The Battle

The ground closes

When something hunts you, the zone locks and the world holds its breath.

How it starts

Walk too close.

A hungry thing has a hunting radius. Step inside it and the fight begins.

  1. The monster notices youYour party comes within its reach.
  2. The ground is claimedThe world claims the ground around the fight, or the creature lets you pass.
  3. Everyone inside is countedEveryone standing in the zone is counted at that moment (see below).
  4. The zone locksTo everyone outside, it becomes a cloud.
  5. Round one beginsPlanning opens: 30 seconds.
LOCKED ZONE (SNAPSHOT AT BATTLE START)Mossback Boarparty · combatants??zzzaway · edgefightingasked to join or watchaway, cannot be targeted
Concept Everyone inside the zone is sorted the moment the battle starts.
  • Your party, activeCombatants. Snapped into a starting formation.
  • Active, not in your partyA short prompt: join or watch. No answer means watching.
  • Away from the keyboardNever pulled in. Stood at the edge, untargetable. They may opt in from the next round.

Nobody can start a fight and then strike someone who is not there. Away players are spectators until they choose otherwise.

Some ground cannot be fought on at all: safe zones, which include markets and gates, and any city its owner has marked Safe. Outside them, random battles can find you on the world map. Chokepoints can be marked so a battle never locks them shut.

Rounds

Plan together. Resolve in order.

Every round starts with a planning phase. Everyone chooses an action at once, in secret, against a timer: 30 seconds, or 60 for raids.

Then the actions play out, fastest first. Speed decides who acts before whom.

A fight on the world map lasts at most 30 minutes. Dungeon and raid zones run for 60 to 90 minutes. A warning comes about five minutes before the end. Miss three rounds in a row and you are removed from the battle.

PLAN30 seconds · 60 for raidsRESOLVE, fastest firstBoar 18Mira 16You 14Tomas 12Ines 11Dax 9Wren 8next round, until one side fallsEveryone plans at once, in secret30 min · dungeons 60–90 min
Concept One round. Everyone plans together, then the actions play out in order of speed.

The window

Everything in one place.

Battles open in a window over the world. Everything you need is on it: who acts when, what you can do, what is at stake.

  • The order of play is shown above.
  • Your actions come from every class you have trained.
  • You can see who has locked in and how long is left.
  • Spectators watch, and can join at the next round.
BATTLEMossback Boarbattle zone: 2 × 2 nodes · fixed heightRound 3 · planning · 06:12 / 30:00resolves in orderBoar 18Mira 16You 14Tomas 12Ines 11Dax 9Wren 8MiraTomasInesDaxWrenyouMossback BoarHP 72%spectatorPower Strike → Boarsolid = fighting · amber = enemy · dashed = spectator (cannot be targeted)PLAN YOUR ACTION0:21locked in 4 / 6AttackSkills ▾ItemsDefendFleeWaitFighter · Lv 100Cleric · Lv 100Power Strikesingle targetShield Bashsingle targetRally CrypartyTARGET Mossback BoarLock inpending world changes: oak tree burned · fence brokenRound 2 · Ines uses Backstab: Mossback Boar takes 41. The oak tree catches fire (pending).Round 2 · Mossback Boar uses Gore: Tomas takes 18.Round 3 · planning, 0:21 left. Mira, Tomas, Ines and Wren have locked in.A passer-by chose to spectate from the edge of the battle zone.
Concept The battle window. Pick an action before the timer runs out, lock it in, and wait for the round to play out.
I

Join

Come in from outside. You are queued for the next planning phase, at the back of the order.

II

Watch

Stay as a spectator. You cannot be targeted, and you can join when the next round opens.

III

Flee

Escape depends on your speed and dexterity. Spells and items can lift you out of a fight as well.

Afterwards

The world remembers.

  • VictoryChanges are committed. A tree set alight stays burned. A fence that broke stays broken.
  • DefeatThe zone resets as though you were never there. A time passes before you may return.
  • Player versus playerOnly by choice. Every battle or duel must be approved, and when two parties meet, their leaders declare it. Nobody can be killed: when it ends, everyone is restored with no penalty.

When you fall

The dead are not gone.

Your spirit stands over your body and watches the rest of the fight. A stranger may raise you.

Or you can answer the call, and walk down into the underworld. There you may be reborn as a new people, keeping everything you have earned and spending your experience again, or find the short way back.

No experience is lost. Your gear remembers the fall.

You fallno experience lostYour spiritstands over your bodyand watches the battleWait herea player can raise youBack in the worldminor gear wearAnswer the callrelease your spiritThe short patha brief way backReincarnationchange class or respec
Concept When you fall. Nothing is lost but a little wear on your gear.