Unwritten Legends

The Unwritten Legends Role Playing Guide
V 1.0 08-30-04

by Ashekalion Moontracker

Foreward

Playing the Role
Using Verbs to Communicate
The EMOTE Verb
Player versus Player (PvP) and Player Killing (PK)
Player Knowledge
Harassment
Scrolling and Spamming
Room Ownership
Reporting Violations

Playing the Game
Levels and Skills
Trainers?
Tags?
Earning Experience
Using Verbs to Communicate

Combat
The Stance
Attack!
Tooth and Nail
Shoot!
Tools of the Trade
Injury and Death

Miscellany
Travel in Thrael
Private Rooms and Inns
Death and Dying

Conclusion

Foreword

Welcome back! If you have not read the Player’s Guide, then please do so first, as this document presumes you already know the basic terms presented in the Player’s Guide to Unwritten Legends.

This handbook is a bit of a misnomer--not only does it explain ins and outs to role playing, it contains more ways to play, do battle, and understanding some of the policies and guidelines of UL. Much of what is presented here are guidelines and overview; there is no replacement for actually getting your feet wet in game and seeing what works for you. However, you may find some things in here that makes it a little easier for you to decide where you want to go with your character and how to get there.

I. Playing the Role

By now, you have seen role playing used so much in these documents that you’ve probably gotten numb to the term. What the heck is role playing, anyway? In simplest terms, when you log into UL, you take on the personality--or role--of your character, however you have defined them. While you are in the game, you are expected to only do and say only what your character would reasonably know or act upon. Even though you’re in Town Square with your good friend Phil or Betty, you are expected to refer to them as Grog the Destroyer or Shallindria the Elf Wizardess, rather than by their players’ names. Even for the veterans of role playing games, this can prove difficult as they must then come up with a reason how they all know each other to be talking to each other in the first place! The fun lies in the challenge--you are working with other players to build an ongoing story where each contributes their part on the fly.

Role playing in and of itself is the easiest part. However, there are some things that a player should be aware of to keep it easy and fun.

Using Verbs to Communicate

If you haven’t seen the full list of verbs in Unwritten Legends, pause and do so now. (use the VERBLIST command). Well over half of the verbs, as you can see, are for interacting with other people. (SMILE JILL, for example).

These social verbs can be used with adverbs. To get the full list of adverbs, use the ADVERBS command--most of the emotions imaginable are available. Adverbs add a little individuality and flavor to your character’s actions (SMILE JILL PLEASANTLY sends the message: You smile pleasantly at Jill.)

Many verbs that you can use--such as RUB, TOUCH, TAP, and TICKLE, can not only use adverbs, but they also can be directed at a person’s part of the body:
tap shina's shoulder politely
You tap Shina's right shoulder politely.

Be considerate of others--some actions can be misconstrued as hostility, unless, of course, that’s what you’re trying for…

The EMOTE Verb

You may come across some action that no verb quite covers. Enter the EMOTE or ACT command:
>emote hops around on one leg, looking totally ridiculous.
You emote: Jill hops around on one leg, looking totally ridiculous.
>act gazes at you, her eyes filled with adoration!
You emote: Jill gazes at you, her eyes filled with adoration!

Some basic rules about the EMOTE verb: You cannot evoke an emotion out of others, such as saying Jill looms into the room, instilling dark terror on you as you behold her! Some people consider darkly terrifying to be fascinating. Likewise, coming in as the paragon of cuddliness might make some folk ill, rather than adore you. You cannot evoke bodily injury upon others with the EMOTE command for the same reason--use combat verbs if you want to actually hurt someone. In other words, you cannot role play another’s reaction to your actions. That’s infringing on their rights to their player characters.

Player versus Player (PvP) and Player Killing (PK)

If the staff had their way, the terms PvP and PK would not exist in the lexicon of Unwritten Legends’ terminology. It’s not a game about fragging the other players. There are plenty of those out there already. Feel free to go try them if that is the type of game-play that appeals to you.

