Leadership challenges

Leadership challenges are allowed under two circumstances:

• When a village allies with a city, adventurer citizens of that city may have the opportunity to lead some of the soldiers of the village against the village's enemies.

• When Houses create Great Icons, members of those Houses may lead Icon Alchemists in attacking other Houses' Great Icons.

In either case, adventurers must first prove themselves worthy, demonstrating that they have the leadership skills necessary to command these forces by going to one of the sponsors for the challenge. The current sponsors are:

Maklak the Ice Wizard in the northern Tundra

A'leess, Oracle of the Yriluawe, in Aran'riod

Cassandra, the healer-priestess of Vastar

Ixtahuitl, Shaman of the Khish

Next, the adventurer, who must be at full health and mana, may accept the challenge and be transported to a trio of isolated rooms inhabited by an aggressive monster. The strength of the monster depends on the level of the adventurer. Whether the challenger lives or dies will determine if leadership points are gained or lost.

• Additional requirements and limitations:

1. An adventurer must be at least level 30 to accept a leadership challenge.

2. Limits to leadership points:

- 160 for city leaders

- 100 for House leaders and city council members

- 60 for level 60 or over

- 40 for level 30 and over

- none for those under level 30 (These limits do not combine. For example, a city leader who is over level 60 does not get 220 - 160 for being a city leader PLUS another 60 for level. The city leader just gets 160.)

3. House Leaders and City council members automatically gain 20 leadership points/Achaean day. City leaders automatically gain 40 points/day.

Using Leadership - Icon Alchemists

1. In order to use leadership points to gain Icon Alchemists, adventurers must first belong to a House with an Icon and, if the house is formally aligned with a city, also be a member of that city.

2. Seven Fonts may be found across the realms. Each city contains one:

Ashtan - the Well of Chaos

Cyrene - the Icerune Crater

Eleusis - the Cauldron of Infinity

Hashan - the Fontis

Mhaldor - a gaping fissure

Shallam - Daybreak's Mirror

Savannah: the Argent Fount. This Font serves the Houses that are cityless.

When an adventurer has obtained the appropriate amount of leadership points, he or she must go to the appropriate Font and SUMMON ALCHEMIST. There is both a cost of leadership points to do this and a limited number of Alchemists at any time.

3. At this point, the Alchemist may be taken to any House icon and ordered to attack. The Alchemist will then literally begin working to dissolve the very matter of the Icon, and in this process, some Icon shards will be shaken loose from the Icon. The House to whom the Icon belongs will be notified that this is happening. Alchemists may be left unattended but are vunerable to death when left unattended.

4. Alchemists are loyal and may be ordered to follow an adventurer, but cannot be ordered to attack other adventurers.

5. Alchemists will stop attacking Icons when ordered passive or moved away from the location.

6. Alchemists must be dismissed en masse and the command dismisses them no matter where they are in the lands.

7. Alchemists will return to whence they came 24 Achaean days past the time of summoning.

Using Leadership - Village Soldiers

1. In order to use leadership points, an adventurer must seek out the Master of Arms for a village their city is allied with. Currently, there is only one master of arms: The guard at the drawbridge of Batlin Karrella's fortress in Petra.

2. Once at the Master of Arms, if the appropriate number of leadership points have been obtained, an adventurer may REQUEST SOLDIER. There is a cost for taking this action.

3. The maximum number of soldiers that may be alive and under the command of an adventurer command is the leadership point maximum divided by 20.

4. Soldiers start off as recruits. It is possible to train them up three more levels, to:

1. Experienced

2. Veteran

3. Master

5. In order to train soldiers, they must be following the adventurer who must gain experience by slaying denizens. Every time the level of the soldiers is raised, their maximum health and their attack strength increases by twenty-five percent. So, a Master soldier is approximately ninety-five percent stronger than a new recruit.

• Tip: Unless a mass assault is planned among several adventurers leading soldiers, it's probably not worth raising the soldier levels unless the adventurer is a reasonable basher. Unlike the leadership challenges, which are geared to the strength of adventurers, raising soldiers in level is a constant regardless of the level of the aventurer. It will be easy for higher level, good bashers and not so easy for low level adventurers.

6. If the soldiers are lost, the adventurer will need to just stand in the room with them for a few seconds and they will begin following again.

7. In order to attack with the soldiers, the must be lead them to their denizen enemies and they will attack automatically. Keep in mind that they will follow no orders from adventurers. They will only follow them. Soldiers may be lost for whatever reason with the command LOSE <soldier>.

• Tip: Remember, village soldiers do -not- attack adventurers.

8. Like Alchemists, in order to dismiss your soldiers, you must do so en masse with DISMISS SOLDIERS. This will dismiss them no matter where they are in the land.