Overview

Each player begins with control of one character and a sum of gold, the Olympian currency. Characters may hire subordinates, study skills, trade items, build things, and explore. Each turn a player submits orders for all of the characters they control. These include the initial character, known as the Player Character, and any vassals of the player character, which belong to the player's faction.

The Olympia program will execute orders for characters in parallel. Each order may take no time or some number of game days to complete. As many orders will be processed for each character as game time allows. Orders not completed by the end of the turn may continue into the next. Each turn covers one month of game time. An Olympian month lasts 30 game days.

Turn schedule

Turns are run once per week, on Tuesday. Orders are due at 10:00pm, Central European Time (CET).

Players should receive their turn reports by the following morning. Late orders will queue for the next turn. Beware! Even if mailed before the deadline, your message may take some time to get to the order scanner. Send your orders in a day early to avoid grief. This will also give you time to correct mistakes reported by the order scanner.

New player additions are performed just after the turn is run.

If for technical reasons the turn cannot be run on tuesday, it will be run as soon as the technical issues have been dealt with.  If a long delay is expected, this will be posted on the forum.

Olympia Times

The Olympia Times is published once a week and mailed to each player in the game. The Times has three sections: any comments or notices from the GM (if there are any), signed press, and rumors.

Players should submit items to the Times with the press and rumor commands.

Diplomatic email forwarding service

Players can send mail to the player controlling an entity by mailing to g3@olympia.v-labs.be.

For example, suppose you saw the following characters:

Seen here:
   Circe [2225], with three peasants, accompanied by:
      Hephaestus [3446], with 11 peasants

Circe's lord isn't identified, so you don't know what player is controlling her. However, it is still possible to send Circe's owner a message. Mail to g3@olympia.v-labs.be and include the following:

#forwardto:2225
Welcome to my lands! Prepare to die!

The message will be forwarded to whatever player is controlling Circe [2225].

Forwarding works for character and player entities. Mail sent to other entity numbers, or to unaffiliated characters, will be silently discarded.

Forwarded mail is not anonymous. The original headers on your message will be preserved.

Compensation for errors

Bugs are inevitable in large, complex programs such as the Olympia game engine. While every effort is made to ferret out bugs, players must expect that from time to time something will go wrong.

If you cannot tolerate encountering bugs, please do not play Olympia.

There are usually more bugs at the start of a game than after it has been running for a while.

Because of the nature of how Olympia processes turns, it is not possible to re-run a turn for a single player if something goes wrong. Turns may only be re-run for all players. Therefore, re-runs will be considered for only the most serious bug-provoked disasters which affect many players.

Generally the preferred compensation for being the victim of a bug is some grant of CLAIM gold or other items. It is difficult and error-prone to attempt to move items around the game database, and there are fairness issues for other players who may be unpleasantly surprised by database edits occuring between turns.

All compensation given for bugs is solely at the discretion of the GM. Effects for minor bugs are assumed to even out across most players over the course of the game, so compensation is usually granted only for bugs which have seriously impacted a player.

Please concisely document any bugs you find, providing short excerpts from turn reports to show what went wrong.

If you feel you require compensation, briefly state how your position was irrevokably harmed by the bug, and suggest a suitable compensation (preferably in the form of CLAIM items which may be provided).

Bug reports should be posted on the forum or emailed to gamemaster@olympia.v-labs.be.

Cheating

1. A player may not control more than one faction in the game. Also, multiple players from the same account are not allowed. Each player must have their own unique email address.  Exceptionally, a holiday replacement may be assigned in case you will be unavailable to play for a short period of time.  Please send an e-mail to gamemaster@olympia.v-labs.be to indicate this.

2. Players should not send in orders for another player's faction, to ruin that person's turn or otherwise benefit.

3. Players must inform the GM of any game bugs found.  Send an email to gamemaster@olympia.v-labs.be or post a bug report on the forum.

4. Anti-social behavior, including harassing telephone calls, sending obscene/obnoxious unwanted communications, mail bombing, etc. will not be tolerated.

Punishment for serious violations is generally banishment from Olympia. So don't cheat, do play fair, and be a good sport.

All decisions of the GM are final.

Olympian Calendar

The Olympia calendar has two months for each season, for a total of eight months per Olympian year. Each month is 30 game days long. 

Game additions and rule changes

Features may be added to Olympia every so often, such as new areas in the map, NPC races, magical artifacts, skills, spells, etc. It is also sometimes necessary to make slight alterations to existing game mechanics to correct bugs or flaws in game balance.

While it is inevitable that some players will be affected by rule changes, every effort is made to not disrupt existing game positions.

This is mentioned only as a warning that the rules may evolve over time. Changes are announced on the forum.

How do I join?

Visit the Olympia web site at http://olympia.v-labs.be/g3 use the online signup form.

The Olympia web site also includes back issues of The Olympia Times, articles about Olympia written by players, and other useful information.

Definition of Terms

• Entity, Unit:

Nobles, items, locations, and skills

Everything in the Olympian world has a unique code. referenced with an "entity number". The code is shown in brackets after the name. Some examples:

• a player: Rich Skrenta [501]
• a character: Osswid the Destroyer [5499]
• a skill: Shipcraft [600]
• a place: City of the Lost [gx14]
• an item: Gold [1]
• an item: Scroll [yq12]

• Noble, Character

Used interchangeably. These are the individuals under the control of players. All player orders are given to characters.

Players start with one character. Others may be hired or persuaded to join the player's faction.

Characters may possess items, travel through locations, learn skills, engage in combat, cast magical spells, etc.

• Faction

All of the units controlled by a player are called the player's faction. A player starts with only one character, but the faction may grow to have many units.

• Player character

The player character, or PC, is the character the player starts with. The PC begins with a loyalty of oath-2. The PC may later FORM other characters. Nothing is special about the PC other than being the player's first character; if the PC is killed, play continues with the player's other characters.

• Item, possession

Characters may hold items, such as gold, scrolls, weapons, magic potions, jewels, lumber, rugs, etc.

• Men

Characters may also have non-descript men in their employ. These men are represented as possessions for simplicity. They include peasants, workers, sailors, and different kinds of soldiers.

These men may not learn skills, hold any items, or act independently from the noble they are with.

For example, one might see:

Seen here:

Law Netexus [2020], with three peasants

Law Netexus is a character; the three peasants are non-descript men accompanying him.

Characters obtain peasants with the RECRUIT order.

"Men" may also include beast-fighters such as dragons (see the Beastmastery skill), but does not include work-animals such as horses and oxen which have no combat values.

• Skills

Characters may learn skills, which are used to perform tasks. For instance, Sailing [601] must be known in order to sail a ship.

Skills are grouped into the following categories:

• Alchemy
• Beastmastery
• Combat
• Construction
• Forestry
• Mining
• Persuasion
• Shipcraft
• Stealth
• Trade

There are also six schools of magic. See the STUDY and RESEARCH commands for information about learning skills.

• Noble Points

A player starts with a certain amount of Noble Points (NP's). Each player gets an additional NP at fixed turns that are a multiple of eight (so at turns 8, 16, 24, 32, etc...). Players who join the game late, get additional starting NP's, known as Catch-up NP's.  Ideally, all players will have an equal number of NP's at their disposal at any time.  

NP's are used to buy nobles with the FORM command. They are also required to learn some advanced skills, and to swear characters to oath loyalty.

• Stack

A group of characters joined such that they move and fight together.

• Province

A location on the map. Provinces may have sub-locations within them, such as cities, bogs, caves, etc. Provinces are either forest, swamp, mountain, desert, plains, or ocean.

• Month

Each turn is a game month, or 30 game days.

• Safe haven

New players start in a Safe Haven city. Combat or magic are not permitted in safe havens. New players may acclimate themselves in safety before venturing out into the world.

Command summary

Inner Locations

A province may contain sub-locations within its borders. Sub-locations may usually only be entered from the surrounding province. They will be listed separately in the location description:

Inner locations:

Carim [em28], city, 1 day

The city Carim may be entered with the `move em28' order. Travel into a city requires one day.

Note: move in may be used to enter a sub-location, although this order may be ambiguous if the location contains more than one sub-location. In such a case, the first sub-location in the Inner locations list will be entered. Using move in is not recommended if the entity number of the sub-location is known.

Characters in a sub-location will receive a report for the surrounding province. However, characters in the outer province will not normally be able to see into an inner location without entering it.

