Your experience determines your experience level, which in turn determines your health, mana, and other characteristics of your character. With each level you gain, you earn five more lessons to spend, and at certain milestones, you gain bound credits that may be traded in for many different things (including more lessons). (See Level and HELP LEVELS) One of the easiest ways to gain experience is to hunt denizens (also called "bashing"). Successfully slaying a denizen will earn you experience relative to that denizen's strength and level. Another way to earn experience is to complete various quests.

Hunting

Hunting, or bashing, refers to the slaying of denizens. Every denizen has an experience value, depending on its level and strength, and you can estimate this level by using CONSIDER (i.e. CONSIDER IMP). A full list of denizen strengths may be found in HELP CONSIDER.

There is a very useful guide to hunting in Achaea located on the Achaean Forums, at this topic, which lists locations from newbiehood to level 60+. As a newbie, however, you will likely want to stay within Minia, Lodi, and Mount Gheladan.

Questing

There is a multitude of quests throughout the lands of Achaea. As a newbie, you may want to whet your teeth on the newbie quests in the newbie lands, many of which are listed in HELP NEWBIE QUESTS. Within this scroll, you will find tips and pointers on many (but not all!) of the available quests in the areas. There some quests not detailed that you will need to discover on your own: try greeting denizens around you, and examining the world around you more closely. Outside the newbie lands, quests may not be discussed by mandate of Divine law, and they become increasingly difficult to complete. Sometimes greeting the denizens is not enough; you may need to ask them about specific things or people you have noticed.

In addition to these localized quests, honours quests may stretch across large areas of the land. Honours quests are often extremely difficult to solve and are far beyond the scope of this guide. When you complete an honours quest, an appropriate line is added to your HONOURS page (thus the name honours quests) so others may view your impressive deeds.

Making gold

Gold sovereigns are the global currency of Achaea. With gold, you can buy most anything essential to life, such as food, clothing, weapons, and other trinkets. Making gold is never as easy as spending it is, however. Some easy methods of making gold are ratting, catching butterflies, fishing, and completing quests (as explained in detail above).

Ratting (see also: HELP RATS)

The cities of Achaea (excepting Eleusis) are infested with rats. Should you slay these rats you can sell their corpses to any of the ratmen. As a reward for keeping the city clean you will be rewarded with some gold for each rat you return.

Butterfly catching (see also: HELP BUTTERFLIES)

Perhaps the most well-known method of making gold is that of butterfly catching. Simply obtain a net from Vellis in Minia, and start hunting for butterflies. Instead of killing them, however, you must WIELD your NET, and attempt to CATCH the BUTTERFLY. Two locations where butterflies are well known to reside are Minia and the Savannah. Once you are finished, bring your net back to Vellis and GIVE it to him. He will reward you with gold for each butterfly you have caught. Some butterflies are harder to catch than others, and are worth more gold.

Fishing (see also: HELP FISHING)

Fishing, while potentially lucrative, requires practice and a great deal of patience. Your skill at fishing depends greatly on your experience in the Survival skill: the more Survival you know, the more successful you may be at the various fishing actions. It may not seem appealing at first, but as you progress it will become more interesting as you learn to fish properly and efficiently.

Shopping

Once you have some gold, you can start spending it! There are a few ways to buy things with your gold. First, you can seek out a shop and spend your gold there. Shops may be found all across the land, though they are mainly concentrated in the major cities and some villages. They may be owned by denizen (such as the ubiquitous Rurin), adventurer, or even organization. You can tell if you are in a store by LOOKing: if there is a line stating to use the WARES command, odds are that you are in a shop. Use the aforementioned WARES command to see what is on sale, and for how much. If you want to look more closely at an object, you can PROBE the item listed, though you should use the item's full name (plus number) to avoid conflicting with something you may be holding (or even another item in the shop). To purchase an item, make sure your gold is in your hands, then BUY <item>.

Denizens may hawk their private wares, too! In such cases, they may not be located in a dedicated shop; they carry their wares with them. In such a case, you will need to ASK <denizen> WARES to view their wares, if any. To look more closely at a ware, you can simply ASK <denizen> <item> and they will show off that particular item. Finally, once you've chosen something to purchase you can BUY <item> FROM <denizen>.

Finally, you can trade directly with a willing adventurer. Such trade is reliant on the simple GIVE [#} <item> TO <adventurer> (where the number is optional), and is based on trust between both parties for the goods to be properly transferred. You can make arrangements for such trade in person, in private, or over the dedicated MARKET channel (see HELP MARKET), and of course you can be either the buyer or the seller in such a scenario.

