What is your earliest memory of Istaria?

[Deth]

Casting rez as a Dragon cleric.

[awdz]

running around scouting all the way to the nature tower as a level 5 scout

[Favoran]

Mining dim wisps in NT, I saw a khutit for the first time... had absolutely no idea what it was. XD I also remember doing the tutorial, but not much else from Favoran's early days.

[Nayuaka]

Haha, the first time I saw a Khutit was in New Vassarak. I thought it was a naked Sslik.

[Sibbe]

almost killing a lvl 8 maggot as a lvl 1 warrior and dying a lot there because i took the left turn at New Brommel instead of the right... (took me a while to find the other sign pointing to the lower level mobs )

[Zexoin]

I first played on Unity. Horizons was my first MMO. I had bought the CDs, not knowing I could download the game. At the time I joined the game (late april 2006), the character creation was broken, so the previous owner of my CD key let me use the only charater he had, a little pink hatchy named Bonbon (that means candy in french). My english was not very good and I didn't understand the game mechanics ; I had no idea where to go and what to do. so I ran for hours, until I discovered Bristugo and the portals. There I met some players I can't remember the name, spoke briefly, but they had to run an couldn't help me. So the day after I decided to move to Chaos , to be able to create my own character. I moved later to Order, and created Zex there

[Sonea]

The clearest and first memory I have goes back to when I first woke in the land, and first sought to gain skill in craft. And it taught me much, and more than craft, for it is how I first learned also of the community which is one of our greatest treasures. And it was a part of finding a home here.

And since it was Sonea that was there... let her speak of it, for that is how I remember it. There is a fuller telling as part of the Tale of the Fool and the Fair, but this is how it was...


“She does!�

“Nay, not so, stupid. She does not! My granfer says…�

“Your granfer says that there be fish that fly! Momma says your granfer loves ale too much and talk the same!�

“ Don’t you say that about my granfer… I’ll…�

“Younglings? And granfers? What passes?�

TaleSpinner’s voice was amused… and she peered down over the edge of the Hall at the two youngsters who were now scuffling in the dirt before her. One dwarf and one human, if she was any judge…

Hearing her voice, the two suddenly stopped, each trying to hide behind the other at the same time. They looked uncertain, but stood their ground… though each was nudging the other.

“You…�

“No, you, coward…�

“It was thine idea!�

There was a swooshing, sliding sound, and there, in front of them, stood a small and amethyst scaled two leg.

“And what idea was this?�

Even in her Khutit form, none could mistake TaleSpinner’s voice.

After the childer had overcome their awe at being spoken to by the great TaleSpinner, they explained. It seemed they had been having a disagreement. For one had said that TaleSpinner lived in the Hall, that it was home to the dragon. And the other had said these were fool’s words, for the Hall was plainly a biped place. And TaleSpinner was clearly older than the Hall for the childer had seen it built. So how could the Hall be her home?

From where Sonea stood, she had heard the childer also... and as she saw Talespinner speakng to them, she knew all was well. And as she walked away, that thought.. home... ran through her mind.

Sonea sorted through a dusty pile of scrolls on her desk. I know I set it to pen somewhere , she thought … Ahah!

Lifting a faded, leather-bound book and blowing a layer of dust off the cover , Sonea turned to the small corner of the room that served as a poor excuse for a kitchen, quickly topped off her luke-warm cup of klava with some fresh and hot from a just-brewed pot, and then headed for her favorite chair. The tome’s stiff leather creaked in protest as she opened to the first page. A smile formed as she began to read, and remembered...

She had been new to the lands. New, and in need of coin.

Tools she had from the Training Hall. So she went into the place called New Brommel. Once there, she asked as to where one who had some knowing of metal might find ore and fire, and places of making. And surely enough, some were near. And there she went.

When she had enough ore, she took her to the anvil, and took bar and fire and the heavy hammer... and she made.

When the thing she made was done, she looked at it. And she looked and looked and frowned. Taking the new-made thing, she threw it far from her. And it sailed away into the grass. Oh, a hammer it might be to some. Aye, as a rock was a hammer. For it had come forth unbalanced, and the handle a little twisted... and the head some misshapen. Why her teacher would have chided a child for making such!

Sonea stamped her foot in frustration. Then she paced and paced, back and forth in front of the anvil. Each step of the making of the hammer she went over in her mind. Thus, and so... heat and then... aye, the making she knew. But somehow... somehow her hands had, it seemed, not followed her thoughts. And thus... that twisted thing! But why? And more, how could it be mended?

