*********

People play MUD from all over the world.
One morning recently among the players
were one from Japan and two from the
USA, one in San Francisco, the other in
New York. Thus MUD can be seen in
certain ways as the "global vilage".

*********

1

A DAY IN THE DEATH
OF AN ADVENTURER

I had heard of MUD, of course. For months the watering places where adventurers gather had been full of rumours about a fabulous land cut off from the world by mountains and which contained immeasurable wealth; a land which was said to exercise so strong a grip over its inhabitants that many adventurers never returned from it; a land rules by all-powerful wizards and witches who were said to delight in confusing the tenderfoot adventurers who approached them; a land where magic exercised a powerful swaay and wise adventurers were advised to keep their weaponry close to hand.

One summer I set out to find MUD. All day I climbed through the mountains. As evening fell, and I was thinking of halting for the night, I came across the secret pass and ventured in. Somehow, as I stood on that narrow road with the majestic mountains behind me, I knew that I had found my goal. It was raining, a thing but steady drizzle which ran off the locks of my hair in rivulets, piercing the folds of my jerkin. Around my feet a playful rabbit snuffled and I bent down to stroke it. The brute promptly turned savage so I beat a retreat down the road. "Be careful!" the old man back in the inn had warned me, "Nothing is ever quite what it seems in MUD." In the dinstance I heard a booming sound, as if a cannon had just been fired and a distant voice came from somewhere: "Help! I've been locked in the kitchen. Come and let me out please!". Then came a sinister, reverberating chuckle, the sort made only by one who takes pleasure in another's misfortune. It echoed across the skies and sent shiver down my spine....

After a while I found myself wandering in a misty graveyard. The tombstomes contained the epitaphs of an adventuring hall of fame - names I had heard men whisper in hushed and awe-struck tones back in the inn - Jez, Ronan, Innocent, and the legendary Sue the Witch. Beside the grave of Denise the Witch, among the footprints where Egor the Wizard had danced, lay the recumbent figure of an old rival of mine in adventuring: Aragorn. He lay prostrate, snoring like a trooper after a hogshead of ale. Alongside him lay some gold earrings, an axe, a valuable icon and a burning brand.

I could not resist the opporunity to avail myself of these valuables and had just scooped them up when he woke. "Oi! Give those back or I'll kill you!" he bellowed. Hastily i fled, I know not in which direction. Soon I came to the edge of a massive cliff overlooking the sea. The tang of salt lay heavily in the air. Far out at sea I could make out the shell of some rotting galleon which had been wrecked on some vicious-looking rocks. Probably the inhabitants of the Land had lured it there deliberately, I mused, in order to plunder it: they seemed that sort.

Further to the north-west was a large island. Most of it seemed forested but I could make out a clearing containing a sinister Stonehenge-like structure. I stoof there absorbing the atmosphere. Somehow I felt I was a part of the Land, living in it and breathing with it. I could sense the sighs of sould passing away, hear the sounds of other adventurers doing deeds of daring, feel the gamut of human emotion, the greed, the lust for conquest and blood; but also the nobler human elements of co-operatin, of hospitality to fellow travellers and of generosity to others.

A gull fluttered past me, almost within touching distance, and broke my reverie. Beside me, dressed in flowing white robes, was a beautiful and commanding-looking maiden.

"Er, greetings" I ventured nervously, "Who are you?". "I am Kronos the Witch, mortal," she replied. "And who might you be to trouble me?".

With trepidation I explained who I was and that this was my first visit to the Land. To my surprise, by some magical process I could not divine, she proceeded to take me all over the Land. One moment I found myself in the crow's nest of the galleon I had noticed earlier, the next I was in a sorcerer's room, decked out with mysterious, magical artefacts - and then suddenly I was down a mine. Weird and strange were the things I gathered on my tour.

Finally Kronos let me down with a bump in a pleasant pasture. "Now make for the swamp" she told me. "Make sure you don't take any naked lights with you" and in a puff of smoke she disappeared.

Hastily I dropped my brand and made for the swamp. Something told me it was to the east - and as I drew near my nostrils were assailed by a noxious smell of sulphur. So this was the famous swamp! I had heard that a magnificent crown lay somewhere inside it, awaiting the first person to discover it. I dropped all the treasure I had collected and watched it sink slowly into the murky depths. Immediately I felt a warm glow inside me. Something told me I was no longer a mere tenderfoot but a protector! I gazed awhile at the vast tract of poisonous-looking slime ahead of me and wondered how I could find the crown in it without getting lost. My musings were soon interrupted, however. For suddenly I became aware of the presence of another being - it was Aragorn!

"I've been looking for you" he growled - and he was glaring at me ominously. Then he attacked and I was bruised by the force of a backhand blow from him. Groggily I recovered and waded into a fight. My return clout sent Aragorn flying. Yet dazedly he recovered and his counterswing sent me reeling. Dimly I felt my life blood slipping away....