Customising Your Character

As you begin your adventures, you may wish to add a little spice to your character and his or her appearance. There are a few ways to do this, the easiest being your description. Anyone who LOOKs at you will see what you have written yourself to appear as. To describe yourself, you simply use DESCRIBE ME <description>. It will always start with "(He|She) is a(n) <adjective> <race> and is ...", where the ellipses denote where your custom description goes. The best way to see how it works is to try it, so DESCRIBE ME tall and LOOK ME to see the result. Of course, a good description is somewhat longer than that, but it's up to you to write it. More tips and guidelines are detailed in HELP DESCRIPTION.

You can also robe yourself in any number of different kinds of clothing: you must be tired of those dull robes from the Trial of Rebirth by now. All around the realms are shops, some of which stock a variety of clothing. Do some window shopping! If you find something you like, PROBE it. (For more information on shops for the informed newbie, please see our section on spending your gold above) Some adventurers are also tailors or jewellers by profession, and many can craft pre-designed items for you, or even design custom clothing for you (though often at a higher price). You can wear nearly anything you like, and it can show a lot about your character's personality. Your clothing will be listed at the end of your description, so it's a great idea to have both a proper description and clothing. (For more information, please see HELP CLOTHING)

Thirdly, you may set a warcry or motto (only one or the other), which are simply phrases which are displayed on your HONOURS page. They can be used similarly to emotes, simply by using the MOTTO or WARCRY commands (depending on which you have set). To set such a phrase, you can SET WARCRY <message> or SET MOTTO <message>; to clear, simply use "CLEAR" as your message. Remember, warcries and mottoes are to be kept strictly in-character. (For more information on mottos and warcries, please see HELP MOTTO and HELP WARCRY)

Finally, you may create a background for your character. Such backgrounds are meant to detail one's history before the Trial of Rebirth, and separate "chapters" may be added on as one's life goes on. You may only ever create ONE background and it can NEVER be edited (except in the form of subsequent chapters), so be sure that the one you enter in is free of typos, errors, and you're happy with it! If you decide to write a background, perhaps you should write it into an external editor such as Notepad and read through it several times, sit on it for a few days, then decide whether you're happy with it. Remember, your background can never be changed once you submit it. For more information on the background system, including syntax and use, please see HELP BACKGROUND.

Your Class and Skills

If you do not yet have a class, Certimene, the Class and House Administrator, can allow you to become one. Simply visit him in Delos (or go directly to him via his exit at the Ring of Portals), READ his SIGN, and ask him to make you a particular class.

As an Achaean, your class is highly important! Each class has its own three class skills, differentiating each class from the others. For example, the Sylvan class obtains the Elementalism, Groves, and (later on) Concoctions skills, giving them abilities far beyond those few without class. To view your skills, simply use the SKILLS command (or AB). Your class skills will be the two (or three, if you have obtained it) listed at the very end of the "Skills" section, but before the "Miniskills" section. If you wish to look at the abilities encompassed by a skill, you can use the AB <skill name> command. Further, to view details on a particular ability in a particular skill, you can use AB <skill> <ability>. While these terms may be confusing, HELP SKILLSETS should clear things right up. HELP SKILLS also has much more information on skills, and HELP CLASSES is a veritable gold mine of information on the class system.

You may have noticed that your AB <skill> list of abilities seems rather... short. To remedy this, you will need things called lessons. You gain five lessons for every level you progress through, and you can convert credits into lessons as well. To see how many lessons you have, you can check your STATUS, or just SHOW LESSONS. If you have just left the Trial of Rebirth, you should have just under two hundred lessons to spend! But how do you use them? That's easy enough: find a denizen tutor - or an adventurer who knows more than you do in your target skill - and LEARN <#> <skill> FROM <teacher>. The number can be anywhere from 1 to 15 lessons at a time (or 20 if the teacher is your mentor).

Where do you find a tutor, you ask? Every city has its own personal tutor who can teach you up to, at maximum, the skillrank of Skilled. A skillrank is a measure of knowledge in a skill: a full list can be found in HELP SKILL RANKS. That's fine for a newbie: as long as you are under level 21, you can't learn higher than that anyways (see HELP CLASS RANKS). If you wish to reach one of these tutors, most of them can be easily reached via the Ring of Portals. Of course, there are tutors who can teach as high as Transcendant, the highest skillrank there is. Most of these tutors live within the property of the Houses, so if you are Housed, you may be able to learn from him or her. There are a few special tutors who are available to all, however. One such is Tyrandiel, the Wise, who may be found in the Lucretian Athenaeum in New Thera. She also has a Ring of Portals exit devoted to her: simply go DOWN from the central portal room. There are certainly other such tutors, though it is up to you to discover them. (For more information, please see HELP TUTORS)

You may wish to ingest some myrrh before an extended learning session, as it reduces the time it takes for a set of lessons to complete. Once upon a time, this herb boosted the knowledge learned per lesson, but it is no longer so powerful. You may also wish to learn from an adventurer, as they gain a minute lesson bonus in the skill they teach; this benefits everyone involved.