PvP (often, PvP conflict) is hostile activity generally where one player is aggressively accosting another. Some examples are stealing from them relentlessly, causing unnecessary scroll (or spamming of repeated messages over and over) only in the vicinity of one person, following them closely to insult or challenge them repeatedly, or bodily attacking them. In short, unless there is a very good reason to doing this, or it is agreed upon by both players, the aggressor is violating UL’s policies.

Player killing (PK or PKing), on the other hand, is something that happens as a natural adjunct to RPing hostilities. There is no hard and fast rule about what governs fair player killing, because blatant murder--no matter how justified--is still murder. While death is a minor inconvenience more than anything else in UL, not too many people are keen on dying. So when a lethal conflict is in the offing, be very sure it is something your character can honestly say he would do and he had a very good reason for doing it. I killed him because I play an assassin! is not a valid excuse. Again this must be agreed on by both players.

Player Knowledge

Player knowledge is the biggest downfall to role playing, believe it or not. No matter how hard we try, what the player knows leaks into what their character knows. For example, your male barbarian for several months of real time has been really sweet on a sleek re’hari she-ranger. All has gone so well that you want to take things a step further (for your character, of course) and become more involved in her life. To keep things in all fairness, the ranger tells you OOC that she’s played by a male player…

Now, if this is truly role playing, there shouldn’t be a problem and life continues. However, the first impulse is to recoil in surprise from the discovery, and suddenly your barbarian appears to outwardly respond more coldly to the ranger, who is still the smiling, cheery female that you first met… player knowledge.

Obviously, things that will deprive your character instantly and irrevocably of life, livelihood, and its possessions is another matter. You shouldn’t feel you have to walk into the Cavern of Inestimable Doom because there’s no way your character would know that the Grand Dragon Tyrannus is in there. Who the heck would willingly strut into a place called the Cavern of Inestimable Doom in the first place? Did you know the character whose player told you what was in there? Then perhaps you haven’t seen your friend since they left for this place. If none have returned, then the threat is very real and very deadly… and now you’re role playing.

Player knowledge plays the biggest role in spoiling quests and puzzles. Most of us like to have hints and walk-throughs on puzzles--it’s just who we are. However, it undermines the game’s integrity to give them or act on them. Further, it cheapens the experience for those who actually solved the quest or puzzle in proper manner by doing it themselves with no outside knowledge. It’s frowned upon, but the staff can’t stop you. What they can do is exclude you from any other game events where you would have a chance to show off your abilities in a good way.

Harassment

Harassment is a violation that rarely surfaces in UL, the staff are pleased to say. Which is good, because players found guilty of violating harassment guidelines are usually banned from the game or have their accounts closed and deleted.

In short, there is role playing, and then there is just being unnecessarily cruel. If you say or take actions repeatedly against another character that seems deliberately aimed at making the player uncomfortable, then it is harassment. Perhaps the player is playing a priestess who has taken vows of chastity--constantly kissing and smooching them after they have informed you to stop is considered harassment.

The key element in these situations is that the person put in the uncomfortable position needs to ask the other to stop whatever is causing the problem. Racial and gender slurs (beyond a certain RPing level of tolerance), inappropriate whispers of a lewd or threatening nature, stalking the other character, creating a new character to carry on attacks where their other characters stopped; these are all examples of harassment. If this is happening to you, please advise them in OOC whispers to stop. You are giving them consent to continue their antics with your silence. If you are asked to tone it down, please do so.

Scrolling and Spamming

Filling the screen with line after line of scroll from repetitive actions is considered just plain rude, as is typing in that you are the greatest warrior ever and hitting the repeat key fifty times. It’s unrealistic that anyone would repeat themselves that often--even drunk--and it’s very doubtful that anyone wants to hear it that often.

If you must engage in repetitive actions (selling eighteen shortswords taken from fallen enemies down at the local pawnshop, for example), glance around to be sure there are no other players present, or warn them that it’s going to get noisy, if there are. Most players understand that this is unavoidable, and few get upset over it.

