The World

The creation story, the five divine realms and travel through the areas open to players.

Rogue's creation story begins with a longing in the void. It became a tremor, then a spark, and finally the first cry. Sky, mountains and seas took shape from that sound. At the edges of creation, threads twisted and broke; the untamed lands left there became the rogue domains.

Five sparks moved through the forming world and found purposes of their own. They became the five gods. Their realms and institutions grew around different views of order, freedom and what the living owe.

The Five#

Kranos and Thalos disagree over whether order should be imposed. Sivaine treats hardship as a teacher, which sets her against Loralei's care for comfort and recovery. Morbis keeps the dead and their memories.

A character may follow one god at a time. Religion explains joining a faith, making offerings and the abilities that come with worship.

Aurin, the Radiant City#

Loralei rose with the first dawn and raised Aurin from the valley below it. White stone terraces, fountains and gardens make up much of the city. Its institutions share authority, and it has no crown. Guild business, worship and trade bring its people into contact across those institutions.

New characters arrive at Aurin's drydock and are taken to the Explorer's Guild. The city has a bank, shops, trainers, guild halls, an inn, a post office and a Colosseum. The Golden Bazaar, Gilded Vaults and Gilded Veins appear in the city's lore; they are not services you can visit. Room signs and the compass show what is there.

Olympus, the Iron Crown#

Kranos arose amid mountain fire and gathered scattered mortals into armies. He made Olympus a citadel of his faith. Gray walls, drill yards and forges serve its military, with iron fittings and red banners on its buildings.

Rank and oath order life there. The warrior and paladin traditions have close ties to the realm. The road north from Aurin crosses the mountains into Kranos's lands; Areas lists the roads and places along it.

Morrigan, the Obsidian Judgment#

Sivaine founded Morrigan among obsidian cliffs. In its lore the city is cut into descending tiers of dark stone and polished glass, lit by blue lanterns. Her followers study suffering and wrongdoing, and some undergo trials to be cleansed. They argue about the uses of hardship and the limits of judgment.

Only the outer approach and the city's gate have been built. The city beyond is unfinished.

Iasos, the Untamed Sea#

Thalos rose from the ocean after a falling star struck it. He claimed the islands of Iasos without taking a throne or founding a capital. Sea caves and weathered cliffs serve as his sanctuaries. The realm's traditions concern freedom, seamanship and skill in the wild, and are tied to ranger training.

The islands are still being built and cannot yet be visited in play.

The Underworld, the Realm That Remembers#

Morbis formed where memories had gone unclaimed. He showed the way into the Underworld when the first lost soul needed passage. The realm holds the dead, their names and their unfinished obligations. It is not a place of punishment.

After an ordinary death you go to the Gates of the Underworld. Verathos the Gatekeeper answers pray and opens the way back to the living. Your equipment stays in your corpse where you fell, except for the few things bound to you. The death guide explains the costs and how to recover. The rest of the Underworld is still being built.

The peoples#

Twelve peoples can be chosen when you make a character, among them humans, dwarves, the aquatic pisca, the chitin-armored scorpien and the rabbit-like warreners. Two more, the shade and the dryad, are reached only by remorting at level 100. The race guide compares their starting stats, abilities and bodies. Their cultures give you a background for roleplay without fixing your character's personality.

Time, seasons and weather#

The world keeps its own clock. A game hour passes every fifteen real minutes, so a game day of 24 hours lasts six real hours. time shows the hour, the day, the month, the year and the season, and calendar sets out the whole year. date shows the real date in your own time zone.

A year has twelve months of thirty days each, three to a season, and a week has twelve days: Aurin, Bellis, Crestis, Damar, Emera, Farin, Galen, Helis, Irin, Jorun, Krynn and Lyss.

Each day passes through dawn, morning, noon, twilight, night and midnight. Anyone under the open sky is told as the sun rises and sets, and many places read differently by day and by night. look sky, look sun and look moon show what is overhead.

Each realm has weather of its own, which changes every half hour to hour and a half of real time. What comes depends on the season: snow and blizzards in winter, rain and storms in spring, clear skies broken by thunderstorms and downpours in summer, and rain, fog and mist in autumn. A room open to the sky shows the weather in a line under its description; indoors and underground you see none of it. The Underworld has no weather and no sky, only a twilight that never changes.

Weather matters to trackers. Rain and blizzards wipe a trail out sooner, the heavier the weather the sooner, while ordinary snowfall keeps one longer. A ranger can read what is coming with forecast, and The Rogue Times prints the day's weather on its front section.

Getting around#

Aurin is the hub for travel through Loralei. Mistwood Road leads north, Silverwood Road south and Dawnshore Road east, and the West Road runs out toward Sunmere Meadow. The northern road goes on to a mountain pass into the realm of Kranos.

compass destinations lists the places the Tideglass Compass knows. Choose one with compass set <destination>, then type compass for the next direction. The browser client also has a map and a compass panel. Telnet players have no in-game minimap.

Areas lists the places open to you and rough level ranges for each. The illustrated world map on the website shows the wider setting, including lands whose rooms have not been built yet.