Inside a City

Carim [em28], city, in province Plain [ae48]

Routes leaving Carim [em28]:

Out, to Plain [ae48], 1 day

Inner locations:

Hooting Own Inn [ep76], inn

Characters in the city Carim may move out (or `move ae48') to the surrounding province. They may also attempt to enter the inn, which is a sub-location of the city. Notice that no travel time rating is listed for the inn; entering it takes no time (zero days).

move out -or- move ae48

move ep76

A character in Carim will receive a location report both for the city as well as the surrounding province Plain [ae48]. Characters in the Hooting Own Inn will receive a location report for the inn and one for Carim, but will not get a report for Plain [ae48]. A character in the city may not see inside the inn without entering.

Characters in a sub-location receive a report for the immediate surrounding location.

Characters are not able to see into inner locations without going into them.

City default garrisons

Every non-safe-haven city in the regular world (except safe havens) has an initial default garrison with 25-150 pikemen. Each garrison is set to admit all and defend all. Each noble stacked with the garrison will earn 4gp/day for aiding the city's defenses.

Who else is here?

Characters spotted will be listed in the location report:

Seen here:

Fighters of Pelenth [2019], "carrying a gold banner"

Osswid the Constructor [5499]

All characters listed as being seen in the location may interact without requiring any travel. Thus, the Fighters of Pelenth and Osswid are considered to be in essentially the same place.

This is true whether the characters are in a province, a city, a ship, an inn, or some other sub-location.

However, a character in a sub-location may not interact with characters in the surrounding area. A noble in the city must first enter the inn before he may interact with those inside.

More about geography

Olympian provinces are arranged in a square grid. Travel is possible in the four main compass points. Thus, to move diagonally, two move orders are required. To move northwest, for instance, one would first need to `move n', then `move w'.

The map coordinates for a province may be read from the province's entity number. The row is represented by the leading two letters, the column by the two digits. The northwest corner is [aa00], with rows increasing to the south, and columns increasing to the east.

    00   01   02  ... 99
  +----------------------
aa|
ab|          ab02
ac|    ac01  ac02    ac99
ad|          ad02
af|
...  
...
fz|          fz02

Row sequence is: "abcdfghjkmnpqrstvwxz"

Entity numbers for sub-locations do not correspond to any coordinate system.

The map wraps at the east and west edges. Traveling west from ac00 will lead to ac99, for instance.

Holes in the Map

The map may have some holes, representing impassable provinces. Routes into some provinces may also be hidden.

Plain [cd21], plain, in region Tollus Routes leaving Plain [cd21]:

North, to Plain [cc21], 7 days

East, to Plain [cd22], 7 days

West, to Plain [cd20], 7 days

Notice the lack of a southern exit. This means that there is no known southern route from Plain [cd21], into what should be Plain [ce21]. Exploration may find a southern route, but it is possible that none may ever be found, and the terrain to the south is completely impassable.

Hidden routes

If exploration finds a hidden route, any noble in the player's faction will be able to use it.

> explore

A hidden route has been found!

South, to Plain [ce21], 7 days

The location description for this place will now include the hidden route:

Plain [cd21], plain, in region Tollus

Routes leaving Plain [cd21]:

North, to Plain [cc21], 7 days

South, to Plain [ce21], 7 days, hidden

East, to Plain [cd22], 7 days

West, to Plain [cd20], 7 days

However, units from other factions, even if they know that the hidden route's entity number is [ce21], will not be able to travel across it.

All factions with units in a stack traveling across a hidden route, with the exception of units being held prisoner, will learn of its existence. Nobles from factions wanting to learn how to use the hidden route can stack with a noble about to move across the route.

Ocean ports

A ship in an ocean province may sail into an adjoining land province.

Ocean [cw12], ocean, in South Sea

Routes leaving Ocean [cw12]:

North, to Ocean [cv12], Atnos Sea, 4 days

East, to Mountain [cw13], West Camaris, impassable

South, to Plain [cx12], West Camaris, 1 day

West, to Ocean [cw11], 4 days

Inner locations:

Island [eb97], island, 1 day

A ship sailing in this ocean province may dock by sailing to Plain [cx12] or Island [eb97].

Ships may not dock in mountain provinces, as the rocky cliffs are too dangerous to approach. Routes between ocean and mountain provinces are marked `impassable'.

Port Cities

A city in a province adjoining an ocean will have been founded on the best spot for an ocean port. The ocean will only be accessible through the port city in this case, and not through the surrounding region.

Plain [ae48], plain, in region Tollus

Routes leaving Plain [ae48]:

...

West, to Ocean [ae47], Tymaerian Sea, impassable

Inner locations:

Carim [em28], port city, 1 day

Note that from the province surrounding the port city, access to the ocean is not possible.

Carim [em28], port city, in province Plain [ae48]

Routes leaving Carim [em28]:

West, to Ocean [ae47], Tymaerian Sea, 1 day

Out, to Plain [ae48], 1 day

However, ships may sail into and out of the port city itself. From the Tymaerian Sea, this looks like:

Ocean [af48], ocean, in Tymaerian

Sea Routes leaving Ocean [af48]:

North, city, to Carim [em28], Tollus, 1 day

South, to Ocean [ag48], 3 days

An example city description

Drassa [ew66], port city, in province Forest [cu26], safe haven

Routes leaving Drassa [ew66]:

East, to Ocean [cu27], Atnos Sea, 1 day

South, to Ocean [cv26], Atnos Sea, 1 day

Out, to Forest [cu26], 1 day

Skills taught here:

Shipcraft [600]

Combat [610]

Construction [680]

Seen here:

Kosar the Indefectible [2022], with six peasants, one archer, two soldiers, accompanied by:

Dr. Pangloss [3682]

Law Netexus [2020], prisoner

Alion Krysaka [2785], prisoner

Ships docked at port:

HMS Pinafore [ib18], galley, owner:

Captain McCook [2019], with five workers

Market report:

No goods offered for trade.

Wilderness and civilization

Every province has a civilization level. Provinces with no civilization (a level of zero) are considered wilderness. Civilization levels for provinces are shown in the turn report:

Mountain [cq24], mountain, in Lesser Atnos, civ-1

Forest [ac35], forest, in Torba Bacor, wilderness

The civilization level of a province is determined by the presence of cities and buildings, or half of the maximum civilization level of its surrounding provinces, whichever is higher.

There is no fixed civ level cap. However, only the first building of each type counts towards the civ level in a location. 

Any fractional remainder is dropped after the contributions are summed.

Only the first building or feature of each type counts toward the civilization level. For example, if two inns in a province, only the first would add a civ point to the total.

Dangerous places

Players should take care when exploring the Olympian world. There are many dangers, both from non-player characters (NPC's) as well as from other players. While the threat of death to nobles is always present, the following dangerous areas warrant extra caution.

• Hades

Hades, also known as The Land of the Dead, is a subterranean world populated with demons, ghouls and spirits thirsty for the blood of the living. Only the bravest warriors should consider walking these dark paths.

• Faery

The Faery world lies in a nearby, but separate reality. Occasionally a Faery hill will exist simultaneously in both Faery and the outside world. During this time, mortals may cross between the two worlds. Faery is protected by the Faery Hunt, a tough band of elves armed with magical bows. Each hunt group consists of 10-50 elves, each with a combat rating of (50,50,100). Rumors speak of a magical talisman, the elfstone, which allows mortals to pass unharmed in Faery, and to summon Faery hills to the mortal world.

• The Cloudlands

The Cloudlands is a small region which floats over Mt. Olympus and the Imperial City. It is generally only accessible by flight. The Cloudlands is home to three cities: Nimbus, Stratos and Aerovia. Weather magic is taught in these three cities.

The Map

Note: Isle of the Ancients is rumored to contain the Imperial City and the Golden City.  Mount Olympus can also be found there.

Sources of instruction

The source of instruction may be one of the following:

• The skill is commonly known, and may be studied anywhere once the category skill is known. When a category skill is learned, the player receives a lore sheet for the category in the turn report. The lore sheet lists the commonly known sub-skills which may be studied anywhere once the category skill is known.

  Some sub-skills within a category may not be listed in the category lore sheet. These are not directly studyable, even once the parent skill is known. They must either be learned from a scroll, a rare book, or through research.

   

• The character is in a city which teaches the skill.

  Many cities offer instruction in skills. Shipcraft [600], for example, is commonly taught in port cities.

  The turn report lists skills taught by the location:

  Skills taught here:
     Alchemy [690]
  

   

• The skill was discovered through research, and is listed as `Partially known' in the turn report.
  