Since unnecessary scroll in public places is construed as a form of harassment, first ask the offending character to please stop (or just slow down). If you are the one asked to stop, just take it to another room or pause long moments between actions, if you can’t leave. It’s a situation that is easily solved, so being banned from UL for scrolling would be sad, indeed.

Room Ownership

The concept of I was here first, go find a different room! is a myth. Even when hunting creatures in the wilderness, no one owns a room. The sole, single exception to this are the private rooms rented by the character, which are their private refuges when they are there.

On the other hand, lingering in a room with other characters, who really don’t care to have you there, is a good way to find out how willing they are to violate PvP policies. This is rare--most people play multiplayer games to play with the multiple players in it. However, some spells, items, and effects can injure or kill anyone in the room, so it’s assumed that if you come in on someone already dealing with these room-affecting conditions, you are there of your own free will.

While you can remain in a room where a combat is already going on, it’s considered poor etiquette to do so. Don’t assist in a combat unless your help is wanted, and if you’re in a room where there’s four creatures but only one is actively fighting, stirring up any of the passive creatures so that they attack the hunter in the room (even if accidentally) can be construed as an attack on that player, and they may respond accordingly.

So the bottom line is, you have as much right to be in any room in the game that anyone else can be in. Everyone else has the right to be in there with you. If it’s your private room, shut and lock the door if you want your privacy. Whether they are there with you, or you decide to be there with them, all parties are okay with the fact that bad things may happen to everyone in the room and must role play those situations accordingly. Just try to be as courteous to others as you would wish them to be to you.

Please Note: There is nothing that says you can’t deal with an explosion or whatever as an attack on yourself. While you implicitly agreed to the risks, you are free to role play the aftermath however you see fit.

Reporting Violations

If you cannot resolve a problem on your own, then the REPORT verb or ASSIST verb (followed by a brief message) will contact the staff logged into the game. If these are unavailable, or you’d rather take it outside of the game, emailing customer service is probably the best way to go.

When using email, try to send a log or cut-and-paste of the incident whenever possible. Incidents being reported are taken very seriously, and the more information you can provide, the easier and faster it’ll be to clear up the matter.

Remember that contacting staff is considered out of character, so they will want to know what role playing measures you’ve tried to end the situation. You can not report a violation on someone else’s behalf--it’s hearsay and needs to come from the injured party themselves, no matter how heinous the offense. If your additional input is needed, then you will be asked about the matter.

The staff are not into summary punishment. They understand that many of these situations stem from misunderstandings or something minor that got out of hand. Don’t be offended if you’re the injured party and the staff deems the situation to be one of these. It’s a very grave matter to consider how to punish wrongdoers, and someday some misunderstanding of your own may wind you up in a counseling session with one of UL’s staff, as well.

In closing, role playing games are not a place for the easily offended. Many characters are created with hidden angers and hostilities that make interacting with them a veritable minefield, at times. It’s pointless to get angry at every turn of conversation or activity that seems to go wrong. Just adjust how you react to it or leave the room to cool off--now, if they follow you and keep on making you upset, then there might be a problem…

Additional Information:

UL forums (see the Announcements category for how staff interpret many of the policies and rules)- http://unwritten.net/forum
Contacting customer service - http://unwritten.net/contact_alt.html
or email cs@unwritten.net

II. Playing the Game

Well now that you know the ins and outs of playing your personality, you will naturally want to know how to play the game! Building up your character’s levels and skills not only gives you the sense of accomplishment to keep your interest in playing, it gives your character the ability to back their brave words when they utter them! Only one problem… you’re still only level 4! Read on, and we’ll remedy this situation.

Levels and Skills

As mentioned in the Player’s Guide, your character has two ever-increasing scores: Their character level (Trainings) and the 22 skills available to all characters in the world of Thrael. Frustratingly, your whole character’s world can revolve around these two scores, at times.

