A Tale in the Desert IV: Looking at the Body Discipline

In a previous article "Disciplines and Tests", I covered the seven disciplines in general. In this article, I will be covering the tests in the discipline of Body in more detail.

Body is one of the more solitary disciplines; but one of the most rewarding. The body discipline is about exploration and discovery. Avid Body disciples are usually some of the most knowledgeable players about the unique landscape of Egypt. The test of Body provides stat boosts which are desired by all Egyptians, so the competition can be quite fierce. Disciplines of Body explore some of the most remote and unique locations in Egypt, view some of the most unique creatures and fauna that Egypt has to offer, and even get the chance to swim in lakes and rivers of Egypt.

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Principle of Body, Test of the Acrobat, Test of the Singing Cicada, The Test of the Safari, and Test of the Darkest Night are the current released tests. There are two more unannounced tests as well as the Tale Three Monument test still to be released.

Principle of the Human Body is your first introduction to the Body Discipline. Like Architect, the Principle of Body is another test you can pick up right after leaving the Welcome Island. You can start the Principle of Body upon visiting any University or School of Body. The Principle of Body will task you with finding 35 unique plants within 20 minutes. These may seem fairly simple on the outset, but for the best results you will want to do some simple planning first. One good tip is to ask, in local chat, or one of the many microphones, for tips of a good place to do this test. Though technically attemptable at any University or School of Body, some places will be easier than others, and some regions you will find, don't always have a lot of vegetation. This is Egypt after all, and a lot of Egypt is one large desert.

Another tip is to do some searching around the university or school of choice, and see how many different plants you can find, and where they can be found. This can include: shrubs, trees, tall grasses, flowering plants, etc. Cacti and herbs are not counted in the test. This does not mean you have to know the name of the plant or try and guess its name, you are just required to find 35 different plants and click on them and choose the identify option for the principle. Before you start the test, be sure to disable one click gathering. To do this, click on you avatar, choose 'Options' then 'One-Click and Related'. This will bring up a new interface. Check to see if an "X" mark is next to 'Fast Gather Wood from Trees." If so, click on the "X" to turn this feature off. This will allow you to be able to click on trees and identify them for the Principle of Body without having to gather wood each time you check another tree. This will save you a lot of time, especially if you are in an area with a lot of trees. After finding and identifying 35 different plants, return to the university or school of body where you started the test. If you take more than 20 minutes, don't worry, you can try the principle as many times as you need and/or even try in a new location. Once you complete the Principle, you will have access to all the Body tests.

Upon completion of the Principle of Body, you will gain access to the Test of the Acrobat, at level four; the Test of the Singing Cicada, at level eight; the Test of the Safari, at level 12; and the Test of Darkest Night, at level 15.

The Test of the Acrobat will task you with learning twenty one unique acrobatic moves. Upon starting the Test of the Acrobat at your local University of Body, you are given one move, mastered, and are tasked with learning the remaining twenty seven moves. Each person receives one of the twenty seven acrobatic moves at random. Each move consists of seven 'facets'. At first you will be able to only learn one 'facet' per teacher. Once you have taught fourteen 'facets' of any mastered acrobatic moves to your fellow citizens, you will gain the potential to learn two 'facets' per teacher To learn more 'facets', and by extension, more moves, you will need to travel Egypt visiting your fellow citizens and attempting to teach them your move and vice versa. Once you meet a fellow acrobatic, the two must have seclusion to teach and/or learn more 'facets'. This means you must be more than five coordinates away from any other player at all times. If you're too close to another player, or another player walks up while you're 'acroing', you will receive a message reminding you that student and teacher must have solitude to teach and learn. Also, both teacher and student must be actively participating, or neither will be able to learn or teach. If either teacher or student does not make an acrobatic move for three minutes, the active acrobat will receive a message that the student is no longer paying attention.

To start 'acroing', you must first click your prospective student, choose "Tests", then "Test of the Acrobat" and finally "Ask to Acro". This will bring up a new window; on the left side is the moves he needs to learn, with the moves you can teach him on the right side. Click on each move you wish to teach, and you will perform the move for your student and vice a versa. There is a small timer of a few seconds you must wait between moves. Whenever you try an acrobatic move, you have a chance to teach, and when your student/teacher tries a move, you have a chance to learn. As a teacher, you will see one of three messages. One, your student didn't follow the move; two, you're going to fast; (this happens when you don't wait for the timer to end between moves); or three, you are successful at teaching. If successful, your student will learn one new facet. As a student, on the other hand, you will see one of several messages. Two of the messages are; one, you're going too fast, as above, or two, you followed the move; which means you have nothing new you can learn from this teacher. The other possible messages deal with how good of a teacher your partner is for you. Each person you "acro" with will be different. The possibilities are; Perfect Master, 100% potential success, Great Teacher, 50% potential success, Pretty Good Teacher, 25% potential success, followed by; Last Resort and Blur, with minuscule percentage of potential success. Success can be effected by a couple different factors; one, if the 'facet' the teacher is trying to teach, the student already knows, two, the number of 'facets' the student may learn, and finally, success can be affected by a built in randomness factor. Acrobatics is one of the most time consuming tests, but this is counter balanced with the rewards. For every four moves learned, you will gain one Dexterity point. Dexterity increases your movement speed off roads; increases the bulk you may carry, and when combined with the rewards from the Test of the Safari, increases how much you can carry. Also, upon completion of test and learning all twenty-eight moves, you will gain a new emote; Demonstrate Masterful Dexterity, a unique acrobatic move that only acrobatic masters know.