Connecting to a Realm

Series: first-crossing · Part 3

With a terminal open and a key in ~/.ssh/, you are ready to cross.

The command is one line.

ssh [email protected]

Read it piece by piece.

• ssh — the program on your machine that speaks the SSH protocol
• guest — the account you are connecting as. Public realms accept guest. Your own account will use your chosen handle.
• @ — the separator between account and host
• winding-stair.eventide.cc — the realm’s address. Each island has its own.

Press Enter. Three things happen in quick succession.

The first crossing

1. The fingerprint prompt. On your first connection to any realm, your terminal will ask something like:

The authenticity of host 'winding-stair.eventide.cc' can't be established.
ED25519 key fingerprint is SHA256:Abc123...
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])?

Type yes and press Enter. Your machine records the realm’s public key so it recognises it next time. If the key ever changes without warning, SSH will refuse to connect — this is good. It means no one is impersonating the harbor.

2. Your key is offered. Your SSH client automatically offers your public key (id_ed25519.pub) to the realm. The realm checks it against the account. For guest, the realm accepts any key — the public realms are open.

3. You arrive.

────────────────────────────────────────────────────
     A R C H I P E L A G O
────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Signal steady. Connection established.
Arriving at: winding-stair

The prompt drops you into the world. You are standing in the border room. The harbormaster is there. Type look to see where you are.

Basic commands

The archipelago is a world you navigate with verbs. A short list to start:

Tab autocompletes nouns in the current room. You do not need to memorise exit names or detail names — press Tab and see what’s there.

If the connection is refused

Three common causes.

“Permission denied (publickey).” Your client is not offering a key the realm accepts. Check that ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 exists and is readable only by you:

ls -l ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

The file should show -rw-------. If it shows wider permissions, fix them:

chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

“Connection timed out.” The realm is unreachable — the beacon is dark. It may be under maintenance, or your network may be blocking port 22. Try again later, or check the realm operator’s log for announcements.

“Host key verification failed.” The realm’s public key has changed since your last visit. This is either a legitimate operator action (key rotation) or an attack. Do not type yes without confirming with the operator first. You can remove the old key with:

ssh-keygen -R winding-stair.eventide.cc

Then reconnect, and the fingerprint prompt will return.

The next session

When you disconnect and return later, SSH remembers the host key and offers your key automatically. The crossing becomes a single command:

ssh [email protected]

And you are back. The world has been running while you were away. The innkeeper may remember what you asked about last time. Six days is not nothing.

Making it easier

Add a shortcut to ~/.ssh/config (create the file if it does not exist):

Host winding-stair
  HostName winding-stair.eventide.cc
  User guest

Now:

ssh winding-stair

is all it takes. Add one block per realm you visit often.

What comes next

You have made your first crossing. The next guide covers the basics of playing — reading a room, talking to the locals, and what to do when you don’t know what to do.