Level serves only one primary purpose--it is the sole limit of how much you can train your skills. You may have a higher maximum in some skills than others because of tags (see below) or because the skills are your primary skills or professional skills. Each Training you advance allows more room to this hard cap of maximum ability.

The only way to increase Trainings is by earning experience points. Repeated activity using a skill, or finding trainers, are the only way to increase skills. The two are mutually exclusive of one another. It is possible to earn experience without increasing a skill, and many activities bolstering skill do not reward experience points for the time invested in it. Skill increase is considered its own reward.

There are two philosophies about increasing Trainings in UL, and most players fall into one category or another. About half of the players choose to train the skills they want to their maximum limits, then try to increase their level. In this way, they are very formidable in that their skills match their Training--you can count on a level 30 character to have 300 or more in their combat-oriented skills. The other school of thought finds it easier to level up, and their higher number of Trainings gives them leeway to train whatever skills they want. This allows for greater flexibility in skill training without worry that you’ve wasted any skill increases from prematurely encountering the skill caps. Mostly, it boils down to whether easier to acquire experience points or to increase skill--there is no single correct method.

Trainers?

Shopkeepers, wandering townsfolk, hermits in the wilderness, and more can often have tidbits of knowledge they’re willing to share… for a few coins, of course. These are trainers. Not all trainers are willing to work with you, mumbling some dismissive comment or feigning ignorance when you ask them for advice (TRAIN WITH ). Sometimes, you get a menu:

>train with Jill
You ask Jill about training with her.
Skill or Tag Cost
1) Kinesis 85
2) Pinpoint 200

In this example, you are offered a skill (Kinetics) and a tag (Pinpoint). The numbers are the cost you’re charged for one session with that teacher. Tags are one-time sessions only, if you have enough of the prerequisite skill (You need to train your Kinetic skill more before you can learn Pinpoint.). Once the tags are taught, they are permanently learned.

Skills are not taught in whole levels, they are taught as repetitions, as though you performed an activity with that skill a certain number of times. This means you may get a level of skill, you may get more than one level of skill, or you may not advance the skill at all (depending largely on how that skill relates to your profession--mage professions, for example, usually don’t advance all that quickly with weapon skills). Most trainers are limited either through ability or choice to only teach up to a maximum number (usually 100 or 150 skill levels), and they cannot teach your character more skill than you have Trainings to learn (your level 5 character, therefore, still can’t be taught over 50 skill levels).

Tags

As mentioned, trainers teach tags. These are special little traits that either increase your understanding of a certain skill (giving you extra skill levels when you learn it and permanently raising your maximum limit) or else give you a special ability. Finding trainers to teach different tags to your character forms the foundation of exploring Thrael to further your own ends. Tags border on being out-of-character, so discuss them with other players in whispers or outside of the game, when possible.

The list of tags and what they do are far too extensive to cover here. However, the forums at the UL website discuss tags in great detail in oft-regaled retellings of how this player or that one has discovered them. Some tags, it needs to be said, are specific to some professions (Seer for magic-users, Apprentice Pickpocket for thieves). Not everyone has the same access to the same tags, let alone the same trainers! Finding both tags and teachers is considered a constant, ongoing puzzle with the teaching providing its own reward.

Earning Experience

There are a number of ways to earn experience points. Combat is one of them--the more successful hits through weapons or magic you score upon your foe, the more experience you earn. (Please Note: Paradoxically, it’s the number of hits that earns experience, rather than damage or defeating the adversary. You will find that you’ll want to keep your foes alive as long as possible if they are easy opponents, so as to score the most possible experience.) Foraging and fishing both earn experience and provide a modest income if you sell your harvested bounty. Running packages for Bhond’s Shipping in the different cities earns experience and a small wage as well, and it provides steady work with very little to no physical risk. Empaths, additionally, earn experience from healing wounds.

