AN INTRODUCTION TO
ANCIENT ANGUISH...
What is a MUD? What is Ancient Anguish? The theme of Ancient Anguish
Some useful help for beginners Where to find more information
What is a MUD?
MUD stands for Multi User Domain/Dimension/Dungeon. A MUD is a computer program which users can log into and explore. Users from all over the world join a MUD to interact with each other and the virtual world being continually created. Normally MUDs have a form of ranking. When you first join a MUD you begin at the lowest rank and work your way up. Higher ranks generally allow you to do more things and give you access to a greater array of commands. MUDs are set up for different reasons. Some tend to be more social while others concentrate on the role playing aspect. Most of them have a theme of some sort. Some are set in medieval times or in a spaceship, a forest or have a more specific theme such as Star Trek or Star Wars. There are also some educational MUDs based on historical periods. You generally connect to a MUD by telneting to it, but there are a variety of other programs you can use instead (available from this site as well).
Ancient Anguish (AA for short) is probably one of the best game MUDs on the internet. AA is text based, and has been around since early 1992. Since that time it has grown constantly, and is now one of the largest and most popular LPMuds around and is still growing everyday. Be warned however, that once you begin playing Ancient Anguish you can kiss your life as you know it goodbye... It's that addictive J . In order to play Ancient Anguish you will need to have a telnet client available. You will have to telnet to port 2222 on the machine ancient.anguish.org. Check your telnet documentation for instructions on how to do that. Alternatively, you can download and use one of the programs listed on the Downloads section of this website. Simply use the program to connect to the address above. There is also a quick connect button on this site's main menu. If you have a telnet client available (windows 95 & 98 users should) then telnet will load up and connect to AA once you click the button.
Ancient Anguish is a troubled land with a history of brutal war and uneasy peace. The elves, dwarves and other indigenous races in the realm lived for long periods of time in relative peace, enforced mainly by separation of species and non-competition for plentiful resources. The arrival of humans from the far east over a thousand years ago, shattered the fragile peace. The humans and elves fought bitter wars for control of the land, nearly destroying both races. At the conclusion of the wars, the elves that agreed to move south, removing themselves from further involvement in Ancient Anguish. Those elves that stayed behind agreed to live under the rule of the humans.
This peace was soon shattered by the arrival of marauding orc hordes from the lands far to the west. At first, the orc numbers were small and they were easily defeated and enslaved by the inhabitants of the realm. As their numbers grew, however, the orcs became a more serious threat. The humans, galvanized by the growing threat to the stability of their realm, formed an alliance with the dwarves and defeated the orc armies. The remaining orcs were allowed to remain, under the nominal rule of the humans.
Ancient Anguish is currently in a state of political flux. After nearly a thousand years of rule, the humans have grown complacent. Their king is old and now rules large areas of the realm in name only. The wisest of the human sages look warily to the east, wondering what became of the land the humans left behind long ago. The orcs have grown in numbers and have formed camps and towns of their own, sending out raiding parties to nearby regions. Talk among the orcs frequently turns to attempts to reestablish contact with their brothers to the west. The elves are growing restless with an urge to reclaim their ancient homelands and grow weary of orc attacks and the failure of the humans to control the orc population. The dwarves remain mysteriously silent, causing uneasiness in the other races.
It is in this world that the brave adventurer must make his way. The wars of the last thousand years have left large areas of Ancient Anguish unexplored and have destroyed many of the historical records. New areas and historical facts are constantly being discovered by exploring adventurers, adding to our understanding of the realm. Magical forces are strong in this land, and many explorers use these powers as they make their mark, for good or evil, upon the world. Armours and weapons of a medieval nature are available for those with the gold or the bravery to acquire them. Whether your decide to make a name as a great hero, or quietly explore the realm, or some combination of both, you will surely find a place in this world.
Some useful help for beginners (otherwise known as newbies).
Ancient Anguish has a lot of improvements on standard LPMuds. Most of these are documented and should be read so you can fully enjoy the mud. To get a listing of the topics for which help is available, type "help". Then, type "help {topic}" for the documentation. It is recommended that you read the help for all of the topics if you are new to mudding.
For those who have played other muds, the following help files are specific to AA: rules, report, abilities, defend, aim, weapons, powerup, session, follow, stats, party, and all of the race and class helps.
(Note: AA is a democratic mud, and is owned by its players. For more information, read help on: aa, donators, and the other topics listed under "External" in the "help" listing.)
