Indeed, you can't traverse the environment alone at all. That's basically what ninjalooting is, on the scale of a dungeon: you traverse the environment to the loot, and then you traverse the environment out again, loot in hand. In Har'akir, a Beguiler (or any other stealth class) can be an invisible tourist. You can go virtually anywhere in safety and comfort. You can always escape. You can always stand apart from the environment you're in. There's always a "backstage" you can disappear into. Beguiler is the undisputed queen of this playstyle, because they can command both stealth and stealthy magic. They can even disappear into the near ethereal. It feels like this is the life Beguiler is owed: access all areas. They should be able to travel the length and breadth of the whole server, unmolested. They should always have a trick.
But in Markovia, traversal is always a battle, and there are no exceptions. You are forced by the design of the areas to confront the hostility of the environment. There is no backstage. There is no hiding from it. There is no escape. There is only the jungle, with its tangling vines and twisting thorns, catching against your clothing, dragging you down into the muck. You can hack and slash your way through it; you can burn your way through it; but you can't creep your way through it. And even once you are through it, you can't tame it. You can't leave safe zones in your wake. You can never, ever "clear" it. The jungle will just come surging back in, like water into a parted sea. You're drowning in it.
And to my mind, that makes Markovia unique, from a design standpoint.