Weapon Proficiencies

Weapon proficiencies are a different animal from normal skills. These allow you to become a master of a particular kind of weapon, increasing your potential accuracy and damage when using them. Some classes are proficient with certain arms to begin with, which you can view in HELP PROFICIENCIES. Everyone else must spend 100 lessons at a proficiency teacher, and then practice with such weapons until mastery is reached. Simply LEARN PROFICIENCY IN <weapon name> FROM <teacher> to begin. The proficiency teachers are scattered across the lands.

Houses

Houses are collections of like-minded individuals who share a common purpose. They can be of immense help to a newbie by explaining skills, optimum placement of lessons in said skills, and of course goals to work toward. They frequently teach basic anti-theft, and are great places to make friends and learn more about Achaea in general. If you did not join a House during the Trial of Rebirth, you may join one by speaking with Certimene in Delos. Before you commit to a certain House, however, you should decide what your character's interests and goals are. There are many Houses, so take your time. To view a list of houses, look at the HOUSE LIST. Each house will be listed similar to the following:

Short Name      A  In Which City  Long Name                         Patron
--------------  -  -------------  --------------------------------- ------------
Crownmerchants  Y  Hashan         The Merchants of the Crown        Ourania

The short name is often used in place of the long name in casual speech and the usage of certain commands. The value under the A column details the House's policy on auto-induction via Certimene. - a 'Y' means it's allowed, and a 'N' means it is not. The next row shows which City the House is based in. Some Houses require that their members be citizens of their city, while the rare few are not based in any particular city. The long name is the official name of the house. Finally, the Patron is the Divine Who lends His or Her support and guidance to the House. To view detailed information on a particular house, look at HELP HOUSE <short name>.

Houses may place restrictions on what classes may be members. If you have a class (highly recommended!), use HOUSE LIST <class> to view all Houses who accept members of that class. Once you've decided on a House, and you know that it accepts your class, you can speak with Certimene to join. Given a 'Y' value for your House's A column, visit Certimene in Delos and ASK CERTIMENE JOIN <short name>. Assuming all went well, welcome to the House! You can speak on your new House's newcomer channel by using HNT <message> (the HNT stands for House Newcomer Tell).

Of course, there's always the odd occasion that you cannot join via Certimene, whether the House not allow induction via Certimene or a matter of your higher level or age. In such a case, you should use HELP HOUSE <short name> to view their information. There should be a section entitled [CURRENTLY IN THE REALM]. Any names listed there, next to "Able to induct:" can induct you if you speak to them privately.

Cities

Cities, or more properly city-states, are large settlements with some degree of control over their surrounding land. There are six city-states you may join: Ashtan, Shallam, Hashan, Cyrene, Mhaldor, and Eleusis. Every city has its own socio-political structure, including various ministers (which are the same across Cities) and aides. If you wish to join a City, there are a few things to know. First, each city-state has a unique culture. You should read up on each city and decide which is best for you. Second, some Houses require membership in their base City. If you are seeking to join a House as well, or are already a member of one, you should take that into consideration.

In order to become a citizen, simply look at the help scroll of the city you wish to join, and look at the [CURRENTLY IN THE REALM] section. Any names listed next to "Able to induct new citizens" can induct you, though there may be different processes per city after that point. If you wish to leave your city, you can simply QUIT <city name> at any time.

Healing

Whether a hunter or a politician, every adventurer should know the basics of health and healing. The most obvious gauge of your state of health is your health. Your health may always be viewed via your SCORE or QSC, though a simpler way is to set your prompt to list such information (for example, CONFIG PROMPT ALL). The Nexus client has several handy gauge bars to represent your status visually, as well. Health is most often lost due to combat damage. The most basic way of regaining one's health is to SLEEP (which also slowly rebuilds your endurance and reduces your level of exhaustion). Sleeping, however, makes you more vulnerable due to your understandably relaxed state of mind, and you may have trouble WAKE-ing up quickly. Another, often more effective way is an elixir of health, a common concoction that returns a fair amount of health per sip. You bought one such elixir with Gruul in the Trial of Rebirth, so why not take a sip and see what happens?