  Partially known skills:
     Improve ship rigging [9999], 0/7
  

   

• The player has a book which teaches the skill. Items which teach skills are shown in the inventory listing:
  

  Inventory:
               qty  name
               ---  ----
                 1  Old book [6001]
  
  Old book [6001] permits study of the following skills:
     Alchemy [690]
  

   

Fee to begin study

A fee of 100 gold is charged when study is first issued for a skill. The payment is used to acquire various materials needed for the study and eventual practice of the skill.

Advanced skills

Some advanced skills require Noble Points to begin study. Each player begins the game with a number of NPs, and receives an additional one each year on the anniversary of their entry into the game. Noble Points may be spent to acquire new nobles, or to learn advanced skills.

Most skills do not require Noble Points to learn. NPs are required for some heroic combat skills and for advanced magical spells.

Study limit

Characters may STUDY up to 14 days per turn. Fast study days dont count towards this limit.

Fast study

All new players are given 100+ "fast study" points. Each fast study point may be applied to a skill being studied in lieu of actually spending a day studying.

For example, the order study 600 7 would apply 7 fast study days to learning Shipcraft. This study order would take 0 days to execute.

Skill Experience

Experience is counted for each turn that a skill use is successfully completed. If a skill is used more than once per turn, only the first success will count towards experience.

Projects which take multiple turns to complete, such as shipbuilding or castle construction, only count towards experience when the project is finished.

use            level
-----           -----
 0-4            apprentice
 5-11           journeyman
12-20           adept
21-34           master
 35+            grand master

 Experience will speed work with some skills. For example, a master shipbuilder will be able to construct a galley somewhat faster than an apprentice. Some skill uses benefit more from experience than others.

Skills not rated for experience

A few skills are not rated for experience. These may be skills which are not directly used, or ones for which experience has no meaning. If a skill is not rated for experience, the skill level will not be shown in the skill listing.

For instance:

Skills known:
     Shipcraft [600]
           Sailing [601], apprentice
           Shipbuilding [602], apprentice
           Fishing [603], apprentice
     Combat [610]
           Survive fatal wound [611]
           Fight to the death [612]

 

Since experience is not applicable to Survive fatal wound [611] and Fight to the death [612], its levels are not shown.

Summary of studying

Teaching

Direct character-to-character teaching is not possible in Olympia. However, it is said that some magicians and alchemists possess the ability to record knowledge on scrolls, which other characters may study from.

A rough example

This is a rough, heavily edited example of how some study commands might look in a turn report. All of the other details that a real turn report would have were omitted to focus on the study orders.

Turn one:

Skills taught here:
   Shipcraft [600]

 1: > study 600
 1: Paid 100 gold to begin study.
 1: Will study Shipcraft for seven days.
 7: Learned Shipcraft [600].

Lore for Shipcraft [600]
------------------------
All skills concerning ocean travel fall under this category.
Shipcraft encompasses the building and repair of ships,
training of sailors, and navigation at sea.

The following skills may be studied directly once Shipcraft
is known:

   num   skill                              time to learn
   ---   -----                              -------------
   601   Sailing                            one week
   ...

 

Further skills may be found through research.

Turn two:

1: > study 601
 1: Paid 100 gold to begin study.
 1: Will study Sailing for seven days.
 7: Learned Sailing [601].

 

(It doesn't matter where 601 is studied, since 600 offers it directly.)

Turn three:

1: > study 690
 1: Instruction in [690] is not available here.

 

(Need to find a location or book that offers instruction in Alchemy)

Turn four:

1: enter xxxx
 1: Arrival at City of Alchemists [xxxx]

Skills taught here:
   Alchemy [690]

 1: > study 690
 1: Paid 100 gold to begin study.
 1: Will study Alchemy for seven days.

Partially known skills:
   690  Alchemy, 7/14

 

(Alchemy requires 14 days of study to learn, seven of which we have completed.)

Turn five:

1: > study 690
 1: Continue studying Alchemy.
 7: Learned Alchemy [690].

Skills known:
   600  Shipcraft
        601  Sailing, apprentice
   690  Alchemy

 

Aura

Aura is a mystical force necessary to cast spells. Powerful mages will have a high aura rating, while apprentice sorcerers may only command a few points worth of aura.

Characters are rated for their current aura level and their maximum aura level. With each magical spell learned, a character will gain one point of maximum and current aura. Current aura is depleted by casting spells, and is naturally replenished at a rate of two points per turn. Current aura will increase until it reaches the maximum aura level. Other ways of gaining current aura may be found as the mage researches his craft.

Spells are rated on the amount of aura which the casting mage must possess. Minor spells may demand only one point of aura to cast. Powerful spells may require a current aura level of ten or higher.

Magician status

Characters receive a rating in the turn reports based on their magical abiliity:

maximum aura            label
------------            -----
   6-10                 conjurer
  11-15                 mage
  16-20                 wizard
  21-30                 sorcerer
  30+                   ??

 

For example:

Osswid the Brave [5639], wizard, with three workers

 

The Basic magic [800] spell Appear common [803] allows magicians to prevent this label from displaying.

Required Items

Many spells will require the magician to possess a rare or obscure item in order for the cast to succeed. Many of these items exist, of interest chiefly to sorcerers. Roots from plants found only in dense forests, bat's wings, and a dark blue powder which produces a brilliant cobalt flame when burned are only a few. Usually the required item is consumed by the attempt to cast the spell.

Study of Spells

Magic is divided into six schools of study:

num  name                       time to learn
---  ----                       -------------
800  Magic                      four weeks, 1 NP req'd
820  Weather magic              five weeks, 1 NP req'd
840  Scrying                    five weeks, 1 NP req'd
860  Gatecraft                  five weeks, 1 NP req'd
880  Artifact construction      six weeks, 1 NP req'd
900  Necromancy                 six weeks, 2 NP req'd

 

Magical spells are simply sub-skills of one of the magical skill categories.

An aspiring mage will issue the study order to learn the basics of a particular school of magic, known as the category skill. For example, one wishing to pursue knowledge of Magic [800] would order:

study 800

 

Once the category skill has been learned, the mage will receive a lore sheet listing some of the known spells of that school. The magician may then attempt to learn these spells through study.

A character must know the category skill for a school of magic before a spell in that school can be known.

Only some of the spells in the each school are commonly known. The more rare, obscure or powerful spells will need to be discovered via research or by finding magic scrolls describing them.

Knowledge of individual spells in a school of magic is not possible without having learned the category skill.

Schools of Magic

Magic [800]

The most common and well-known of the magical schools, Magic nonetheless has many useful and powerful spells.

Since all cities offer instruction in Magic, and several useful spells may be learned quickly, apprentice mages often begin their studies here.

 

Weather magic [820]

The study of spells to control the elements. Advanced weather magicians are said to research forgotten elf-lore in the hopes of finding tools to battle evil.

Weather magic is taught in Nimbus, Stratos and Aerovia, the three cities of the Cloudlands and randomly in non safe haven cities.

 

Scrying [840]

Scrying is the study of magical far-seeing, the ability to view images or learn information at a distance.

Scrying is taught in the Faery City, and randomly in non safe haven cities.

 

Gatecraft [860]

The study of ancient portals of teleportation which long ago connected distant regions of the land.

Knowledge of this art is taught in all safe haven cities.

 

Artifact construction [880]

The realm of very advanced sorcerers, artifact construction concerns the making of physical items to focus, amplify or otherwise enhance a mage's power. Most spells in this school require the magician to possess high levels of aura.

Knowledge of this art is taught in random non safe haven cities.

 

Necromancy [900]

The darkest of the Dark Arts, necromancy involves trafficking with undead or demon spirits to gain knowledge. Hated by civilized men, feared by other magicians, the necromancer seeks power and domination over the physical world.  

 

Necromancy is taught in the City of the Dead, in Hades and randomly in non safe haven cities.

 

Monsters may sometimes be found guarding ancient books which teach the rare magical skill categories.

Resolution of battle

Each kind of fighter has an attack and defense rating:

                 attack    defense    missile
                +----------------------------
peasant         |   1         1
worker          |   1         1
sailor          |   1         1
soldier         |   5         5
pikeman         |   5        30
swordsman       |  15        15
pirate          |   5 (15)    5 (15)
knight          |  45 (20)   45 (20)
elite guard     |  90 (65)   90 (65)
crossbowman     |   1         1         25
archer          |   5         5         50
elite archer    |  10        10         75

 

• Numbers in parenthesis are for shipboard combat.
• Nobles have strong innate heroic abilities, and so even an unarmed, untrained noble is a formidable opponent on the battlefield.
• A noble is rated (attack=80, defense=80, missile=0).
• A blessed soldier fights with the same attack and defense values as a regular soldier, but has a 50% chance of surviving a hit.
• A pirate fights (15,15,0) on a ship, but only (5,5,0) on land.
• Knights and elite guard receive a -25 penalty to both their attack and defense ratings when fighting on a ship or in a swamp province.
• Peasants, workers and sailors only fight when attacked, i.e. when they are members of a party which is the target of an attack.

