Realm and Rulership

The Throne of Oblivion expansion focused firmly upon Shadowbane's guild-based city systems and siege warfare, taking existing gameplay to an entirely new level. Siege refinements and new strategic systems formed the second core theme of the expansion, with the new Realm and Rulership system which revolutionized the world of Aerynth. This system is the 'Throne' in the title of the expansion, allowing player Guilds to vie for thrones and domains of their own.

"For the first time since the Turning, the scattered factions of Aerynth are carving out new empires and bringing order to the Age of Strife. This extensive new system allows Guilds to claim rulership over an entire realm, gaining power and prestige".

- Shadowbane Lore on Realm and Rulership

All of the mapsets have been divided into realms, which are visible in the World Map. Cities placed with these realms can vie for lordship, and those that succeed can upgrade their Tree of Life into a "Palace," a visible symbol of their power and prestige, and turning their city into the capital of their realm. Any realm can only have one Palace within it at a time; once claimed, a city will rule until its rivals can depose it in battle. Guilds with the power to build and maintain a Palace find that rule brings many benefits:

• City-based bonus based on the capital's outlook: Belligerent, Mercantile, or Feudal.
• The Guild Leader receives a title before their overhead name, from Baron or Marquis to Warlord, King, or even Emperor!
• Leaders of Nations that rule more than one realm gain loftier titles.
• The Guild's heraldry appears on the realm map, with the names of the guild, capital and ruler.
• Guild Leaders can appoint Tax Collectors, who have the power to levy weekly taxes of gold and resources from every other city in the realm.

Claiming a Realm

To ascend the throne and claim control over a realm, the guild or nation leader must activate a Realm Charter to upgrade their City's Tree of Life to a new Palace structure. The upgrade will not be easy, however. To create a palace and claim a realm, a guild must accomplish many goals:

Upgrade Cost

Preparations for the city capital must be made in the form of gold and other resources:

• Must have a Warehouse built within the city vying for dominion of the realm
• 5,000,000 Gold either in the Tree of Life strongbox or within the Warehouse
• 8,000 Stone - available from any stone or metal mine
• 8,000 Lumber - available from any lumber camp
• 15 Galvor - available only from the metal mine on Oblivion
• 15 Wormwood - available only from the lumber camp on Maelstrom
• If insufficient resources exist in the Warehouse (or ToL), the upgrade will fail.

Tree Rank

Only Rank 7 Trees can upgrade into palaces, and once the upgrade is complete, the tree is considered Rank 8.

Maintenance Cost

Each week, the palace requires gold and other resources to maintain itself (and by extension, control over the realm):

• 1500 Stone
• 1500 Lumber
• 5 Galvor
• 5 Wormwood

Realm Charters and Types of Realms

Main article: Realm Charters

In addition to city preparations, the Guild members will need to acquire a Realm Charter. These come in three varieties, which define the political outlook of the Realm. The Charter type determines the appearance of the palace, and also offers a unique set of benefits and drawbacks to the realm.

The King's Path

But it takes more than iron, stone, or even a crown to make a king. To truly rule a realm, a player must receive the mandate of the Gods themselves. Once all the necessary resources have been collected and a Realm Charter has been acquired, the would-be ruler must go on a journey to visit 3 Hermits, scattered at remote locations across each game world.

Each Hermit can grant one Blessing to the aspiring monarch: the Blessing of Power, of Wisdom, and of Fortune. These blessings last a limited amount of time, and will be broken if the aspiring ruler is killed or logs out of the game. Additionally, the road to power is not easy: the blessings will burden the young King until the end of his Journey, preventing magical movement, summon travel, and slowing them down.

Under the protection of the guild and or nation, the guild leader must go to all three hermits, return to their city, and activate the Realm Charter while all 3 blessings are still in effect. If all of these conditions are met, the Charter will successfully activate, transforming the Tree of Life into a Palace.

Hermit Locations

Hermit of Power Name: A Spectre, the Hermit of Power Microzone: Hermitage Macrozone: Vorringia: Oblivion Isle - 104320, 56544 Dalgoth (RiF): Oblivion Isle - 112334, 59607

Hermit of Fortune Name: An Outcast, the Hermit of Fortune Microzone: Hermitage Macrozone: Vorringia: Perdition - 111257, 33174 Dalgoth (RiF): Perdition - 118913, 79761

Hermit of Wisdom Name: A Traitor, the Hermit of Wisdom Microzone: Hermitage Macrozone: Vorringia: Vale of Nar Addad - 19363, 32344 Dalgoth (RiF): Nin Ashkur Wastes - 14617, 36242

Benefits of Rule

Once a realm has been claimed, the Guild controlling its capital city gains several benefits:

• The Realm "welcoming message" names the ruler, their title, and the ruling guild.
• The guild leader of the capital city gains a title based on Charter type, that appears before their name in game.
• Clicking on the realm in the World Map opens an info HUD containing the name of the ruler, ruling guild, and the realm type.
• Special bonuses based on the realm's outlook, as detailed above.
• The ability to tax all cities within the realm.

Losing Control of a Realm

There are two ways a capital can downgrade back into a Tree of Life, putting that realm back "up for grabs":

• If a capital cannot pay its maintenance costs, it goes into default. After one week in default, it will downgrade unless sufficient resources can be gathered. (Currently broken, R8 tree will not downgrade for this reason)
• If a Palace sustains enough damage in a siege to destroy it, it downgrades to an R7 Tree of Life, and control over the realm is lost.

Controlling Multiple Realms

If a guild that controls a realm swears fealty to another guild that rules a realm, the ruling nation increases in status. All realms controlled by one nation will highlight together when moused over, and the title of the nation ruler will upgrade (from Baron to King, from King to Emperor) when 3 or 5 realms are controlled, respectively.

A nation cannot control more than 5 realms at once.