Mana is another important statistic which wears down as it is used. Certain classes, such as Magi, utilize it more than others, so it is vital that one knows how to regain it. The most basic way is to MEDITATE (or simply MED), which renders you unaware of the world immediately around you, but is easier to break out of than SLEEP: you simply make any movement to break your meditation. Meditation also slowly recovers your willpower. Much like the elixir of health, there is also an elixir of mana which has the same effect on your mana reserves. You likely did not get one during the Trial, so if you wish to obtain one you can buy them in many of the shops of the lands, have a concoctionist brew some for you, or speak with Seasone, the Industrious, for refilling of an empty vial.

There is a variety of common and esoteric afflictions in the realms of Achaea, including but certainly not limited to: darkshade, epilepsy, asthma, and anorexia. In general, you must use herbs to heal these illnesses, though some classes have their own healing abilities. Cures for the ailments listed above might be the ingestion of ginseng (for darkshade), goldenseal (for epilepsy), and kelp (for asthma), and an application of epidermal salve (for anorexia). A list of most afflictions and their cures can be found in HELP CURELIST, or you can browse our category of afflictions.

Geography & Movement

As Severian explains during the Trial of Rebirth, the world of Achaea is a vast place. The main continent of the realms is called Sapience, upon which lie the six major cities, bountiful forests, pristine lakes, and crisscrossing roads and highways. With so much land to explore, newcomers to the realms might be fairly overwhelmed! The easiest way to get around as a newbie is by way of the Ring of Portals, which is coincidentally the exact spot you find yourself after completion of the Trial of Rebirth.

The Ring of Portals is a special location on a remote location called Loom Island, which cannot be accessed by normal means. However, the Gods of Achaea have granted all newbies - those adventurers under level 21 - access to the Ring by way of the PORTALS command. Those between level one and level eleven will have unlimited access to the Ring of Portals. After reaching level eleven, however, you are limited to 20 more uses of PORTALS, and you cannot gain any more. Only those adventurers under level 21 may reach the Ring at all.

Within the Ring of Portals are three separate rooms, each with exits to many of the most useful locations in the realms.

The Ring of Portals
The Northern Portals (Ashtan and Hashan portals]])	The Central Portals (City-unspecific portals)	The Southern Portals (Cyrene, Eleusis, Mhaldor, and Shallam portals)
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	North: The Northern Portals South: The Southern 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 In: Mount Gheladan Down: Tyrandiel, the wise	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

In addition to the Portals, you may also use the landmarks system. By way of landmarks, one can WALK TO any listed <landmark> and move one room towards your destination. You must be within fifty steps of your goal to move in its direction; otherwise it's too distant to be certain which way it is. You must also be outside of the wilderness and subdivisions. You can easily tell how far away you are from a landmark with DISTANCE TO <landmark>. (For a full list of landmarks, as well as other useful details, please see HELP LANDMARKS)

In addition to these methods of travel, there are plenty of miscellaneous tools and abilities. For example, those of the Magi class can create temporary portals between locations, and Serpents can splice wormholes. If you obtain a pair of artefact wings, you can use them to travel high above the clouds, to a location not unlike the Ring of Portals!

Combat and Death

Death is usually considered an unpleasant occurance. It is caused by the loss of one's health in its entirety, thus severing the soul from the body. As long as you are dead, you will walk the lands as a soul, potentially affected by the influences of such objects as eye sigils. You will also slowly lose experience. There are a number of ways to return to the living, but few may be undertaken on one's own. The only foolproof way to return from death is to PRAY FOR SALVATION. This will transport you to the Halls of Maya, which you will walk for a short time before meeting with the Lady Herself to be returned to life.

There are other, less reliable methods of resurrection. A friend may locate your corpse and immolate you in the Flame of Yggdrasil to resurrect you, or perhaps use your corpse in a Devotion resurrection. However, should your body be lost or defiled, your only alternative is to find a Groves user and their grove, who may resurrect you using only your soul.

It should be noted that almost every method of resurrection incurs some amount of experience loss, aside from that lost by the act of dying. Immolation is known to be one of the most costly in experience, alongside praying, and skill-based resurrections are rather less expensive.

History and Mythology

Much of the history of Achaea, from Creation to the Modern Age, may be found here. A shorter period of history, from Creation to the aftermath of the War of Humanity, is written within HELP MYTHOS - though by no means is the scroll a short read! Apart from the Mythos, there is a vast amount of history contained within the news boards of Achaea. All adventurers have access to the Public and Announce boards, as well as the veritable Events board, but you may discover lesser known history within the private boards of the Houses, Cities, and other organizations. HELP NEWS explains precisely how to take advantage of these newsboards.

