ISTARI QUEST

Any player above the level of 20, and with a sufficiently high alignment, may opt to take the Istar Quest by sailing west to Valinor, talking to Ciryariel, and visiting the Istari Sanctuary, where they may listen to the Ainulindalë.

If they are successful, they will be returned to level 21 and must spend the next two levels of their quest in the Meta levels (see help metamorph). Starting at level 23, they can progress as an Istar (see help Istar) in humanoid form, whose primary task is to assist new players, or continue as a metamorph. At level 26 or higher, a player may ascend to immortality by again sailing west to Valinor and listening to the Ainulindalë once again.

Once a player undertakes the quest he has no more than 60 real life days in which to complete it. A player on the Istar Quest has certain advantages over normal characters — for example, they need no longer consume food or water, and their spells become less expensive. They also gain the ability to change shape into animal form (see help metamorph).

As such, and since he is in effect an apprentice immortal, during the quest, the player is bound by far stricter rules than normal characters. The player may take no active part in the race wars, except to defend the strongholds of the west if they are under invasion.

A player on the Istar quest is expected to abide by the strictest standards as regards defence of all that is good. Same-side player killing is forbidden, unless the victim is listed on Sauron's list.

Be aware that failure to adequately complete all conditions of the quest will have serious ramifications. The gift of Eru will be lost. This applies at all levels of the quest, metamorph and Istar.

See also:

LEGEND, METAMORPH, ISTAR