Combat is resolved as follows:

1. A random man is chosen from the attacking side to hit a random target from the defender.
2. A random defender is similarly chosen to hit a random target from the attacking side.
3. Repeat, alternating sides until the smaller side has had as many chances to hit as it has attackers.
4. The larger side then gets N hits in a row, where N is the difference between the number of attackers in the larger side and the smaller side.
5. Repeat until a side breaks. A side breaks when its total offensive plus defensive value falls by 50%.

   For instance, a noble plus two pikemen has an offensive value of (80+80) + (5+30) + (5+30) = 230 with a break point of 115.

   A noble plus two knights has an offensive value of (80+80) + (45+45) + (45+45) = 340 with a break point of 170.

   Therefore, a noble with two pikemen will continue to fight if the pikemen are killed. However, a noble with two knights will be declared the loser if both knights are killed.

   The offensive value used is either the attack or the effective missile rating, whichever is higher.

The chance that the attacker will score a hit against the target is:

A = attacker's attack rating
B = target's defense rating

A / (A + B)

 

For example:

A(attack=90) vs B(defense=45)     A has a 2/3 chance of killing B
A(attack=90) vs B(defense=90)     A has a 1/2 chance of killing B

 

If the attacker scores a hit against a noble, the noble will receive a random wound of 1-100 health points. Note that there is a 1% chance that a perfectly healthy noble will be instantly killed, and a greater chance that a previously wounded noble will die.

Wounded nobles do not continue fighting, even if their wounds are minor.

If a hit is scored against a fighter (soldiers, pikemen, archers, etc.), the fighter is killed. However, a blessed soldier has a 50% chance of surviving a hit.

A man successfully attacking a building or a ship will cause one point of damage to the structure. A siege engine attacking a building will cause 5-10 points of damage.

The winner in combat will attempt to take prisoners. The chance that a given defeated unit will be taken prisoner is proportional to the sizes of the remaining forces.

(Taking prisoners in battle and claiming loot requires many soldiers to run after the fleeing enemy. Thus, the chance of success is based on numerical advantage rather than combat skill.)

1:1     25%
2:1     50%
3:1     75%

 

If the winning side outnumbers the defeated force by 2:1, there is a 50% chance that a given defeated unit will be captured. Defeated units which are not captured retreat from battle. If they are occupying a building or are located in a city, they may flee into the outlying province.

The victor always has at least a 25% chance of taking a unit prisoner, but no better than a 75% chance.

The victor will claim the defender's position in the location list if it is better, or will move into the defender's structure, ejecting the losing force. (The attacker may specify a flag to the attack order to inhibit this behavior.)

Prisoners are stripped of their belongings by the victor, including any men accompanying the prisoners, such as workers or peasants. The stack leader of the winning force receives all of the loot from the battle.

When a noble is taken prisoner (including via SURRENDER), a portion of the prisoner's items will always be lost. If a unique item is lost, it will have to have found by exploration of the province.

Front and rear

Units may issue the behind command to declare whether they will line the front or the rear in battle. Rear units do not become targets for the enemy until all of the units in the rows in front of them have been killed. Only missile fighters, such as archers, may attack from the rear.

The leader of each stack (the top-most unit in the stack) will be the last unit to receive hits, regardless of its behind status.

Missile Attacks

Units in the rear may attack with their missile rating. Units in front attack with either their missile rating, or their attack rating, whichever is higher.

Thus, a noble with rating (attack=80, defense=80, missile=40) will do an attack of 40 when in the rear, and an attack of 80 when in front.

Weather effects on battle are as follows:

• Rain or wind cut the missile rating of archers or elite archers in half, and the missile rating of crossbowmen to 1/4 normal.
• Fog cuts the missile rating of all figures to 1/4 normal.

If a fighter's missile rating is zero, it can not attack from the rear. In this case, the fighter will use its attack rating like a regular soldier.

Fortifications

Structures which may aid fighters in battle are rated for their defensive bonus.

Castle Imperius [gx56], castle, defense 25

 

During battle, the fortification rating is added to the defense number for the men who fit inside the structure.

structure               men protected
---------               -------------
Castle                  first 500
Tower                   first 100
Galley or roundship     first 50
Other structures        first 50

 

Attacking fighters may randomly select the structure instead of an enemy fighter. The attack is resolved in the same way as for two fighters, using the attacker's attack rating and the structure's defense rating. If the attacker is successful the structure's defense rating will be lowered by one point.

Once the defense rating reaches zero, further hits will cause the building to become damaged. A fully damaged building (100% damage) will collapse, ejecting its occupants.

Siege engines always select the structure as a target.

engine          attack  defense   missile
------          ------  -------   -------
catapult          25      200       25
battering ram     30      250
siege tower       30      250

 

Siege engines do 5-10 points of damage to the structure per hit.

Siege engines are not used in combat at sea.

Item bonuses

Nobles may possess items which grant attack, defense or missile bonuses in combat. Only one item may be wielded for each category. If the noble possesses multiple items with bonuses in the same area, the item with the largest bonus will be chosen.

For example, suppose Osswid had the following items:

Shield of Achilles [fx78]       +25 defense
Sword of Death [gl23]           +10 attack
Mithril Axe [wt29]              +15 attack
Magic javelin [ht02]            +5 missile

 

Osswid would wield the javelin and axe, and wear the shield. He would not use the Sword of Death.

Nobles automatically use items with combat bonuses in battle. No special orders are needed to wield them.

Allowing entrance and stacking

By default, a unit may not stack with a character belonging to another faction. A unit is also denied entry to a building or ship controlled by another player.

Players may allow units from other factions to stack with them or enter buildings or ships they control with the admit order.

Combat attitudes

A unit may have one of four combat attitudes to another unit:

hostile

Attack on sight.

 

defend

Defend other unit if attacked.

 

neutral

Do nothing if other unit is attacked.

 

default

Neutral to units in other factions; Defend units in the same faction unless either one is concealing its lord.

 

Every character, and player faction entity, keeps three lists of units or other factions which have attitudes declared towards them. A unit is either on the hostile, defend, or neutral list. If a unit does not appear on any of the three lists, it has attitude default.

Example:

player          778                     816
                  hostile 816

units           4205                    6499
                4600                    6530, concealing lord
                                        6599

 

Player 778 has declared player 816 hostile. One of 816's characters is concealing its lord.

If 4205 or 4600 run into unit 6499, they will attack it on sight. However, since 6530 is hiding its affiliation with 816, it will not be attacked on sight.

If 6499 is attacked and both 6530 and 6599 are present, 6599 will aid in the defense, but 6530 will not, because that might give away its affiliation.

If player 816 wanted 6530 to defend the faction's units anyway, either 816 or 6530 should issue the order `defend 816'. This would override the default attitude of units in the faction to one another.

Attitude toward units is considered before attitude toward the unit's faction. Thus, one may declare a faction hostile, but exclude certain units within the faction by specifically declaring them neutral.

A unit must be the top-most character in its stack to aid in defense. If a unit joins a combat because of defend, it will bring its entire stack along, even if the other members of the stack have not declared a defend attitude.

Defenders only help when units are attacked, not when they initiate attacks. For example, if A has declared `defend B', and B attacks C, A will not help B, even if B loses the battle.

Characters declared defend to units which are guarding a province against pillaging will aid the guards if they are attacked, either explicitly with attack, or implicitly via `pillage 1'.

Units which joined a combat because of a defend declaration are shown with the qualification `ally' in the combat report.

Tax base

Each province generates a tax base each month. The amount of gold fed into the tax base is determined by the civilization level of the province:

civ level       tax gold
---------       --------
wilderness         50
civ-1             100
civ-2             150
civ-3             200
civ-4             250
civ-5             300
civ-6             350
civ-7             400

 

Cities add a flat 100 gold/month to their province's tax base.

The tax base support garrisons, can be collected by castles, or seized through pillaging.

Pillaging and opium consumption reduce the future tax base of a province.

A city's tax base is added to the province's tax base at the end of the turn. If the city is pillaged during the month, the amount transferred to the province will be diminished.

Gold left in the province at the end of the turn does not accumulate.

Castles

Castles are the foundation of land ownership. A castle provides its owner with taxes from the province it is located in, as well as from garrisons in other provinces which are bound to the castle.