Advanced Communication

There are a few ways to communicate which are slightly different from your typical channels. These each have their own time and place, though they are used less often for various reasons. One of the most well known alternative means of communication is the news. There are a few newsboards that all adventurers have access to, including the Public and Poetry boards, and others which may not be written to by normal mortals, such as the Announce and Events board. Every organization has its own newsboard, as well. News posts are most often used to speak to a large group of people at once, no matter what date and time they may come across the post. In this way, they are similar to messages sent to a large group of people.

To view the newsboards you have access to, which post you last read on each, and how many posts each has, you may use the NSTAT command. To read the news, you can use READNEWS <section> <#>, or RN (to read the next unread newspost). You can also go to a newsroom and peruse the news in silence, using the newsroom tools listed by using HELP in a newsroom. To write to a newsboard, you must be in a newsroom. (For more useful information on the news, please see HELP NEWS)

Another way to get a message out to nearly everyone in shouting distance is to, yes, shout. To shout, one must first find one of the giant ram's horns located all over Sapience, usually in high altitudes such as the Vashnars. The horns require a payment of exactly 100 gold: simply PUT 100 GOLD INto the HORN, then SHOUT <what you want>. However, some may not hear shouts due to being deaf to shouts, or indeed afflicted with deafness. Shouting is generally anonymous unless the shouter identifies themselves, is a Dragon, or a recipient has the ability of Recognition in Vision. Depending on the shouter's level, their shouting voice will be different. You may look at your STATUS to view what your own shouting voice would sound like. It should be noted that shouts may only be of a certain length: too long, and you will pass out. Worse, the entire world will know you passed out, instead of hearing your wonderfully worded masterpiece.

A third unique method of communication is by Achaea's postal system. Letters may be sent to anyone, no matter where they stand on the continent. They may be bought from a post office for a fee of 100 gold; simply REQUEST a LETTER to buy one. You may then WRITE in the LETTER to enter Achaea's editor, and PUT an <item> IN the <letter> to deliver an item if you like! When you are finished, MAIL LETTER TO <person>. Remember, you must sign your name in the letter's contents if you wish the recipient to know who sent them that lovely ring. On the other hand, perhaps you didn't want them to know after all!

Letters decay ten months after their purchase, so if the recipient does not enter the realms before that time is up, the letter will decay in transit, along with any items you may have shipped along with it. As such, you may not wish to send expensive or important items through the post, unless you know for sure that the recipient will be around to receive it.

Finally, as an insane method of communication, one may utilize the official Achaean Forums to chat and discuss Achaea. The forums are completely OOC (read:Out Of Character), so posting sensitive information on the forums, or using information gleaned from the forums to your benefit in-realms is highly frowned upon, and may get you in trouble with the administration. There are also rules that must be followed when writing to the forums, located here.

Credits

Credits are a special form of currency, used to buy many things that are not priced in gold sovereigns. One might buy artefacts or room credits (used to create rooms in your private home), or convert them into lessons. They may even be sold on the credit market for gold, which fluctuates in price based on adventurer supply and demand. How do you gain these wonderous tokens? One of the easiest methods, at least at first, is to reach certain level milestones, listed in HELP LEVELS, such as levels 10 and 15. At each milestone, a certain number of bonus credits are obtained (though these are bound credits which you may not transfer to other adventurers), which you can use towards nearly whatever end you desire. Another method is to buy credit packs at this page, using real-world money. There are many differently-sized packages, from the basic fifteen credits to the whopping two thousand credits, to suit both casual and hardcore Achaeans.

For more information, please see HELP CREDITS, HELP CREDIT MARKET, and HELP ARTEFACTS.

Issues and Customer Service

Issues are, first and foremost, insane, so they should never be discussed on public channels. Before you file an issue, be sure it's really an issue. Read HELP ISSUES to be sure, so you don't end up wasting the admins' time.

Sometimes, you may need to contact customer support for some reason, though, such as clarification on what exactly this artefact does - "Is it chewing tabac or smoking tabac that the tabac pouch generates?" - or arranging a special wedding with the aid of an administrator. Such requests should be handled via the ISSUE ME <message> command - yes, that's a literal 'ME.

At other times, however, you may have a genuine issue with another person, for possible griefing, or perhaps the breaking of the rules of player killing or theft. In such cases, you should thoroughly read HELP IC RESOLUTION before filing an issue. If you are sure you want to file an issue against this person, you can use ISSUE <adventurer> <message>. The other adventurer will be notified of this and will be able to respond, aiding the administrators in making a ruling.

Please see HELP CUSTOMER SERVICE for additional important information regarding issues.

Newbie Guide