While role playing awards (RPAs) award experience as well as Fame, keep in mind that the staff can’t be everywhere at once, so days of your most stellar role playing you ever done will most likely be seen only by other players. The RPAs, when they do happen, are to reward you for sticking with it and remaining in character despite adversity. The experience rewards that come with it can sometimes be enough to promote your character to the next Training, so it is very noteworthy to mention it here.

Experience doesn’t accrue all at once. It builds up in a buffer usually referred to metaphorically as your experience bucket. The size of this bucket is dictated by your Intelligence stat, and messaging (when you use the EXPERIENCE verb) ranges from an empty bucket of Completely blank to an overflowing bucket of Your mind is gyrating wildly out of control!

The fuller the bucket, theoretically the more experience you get. However, an overflowing bucket also theoretically loses some of the experience you earn. Getting messages that your mind is gyrating wildly or that your head feels like it’s about to explode are usually a good time to take a break from whatever you’re doing, as it will be several minutes (or more) for your experience to drain from the bucket into your permanent score.

Level advancement is automatic; you receive a message in game letting you know when this occurs (You gained a new level.). Upon your promotion, your primary skills all advance automatically, as a small bonus for your persistence.

III. Combat

Battle in Thrael, whether against the vile creatures of the wilderness or vying against another player, is often brutal and very decisive. It required more space that what the Player’s Guide could give it to explain in any detail. It is presumed that you have already read the basics in the Player’s Guide. If not, go back and read that section before going any further here.

It is not necessary to engage in combat in Unwritten Legends--you have ways of leveling up or training your character that do not involve combat, even for warriors. It is the most rapid way of earning experience, however. It is also very lethal as there is no stopping infrequent, lucky shots that can strike you dead. However, it is good to know its inner workings, which are detailed a little better here…

The Stance

Your stance is how you set your defenses against oncoming attacks. Your choices are parry, evasive, polearm, and optimum. Parry uses a shield or weapon to block incoming attacks. Evasive makes your character try to dodge all incoming attacks. Polearm uses a pole weapon such as spear or halberd to fend off attacks and hold your foe at pole range--the effectiveness of this stance is compromised if your foe comes to melee range with you. Optimum chooses the better defense of your parrying or dodging.

You begin your journeys in Thrael with optimum stance. It can be changed by STANCE , or using the command alone to check what your current stance is set to.

Attack!

With a weapon in hand, you can attack with the generic ATTACK command, or else use a command that is more specific to your weapon--THRUST, SLASH, or CHOP for edged weapons; BASH and SWING for blunt ones.

You can aim your attacks at specific body parts. Not all creatures have hands, legs, etc., so if you swing at a non-existent part, then you’ll get an error message. Most creatures have chests, backs, heads, and so on--it isn’t hard to target vital areas. The format is along the line of THRUST ORC’S LEFT EYE.

Targeting body parts is a good way to avoid armor that could deflect your blows, or to take advantage of existing injury on your foe. Conversely, you could choose to target non-vital areas so that you can keep the battle going as long as possible! However, your weapon skill factors in less and your Tactics skill comes to the fore, and the opponent receives a defensive bonus because you are striking a focused area of their body.

Tooth and Nail

Unarmed combat is another option available to both you and your foes that you may have disarmed. The verbs are many and varied, but here are the most basic ones: punch, jab, elbow, knee, kick, grapple, and throw.

Unarmed combat is uncertain--your attack varies as your Tactics skill comes into play to outwit your foe, and the round time of each attack can vary from the last. Some common sense comes into play, too; punching a breastplate is a good way to break your hand. If you find yourself without a trusty blade or bludgeon, though, your fists are better than nothing.

Unlike the use of arms, unarmed combat cannot target specific body parts. However, characters with a lot of strength--or monks, who learn martial arts--find that the trade off is worth the damage they can inflict. Experiment carefully if you choose this route, because armed opponents aren’t likely to put up their weapons to spar with you…

Shoot!

