9.17 RIDING

(See also: HELP DENIZENS)

Riding is the noble art of mounting and controlling steeds. Beginning with the
lowly mule, you will learn to ride increasingly powerful classes of mounts,
ranging up to legendary steeds such as giant eagles. Further, as your riding
skill increases, you will learn to handle your mount in new ways, from ramming
opponents with it to using your mount to help avoid blows in combat to cracking
the limbs of a fallen opponent by trampling on him.

If you're looking to purchase a mount, look at the stables in various villages
around the land, for that is where mounts are normally sold. Probing the mount
before you buy it is advised, as you will be informed what ability you require
in riding in order to successfully mount it.

Once you've bought yourself a mount, you're going to need to keep it fed. Every
mount has a feedbag on it that you can put food of any kind into. A horse may
not like to eat a goose drumstick, but when it's hungry enough, it will! By
probing your mount, you'll be able to see about how many Achaean months of food
are left in its feedbag, or you will see that it is near to starving (within 3
Achaean months) and needs feeding right away. If you allow your mount to
starve, it will die, and while you won't be torn to pieces by an angry mob of
horse-lovers for that, perhaps you should be. The syntax to put food in a
feedbag is:

FILL <mount> FEEDBAG WITH <food>

(See also: HELP DENIZENS)