I lost my fear of Death when we could use @lifestone (this command use to kill you) without item enchantment. My first character, I created with the help of AC. I actually chose one of the pre-made templates. I had War, Mana C, & Arcane Spec'd.
I remember when I first started playing. I had to kill drudges outside of Rithwic. A few of my RL friends got me to play. They were in single digits at the time.
I ventured on my own at a whopping level 3 far outside Rithwic alone. Then, I experienced my real fear, LAG! I lagged hard core, while running. When I came to, I had absolutely no idea where I was. It was dark. I didn't have coords to get back. I had no patron. My friends weren't online. I was LOST!!!
I kind of knew which general direction I came from, but I had no idea how far I had run. I had just bought some AL 50 armor with the little money you can get off Drudges. So, now I had a considerable investment and potential loss on my hands.
I ran in what I thought was the right direction, but never saw town. I had no one to ask for help and never saw anyone run by. I was stuck.
So, I wrote my coords down and just picked a direction and ran. Well, I died. Several times. This back when you died even when little you lost your goods.
So, I was naked looking for five or six bodies. Very similar to Hansel and Gretel, but with bodies. I was probably closer to Eastham than Rithwic, but I didn't know Eastham existed yet. I finally got some Huge guy in his teens to help me out.
Not too long after that, I was level 5 or 6. I swore allegiance to someone. I wish I could remember his name, so I could give him a nice wedgie. He took me and one other guy somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I just remember sand. We killed drudges and sharks. He said he would come back. HE LIED! At this point, I knew where the map was and where I was. I remember my RL friends were off fighting somewhere closer to home. My new patron had me attune to the lifestone. So, this meant for me, I would have to run to get anywhere.
I waited for what seemed like months for him to come back so I could meet my friends to hunt. Well, I never saw that patron again. I @tell'd my buddies "I'm at some town, just left of the lake!!!!"
So, I ran. This was my first experience with Sand Dillos. It was a good thing I was wearing Industrial Strength Depends. I fill em! I was a complete pig. My run was maybe at 30. I learned to Zig Zag early. I ran around a mountain. These Dillos were persistent! I started with decent Endurance, So I had some health. I took a beating. I remember looking at the map. I was just trying to get to another town. Any town. A safe haven. All this time, I'm cussing my demonic patron for leaving me in the Sahara with some underfed armored rats, who had a taste for little Gharu heinies. I zigged and zagged for an hour. Just as I thought my dot was getting closer to the next town, the dillos obviously had a CB, because his whole family was waiting for me. I got to visit the same lifestone I had run from 60 minutes ago.
Fortunately, another person in the teens, grabbed my stuff for me, after dying himself and eventually got someone to take me to subway. I had no idea what subway was, or how to get to it. This guy in his FIFTIES just said "Follow me and don't stop". I see a brown room and what looks like a big Cat that could eat ten drudges at a time. It was a banderling. So now, I think I will at least die with someone there. He tells me to go thru that door. It's locked! (remember when you had to pick the lock in subway to get down?). Now, I never actually looked at my own butt in the mirror, but I came to realize that it must have been outstanding, because everything wanted some of it. Fortunately, again, someone opened the door from the other side. we run down the ramps and he tells me jump backward. I saw "jump?". What means this word "jump". So he explains to me what to do and how to do it. Then I see what is so magical about subway. More portals in one place than I had seen combined thus far. This is too exciting to type. I call my friends, "DUDE, there is a ton of portals here!!!". "Where are you?". "Helliphino! (<<---- That's what you get when you cross an elephant and a rhino, incase you were wondering). So, I did get back to Rithwic, where I found a patron I stuck with right up until he quit playing.
Maybe next, I'll tell you what I did the second week I played.
stories when you first start playin are the best. Everything over 50 is nothin cause your really not scared anymore 
Culticon level 203 Grief BM 
So we stand there, mouths agape, watching these walking tanks handle the lugians we were so desperately trying to kill... They seem to drop like flys, I had never seen anything so impressive in my entire AC existance. To get to the point, they basically cleared the whole area, and got the vassal's body back - they then proceeded to open a portal in the last room, and they all went in... well, here was the challenge we had been waiting for, but we weren't really sure we wanted to take it (we were talking on the phone at the time, completely freaked out 
) - I think both of our hands were shaking, we were both trying to get the nerve worked up to step through that portal to certain doom...