Putting a little distance between you and your foe and killing them at range is always a desirable trait. Bows and crossbows have superior range and hit any target in the room. Thrown knives and axes have a more limited range, and they can only strike out to stone’s throw range. There is nothing to keep your character from shooting or throwing missiles at melee range (in fact, some prefer that, so they don’t have to go running after their ammunition!).

Remember that you cannot parry with your bow, but can with a throwing weapon that ma be in your hand--set your stance accordingly to optimum or evasive. Missile weapons have another inherent limitation besides range… your number of shots. Once out of ammunition, it’s time to switch to hand-to-hand or fetch up your spent arrows (use the ADVANCE command to advance on anything that is out of reach).

Bows require you to have the arrow in the off-hand, then LOAD the bow, DRAW the bow, and SHOOT at your target. Thrown weapons are more forgiving with a simple THROW .

Tools of the Trade

Weapons and armor. The tools of warcraft. Appraising weapons will tell you which skill is required to use them, and appraising armor will tell you how much protection each offers you. How much each costs to buy is a good indicator of the item’s effectiveness. Metal types for implements of war are typically bronze, iron, low steel (soft steel), high steel (high grade steel), where bronze items are heavy, cumbersome (taking more round time to swing), and ineffective, and high steel items are the best quality typically available. Other alloys exist, but they are not as common.

Armor comes in four main types: leather, scale, mail (or chain), and plate. Leather has the least hindrance and protective value but is the easiest to wear. Plate armor requires a goodly amount of strength to wear effectively and are very cumbersome; but they throw back all but the most severe damage. The bulk and weight of armor pulls down your character’s attack and defense abilities, the rate of this depends on the body part protected by the piece of armor and what kind of armor it is. Improvement of your Armor skill alleviates and eventually wipes out this armor penalty.

Shields are pretty self-explanatory. The larger the shield, the better its defensive bonus and how sturdy it will be. However, the larger the shield, the heavier it is and the more strength required to properly wield it. Shields offer perhaps the best all-around defense, but no Evasion skill is learned while using a shield.

Injury and Death

Fighting is not without risk. Even a peerless master of the blade can be struck by a chance, lucky hit by their foes, some of which are lethal in force.

Injuries to body parts are in the form of whatever type of weapon struck them--bruising, burns, cuts and slashes, or puncture wounds. Injuries of the same type build up and eventually the body caves under the damage, destroying that body part. Some, like hands and feet, can be survived. Others--eyes, head, neck, chest, back, and abdomen--are fatal.

Severe cuts and punctures inflict bleeding. So long as the bleeding wound goes untended, the character’s Vitality drains away, only recovering once the bleeding is staunched through bandaging, magic, or herbalism. Vitality recovers very slowly, on its own; additional bleeding wounds taken on will rapidly kill the wounded character. Crushed or severed limbs automatically cause bleeding.

Some creatures, spells, and powers can inflict secondary effects on a victim. They can be additional damage, webbing, being swept off one’s feet, or poisoned, among others. Poisoning draws off of the Vitality score without the benefit of a bleeding wound to bandage, so be especially careful around creatures known to be venomous.

When slain, anything held in the hands are dropped and any spells affecting the victim collapse and fade away. If your character is slain, it may become necessary to trek back to the very killing fields that struck you down, so that you can recover your weapon and/or shield.
>**see Death and Dying

IV. Miscellany

We’re almost done. There are a few final things about finding your way about the world that didn’t fit into any particular category. They are here to round out the last and smallest section to this handbook.

Travel in Thrael

Moving from room to room, as you may have noticed, drains stamina. Rest up for a moment or two if you have traveled a long distance to get to a battlefield, as swinging your weapons will drain stamina, too.

The GO command is used a lot, and if there are other commands needed, you will be so informed when you attempt to GO through an exit (you will sometimes be told to try CLIMBing or JUMPing, instead, in fact, sometimes SWIMming works too). There are many hidden, offshoot areas on the trails and roads. Note where animals and the like go--these hidden refuges may be simple cul-de-sacs, or they may be valuable places to explore.

