Q:What is Dark Horizon(DH)?
A:Dark Horizon is an RPI MUD, a
Role-Play Intensive, Multi-User
domain. It is a fantasy flavored
game in which players may take on
the roles of characters living in
the game world, and act out their
daily activities. Possible roles
include a sailor, feeding the Gray
Harbor Colony with his daily toil;
a priestess, spreading the word
of the goddess Aiia, and performing
fertility rituals and magic upon
the local colonists and their crops.
One can be a pirate, fueling the
smuggling market, or a politician,
struggling under homeland dictates
and rising import prices. There
are guards, merchants, shipbuilders,
navigators, hunters, fishermen,
farmers, street urchins, rogue priests,
criminals, and many many more roles,
all options for players to make
into characters.
Play well, and you will be rewarded
with more exciting character possibilites
and plot lines. Play badly, and
you will die.
Q:Where does DH take place?
A:DH takes place almost entirely
in the colony of Gray Harbor, and
the unexplored island it sits upon.
Characters live in a world where
life is hard and food is not plentiful.
Possible roles include a sailor, feeding
the Gray Harbor Colony with his daily
toil; a priestess, spreading the word
of the goddess Aiia, and performing
fertility rituals and magic upon
the local colonists and their crops.
One can be a pirate, fueling the
smuggling market, or a politician,
struggling under homeland dictates
and rising import prices. There
are guards, merchants, shipbuilders,
navigators, hunters, fishermen,
farmers, street urchins, rogue priests,
criminals, and many many more roles,
all options for players to make
into characters.
Play well, and you will be rewarded
with more exciting character possibilites
and plot lines. Play badly, and
you will die.
Q:What time period does
DH take place in?
Though set in a completely fantastic setting,
one might liken the time period of DH to a
roughly colonial period, with elements of
slightly earlier times mixed in. For example,
though there are large, ocean going ships and
fashions, both of which have design elements
reflecting that of colonial Britain and colonial
Spain, gunpowder has not been invented.
The Dark Horizon world, though carrying
homages and similarities to our own history,
is nevertheless completely seperate from it.
Therefore, a help document entitled, 'the
differences in dh' has been provided. We
do not expect players to memorize this
document, but we do ask that it be read,
respected, and adhered to as much as one can
stand. Players referencing the altered specifics
of the Dark Horizon world in their gameplay
will find themselves rewarded in greater
trust and attention from the admins and,
more than likely, in role-play points.
Q: How can I be a warrior!
It should be noted that one good
way to get your app declined immediately
is to declare your character a 'warrior'
or some sort of master of weapons/fighting
without giving background info as
to how they came to be such.
The default fighter character that
so many muds allow without explanation
does not exist in DH.
You may ask yourself, why the heck
can't I just be a solitary warrior?
Why can't my pc be someone who got
training in the army, or fighting
in some war? There are a few reasons.
a.) Sural has no armies. This is
because...
b.) There are no wars. This is
because...
c.) There is no one to war against.
The Aiians are the only people native
to Sural, and there is no one else
on the island colony that they've
ever met. There are very few 'roving
warriors' as the lifestyle just
doesn't pay.
This doesn't mean your pc can't
have some knowledge of how to stab
with a dagger, or how to club someone
to death. These are relatively easily
gained skills. However, if you want
your pc to have martial weapons
training, (such as advanced sword
technique, hook and spear, or skill
with a shield for instance) you
must tell us where the training
came from.
There are many groups your pc may
have been a part of, or may be in-training
to join. These include...
Hasparth's Men, The Navy Surelain,
The Black Watch, The Grey Harbor
Lawmen, The Border Watch, The Guard
Surelain, and The Eickolien.
If you think your pc might have
learned their battle prowess from
a less than legal organization,
you have the following choices,
though the weapons training becomes
more specific and stealthy when
derived from these organizations...
The Laughing Grim, The Vulstis,
The Opal Eye, The Ilsean Church,
The Lurenite Cult, or independant
pirate ships patrolling the Surelain
Coast, The Gray Harbor Coast, or
the trade route in between.
In other words, if you're going
to bear some significant fighting
skill, you need to explain its source.
Aiians don't have many arms schools,
and they are almost always for members
of the above groups only. Fighting
just isn't as important to the public-at-large.
Q:Can I have my own ship
in DH?
Yes. Where vehicles and mounts are often
difficult to come by in other muds, here
in DH you'll find them for sale without
imm intervention.
Of course, they cost money, and on the
seas there are always dangers sufficient
to dash a characters boat to pieces, as
well as their fragile skulls. Common sense
also plays into it. Yes, you can buy a boat.
