~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
                            *~*Reboots*~*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm sure that if you haven't already, you'll start hearing people mention 
something called a reboot, or say something about "the boot" or other 
things along those lines.  Reboots are part of the constant drama of 
Astarian life.  So as to keep you from panicking when you log on and find 
that your instrument is gone from the lockers and there's not the same 
gear you remember in the guild vault, I'll explain about reboots.

Reboots occur about every week to every 10 days, it really depends on how 
long the wizards let it go.  At a reboot, you'll get 30 minutes warning 
before the actual reboot occurs.  You'll definitely know when one is 
happening if you're on.  After the 30 minutes of warning, everyone is 
kicked off for about 10 minutes.  While the game is down, it is reset.  
So every room is cleared, all the items are destroyed that are on the 
floor, all the items in the guilt vault, instrument lockers, any clan 
closets or personal closets are also destroyed.  Every guild and clan 
starts out fresh.  The only thing that is safe during the reboot is your 
player vault.  Anything that is stored in your player vault will survive 
the reboot.  So if you happen to be on while the game is rebooting, 
please make an effort to go around the guild and pick up anything useful 
that can be player vaulted.  Mostly this means woodtines and wonderstones, 
though potions are helpful also.  After a reboot, everyone needs to 
re-fabricate their weapons, so a lot of woodtines are needed for tuning.  
We also need to replace equipment for the guild.  If you get on after a 
reboot, and wish to help out, just ask over the line what needs to be done 
and you'll probably get an assignment.  We won't ask you to kill Kain for 
breastplates, but you might be sent after stones, or patchwork jackets if 
you're able.  If you want to figure out how long it will be until the next 
reboot, use the 'uptime' command to find out much time has elapsed since 
the last one.

Also a note about inspires now:  The demand for inspires after a reboot is 
incredibly high.  Usually there is a bard who sits around and tunes and 
inspires for the bards newly logging in.  But after awhile, these bards 
have to go out and get gear for the guild, since the Masters are the only 
ones capable of killing the bigger gear mobs.  That means standing in line 
for a turn on the monsters, since in the case of some items, there's only 
one mob in the game that has it.  That means they can't leave, or they'll 
lose their place.  So please don't get snippy or whiney about it, they'll 
get you when they have a chance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
                            *~*Thiefies*~*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Those wiley Thiefies!  Whether you can see them or not, they're often 
times there, and they can and will steal from you at one time or another.  
Its just the way these things work out, alas.  However, there are things 
that you can do to keep your valuables safe.

First of all:  Thieves can't steal anything that you're wearing, adorning, 
equipping, or wielding.  Even the most talented thief can't steal the 
clothes off your back, as it were.

Secondly: Thieves can't steal from you in safe zones.  As long as you're 
in a safe zone, your stuff is safe!

Thirdly:  There are *some* items that are unstealable.  There aren't too 
many, but there are a few.  Things like bohs, teddy bears, spark dolls, 
pets,  none of these things are stealable.

Lastly:  The best way to keep the light-fingered thief from your goodies 
is to keep it in your bot, or in a boh.  They can only steal items out of 
your inventory, they can't steal it out of a container.  Also, if you 
have valuable items that you're afraid to keep in your boh, on the off
chance that you idle out and it gets destroyed, try pvaulting it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
                                *~*PKs*~*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Astaria is a PK mud.  Albeit one that imposes penalties for it, but they 
are allowed nonetheless.  PKs are a sad, unfortunate part of life, but it 
is one we have to deal with. Sometimes there are situations that people 
feel are only able to be resolved with violence, sometimes they're doled 
out as extreme punishments, there are clanwars, and sometimes people even 
contract an assassin to kill the hapless player.  The long and short of 
it is that there isn't a whole lot you can do about PKs.  If someone is 
really determined to kill you, they probably will.  Since guild powers 
were designed for the player to use against the monster that has 4 or 5 
times the hps that they have, it makes killing players fast and easy.

There are a few things that can help make avoiding PKs a little easier, 
but none of them are guarantees of safety.  One should always carry 
coffee and/or water with them, regardless of being Pked.  You never know 
what monster will ep drain you, they're great little items.  It also can 
help if you're being killed by a cleric who's trying to fatigue you.  
However, most clerics can fatigue you to -100 or more with one fatigue, 
so you have to carry at a pot/canteen to make sure you have enough to get 
all your eps back, as they can fatigue multiple times in a row.  

If you think you're being hunted, you might ask a cleric of your same 
alignment to make some talismans for you.  A talisman, if invoked when 
you're perfectly in alignment, can take you back to the temple of your 
deity.  However, they don't always work, in fact they fail often, and if 
you've been fettered by a mage or mindfanged by a psion, even they can't 
get you out of the room.  

The best way to stay safe is to stick to safezones.  It's the only way 
you're guaranteed to not be killed.  However, that means you can't do 
anything else, either.  If you're out hunting, you're fair game.  Don't 
ever go AFK in a room that's not a safe zone, you're not only a target, 
but an easy target then.  In the event that you *are* Pked, well, my 
condolences.  Its not pleasant to know that your fellow adventurer has 
killed you.  Hopefully a friendly cleric or friend will be able to make 
it to your body in time to either resurrect you, or recover your gear.  
Sadly though, there are those mean spirited enough to feast your corpse, 
preventing you from being rezzed, and most likely, stealing your gear.  
If that happens there's not much you can do.  Come back to the guild, 
let us comfort you and have a master bard re-inspire you for a new 
instrument.  Andhope that the person who killed you gets voted in, 
meaning that he has to pay bail to get out of the Pit of Despair, the 
place where all Pkers are automatically thrown in when the crime is 
committed.

--Lyranthia

Acknowledgements:

A lot of hard work was put into gathering all the information for 
this tome and writing it out.  The folks who worked so hard on 
it deserve a little credit. =>
So our thanks go out to...
Cynan, for the warm welcome page.
Rafael, for his knowledge of all the taverns and food shops, 
as well as excellent training suggestions.
Taymore, for his work on the rules section.
Shandril and Orpheus, for all the great stuff about our instruments
Mercutio, for his wonderful information about concerts
And a great big thanks to Starlight, who wrote almost everything 
else, and put a lot of this together finally.


Revised, edited, supplemented, and re-organized by Lyranthia 
and Palmir              --September 10, 1999

Re-re-edited by Syd 
                         --August 26, 2000

Revised August 3, 2002 by Tawnos 

Further edited, supplemented, re-organized and revised by Velara
                         -- June 20, 2003