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Communications:
converse, earmuffs, echo, emote (:), language, my, say ('), shout, squelch, tell, thistory, unsquelch, whisper
Information:
abilities, brief, equipment (eq), evaluate (eval), examine (exa), help, inventory (i), listen, look (l), peer, prompt, qwho, sc, score, search, smell, stats, time, timezone, date, who
Races and classes:
clerics, cleric_levels, dwarves, elves, fighters, fighter levels, half-elves, humans, levels, mages, mage_levels, necromancers, necro_levels, orcs, paladins, paladin_levels, rangers, ranger_levels, thieves
Combat:
aim, defend, kill, kill-markers, kneel, lie, positions, powerup, report, sit, stand, stop, weapons, wimpy
Interaction:
capname, describe, drop, feelings, follow, get, give, party, put, keep, session, stoplead, take, unkeep
External:
aalaw, bug, credits, donators, email, finger, fortune, hierarchy, idea, mudlist, newbie, newbie2, password, praise, purge, quit, law, rules, save, statue, suicide, syntax, typo, uptime, wizardhood
Aliases:
alias, do, history, nick
Miscellaneous:
alarm, boss, cls, ansi
Do 'help ' for more information.
Also note: When you join a Class or a Guild, you will have additional commands at your disposal. typing 'help' will show you those commands AHEAD of the commands listed above. Further help is available on each subject by typing 'help '
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If you are new to mudding, we strongly encourage you to read all of the help available, as described in "help newbie." Once you've read that, you will be much better prepared for the game, and other players will be much more willing to help you out. Upper-level players are a very good source of information and help, and most will gladly respond to a polite request for such.
(Note: when reading long text files such as this, you will be see twenty-one lines at a time, followed by a prompt such as:
--More--(21/206)
This means you have received 21 lines out of one hundred twenty- two total. Pressing return will get you the next 21 lines, and a question mark will get you the other options you have while reading the text file.)
Whenever you log in to AA, you will find yourself in the inn of Tantallon. Tantallon, often called "Main", contains many things which will be useful to you throughout the game. It is highly recommended that you explore the village thoroughly, and even make a map to use until you are familiar with Tantallon's layout. Listed here are brief descriptions of several of the services in Main:
The Smithy. This rather small smithy provides a very important service to new players. Besides spouting advice, the smith will gladly give simple armour and a weapon to any young player. Until you have advanced some, this equipment will serve you well. Also, inside the smithy is a small room where sometimes other players will leave better equipment for low level players.
The Church. Should you die, and then somehow escape from Death's clutches, you might consider thanking the gods of fate with a kind prayer.
The Equipment Shop. Unlike most shops, this shop will always have the same standard equipment available.
Maigyn's Magic Shop. This shop contains some very handy magic items. Two of them, the compass and the magic stone, are very handy for new players. Both items are useful for players of all levels. The compass will point towards Tantallon, no matter where in the game you are. The magic stone gives you the power to estimate the combat abilities of a prospective opponent, as well as telling you how healthy they are and how their level compares with yours. It is important that you become comfortable with this device, and the messages it gives you. For now, it would be wise to only attack things which are close to you in level, and which are easy to harm and which will not harm you too badly.
Hanza's Map Shop. Here you can purchase a map of the surface of this world. The maps vary in quality as they do in price. Also, there is a large map on the wall of this shop, which you might look at and copy for future use. While using these maps, you should notice that they show only the surface terrain and location of dungeons and towns, not their interiors.
For instance, the entire village of Tantallon only takes up a single square on a surface map. "read legend" will show you a legend of the symbols used on the maps. Also of great value to new players is the Map Kit that Hanza sells - it provides an automated method of mapping the town of Tantallon, and gets saved from session to session (although you will need to buy a new kit each time). In addition, those players with ANSI color terminals will see the map in color, if they so desire.
The Golden Ducat. Here you can purchase drinks and read a list of the top players. One of the many ways this world differs from our own is in the effects of alcohol and tobacco. In AA, partaking of either will heal you physically and mentally. Be warned, though, that the frail body of a newbie may not be able to handle strong liquor...
The Bank. Although money carried by your player is saved when you leave the game, it is not a good idea to carry much around with you. Extra money weighs you down, and it may be lost if you die. It has also been known to attract the attention of certain untrustworthy types, so it is wise to deposit any surplus cash.
The Commodities Exchange. The CX is a good place for a young player to earn money and to learn the layout of Tantallon and other towns of Ancient Anguish. The CX will pay you to run errands for them, provided you're quick.
The Post Office. Here you can mail other players. You may also mail 'law' if you have a problem with illegal activity.
The Auctioneer. Avaricious players will often auction off expensive equipment, hoping for more money than the shop will pay.
Class Halls. The halls for adventurers, fighters, clerics and mages reside in Tantallon. There, you may get more information on the classes, and join if you so choose. The default class is adventurer, and I recommend that you choose another class quickly, before advancing your statistics or level much. If you are interested in joining the necromancers, rangers or paladins, try to find someone to guide you to their hall. For the adventurous, the Necromancer's hall is far to the west in the city of Dalair, the Ranger's home is far to the northeast, and the Paladin's hall is said also to be somewhat northeast of Tantallon as well.