After pondering for some time, a thought came to Sonea. Well, had she not, after a fashion, been born new? And what did a babe know of smithing, or anything? And if it were told, what would it know save words? And smithing was much more than words. It was making and making and thrice making, and each time gaining more knowing of the metal than the last. And each time hearing more of the metal's song than before, that it might be bent to the smith's will. Aye, and smiths did not throw good metal away to suffer for their own poor work either!

Sonea searched the grass till she found the hammer she had thrown. And she went again to the fire, and the hammer she un-made, and took more bar. And she made the old with the new till it was pure. And she took the pure and she made... Hmmmm. Well, charity might call it a chisel. But charity did not feed a smith worthy of the name.

Sonea smiled wryly. It seemed that fire and anvil and she would have time to become close friends indeed ere the metal knew her and she knew it. Again she took the thing she had made to the fire. And in this manner, with each making and unmaking of that single tool, she did gain skill. And with a pack full of ore, though some metal was lost each time, she crafted the hammer. Many a bar she used and many times the hammer was born, and lived, and died... and was born again.

In her mind she had even come to give it a name, and that name Gifted, for it seemed the hammer might also never die though she slew it a thousand times. Feeling anxious to become proficient, there came a point at which she almost despaired of ever gaining enough skill.

One waking, Sonea took her again to the ore. Now sometimes many worked and sometimes few, but most oft each was busy about their business and had words only to greet others in passing. But this time, another was there… and Sonea heard one greet him as ‘Lord Laek’.

Sonea began the day as she had each other, gathering ore. And then she took her to the smelter and formed bars which she proceeded to make into a hammer. And then unmake and remake and unmake. On this day, Sonea knew that Laek was watching, but she worked on. And Laek watched her work. Had she been watching also, then she would have seen the half joy, half puzzled and half concerned tilt of an eyebrow, the twitch of a smile. And if that look was one of more halves than nature might allow, then that was right and proper.

And after a time, Laek bespoke her.

He bowed and introduced himself as a trades master in the Circle of the Hawk, a guild of crafters and adventurers. Sonea stood back from the anvil, wiped the back of a sweaty ash-stained hand across her forehead, and with a tired smile introduced herself and wished him joy of the day.

They chatted for a few minutes and Lord Laek did ask Sonea if she would mind showing him what she had learned thus far. Now, Sonea was a bit embarrassed to show the little progress that she had made. But he had asked. And so she showed him how she carefully made and unmade the tool. And then she did sigh and exclaim that there ought to be a better way to do this!

Lord Laek’s eyes sparkled as he remarked on the quality of her workmanship and the care with which she crafted each and every tool. And then he asked her why she did not make and unmake the tools in quantity. For surely, if she had each one to see the flaws as she made it, and set it by another, she could see in what manner and wise that improvement was needed. And Sonea’s jaw dropped. I t had not occurred to her to craft in quantity! But the benefit of doing so was obvious. Why the time saved would be incredible!

And so Lord Laek rolled up his sleeves and he did stand next to Sonea at the anvil. And Lord Laek did show Sonea anew the secrets of smithing. He taught her the way of rapidly crafting a full pack of ore into tools.

Seeing that Sonea grasped the new learning with ease, Lord Laek then showed her another secret. Ye see, after she had made a number of tools and compared them each to the other that she might see how her skill improved with each making, it would be time to unmake them one by one and start anew. So Laek showed Sonea the secret of unmaking many tools at once. And Sonea looked on with wonder, for this was how she might increase the pace at which she gained skill!

Eager to use this new learning, she took up some new-made bars and quickly began to make and then unmake them in numbers.

"Sonea... that is thy name, aye? Sonea, ye show rare talent... but talent alone makes no bright blade, nor yet any other thing. There is a path I think ye might follow well, and both ye and the path benefit from that following. There's more to making than bright steel and the blood beyond... I have some skill and none to pass it to at this time. What say you to Sonea Finder taking the road as Sonea Tinker,

" I'll follow your Tinker road, Lord Laek. If ye and it will have me. For I have a long way to go, long indeed. And to travel, ye must first set foot from your door. Let us see where my feet will take me."