The owner of a castle automatically receives half of the remaining tax base from the castle's province at the end of each month. If a garrison is stationed in the same province as a castle, the garrison will first pay maintenance from the province's tax base, then the castle will collect half of whatever is left.

Each province may contain only one castle. The castle must be built in the outer province or in a city, if the province has one. (Tax revenue for the castle is the same no matter where it is built.) Castles may not be built inside other sublocations.

A castle alone is not sufficient to rule a province. A garrison must be stationed outside the castle in the province to protect it.

Garrisons

Garrisons are groups of men who are stationed in provinces to protect them, and collect taxes in the name of a castle. Garrisons must be created with the garrison order, and must be bound to a castle located in the same region.

For example, suppose that the region Lesser Atnos had 20 provinces. One of these provinces contains Amber Keep [0909]. A garrison bound to Amber Keep could be stationed in each of the 20 provinces (including the province containing the castle itself).

Continuing the example, garrison units not in the Lesser Atnos region could not be bound to Amber Keep. The castle a garrison is bound to must be in the same region.

Garrisons can be bound to any castle in the region. If Lesser Atnos had two castles, some of the garrisons could be bound to one, and the rest to the second castle.

More about garrisons

A garrison in a province containing a castle must be bound to that castle.

A garrison may only be installed in a province adjoining a province which already contains a garrison bound to the same castle, or the province the castle is in.

Garrisons are established with the `garrison castle' order. Ten soldiers are required to create a garrison. The garrison order must be issue at the outer level of a province; one can't establish a garrison while inside a city, building or other sublocation.

The garrison pays the maintenance cost of its men directly from the tax base of the province. Half of the remaining tax base is forwarded to the castle the garrison is bound to.

For example, a garrison of ten soldiers would require 20 gold per month to support. This would leave 280 gold remaining in a typical province. 50% of this, or 140 gold, would be forwarded to the owner of the garrison's castle.

Example:

> garrison cy09
Installed Garrison [780], garrison, on guard, with ten soldiers

 

Visitors to this province would see:

Province controlled by Amber Keep [0909], castle, in Forest [cj12]
Ruled by Erekosse [5210], baron

 

Note that Erekosse may be located inside the castle, or the castle's owner may have pledged service to him, in which case Erekosse could be anywhere.

Garrison reports

Garrisons do not provide full location reports to their owners. They do notice any resource depletion activity, such as timber cutting or mining, as well as any large or unusual parties which enter their province. This includes any stack of five units or more, any party of 20 or more men, and most monsters or wild beasts.

Garrisons do not monitor activity in hidden locations, even if the players who rule over the garrisons have discovered the hidden locations.

The `decree watch who' order may be given by a ruler to instruct all garrisons to watch for a particular unit. This is useful for locating individuals who would otherwise go unnoticed by the garrisons.

Referring to garrisons

Since a province may only have one garrison, garrisons may be referred to without knowing their entity number. The keyword garrison will match the province's garrison, if there is one.

Examples:

give garrison 12 5
attack garrison

 

Status

The number of provinces a noble controls determines his status or rank:

provinces       rank
---------       ----
   1-5          lord
   6-12         knight
  13-25         baron
  25-37         count
  38-50         earl
  51-63         marquess
   64+          duke
  region        king     (region must have at least 15 provinces)

 

In addition, if a character has control over every province in a region, and the region contains at least 15 provinces, then the character is given the rank of king.

Provinces may be directly owned, if the noble is the owner of a castle, or indirectly, through other pledged nobles.

Pledging land

A noble may pledge his lands to another noble. This grants the pledge target status by increasing the number provinces he may rule over.

For example, suppose there are two castle owners, Osswid and Feasel. Osswid has garrisoned six provinces, and Feasel has three. Osswid is therefore a baron, and Feasel is a lord.

If Feasel and Osswid both pledge to Candide, Candide would attain the rank of Count. Osswid and Feasel would remain at the same rank in this example.

Candide would receive garrison reports for all provinces which Osswid and Feasel control. He would have the same privileges in the controlled provinces: he could take items from the garrisons, alter the names of the provinces or their sublocations, and issue watch and hostile decrees.

However, the income generated by the provinces would continue to be forwarded to the castles. No extra income goes to the pledge target.

Status after pledging

The status of a noble A who is pledged to another noble B will be either A's original status, as determined by how many provinces he controls, or one rank below B, whichever is lower.

For example, a noble with 5 provinces who pledges to a king will remain a baron. However, if pledged to another baron, the noble's rank would fall to lord.

How to sail

The Sailing [601] subskill of Shipcraft [600] is required to pilot a ship. Shipcraft may be learned in any port city. For information about piloting galleys and roundships, see the sail order.

Making ships

Construction of ships requires a character to have the Shipbuilding [602] skill, a subskill of Shipcraft [600].

ship               effort               material
----               ------               --------
galley          250 worker-days          50 wood
roundship       500 worker-days         100 wood

 

To begin construction of a ship, the shipbuilder should unstack from beneath other characters and issue one of the following build orders:

• build galley name of galley
• build roundship name of roundship

One-fifth of the lumber will immediately be deducted from the shipbuilder's inventory and put to use building the new ship. The shipbuilder and his workers will be placed inside the new ship.

At least three workers are needed to begin construction of a ship.

Until the ship is completed, it will be shown as `in progress':

Ships docked at port:
   HMS Pinafore [1111], galley-in-progress, 28% completed, owner:
      Osswid the Constructor [5499], with five workers

 

The remaining construction materials are deducted from the builder's inventory as work on the ship progresses. A second fifth of the lumber is required when the ship becomes 20% complete, a third fifth when the ship becomes 40% complete, etc. Construction halts if the builder runs out of materials

For example, a noble who wanted to build a galley would need to know Shipbuilding [602], have at least three workers, and start with at least 10 wood [77]. (40 more wood is required to bring the galley to completion).

As soon as the required number of worker-days has been invested in construction, the ship will be christened and declared seaworthy.

To resume construction of a partially completed ship, first enter the ship, then issue the either build galley or build roundship.

Ships may only be built in port cities.

Operating a ferry

There are several commands useful for operating a commercial ferry:

fee

Sets the fee passengers will be charged

 

board

Passengers use this to pay their fee and board a ferry

 

unload

Unload passengers once the destination is reached

 

ferry

Signals passengers waiting in port that they may board

 

The captain of a ferry must issue `fee gold' command to set a fee which will be charged to passengers wishing to board his ship. The fee is expressed as how many gold pieces per 100 weight of the passenger's stack will be charged.

For instance, if the captain wanted to charge 1/2 gold per unit weight of the passengers stack, he would issue `fee 50'. (a 50 gold fee for every 100 weight).

The fee is a property of the captain, not the ship.

A character may clear the fee with the `fee 0' order. If no fee is set, then the ship is not considered to be operating as a ferry, and characters are may not use the board order to enter the ship.

Passengers issue `board ship' to board a ferry. The order will fail if the ship is not present, or if it is not operating as a ferry (the captain of the ship has no fee set). board will cause the character to pay the captain the required boarding fee, then move the character's stack onto the ship.

The captain shouldn't issue an admit order to let characters on board who will be paying to take the ferry. Otherwise they could board the ship with move instead of board, bypassing the ferry fee.

Ferry synchronization

Suppose now that the captain has a ship, has set a fee, announced his service in the Olympia Times and with post, and is now ready to ferry passengers. What should he tell them? How will the synchronization work?

Passengers should travel to the port the ferry will be arriving at and issue `wait ferry ship'.

When the ship arrives at port, the captain should order unload to eject his current load of passengers, then ferry to signal any passengers waiting in port that they may now board.

Note that passengers should not use wait ship to wait for the ferry. Otherwise, they will attempt to board as soon as the ship reaches the port. The captain's unload order may not have executed at this point. In this case, board orders might fail because there won't be any room to enter the ship until the existing load of passengers has disembarked.

Example:

Posted by Captain McCook [3402]:
"Captain McCook's ferry to Drassa departs each
 Sunsear on the 15th.  The fee is 1 gold/wt.
 Issue WAIT FERRY 1234 then BOARD 1234 for
 ferry service.   Arrr!"

 

Captain McCook's orders:

> fee 100                 # 1 gold/wt. is our fee
> sail ...                # arrival at port
> unload                  # unload current passengers
> wait day 15             # wait until stated time of departure
> ferry                   # sound our horn
> sail ...                # on to the next port

 

Passengers wishing to travel on McCook's ferry:

> wait ferry 1234             # [1234] is McCook's ship
> board 1234                  # pay our gold and embark
> wait loc destination        # Captain McCook will unload us at the
                              # end of the journey, so wait until we
                              # find ourselves in the destination city.