Travel by ferry can be free of charge, being supported by that town, but more often than not, travel by boat requires a ticket. Look about for a dockmaster or ticket handler (small buildings such as shacks are the common place to look, either in that room or very close by). Tickets are inexpensive, and two are required in order to make the return trip (though you can often buy a return-trip ticket wherever you dock, also). Have your ticket in hand when boarding the boat, and watch for telltale messages showing you’ve docked. Not all boat-masters announce when they have arrived.

Several players have their own websites that have reliable maps. These will prove useful to you in getting from town to town, or looking for shops and services for your character. The world is ever-changing, much like our own, but these maps will give you the key areas to start within.

Private Rooms and Inns

Rooms can be rented fairly easily (RENT FROM ). If you lose the key to your room--misplacing keys are as common there as it is here--then go back to the landlord and REKEY FROM .

If you are visiting another person’s room, the correct usage is GO ’s ROOM, such as, go Jill’s room. Of course, unless the room is open or Jill gave you a key, your trip might be for nothing. While it is possible to pick the locks on a private room’s door, it is prohibitively difficult. Private rooms usually come with the options of setting an alarm to ward off intruders, if you feel the locks are not enough.

Private rooms are a good place to store clothing and extra gear. More than one locksmith made their private room into their workshop, and more than one magician uses their room as their arcane study. Items left here will remain after you leave, and wastebaskets can be bought to throw away unwanted items that would be left in your room. Indeed, private rooms make a very good safe haven.

If you find yourself stuck in a locked private room with no key (it could happen), simply exit the game, and log back in--you’ll find yourself back out in the hallway outside the private rooms, safe and sound.

Death and Dying

Death happens. It’s the high cost of living and the professional hazard of adventuring and questing. Luckily the gods are rather kind. At Trainings 1 and 2, your character is restored to life in the nearest sanctuary. Above the 2nd level, your spirit walks the desolate plane called Ul’Mydar.

There are three things to know about death and dying. If there is no way to get your body to a resurrectionist or a kindly player cleric hasn’t found you, then RELEASE will give up the proverbial ghost before your body decays on its own. Once released from the mortal coil, understanding Ul’Mydar becomes necessary--it’s a place in between this world and the next, a sort of limbo of uninviting obsidian and sand. Out there, the only way back is to find a creature simply called a guardian. These wander the reaches of Ul’Mydar on tasks whose purpose is only known to themselves. Once finding a guardian, sometimes a small quest in and of itself, the guardian reincarnates your body alive and whole, banishing you from this nether plane back to your proper place among the living.

Which leads us to the sanctuaries--the sacred places that are scattered about Thrael. Some are obvious, like the Ossuary in Kaezar or the priest’s house in Kemstead. Others are secluded glades and forgotten grottos whose exits step out onto roads from places you never realized were there.

Returning from death by resurrection fully restores your character, but the trip back from Ul’Mydar is draining. Your body is exhausted of Vitality, Stamina, and Essence, and your body--being renewed--is still getting used to its new nerves and muscles. This means for long minutes, your physical stats (Strength, Endurance, Reflex, Dexterity) will be greatly diminished. All these stats recover back to your full amounts. Until then, exercise caution in rushing out to recover anything you dropped or rejoining beleaguered friends still fighting.

Conclusion

This was a long guide insofar as information passed along. However, it is not anywhere near an exhaustive source. There is still much to discover, but these are things only learned by personal experience.

The best route to go for various information are the UL forums. Amidst all the personal missives, OOC questions, and RP seeds, there are tidbits of information that will tell you about the world of Thrael and the people. This is good, but it is just as prudent to go out and meet the other characters in your own travels. Don’t stay in the background--fortune favors the bold, more often than not. If you have any questions or concerns, remember the methods of reaching staff. Good luck in your travels into the richly detailed world of Thrael and your quest to find your own Unwritten Legend.