.. The smile that had risen and set and with the ebb and flow of the Tale now rose once more as she gently and lovingly closed the book. ‘Ah.. those were the days..’ she thought. So long ago.. So much and more has happened since then. I must ask TaleSpinner to give us another telling soon. She carefully placed the book back on her desk, rinsed out her now empty klava cup and headed out the door to find Sephiranoth so they could reminisce about the good old days.

And that is how I remember it and how it was and how I woke and how... how I found home. And if the Circle of the Hawk is gone, they are with me still like all my memories... but this was the first.

Soni

[GalemThawn]

I entered Istaria primarily and exclusively for the crafting.
My earliest memories are of the New Trismus copper and tin ore field and the Blacksmith quests. I accomplished quite a few levels in Blacksmith by doing quests. Then someone explained to me how to make and decon items.

[Silverblaze]

A friend introduced me to it. The week it came out in stores, I loaded it, made a dragon and was over joyed.

My first memory was the hauntingly beautiful melody in New Brommel, I still miss that place.

My first in game memory that stands out the best was the seige on augendell, with spell caster maggots and dying on the port in, I felt so bad for those bound in town.

A guard became bugged and feebly attacked PC's unable to harm them for at least a week after...must have not had enough action.

many many memories come to mind but that one stands out among the best.

[lightning claw]

Wow that takes me back . Well most likely the first time I attempted to craft. I spent around 40 min to figure out how to set hotkeys, it was my first mmo ever . Once I figured out how to hotkey my ability’s I started to have a lot more fun! the people where nice . My favorite memory how ever is when I met Kessendrain at the top of Kion volcano, this is when they took the gems out of the mines, and I joined the Ancients. Walking down memory lain some more … ah at lv 13 I ran up to greet Valcor The Impaler and I believe the gm Valtur was impressed that I made it up there without getting myself killed i seem to recall the following “Epi you make it up here and I will have imp get you some hoard I think it was 50 k “not sure but I had fun getting up there .

[Valornyx]

I remember being a dragon before dragons could fly and seeing my first adult - OMG!!!

I remember being a dragon when we had to make hoard and teaming up with one or more biped crafters to build the 250k needed.

I remember being terrorized by the Lieutenants so that I still get enjoyment from stomping them into the ground whenever I see them now..

And I remember going out with my friends and trying to take on Krankenspank and his minions.

I remember when I thought 1g was a lot of money

[awdz]

I remember when I thought 1g was a lot of money

I remember when I thought 1 sp was a lot of money! It was a big day for me when I finally had more than coppers :-/

[Arietna]

I remember when I thought 1g was a lot of money

1g IS a lot of money for some of us!

[pevil2000]

Aaah the memories. I'll try not to ramble on *too* much here and keep it to my first few.

I discovered the game reading the CAD comic, as an advert at the side in March '06. Our UO shard had finally closed down after 3 years continuous play and I was desperately searching, trialing and failing to find a replacement. Then I saw 'Play as a dragon'. I had to give it a go. So after about a full day of downloading and patching, I finally made it in and was able to create the cute green hatchie Pev, as perfect to how a dragon should look as I could have hoped. I don't remember much about the training island from that first time through, other than getting hopelessly confused as to where the machines were, which was which, and just how to dig up that crafty copper and tin ore that was sitting taunting me on the ground!

Anyway I finally emerged into New Trismus and within about ten minutes, a huge dragon came down the path. (Think it was an ancient, I'm not sure). They were chatting and offered to make me some scales. I agreed, and they flew away... my first view of flight, it was amazing to watch. I never saw them again though... wish I could remember the name, I'm quite sure I must have spoken to them since then!

I went quite a while without anymore contact, just working my way through the beginning quests slowly until a small Saris approached me (curse not having my friends list from Unity, I forget her name now too). She had just returned after a long absence and was giving it another go. I was level 8ish by now, and she was around level 10, so she took me to New... Korelia I think. Her old hunting ground from her previous existence. We spent many hours up there 'hunting' the ice pygmys (and by hunting I mean killing one, maybe even two, then running for our lives to lose any adds). In fact that Saris is the reason for my Affina to exist now; Pev took quite a liking to silver Saris and adopted one of her own.

The last memory I'll rabbit on about is when I joined my guild. It wasn't long after the hunting with my Saris friend, I was probably level 11ish by then, and was spending all day trying to boost my crafting up in a vain attempt to hit 30/20 by the end of the trial so I could be ready to fly (ah what a fool I was) when a huge green Ancient flew down. Samdrag. He helped me understand the crafting, taught me to use a cargo disc (and gave me one free, along with a bunch of other stuff) and initiated me into The First Born. Where I found a huge amount of help, some amazing friends and was even lucky enough to rub shoulders with one of the first ancients on the shard.

