Tibia's newest city launched as a separate island south of Edron as a giant landmass of sand. Despite being a major update, the Darashia update launched without an update on June 14th, 2002. Up until this point the only sand area in Tibia had been the Jakundaf Desert so this an area was a welcome addition to the game. You might be wondering why you have never heard of this landmass, but you would likely know this by another name, Darashia. The town was always known as Darashia but this was confusing for players as you had to type darama to access the island, so the whole place was renamed Darashia in 7.3.
Unlike Edron, no boat ran to the island, so accessing the island was a mystery and the way to do so was not spoiled. In an interview Knightmare remarked that "Darashia was part of the first new continent/greater landmass added to Tibia ever. It was quite a challenge to make it look different from the other areas in the game since I had only a few wall and sand tiles at my disposal. When the new continent was released players were confused first how to get there, as transportation was quite limited. I remember getting many private messages asking me for hints. I broadcasted something like: Please stop asking me for hints! What do you expect? A red carpet?" But this very hint is what was exactly how players would find the new island continent which could only be reached by a red carpet in Femur Hills. As you still could only talk to the NPC one at a time there was a huge lineup to access the area.
The carpet NPC Uzon milled about at the top of the southwestern plateau waiting for eager travelers. Perhaps surprising even him, a large number of players arrived at the spot as word of mouth spread on how to access the new area. The hill soon grew crowded as players had to speak to the NPC one at a time. It was very common for others to block the NPC, either because of how slow they were in entering in their response, or to troll the community. Players would often have to push NPC hogs beyond the three square grace around the NPC, which would terminate the conversation and allow others to communicate with the NPC. The above screenshot shows just how crowded it was to make your way to Darashia.
Upon arriving on the giant landmass, you would be on the second floor of a yellow brick building which also had a magic carpet, but was run by NPC Chemar, who could take you back to the Tibian continent when you wished to leave. A ladder down led you to a large city on a very strange hardpacked dirt tile which was exclusive to the town. Beyond the city was endless sand, and though there were no walls to keep out dangerous beasts like the other cities, there was nothing dangerous to be found on the harsh sandy surface. If you look at the above screenshot you can see that there wasn't even a transition tile from the hard packed dirt to the sand. The lower level of the building you just came off of was a furniture store run by NPC Hofech.
Immediately behind the magic carpet was a C-shaped cave which had a staircase leading to a crypt with coffins hidden behind locked doors. Upon entry you would be attacked by Rats, which gave you a bit of a fright as the area was pitch dark and nothing was known about the continent. The door to the southwest could be opened but I don't know what was inside.
To the south was the largest house in Darashia, Darashia Villa, which had four rooms including a small garden courtyard in the middle and a library with red carpet in one of the rooms. A staircase led to the second floor had a library with two beds to the north and two rooms to the east, one of which had two beds. Buildings with a center courtyard would be a unique feature of this town.
South of this was a two flat building which I don't believe was rentable and you couldn't enter it. North of this was a large flat building which had a second floor and a basement. This building had 9 flats where the first-floor units could access both the first floor and the basement. These units were popular for players due to how close they were to the carpet.
To the west of this was another 9 flat apartment complexes but this was only two floors with no basement. There were several of these types of units in town, and all of them had different sizes and number of beds. Five of the same style of houses could be found to the north. Northeast was a slightly different style of these which was white instead of the usual grey tile and more upscale red carpeting, and even a library in some of the units. To the northeast of this was a small two floor flat that looked like a duplex and offered two beds.
South of these buildings where two large guilldhalls which were similarly laid out. Each had a grassy courtyard which could be accessed by several rooms inside. The western hall, conveniently titled Darashia Western Guildhall, had 14 beds and was two floors. The first floor was divided into 9 rooms, and a ladder by the entrance took you to the second floor which had 7 rooms, including a long red-carpet hallway to the south and a small library west of this. The hall to the east, shockingly called Darashia Eastern Guildhall, had 16 beds which were mostly found in the beds which could be accessed by a ladder near the entrance. On this floor was a small storage room to the south and a large 8 bedroom to the east. The first floor was 6 floors and the ladder at the entrance would take you to 6 floors up top which had a long hall to the south, and a small library to the northwest.
Directly south of these halls was a random locked storage room which had tons of crates and some chests. To the west was a bar which was staffed by NPC Miraia who would sell you drinks and basic foodstuffs. When this update was launched you were able to climb onto the roof and hop down inside the center area of the bar as the roof was open at the top. The center bar also had a staircase leading down that allegedly contained a mana cask if you could believe the broadcasts. CIP quickly made a change to fix this to prevent players from blocking off the roof and mana AFK inside like they had in Knightwatch Tower.
West of the guildhalls was a stable, though no horses or even camels existed in game. The first floor had several troughs of water in stalls and the second floor had several rooms for storage which were locked. You could access these by a ladder near the entrance or by a staircase in the lone room inside.
North of this was a bath house which had a large pool and change rooms. The house was labeled Dream Bathhouse and a blackboard at the entrance sternly warned you to "Please use a changing cubicle and wash yourself before you enter the bath!" The second floor was a washing area but the whole building was only for flavor.
East of this building was the temple and depot which could be found in a giant tower like structure. The depot was found down a flight of stairs and was very small by comparison to other places having 9 sets of double stalls for players to trade. The temple could be found an exhausting 7 floors up and was staffed by NPC Kasmir, who was a Cleric Healer.
To the north of the tower was a large bazaar area which held many shops for the city. Each of these stalls had a covering which could be climbed up to and the central pavilion could as well which covered four wells. The stones which you see today are the result of players abusing climbing onto the pavilion.
In order starting from the northwest, going clockwise, the shops were a meat stand run by NPC Mugluf, a fruits and vegetable stand run by NPC Omur, a gems and jewelry stand run by NPC Ishima, a distance weapon and ammo stand run by NPC Edoch, weapons stand run by NPC Habdel, armor stand run by NPC Aziel, and NPC Halif who ran a tool shop selling ropes and shovels. No other town in Tibia had all shops close together which made buying and selling loot very convenient.
North of this was the main government building of the city which was a very large yellow complex. This area also had NPCs worth visiting. Entering the building took you immediately to a large inner garden area which had a pond and several fountains and benches. If you headed through the door to the west and head south, you would find NPC Shalmar who ran the magic shop. To the north was the bank which was run by NPC Muzin. East of this was two rooms which couldn't be entered and were locked.
Heading east at the center garden took you to a staircase leading up, while heading south to what is now the training room would instead take you to NPC Razan who sold knight spells. East of this was a room which couldn't be entered which had a Dragon Shield and Knight Axe resting on a table. Going north led to a huge hydroponics area of potted plants in a kind of greenhouse.
Up the stairs, the second floor opened to a huge table area which housed the governor of the city, NPC Morun, whose official title was the Caliph of Darashia. This floor opened to the far west to a large dining room and to the south was a kitchen and storage room which couldn't be entered. South of the stairs was a small waiting room and possibly barracks to the south which couldn't be entered.
Taking the stairs up to the third floor led to the final floor of the complex which had a mini museum to the south filled with cultural artifacts of the city and the likely private bedroom of the governor which had a interesting artifact players hadn't seen before, the toy boat. North was a locked room which couldn't be entered and west of this was a long hallway with statues which led to an odd monument room with a red carpet. South of this room was a large library which also had a red carpet and south of this was a locked room with a magic portal which spread all kinds of rumor. Further south of this was an inaccessible room which you could see a Golden Armor and some other treasures.