 

Item combat values

                     name    swamp man-like    beast  fighter
                     ----    ----- --------    -----  -------
             peasant [10]     no       yes      no    (1,1,0)
              worker [11]     no       yes      no    (1,1,0)
             soldier [12]     no       yes      no    (5,5,0)
              archer [13]     no       yes      no    (5,5,50)
              knight [14]     no       yes      no    (45,45,0)
         elite guard [15]     no       yes      no    (90,90,0)
             pikeman [16]     no       yes      no    (5,30,0)
     blessed soldier [17]     no       yes      no    (5,5,0)
       ghost warrior [18]     no       yes      no    (0,0,0)
              sailor [19]     no       yes      no    (1,1,0)
           swordsman [20]     no       yes      no    (15,15,0)
         crossbowman [21]     no       yes      no    (1,1,25)
        elite archer [22]     no       yes      no    (10,10,75)
       angry peasant [23]     no       yes      no    (2,1,0)
              pirate [24]     no       yes      no    (5,5,0)
                 elf [25]     no       yes      no    (50,50,100)
              spirit [26]     no       yes      no    (50,50,0)
              undead [31]     no       yes      no    (10,10,0)
              savage [32]     no       yes      no    (1,1,0)
            skeleton [33]     no       yes      no    (6,6,0)
           barbarian [34]     no       yes      no    (2,1,0)
          wild horse [51]     yes      no       no     -
        riding horse [52]     yes      no       no     -
            warmount [53]     yes      no       no     -
        winged horse [54]     yes      no       no     -
              nazgul [55]     yes      no       yes   (80,80,0)
       battering ram [60]     no       no       no    (30,250,0)
            catapult [61]     no       no       no    (25,200,25)
         siege tower [62]     no       no       no    (30,250,0)
                  ox [76]     yes      no       no     -
           ratspider [81]     no       no       yes   (5,5,0)
            centaur [271]     yes      no       yes   (30,30,0)
           minotaur [272]     yes      no       yes   (30,5,0)
       giant spider [278]     yes      no       yes   (150,100,0)
                rat [279]     yes      no       yes   (3,3,0)
               lion [280]     yes      no       yes   (100,100,0)
         giant bird [281]     yes      no       yes   (200,150,0)
       giant lizard [282]     yes      no       yes   (45,45,0)
             bandit [283]     no       yes      no    (3,3,0)
            chimera [284]     yes      no       yes   (130,130,0)
             harpie [285]     yes      no       yes   (80,120,0)
             dragon [286]     yes      no       yes   (500,500,250)
                orc [287]     no       yes      yes   (20,15,0)
             gorgon [288]     yes      no       yes   (10,20,0)
               wolf [289]     yes      no       yes   (5,5,0)
            cyclops [291]     no       yes      yes   (25,75,0)
              giant [292]     no       yes      yes   (75,25,0)
              faery [293]     no       yes      no    (9,9,9)
              hound [295]     yes      no       no    (1,1,0)

Weights

The weights of some of the animals has been increased a bit. A -1 in a carrying capacity field means that the item will carry its own weight, but nothing additional. Capacity does not include the weight of the item itself.

item name                     weight land ride  fly
---- ----                     ------ ---- ----  ---
   1 gold                          0    0    0    0
  10 peasant                     100  100    0    0
  11 worker                      100  100    0    0
  12 soldier                     100  100    0    0
  13 archer                      100  100    0    0
  14 knight                      400  100  100    0
  15 elite guard                 400  100  100    0
  16 pikeman                     100  100    0    0
  17 blessed soldier             100  100    0    0
  18 ghost warrior                 0    0    0    0
  19 sailor                      100  100    0    0
  20 swordsman                   100  100    0    0
  21 crossbowman                 100  100    0    0
  22 elite archer                100  100    0    0
  23 angry peasant               100  100    0    0
  24 pirate                      100  100    0    0
  25 elf                         100  100    0    0
  26 spirit                      100  100    0    0
  31 undead                      100  100    0    0
  32 savage                      100  100    0    0
  33 skeleton                    100  100    0    0
  34 barbarian                   100  100    0    0
  51 wild horse                1,000   -1   -1    0
  52 riding horse              1,000  150  150    0
  53 warmount                  1,000  150  150    0
  54 winged horse              1,000  150  150  150
  55 nazgul                    1,500  150  150  150
  59 flotsam                      30    0    0    0
  60 battering ram               300    0    0    0
  61 catapult                    300    0    0    0
  62 siege tower                 300    0    0    0
  63 ratspider venom               0    0    0    0
  64 lana bark                     1    0    0    0
  65 avinia leaf                   1    0    0    0
  66 spiny root                    1    0    0    0
  67 farrenstone                   1    0    0    0
  68 yew                           3    0    0    0
  69 elfstone                      1    0    0    0
  70 mallorn wood                 30    0    0    0
  71 pretus bones                  1    0    0    0
  72 longbow                       3    0    0    0
  73 plate armor                   5    0    0    0
  74 longsword                     5    0    0    0
  75 pike                          5    0    0    0
  76 ox                        2,000 1,500   -1    0
  77 wood                         30    0    0    0
  78 stone                       100    0    0    0
  79 iron                         10    0    0    0
  80 leather                      30    0    0    0
  81 ratspider                     1    0    0    0
  82 mithril                       5    0    0    0
  83 gate crystal                  1    0    0    0
  84 blank scroll                  2    0    0    0
  85 crossbow                     10    0    0    0
  87 fish                          2    0    0    0
  93 opium                         1    0    0    0
  94 woven basket                  1    0    0    0
  95 clay pot                      5    0    0    0
  96 tax cookie                    0    0    0    0
  98 drum                          2    0    0    0
  99 hide                         50    0    0    0
 101 mob cookie                    0    0    0    0
 102 lead                         10    0    0    0
 261 pitch                       100    0    0    0
 271 centaur                   1,000  150  150    0
 272 minotaur                    800   -1   -1    0
 273 undead cookie                 0    0    0    0
 274 fog cookie                    0    0    0    0
 275 wind cookie                   0    0    0    0
 276 rain cookie                   0    0    0    0
 277 mage menial cookie            0    0    0    0
 278 giant spider                500   -1   -1    0
 279 rat                          50   -1   -1    0
 280 lion                        750   -1   -1    0
 281 giant bird                1,500   -1   -1   -1
 282 giant lizard              1,000   -1   -1    0
 283 bandit                      100  100    0    0
 284 chimera                     800   -1   -1    0
 285 harpie                      500   -1   -1   -1
 286 dragon                    2,500   -1   -1   -1
 287 orc                         100  100   -1    0
 288 gorgon                      200   -1   -1    0
 289 wolf                        100   -1   -1    0
 290 crystal orb                   1    0    0    0
 291 cyclops                     200  200    0    0
 292 giant                       200  200    0    0
 293 faery                        10   10    0    0
 294 petty thief cookie            0    0    0    0
 295 hound                        65   -1    0    0
 401 Imperial Throne               0    0    0    0

Training tables

+--- sailor ------- pirate
    +---- worker
   +----- crossbowman
  /
peasant ------ soldier ------ swordsman --- knight ----- elite guard
                  \
                   +---- archer ------ elite archer
                    +--- pikeman
                     +-- blessed soldier

 

num  kind            skill  input man       input item        where
---  -----------     -----  --------------  ----------------  ------
 11  worker           none  peasant [10]
 12  soldier           610  peasant [10]
 13  archer            615  soldier [12]    longbow [72]
 14  knight            616  swordsman [20]  warmount [53]
 15  elite guard       616  knight [14]     plate armor [73]  castle
 16  pikeman           610  soldier [12]    pike [75]
 17  blessed soldier   750  soldier [12]                      temple
 19  sailor            601  peasant [10]
 20  swordsman         616  soldier [12]    longsword [74]
 21  crossbowman       610  peasant [10]    crossbow [85]
 22  elite archer      615  archer [13]                       castle
 24  pirate            616  sailor [19]     longsword [74]    ship

 

Combat ratings of fighters

attack    defense    missile
                +----------------------------
peasant         |   1         1
worker          |   1         1
sailor          |   1         1
soldier         |   5         5
pikeman         |   5        30
swordsman       |  15        15
pirate          |   5 (15)    5 (15)
knight          |  45 (20)   45 (20)
elite guard     |  90 (65)   90 (65)
crossbowman     |   1         1         25
archer          |   5         5         50
elite archer    |  10        10         75

 

• A noble is rated (attack=80, defense=80, missile=0).
• Blessed soldiers fight with the same attack and defense values as regular soldiers, but has a 50% chance of surviving a hit.
• Pirates fight (15,15,0) on a ship, but only (5,5,0) on land.
• Knights and elite guard receive a -25 penalty to both their attack and defense ratings when fighting on a ship or in a swamp province.

