A1

1994 - 1997

Astaria began its journey with an LP-Code base and a T1 internet connection housed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The connection allowed the MUD to persist for up to a week before reboots, differing from many MUDS at the time that rebooted within a few days to maintain stability.

Early Realm

Three major continents opened Astaria: Astaria itself, Sakai, and Sable. The early incarnation of Astaria saw player counts below 10 (late 1994 and early 1995), but those numbers grew to 40+ players logged on as Astaria gained popularity for its community as well as its world that felt both familiar yet unique. Toward the end of 1996, the player-base ballooned even higher.

The MUD opened with a number of guilds: cleric, fighter, mage, psion and thief, though many of the guilds were still being developed through A1; power sets were incomplete, and staff solicited suggestions and feedback from the earliest players.

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First Guilds

Among the guilds, many players joined the fighters early. Thieves and psions were hidden in the continent of Sable. Psions in particular obtained few members due to the difficult nature of finding the guild and the novelty with its guild identity.

By reaching out to Aquila, the earliest psions organized a meeting to discuss the direction of the guild in regards to its hidden nature and their available powers. Variax, an early Wizard, attended as a representative of the staff, and Arashi was eventually assigned as a coder to help develop the psion powers.

Only thieves and mages had realm-wide poses, which were considered guild abilities at the time. Upon suggestions from players in the fighter's guild, the pose feature extended to the fighters and soon to all guilds. Able to take on the highest-level monsters as well as teleport, mages established themselves as one of the more complete guilds. Thieves with their dodge, backstab, and gag abilities, then psions with their 18th level 'pain' power and the ability to stun monsters and self-heal soon followed. Fighters and clerics, both without reliable ways of diminishing monster damage, fell behind the power scale.

Toward the end of A1, a few players were either invited to or applied to beta test the bard's guild.

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Thief Takeover of Sable

In 1996, with Marcus as the Guild Master, the thieves shook the MUD with a declaration that they were closing the continent of Sable to other players, and any player-characters who adventured into Sable would be killed. The event began when Gage, a member of Clan Darkness stabbed a letter into the lighthouse door.

As a guild, the thieves killed off any player who tried to visit the continent of Sable, which, at the time, contained some of the best equipment and most vauable monsters the realm had to offer. Thieves player-killed (PK'ed), multiple players from the fighter's, mage's, and cleric's guilds including the current GMs. Consequently, the thieves pilfered their victim's corpses and denied cleric-resurrections which decimated the other guild's equipment vaults and caused excessive level-loss for many of the player's logged on.

The event deescalated when they ran into difficulty with the psion GM, Deunan, and a higher level psion, Rhumata. The two were joined by a late rally from a number of higer-level players after those players resurrected then re-geared (yet at diminished levels). But, really though, the event stopped when other players tired of dying and abstained from entering Sable. This early event shaped the direction of the thieves' guild moving toward A2.

