INTRODUCTION
Lands of Stone is a MUD (Multi-User Dungeon). It is a real time game in which you can interact with other users. The following is a brief explanation of important commands and topics needed to succeed in this game. Some commands have multiple eqivalents and they will be listed with commas separating them. Variable arguments will be listed via <argument>.

COMMAND LINE
The game is command line driven, with a colon as its normal prompt. The command interpreter is an intelligent one. Commands may be given in upper and/or lowercase letters. Abbreviations of commands and its arguments may be used. The partial/complete command given will be searched through the available commands to find a unique match. If it is not a unique command, more information (letters) must be given.

HELP
Online help can be summoned by issuing the command 'help <command>'. If a command argument is given, specific information on it will be listed, otherwise all the available commands will be listed.

COMMUNICATION
Since LOS is a multi-user game, there needs to be some way to talk to other players. The following commands are used for communication:

• "say <message>", ' <message>, " <message> : the message will be sent to all the players in the same room.
• "yell <message>" : the message will be sent to all the players in the same room and adjoining rooms.
• "tell <player> <message>", "send <player> <message>" : the message will be sent to only the specific player identified.
• "broadcast <message>" : the message will be sent to all players online LOS. A five broadcast per day quota is imposed on each character.

MOVEMENT
To move from one room to another, use the "go" command.
"go <direction>" : direction is any valid exit to the current room, which may be visible, hidden, or invisible. Examples are "go north", "go up", "go door". Instead of typing "go <direction>" all the time, certain directions may be given as the command itself. These command directions include "north", "south", "east", "west", "northwest", "northeast", "southwest", "southeast", "up", and "down". The first one or two letters of each of these command directions may be used as a special abbreviation. For example, use "n" instead of "north" (or instead of "go north") and "ne" instead of "northeast".

INVENTORY/OBJECTS
Each character is able to carry a limited amount of objects. These objects include weapons, armor, scrolls, potions, gold, torches, keys, and other items. Each item (except gold) has a specific weight value. A character may not carry more than he/she can handle, which depends on his/her class, strength, and level.

• "inventory" : lists all items currently in a character's possession, but not worn, held, or wielded.
• "drop <item>" : removes the <item> from the character's inventory and places it on the floor in the current room.
• "equipment" : lists all items currently worn, held, or wielded. "get <item> [#] [from] [<item2>] [#]" : attempts to get an item on the floor in the room and place it in the character's inventory. If <item2> is given, (i.e., a bag) then it will attempt to get <item> from <item2> and place it in the character's inventory.
• "Armour" : an object which you wear on a specific part of a character's body which contributes towards your Armour Class (AC) value.
• "wear <item>" will attempt to wear a specific item and will succeed if it is an armour item, no other item is worn in its spot, and it is not broken.
• "wear all" is a shortcut which attempts to wear all the items in your inventory (in the order that they appear).

*** HINTS FOR THE NEW PLAYER
There are several recommendations that a new player should be aware of:

1. Use the _set_ command to set your character's parameters. These parameters, and their current settings, can be found by typing 'set' and 'help set' at the command prompt. It is recommended that you 'set prompt' first, as this will give you real-time information about your character's status. In addition, we recommend that you 'set long' until you have become very familiar with LOS. The information you gain from reading the full room descriptions will save you much grief and time.
2. When encountering a new monster, be sure to look at it before anything else (unless it is attacking you). At the lower levels there are very few monsters that will attack you first, so it is usually safe to 'look' at them. The information you gain from looking will tell you if the monster is an opponent that you can handle. It will also let you know if it is a good idea to talk to them. Many of the monsters can talk interactively and will provide vital information about the game. Some will attack you if you talk to them so you need to look first and then decide if it is safe to talk.
3. This is for the more experienced Mordor players. This is a heavily modified Mordor mud and we split at the 4.06 release. This means that you will notice many differences because we have not incorporated them and also our own bespoke modifications. For example you can look at exits, and this can be a good hint as to if there is trouble on the other side. The database is 100% our own, we have not used any of the original data files so treat everything as new. Some creature/object names will of course be the same but the creatures will be different in all other ways.

*** HINTS TO GET TO LEVEL 2 ***
NOTE: You must get to level two within a month or so in order for the character to be saved permanently.

• Level 1 players should not attempt areas outside the towns until at least level 2 or by grouping with other players.
• Attack easy monsters such as townsmen, shoppers, serfs, peasant and anything which is your equal when looked at. This can be accomplished by wandering around the towns and looking at possible opponents.
• Make sure to watch your hit points with "sc". It's not recommended that you attack without close to full hitpoints.
• Remember that you must constantly attack with "k <monster>" every 3 seconds or so. Monsters will remember their enemies, so if you attack one and flee (in which case you drop your wielded weapon), it will attack you if you come back to that room.
• After you reach level 2, you can do some more exploring of the towns, and the areas beyond them. The general rule is look and talk before attacking, and above all: BE CAREFUL.

Contacts
If you have ANY questions or problems, first try asking a liason or a Caretaker. If one is not available, ask one of the Dungeonmasters. If you are unable to talk to them online, you can always leave them mail with your questions.

Direct initial mudmail to liasons MARDUUK and MOONDANCER At present the two DMs you should mudmail are SHIHAN and HARA. (please try to avoid this as we get a lot of mail already!)