Maintenance costs

num   kind            cost
---   -----------     ----
 10   peasant          1
 11   worker           2
 19   sailor           2
 21   crossbowman      2
 12   soldier          2
 13   archer           3
 16   pikeman          3
 17   blessed soldier  3
 20   swordsman        3
 24   pirate           3
 14   knight           4
 22   elite archer     4
 15   elite guard      5

Castle improvement

level   stone   worker-days
-----   -----   -----------
  1       50       1000
  2       60       1250
  3       70       1500
  4       80       1750
  5       90       2000
  6      100       2500

IMPROVE [days]

Runs for the specified number of days, or until the next improvement level is reached, whichever comes first.

Castle garrisons

A castle's improvement level determines how many provinces may be garrisoned to it:

castle
improvement   provinces      rank
-----------   ---------      ----
     0           1-5         lord
     1           6-12        knight
     2          13-24        baron
     3          25-37        count
     4          38-50        earl
     5          51-63        marquess
     6           64+         duke
                region       king

(A region must have at least 15 provinces to have a king)

Protection

structure               men protected
---------               -------------
Castle                  first 500
Tower                   first 100
Galley or roundship     first 50
Other structures        first 50

Civilization

Beastmastery

Each use of BREED incurs a 20% chance of an accident which may kill one parent.

The time necessary for the BREED command to function is dependent on the type of animal produced:

beast			days
	-----			----
	dragon [286]         	 45
	giant bird [281]       	 28
	giant spider [278]    	 21
	chimera [284]        	 21
	nazgul [55]           	 14
	lion [280]           	 14
	harpie [285]             14
	all other beasts          7

Quest

where		 what			combat 		how many
-----		 ----			-------		--------
islands		 pirate [24]		(5,5,0)		5-30
		 cyclops [291]		(25,75,0)	1-5
 
caves		 rat [279]		(3,3,0)		10-50
		 wolf [289]		(5,5,0)		3-10
		 ratspider [81]		(5,5,0)		5-20
		 gorgon [288]		(10,20,0)	3-5
		 orc [287]		(20,15,0)	5-20

ruins		 bandit [283]		(3,3,0)		2-10
		 cyclops [291]		(25,75,0)	2-5
		 minotaur [272]		(30,5,0)	3-10
		 centaur [271]		(30,30,0)	3-10
		 giant lizard [282]	(45,45,0) 	1-3

battlefields	 skeleton [33]		(6,6,0)		10-100
		 spirit [26]		(50,50,0)	5-50
		 giant [292]		(75,25,0)	3-10
		 nazgul [55]		(80,80,0)	5-20

graveyards	 undead [31]		(10,10,0)	10-100
		 harpie [285]		(80,120,0)	3-10
		 giant spider [278]	(150,100,0)	3-10
		 giant bird [281]	(200,150,0)	1-3

lairs
		 lion [280]		(100,100,0)	3-8
		 chimera [284]		(130,130,0)	2-10
		 dragon [286]		(500,500,250)	1

enchanted
forests,
faery hills	 faery [293]		(9,9,9)		5-20
		 elf [25]		(50,50,100)	5-20

pits & bogs	 rat [279]		(3,3,0)		5-25
		 gorgon [288]		(10,20,0)	3-7
		 cyclops [291]		(25,75,0)	2-3
		 minotaur [272]		(30,5,0)	1-5

sand pits	 giant lizard [282]	(45,45,0)	15-30

circles of
stone		 skeleton [33]		(6,6,0)		3-15
		 gorgon [288]		(10,20,0)	3-15
		 orc [287]		(20,15,0)	3-15
		 cyclops [291]		(25,75,0)	3-15
		 minotaur [272]		(30,5,0)	3-15
		 centaur [271]		(30,30,0)	3-15
		 spirit [26]		(50,50,0)	3-15
		 giant [292]		(75,25,0)	3-15
		 nazgul [55]		(80,80,0)	3-15
		 harpie [285]		(80,120,0)	3-15
		 chimera [284]		(130,130,0)	3-15

tunnel chamber,	 rat [279]		(3,3,0)		10-50
levels 1-6	 ratspider [81]		(5,5,0)		5-20
		 gorgon [288]		(10,20,0)	3-6
		 orc [287]		(20,15,0)	5-20

tunnel chamber,	 cyclops [291]		(25,75,0)	5-10
levels 5-6	 minotaur [272]		(30,5,0)	5-15
		 giant lizard [282]	(45,45,0) 	5-15
		 giant spider [278]	(150,100,0)	5-15

Experience

Experience

  use            level
-----           -----
0-4            apprentice
5-11           journeyman
12-20           adept
21-34           master
35+            grand master
 

Skill listing and learning times

Skill schools:

600    Shipcraft                          three weeks
610    Combat                             three weeks
630    Stealth                            four weeks
650    Beastmastery                       four weeks, 1 NP req'd
670    Persuasion                         four weeks
680    Construction                       three weeks
690    Alchemy                            four weeks
700    Forestry                           three weeks
720    Mining                             three weeks
730    Trade                              three weeks
750    Religion                           five weeks, 1 NP req'd
800    Magic                              four weeks, 1 NP req'd
820    Weather magic                      five weeks, 1 NP req'd
840    Scrying                            five weeks, 1 NP req'd
860    Gatecraft                          five weeks, 1 NP req'd
880    Artifact construction              six weeks, 1 NP req'd
900    Necromancy                         six weeks, 2 NP req'd
920    Advanced sorcery                   six weeks

Shipcraft [600]
   601    Sailing                            two weeks
   602    Shipbuilding                       two weeks
   603    Fishing                            two weeks

Combat [610]
   611    Survive fatal wound                four weeks
   612    Fight to the death                 four weeks
   613    Construct catapult                 two weeks
   614    Defense                            two weeks
   615    Archery                            three weeks
   616    Swordplay                          two weeks
   617    Weaponsmithing                     two weeks

Stealth [630]
   631    Petty thievery                     two weeks
   632    Determine inventory of character   two weeks
   633    Determine skills of character      two weeks
   634    Determine character's lord         two weeks
   635    Conceal faction                    four weeks
   636    Learn of richest nearby noble      two weeks
   637    Torture prisoner                   three weeks
   639    Sneak into structure               three weeks
   641    Conceal self                       four weeks

Beastmastery [650]
   651    Bird spy                           three weeks
   652    Capture beasts in battle           four weeks
   653    Use beasts in battle               four weeks
   654    Breed beasts                       four weeks
   655    Catch wild horses                  two weeks
   656    Train wild horse to riding horse   two weeks
   657    Train wild horse to warmount       three weeks
   658    Summon wild men                    three weeks
   659    Persuade wild men to remain        three weeks
   661    Breed hound                        three weeks

Persuasion [670]
   671    Bribe noble                        two weeks
   672    Persuade oathbound noble           three weeks
   673    Raise peasant mob                  two weeks
   674    Rally peasant mob                  three weeks
   675    Incite mob violence                three weeks
   676    Train angry peasants               two weeks

Construction [680]
   681    Construct siege tower              two weeks
   682    Stone quarrying                    two weeks

Alchemy [690]
   691    Extract venom from ratspider       three weeks
   692    Make potion of slavery             three weeks
   693    Brew healing potion                three weeks
   694    Brew potion of death               three weeks
   695    Record skill on scroll             three weeks
   696    Collect rare elements              two weeks
   697    Turn lead into gold                four weeks

Forestry [700]
   701    Construct battering ram            two weeks
   702    Harvest lumber                     two weeks
   703    Harvest yew                        two weeks
   704    Collect rare foliage               two weeks
   705    Harvest mallorn wood               two weeks
   706    Harvest opium                      two weeks
   707    Improve opium production           two weeks

Mining [720]
   721    Mine iron                          two weeks
   722    Mine gold                          two weeks
   723    Mine mithril                       two weeks

Trade [730]
   731    Conceal identity of trader         two weeks
   732    Find tradegood for sale            two weeks
   733    Find market for tradegood          two weeks

Religion [750]
   751    Receive vision                     four weeks
   752    Resurrect dead noble               four weeks
   753    Preparatory ritual                 three weeks
   754    Lay to rest                        four weeks
   755    Remove blessing from soldiers      four weeks
   756    Immunity from Vision               four weeks