Can you buy a five-story, ocean-going
greatship with a mast height of over a hundred
feet? Most likely not. Why is this so? Well,
for one, they're incredibly expensive. Two,
there aren't many in existance!
But, can you buy a smaller boat? Yes, and most
will get the chance at some point. But common
sense is also important here. If you buy a
dingy or rowboat, twelve foot from bow to
stern, let's say, and you then take that
little boat out of the bay and onto the high
seas, what will happen?
More than likely, your character, and the
boat, will never be heard from again. Why,
will the admins punish you? No, we won't.
But weather, sea creatures, starvation and
dehydration are all very real dangers in
the Dark Horizon world. If you're going to
brave the brooding sea, you might want to
do it in a ship that can handle it.
Of course, the bay is very large, encompassing
hundreds of rooms, and players can fish and
sail to their hearts content there in much
greater safety when using smaller vessels.
For more on ships and sailing, check the
help documentation both in the game and on
the website.
Q:Dude! Can I get a sword
of Ogre Slaying?
Considering there are no ogres, and magic is
not exactly in abundance, we'd have to say
that it's not very likely.
Of course, if you were to ask the question,
'can I get a magical sword', then yes, the
answer would be that the possibility exists.
Will you? Perhaps, though the chances are
small, as magic is somewhat rare. Of course,
say you do find a magical sword, would you
know it? How do you find out if it's magical?
'I use the sword!'
You'll find, if you do discover magic in
Dark Horizon, that it might not quite be
what you expect. But of course, that's
something to be discussed in the next
frequently asked question.
Q:What is the state of
magic in DH?
Is there magic in DH? Yes, abundantly and
in many forms. Depending on your walk of
life, you may or may not see much of it.
Aiian fertility rites and the mystical silver
flame of the priestesses are commonly accepted
magics. There is very little fanfare about most
of these things, as they often seem to be little
more than prayers with uncertain effects.
Crops do grow better after a blessing, it does
seem, and there are stories of a famer's bison
bearing calves only after an Aiian priestess'
visit. So who is to say for sure?
Tales of darker magics abound, and some even
claim to have seen a Lurenite's glowing purple
grin, hands crackling with shadows. Others
have claimed to see things even stranger,
and in the new colony fairy tales abound about
strange creatures in the wood, spirits, devils,
and thieving pixies.
Are these tales true? Who can tell?
Certainly there's never been proof, and tall
tales are ten a coin. So who's to say exactly
where magic might be found, or what will happen
to those who find it. Only one thing is for sure.
It will certainly be interesting.
For more details on the magical systems known
of in game, check the resources section.
Q:I love science. What is
the state of physics in the Aiian
society?
A:Well, funny thing. The world
of DH, as understood by the Aiian's,
is very different than our reality.
There are no atoms or nucleus',
protons or electrons. Aiians believe
that there are three parts of their
being.
The two physical portions are water
and air. Then you have energy, or
fire. Energy straight from Aiia.
The earth below your feet is inert.
It can be suffused with water and
air (that's why plants grow) but
the hard stuff of it is inert, dead
matter.
Gravity is also different, as the
Aiians believe that it is the water
within you that pulls you down, as
it wishes to be one with the sea. You
float in water because once you begin
to sink, the air within you fights
to return to the air above. The
sea is said to be under the land
as well, which is why there is
gravity on land.
More on this can be referenced
both in the 'differences of dh'
document in the resources section,
and in the creation myths available
in the library.
Q:What is 'twinking'?
What happens if I twink?
A:Twinking in mud lingo is more
or less a synonym for cheating. The
DH game is meant to simulate real
interaction in a text-based, virtual
world. Though one of the more advanced
setups available, it still has its
limits, and those limits can be taken
advantage of. One who does this is
often lovingly referred to as a twink.
There are many different ways to twink:
sharing in-character (ic) game information
over email, icq, im, or (gasp) real world
interaction; finding bugs in the gameworld
and exploiting them; emoting impossible
or presumptuous things; and multiplaying-
among others.
To twink is to play the game improperly,
and it is not allowed. What happens if you
do twink? Often first offenses will be met
with warnings, and perhaps small penalties.
If the twinking behaviour continues, expect
character deletion.
You will be warned before action is taken,
and in the rare case that the twinking was
a mistake, you can explain your actions.
Players and staff alike work very hard
to make DH what it is. To not play fair
is to not play at all. And to all you
twinks and power mudders out there,
just remember...
We wrote the ultra-high fall code for
a reason.