The Shops. There is a main shop, which will buy and sell nearly anything, and serves as a great place to meet people. There are also specialty shops for weapons and armour, which tend to give better prices, but are more picky about what they buy. Be sure to do "help shop" while you're there, and be sure to "try" a weapon or a piece of armour before buying it.
The village also contains a library where you may do research, a magical body shop where you can change your appearance, a master of fist-fighting who will train you in the art of bare-handed combat, a place to practice that skill, the station for AA's coach system, a paperboy who sells copies of the Canticle, a boat rental facility and wharf, a graveyard, a fishing shop, and many other places. It's always a good idea to know where you are relative to Tantallon, and how to get back to it. Be sure to read 'help rivers' to get an idea of how to travel through AA's system of virtual rivers.
By now, you are probably tired of reading documents, and eager to start adventuring. What follows are suggestions for places to explore, and a few tips for combat....
The best place to explore and hang out around is the haunted manor. The manor features a variety of low-level creatures, some useful loot and treasure, and it is close to Main. Most importantly for young players, though, is the second-floor bedroom, where you may "sleep" to heal yourself, for only the cost of your time. You would be well-served to be very familiar with this place until you have several levels under your belt.
From the crossroads, go: 8n, e, ne, n, and you will be in the manor. Reverse the directions to go back.
Other areas which you might visit are the faerie ring, the goblin settlement, the haunted ship, the dwarven mines, the Southeastern Isle, or the small park. To get to them (from the crossroads), the directions are:
Faerie ring: 21n, 1w, 1n, and enter the ring. Be careful here, some of the creatures are more difficult than they appear.
Goblin Settlement: 9w, n, 3w. From here, go nw to enter the settlement. A strong branch you find here makes a fine staff to start with.
Haunted ship: 29n, 5e. As always, sizeup your opponents before jumping into battle.
Dwarven mines: 16n, 3w, 2n. Take the western route, and you will find monsters ranging from easy to slightly difficult.
Southeastern Isle: 2e, 1d. Now wait for the 'Atlantis' to come. There is quite a bit to do and monsters range from easy to medium.
Small Park: 8w, s. From here 'enter park' will get you into the park. There are lots of small, easy creatures to be found here; some visible, some hidden.
Nepeth: 13n, 6w, 3n. Nepeth is another large town and the seat of power for King Drin and his Knights. The inhabitants here are generally not agressive to most races, but will defend themselves if attacked. A very good newbie training ground can be found by going an additional 2n, 1w.
Additionally, the forests to the north and southwest of main contain many forms of wildlife, as well as an occasional orc or goblin. The forests are great for hunting, but be sure to keep your bearings. If you ever find yourself in unfamiliar territory, a good plan is to head east till you find the coast, then follow it back to Tantallon.
Before entering battle, be sure you are wearing any armour you have, and that you are wielding your weapon. It is also a good idea to set your wimpy to 20%, and set your defense, depending on what class you are. Make sure you've toggled "prompt" on, and "check" the monster frequently if you have a "magic stone". It is also a good idea to look at your opponent, and "aim" at an unarmoured body area. When in doubt, "aim head." Help is available on wimpy, aim, defend, and several other combat topics.
Finally, a few general game tips.
Guilds. Whereas classes such as fighter and mage fulfill the training you will need to succeed in AA, guilds provide many very important social services. The various guilds, such as the Knights of Drin (good aligned, combat- oriented types), Scythe Clan (neutral or evil aligned, combat and spellcasters), Monks (good aligned, combat and spellcasters), Houses of the Eldar (good aligned elves and humans), the Courts of Chaos (evil spellcasters), and the Realm of the Black Bear (ranger, cleric types), each have different requirements for membership, and each provides different services. For further information, ask anyone who looks like a member of the guild you're interested in, and they will most likely help you out.
Advancement. When you have earned enough experience to advance your level or a statistic, ask other members of your class which statistic would help you out most. It is a good idea, for now at least, to advance your statistics as far as possible before going to a new level.
Partying. The party system is a great way to take on monsters much tougher than you could alone. Partying with players of other classes has many advantages, and it is a very good way to earn friends and allies in the game. Partying will become more important as you advance in level.
Courtesy. Of course, it will usually be in your best interest to be nice to others, but especially so now, when you have neither the power nor the allies to afford making enemies. Besides, there are many instances of upper-levels being very generous to polite newbies.
Where to find more information
Ancient Anguish has an official webpage where you can find more information about the history and the background of the game, and the people behind it. The address is http://www.anguish.org/ This website is also a great resource for you to use on your travels, as it is constantly updated with new information about the game. I am also always free to answer any questions you may have on AA, so please don't hesitate to E-mail me if you have a query. You can also contact me on AA, Just look for or send mail to "Njarl", "Villify" or "Shirak". You can also find a list of other pages related to AA on the Links page.