Ahhh so many memories, of guild hunts, RoP outings, ascensions, lair visits and silly conversations.

[Romirez]

if were talking playtime, i still remember making my character, back in November '05. it was the days of Tulga Games, and the community was at an all time high, the game in it's golden era. i still remember doing all the noobie starter quests you do on the island you first appear on in game.

[velveeta]

this is a post from a totally different thread from a totally different time, but you will discover my earliest memories of horizons (so shall she ever be known to the crown), if you care to dig that far....

http://community.istaria.com/forum/s...9&postcount=11

[Annai]

Thank you all for bringing back all that has gone before. This is and always will be it seems my favorite game for many reasons, and while I started right after the merge, I remember visiting Sul and watching him play continuously-mostly crafting and missing all of the chatter going on in MP. Watching him and listening to the music led me to getting my own copy (having to upgrade to dsl so I could download the game and actually play and create my own memories. I only wish I had the ability to portray the sense of adventure and feeling that I get as I relate them.

-Starting Annai in New Vaserak and staring at the wood bench confusedly, waiting for Sul to notice I had 'telled' him, when a human Ranger comes up to me and asks me if I need help. This Ranger proceeds to tell me all about the game, provide all materials, and get me involved in his guild. All this will leading me through the amethyst golems(certain death on a slow machine) to get to the ruxus and fighting maggots as a first date. He has since taken me on better dates in rl.

-Getting Annai attuned to Harro before there was a safe way and you still had to dodge the Avatar of Pain. Still on a very slow computer, running my poor little saris legs to the bone while being given multiple speed buffs and being told to hurry up by my guide, who eventually left me because of the danger. Somehow I made it to Harro without seeing any nasties (the benie's of a slow machine).

-Flying on Avi, completing my first plot, there are so many to remember, I just can't imagine being anywehre else.

Works in Progres:
Annai, Saris nature freak
Avi, lunus
Alfi, up and coming helian

[Ashania]

Thinking back my first memories are testing all those cool races and deciding to stay with my first choice: Booring human. So Ash was born.

Then my first job as a builder. Fast done and after seeing a lot of work done and the satisfaction of my customer it gave me a deep satisfaction by myself.

Then my most memorable moment when i ventured alone into the Blight for the first time. I was deeply scared by my surrounding and those weird looking Giant ants (* grin *).

Further back i remember watching the game from its original concept for more than two years. Being really excited by noticing that the game will be going life (even with a changed concept).

[aine]

Only been around two years, which makes me a newbie compared to those who have posted here. My river of wax, Seph is but a trickle.

Still, I remember...
...the feeling of having stepped into a fantasy unlike any I had experienced, when entering the world of istaria.

...the lovely graphics (some may say they are "dated", but they were, and remain, the prettiest I have ever seen). The lilting music, the beautiful characters, the many races...*sighs*. I had found home.

I remember my frustration at not being able to make the chat system "find" my dear friend Ardorr (he brought me to istaria...of course)...and discovering that it was because I had inadvertantly selected the "wrong" shard (or, rather not selected any, thus defaulting to chaos). I made a new char (Aine), less pretty than the first, but at least in the right place, and the adventure began.

I remember kalaoa teaching me how to program a hot key so that I could select another player to emote "nuzzle" them.

I remember meeting a huge ancient dragon in New Trismus, (the Elder Maekrux), and worrying that he would crash through the weak-looking tin roof at the smelter, landing upon (and thus crushing) me.

I remember discovering that I could fit inside the scaleforge in NT. And my delight that being in there did me no harm.

I remember Ardorr's bonding proposal in Dralk, alongside the lava. He was so shy he stuck his head under the lava, scared to speak on!

When we started here, I had been playing a different mmorpg for a mere two weeks, one for which my (then) new pc had been built, and I only took the HZ trial at ardorr's request. I didn't expect it to last. Enamoured with HZ, I have never set foot in that other world again. I am an Istarian to stay.

[Kymba]

Realizing that i didnt have to be a human. Then trying to figure out what i wanted to be. Then wondering why the only things i could kill with out dyeing was not giveing me xp..... What a confussing time.

Thanks for a wonderfull 2 years, it has been slow and steady.

Kymba