
THE COUNTRYSIDE
===============
Rampart is set in a strange landscape of different terrain types.  The
land  is  surrounded  in  part  by  a  mystic sea of chaos which it is
probably  a  good  idea  to avoid.  Screen characters have a different
meaning  in  the  countryside  than they do elsewhere, by the way, and
there  is  a  different command set (accessible by '?' when out of the
city).   Time  passes  much  more quickly in countryside movement; you
will have to bring a lot of food with you, though you may wish to hunt
('H'  command)  to  supplement your food reserves; many of the animals
that you may encounter, for example, are edible.

Since  each  countryside  site  is quite a large area, you may have to
search ('s' command) to learn of interesting sites nearby.

Countryside Map Example:

++----.--- The @ as usual is the player; the +'s are an arm of the Sea
+++++O--^^ of Chaos;  the  O  is  the city  of Rampart;  the  ^'s  are
----@----^ mountains  the  .'s  are  a road;  the  -'s  are plains and
---.-^^^^^ meadows and the * is a dungeon entrance.
...-^*^^^^

(This  example will be difficult to show 'as is' since it is displayed
 using icons)

The  countryside  can  be rather dangerous for low level characters to
explore  at  random.   However,  maps  of the surrounding areas can be
purchased at the villages which can be found mostly at the ends of the
roads.  Each village has a "special" magical site somewhere inside its
borders.   These sites may be beneficial or harmful depending how they
are approached and the circumstances of their activation.

There  are  a  number of "special" locations in the countryside; these
are  basically  one-level  screens  of  various  sorts, or they may be
multi-level  dungeons.  If you follow the advice of the oracle who may
be found somewhere in Rampart, you will wind up visiting most of these
sites.

A  special  site  or  dungeon  may  be  entered  from  the Countryside
environment  by means of the '>' command.  Depending whether or not it
is  a  multilevel  or  single  level  site, it may be exited simply by
moving  off  the  edge  of the screen, or by ascending or descending a
stairway from the first level of the dungeon.

