Areas
Nishapur
Created: Autumn 1997.
This area is based on the book Shame by Salman Rushdie, and it was the very first area I got into the game. Throughout the years it has received a few minor expansions.
The characters are the three sisters Shakil, who live isolated in the house called Nishapur. They get supplies with the help of a lift through which they trade with merchants from the nearby town. They have two sons, Omar and Babar, for whom they share the motherhood. At first they supported themselves by selling out old valuable items from the house, but nowadays Omar cares for them.
Omar, the oldest son, is a skilful immunologist. He met his wife Sufija through his work, when she had an allergic reaction against herself. Omar does not know the feeling of shame.
Sufija, Omars wife, is a retard and moreover inhabited by a beast. As she is a danger to herself and others, Omar keeps her sedated and she is stored in the attic. She is shame impersonated.
Babar, the younger son, is more of a dreamer and a poet. Babar spends most of his time with the freedom fighters up in the mountains.
Other characters are Dawood who is a religious man, Hashamat and Huma who are servants.
Frog Pond
Created: Autumn 1997.
In this, my second creation, I wanted to make monsters exhibiting some "biological" behaviour. The frogs grow from spawn into adult frogs, which then can produce new spawn. The adult frogs can also eat the tadpoles, preventing the pond from becoming overpopulated. No fresh spawn will be added unless there are female frogs to provide it. Therefore, if the area gets wiped before the frogs get a chance to reproduce, it will be dead for the rest of the boot.
Rudraprayag
Created: Spring 1997 - Autumn 1999
This story is about the region in which the man-eating leopard from Rudraprayag was active from 1918 - 1926, and it is a tribute to the man who eventually killed it. During the period the leopard had 125 confirmed kills, and the real number is probably greater than that. The village of Rudraprayag (Indian word for two rivers that unite) was the place where the leopard killed for first time. All the events, names and people in the area originate from Jim Corbett.s story about how he tracked down the man-eater.
The area consists of the village of Rudraprayag and the surrounding forests. The creatures in the area are humans living in the village and various animals out in the wild. Naturally, the big star of the area is the man-eater herself.
I stumbled upon Jim Corbett.s book on a shelf for discarded books at my local library. I found the book most entertaining, and it belongs to a genre that I had not spent so much time in (at the time). After becoming a wizard, the first thing I wanted to do was an area. As the story about the man-eating leopard takes place in a confined location and has a natural "big mob", I found it to be a good choice to work with.
When I coded the area I literary moved into Rudraprayag. The fact that all the people (have) existed in real life, made to move thrilling. Even if the story takes place in the 30's, I believe that Rudraprayag is pretty much the same even today. During the process, even if it is still Jim Corbett.s Rudraprayag, it also transformed into my Rudraprayag. The first six months I worked with the area daily, but then it came to rest for longer periods of time before I finally managed to get it finished.
This area is one of few where I actually think reading the descs is worth the time. If you walk around you will collect small pieces that builds up into a full story. When it was time for approving the area there was a big controversy about its 'style', which led into the area being pre-approved by four wizards and approved by two arches before it finally got into the game. At the time I was a bit frustrated (not all geeks have a natural feeling for aesthetics), but some of the complaints were valid.
Attic
Recoded: Spring 1998
This area was originally coded by a wizard named Noran back in 1991, and maybe it was never intended to be put into the game. This could possibly be the worst area in the realms of BatMud, but it holds some value as a time-document.
Wrebie
Recoded: Autumn 1998
This area was originally coded by a wizard named Saruman
back in 1994. I don't know if it ever came into the game, as some parts of the code was
in poor shape. Originally the area was made for mid/highbies, but I thought the theme
felt more apt for lowbies. I wonder if this area is based on some fantasy book or if
Saruman just had twisted imagination. If you know what a wrebie is, please give me a tell!
Refuse Dump
Created: Spring 1998 - winter 1998
The story behind this area is a man called Ruelander who built
a dump outside of batcity. He got two dogs, Romulus and Remus, but besides them
there is nothing but rats.
The idea I worked with when I created the dump was trying to make something that had
more to it than when first looked upon. This area is by far the one with the most
code/room in BatMud. There are lots of special gadgets that are pretty useless.
Even though its small size, easy accessibility, and that it has been in the game for a long time, there are still things that no mortals have discovered.
In 2003 Henri developed an expansion for the dump.
