One of the neat things about mud games like Achaea is that when everything is in text, there's a potential for infinite customization. You're not dependent on the game artists to provide choices that you can select from.

In Achaea, you can describe your character's physical appearance however you want. And you can also get customized clothing and jewellery from players who have invested in tailor/jeweller licenses.

I know not everyone cares that much about these things, but I really enjoy making these choices myself. And it really promotes your roleplay when you can control what you look like and what you're wearing.

Originally, my character Bryony started out as a non-descript female dwarf, wearing boring "flowing purple robes." But once she had some cash to spare, she headed over to Cyrene, Achaea's center for culture and art, where many of the best designers have set up shop. Cyrene has at least a dozen different shops that sell adventurer-designed clothing, in every style imaginable, and there are a lot of choices!

Here is a selection of the choices at one of the largest player-run clothing shops. The clothes-shopping-averse would be better off going somewhere with fewer options!

Bryony's House, the Templars, has rules about knightly decorum. One of those rules is that knights are supposed to be dressed decently and appropriately: it wouldn't be good to have a paladin wandering around in stripper heels and a miniskirt! Bryony very conscienciously followed that rule to the best of her ability, avoiding anything that looked inappropriate. But unfortunately, she turns out to have a somewhat unusual sense of style, so her attempt at looking "decorous" might not be quite what her House superiors had in mind....

If you were to encounter Bryony on the rowdy streets of Shallam, after her shopping adventure, this is what you would see:

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She is a stout dwarf and has a broad, homely face. Her hair is black and
exuberantly curly, and though she wears it in a braid wrapped tightly around
her head, her face is surrounded by a halo of frizz. Short dark whiskers grow
on her cheeks and chin. She is a bit plump, but clearly very strong as well.
She is wearing:
a patchwork satchel,
a tangerine crocheted cardigan sweater,
a pair of bright orange socks,
a sea blue fedora hat with a parrot plume,
a sea blue leather belt,
an emerald green dancer's scarf,
a jingling amethyst gypsy skirt,
a navy doeskin bodice with decorative stitching,
a midnight-blue cloak lined with snow leopard fur
a bright pink silk participant's ribbon
dark leather ankle boots adorned with silver bells,
a Templar's white leather falconry glove, and
a cluster of snapdragons

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I like picturing this homely little dwarf wearing ten different clashing colours all layered over one another, with bells hanging off her and jingling whenever she moves. Bryony doesn't think she looks funny though; she thinks she looks classy.

Three cheers to the players who designed those clothes! I definitely supported the local Cyrenian economy that day.

Little things like the customization possibilities are some of the many reasons that I think text MUDs make the best MMORPG. But to balance out this girly stuff (NOT that guys aren't also into character customization!), next time I will look at a different aspect of Achaea and write some more about my recent ventures into PvP combat.