Astaria 1: Earliest Players

Clerics	Fighters	Mages	Psions	Thieves	*Bards
Bhudda One of the first players to find the 'high-level board' and the first clerics to reach level 20. Created Clan Rose, Astaria's fourth player formed clan.	Acydreign First fighter to pantheon and an early member of clan Tiger, Astaria's first player formed clan.	Infinity One of the first three players to reach level 20. Created clan Gauntlet, Astaria's first player formed clan.	Clym Early psion to level 20, and one of the first players to discover donating as a means of pushing stats. Reached level 36 only to die down to level 25 within minutes. The first psion to pantheon.	Alec One of the first three thieves to level 20 and one of the first five players to level 36.	Aeolus Bard beta tester. Removed after testing bard abilities against another player, resulting in a player-kill against that player during the beta test.
Hpmuirt One of the first clerics to reach level 20, and one of the first players to enter the realm. Contributed feedback about many of the guild's early prayers, and often one of the only clerics available to resurrect fallen players.	Chanur One of the earliest players in the game and earliest fighters to level 20. Offered feedback on the abilities of the guild and many of the areas.	Merlin One of the first three players to reach level 15 and gain access to Astaria's 'high-level board'	Darzog First psion GM, and one of the first players to reach level 20.	Amos First thief to level 20. First thief to level 36. Helped form clan Gauntlet, the first player created clan in Astaria. One of the earliest and most proficient Trial Arcanus players on the MUD	Galion Early bard beta tester who completed the beta and reached level 20 during the period. The first bard to pantheon.
Pulp The first cleric to reach level 36 and a founding member of Clan Frost as well as one of the earliest players to pantheon.	Ikshada First fighter GM and fist fighter to level 36. Took part in helping stop the thief takeover of Sable.	Pazuzu One of the first mages to reach level 20, and a founding member of Clan Tiger, Astaria's second player-formed clan. The second mage to pantheon.	Deunan Second psion GM and first psion to reach level 36. Formed clan secret, which later became Excaliber. Helped end the thieves' occupation of the Sable Lighthouse. Contributed many suggestions to Astaria in general.	Aravam The first thief and one of the first three players to level 15, gaining access to Astaria's 'high-level board.'	Tinuviel Early bard beta tester, who offered a significant amount of feedback for the guild and abilities
Valkrie One of the first clerics to reach level 20. An early cleric GM and the first cleric to pantheon.	Metalhead The first fighter and fourth player to level 15, gaining access to Astaria's early 'high-level board'. Helped many players new to Astaria and tested out many new features and functions of the game.	Rakasta One of the first mages to reach level 20 and then level 36. The second player and first mage to pantheon, and later went on to join the Wizard staff in Astaria.	Serena Among the earliest players and psions to reach level 20. Discovered many areas in the realm and provided feedback on psion's power list. The second psion to pantheon.	Crue One of the first thieves to 20 and to 36. Early 'player killer' in the realm and one of the thieves who orchestrated the takeover of Sable and the killing of many higher level players. Early player to discover donating as a means to raise stats. Founding member of Clan Darkness.	Troubadour Early bard beta tester who reached level 20 during the beta period. The last bard and last player to pantheon during A1
	Notbob One of the earliest players to find the realm, and one of the first fighters to reach level 20. A founding member of Clan Rose, Astaria's fourth player-created clan.		Seti Early psion to reach level 20. Organized psions in an initial meeting to discuss guild powers and the hidden nature of the guild. Later went on to join Astaria's Wizard staff.	Gage Early thief who initiated the thieves' takeover of Sable when he stabbed a letter to the lighthouse door, which resulted in the death of many non-thief player-characters. One of the initial members of Clan Darkness	Crue, Cruz, Fenix, Shandril, Shylo: Players who all tested the bard's guild making them the first players to try Astaria's earliest additional guild.
	Perrin Second fighter GM and one of the first fighters to reach level 36. Later joined Astaria's staff, becoming an admin.			Marcus One of the first thieves to level 36, and the first thief GM. Formed clan Darkness, Astaria's third player-created clan. Early player to discover donating as a means to push player stats. GM of the thieves guild when they took over Sable and killed many of the higher-level player-characters.
	Silvervein Early fighter and one of the first players to find the realm as well as an early fighter to reach level 20. Later joined Astaria's staff as a Wizard.			Triock The first player character to pantheon and an early thief to reach level 20 as well as an initial member of Clan Darkness.

*Bard beta testing began toward the end of A1 in 1996. The guild opened to the public with the launch of A2. During beta, the guild itself was largely a product of Aurora, Rakasta, and Finian's work with feedback from the beta-testers.

*At level 15, a 'high-level board' was accessible for early players who could find it so they may discuss aspects of the game. Fewer than 10 players ever gained access to the board before its removal.

*Players achieved guild mastery at level 20, earning all guild abilities, and players reached max player-level at level 36. Due to available gear, the experience tables, and monster difficulty, few players were able to advance beyond level 20.

*Pantheoning - at level 25 and the cost of 100 tricrown, players gained the option to 'pantheon' their characters which retired their character but left behind a permanent, customized statue in the realm

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Other players early to the realm helped shaped the story and community of Astaria: Adele, Aldryn, Alexander, Allegra, Archon, Ashen, Awbell, Azure, Banichi, Bendambin, Bilco, Brinn, Callos, Chay, Damage, Dante, Daria, Darken, Darwin, Elanor, Enola, Entropy, Esmerelda, Evermore, Evol, Fitzroy, Greyphantom, Hades, Halcyon, Haldir, Ham, Hanno, Izit, Jinx, Kage, Kandar, Kheldar, Khis, Kristal, Lana, Luther, Maghdim, Mamarusama, Matahari, Maugrim, Meech, Menion, Mugwump, Nahal, Nelat, Nicodemus, Nija, Nog, Proconsul, Pyrite, Rianna, Rhumata, Sentrolous, Shamus, Simone, Slythe, Sticks, Strahd, Thexion, Thudbutt, Telendar, Tolotos, Toril, Toscet, Trynn, Tsiyon, Tristram, Trix, Tyke, Vanessa, Wulf, Quelin