Magic [800]
   801    Meditate                           two weeks
   802    Perform common tasks for gold      two weeks
   803    Appear common                      two weeks
   804    View current aura level of others  three weeks
   805    Reveal abilities of another mage   two weeks
   806    Tap health for aura                three weeks
   807    Heal                               three weeks
   808    Modern magic script                three weeks
   809    Shroud abilities from scry         three weeks
   811    Detect ability scry                three weeks
   812    Dispel ability shroud              three weeks
   813    Advanced meditation                three weeks
   814    Hinder meditation                  three weeks

Weather magic [820]
   821    Fierce wind                        three weeks
   822    Bind storm to ship                 three weeks
   823    Scribe weather symbols             three weeks
   824    Summon rain                        three weeks
   825    Summon wind                        three weeks
   826    Summon fog                         three weeks
   827    Direct storm                       three weeks
   828    Dissipate storm                    three weeks
   829    Renew storm strength               three weeks
   831    Lightning bolt                     four weeks
   832    Seize control of storm             three weeks
   833    Fog of death                       three weeks

Scrying [840]
   841    Scry location                      three weeks
   842    Shroud location from magical scry  two weeks
   843    Dispel location shroud             three weeks
   844    Ciphered writing of Areth-Pirn     three weeks
   845    Create magical barrier             three weeks
   846    Remove magical barrier             three weeks
   847    Locate character                   three weeks
   848    Detect location scry               three weeks
   849    Farcasting                         three weeks
   851    Save farcast state                 three weeks
   852    Banish undead                      three weeks

Gatecraft [860]
   861    Teleport                           two weeks
   862    Detect gates                       two weeks
   863    Jump through gate                  two weeks
   864    Seal gate                          two weeks
   865    Unseal gate with key               two weeks
   866    Notify if gate unsealed            two weeks
   867    Forcefully unseal gate             three weeks
   868    Reveal gate key                    three weeks
   869    Notify of gate jumps               two weeks
   871    Language of the Ancients           three weeks
   872    Reverse jump through gate          three weeks

Artifact construction [880]
   881    Forge auraculum                    two weeks
   882    Reveal creator of artifact         two weeks
   883    Reveal where artifact was created  two weeks
   884    Cloak creator of artifact          four weeks
   885    Cloak region of artifact creation  two weeks
   886    Curse noncreator loyalty           two weeks
   887    Forge magical weapon               three weeks
   888    Forge magical armor                three weeks
   889    Forge magical bow                  three weeks
   891    Dispel cloaking from artifact      three weeks
   892    Arcane symbols                     three weeks
   893    Destroy artifact                   three weeks
   894    Forge palantir                     three weeks

Necromancy [900]
   901    Transcend death                    four weeks, 1 NP req'd
   902    Runes of Evil                      three weeks
   903    Summon ghost warriors              three weeks
   904    Raise undead                       three weeks
   905    Summon demon lord                  three weeks
   906    Renew demon bond                   three weeks
   907    Banish demon lord                  three weeks
   908    Eating of the dead                 four weeks
   909    Aura blast                         three weeks
   911    Absorb aura blast                  three weeks

Advanced sorcery [920]
   921    Trance                             four weeks
   922    Teleport items                     four weeks

Sailing [601]

Sailing [601] two weeks
-----------------------
Usage:  USE 601 <direction or location>
Or:     SAIL <direction or location>

Requires:  character must be ship's captain
Time:      varies with route taken

Pilot a ship in the given direction, or to the specified
location.  If a location is specified, there must be a direct
route to it from the current location of the ship.

Compass points may be abbreviated:  N, S, E, W.

The character issuing the Pilot ship order must occupy the
first position inside the ship (the character must be the
captain of the ship).

The captain must have a crew to assist in the handling of the
ship.  Galleys require fourteen sailors as oarsmen to row the ship.
Roundships require at least eight sailors to man the ship's rigging.

        ship            crew
        ----            ----
        galley          14 sailors
        roundship       8 sailors

If the required number of crew are not available, travel is still
possible, but will take an extra day for each hand the crew is short.

For example, a galley with only 10 men at the oars will take four
extra days to travel across an ocean route.  A roundship with no
sailors at all would take eight extra days to traverse a route.

Galleys perform equally well regardless of wind conditions.
Roundships may be becalmed and unable to travel.  In the presence
of favorable wind they will travel across ocean routes in half
the rated time.

Overloaded ships do not sail well.  They may take longer than
expected to travel across routes, and are almost certain to
capsize and sink in a storm.  Captains should be careful not
to leave port in a vessel carrying too much cargo.

For convenience, one may use the SAIL order rather than "USE 601".
Knowledge of Pilot ship [601] is still required, however.

Shipbuilding [602]

Shipbuilding [602] two weeks
---------------------------
Usage:     BUILD galley "Name of ship"
or         BUILD roundship "Name of ship"

Requires:  at least three workers [11]
	   50 wood [77] for a galley, 100 wood for a roundship

Time:      250 worker-days for a galley, 500 for a roundship

To begin construction of a ship, the shipbuilder should unstack from
beneath other characters and issue one of the BUILD orders.  One-fifth
of the lumber is required to start construction.  The rest is deducted
as progress on the ship is made (the second fifth at 20% completion,
the third fifth at 40% completion, etc.)

The shipbuilder and his workers will be placed inside the new ship.

As soon as the required number of worker-days has been invested in
construction, the ship will be christened and declared seaworthy.

To resume construction of a partially completed ship, first enter the
ship, then issue the either "build galley" or "build roundship".

Ships may only be built in a port city.

Fishing [603]

Fishing [603] two weeks
-----------------------
Usage:     FISH [number of fish] [days]
Requires:  at least one sailor

Unit must be on a ship on the ocean in order to fish.  Each day
spent fishing there is a 50% chance that the ship will come across
a school of fish.  If fish are found, each sailor will produce one
fish that day.  Provinces generate 50 fish per month which may be
obtained by fishing.

Examples:

    fish         # obtain as many fish as possible
    fish 25      # stop after getting 25 fish
    fish 0 5     # fish for five days
    fish 25 5    # stop after five days, or 25 fish, whichever
                 # comes first

In all cases, fishing will cease as soon as the stocks in the ocean
province have been exhausted.

Survive fatal wound [611]

Survive fatal wound [611] four weeks
-----------------------------------
Usage:   implicit

Knowledge of 611 confers the ability for a noble to survive
a wound which would be normally be fatal.  If the noble's
health reaches zero, either through combat or by other harm,
instead of dying the noble will be restored to full health.

Once the skill has been used, it is forgotten.  To survive
a second fatal would, the noble would have to study 
four weeks to learn 611 again.

Fight to the death [612]

Fight to the death [612] four weeks
-----------------------------------
Usage:   USE 612 <0|1>
Time:    0 days

Normally a side will break when its offensive plus defensive total
falls by 50% or more.  Knowledge of 612 allows a leader to override
this default break point and set it to 100% instead.

    Break at 50% losses:   USE 612 1  (default)
    Fight to the death:    USE 612 0

During combat, only the stack leader's setting for 612 is checked.
612 works both for attacking and defending stacks.

Note that prisoners may still be taken from a side fighting to the
death, as wounded nobles may be too weak to resist being taken
captive.

Construct catapult [613]

Construct catapult [613]  two weeks
----------------------------------
Usage:  USE 613

Requires:  three wood [77]
           three workers [11]

Produces:  one catapult [61]

Time:      fourteen days

The engineer directs the construction of a wheeled wooden frame
containing a mechanism to supply stress to the end of a long
wooden pole.  The pole contains a basket which may be loaded
with stones or other missiles to be hurled against the enemy's
walls, or over them.  A winch to lower the pole and a release
mechanism finish the siege engine.

Catapults are sometimes loaded with the bodies of the enemy's
dead and hurled over their walls, to dishearten the besieged and
spread disease amongst them.

Defense [614]

Defense [614] two weeks
------------------------
Usage:  USE 614

Time:   seven days

The noble will spend time and effort practicing skills and
techniques of personal and combat defense.  Each use of 614
raises the noble's defense rating by 3-5 points if his starting
level is less than 100, and 1-3 points thereafter.  5% of the
time the noble will have an exceptionally good study period and
will gain 10 points.

Archery [615]

Archery [615] three weeks
------------------------
Usage:  USE 615
Time:   seven days

Learning 615 gives the noble a +50 missile attack rating.

Each seven-day use raises the noble's missile rating by
3-5 points if his starting level is less than 100, and 1-3
points thereafter.  5% of the time the noble will have an
exceptionally good study period and will gain 10 points.

Knowledge of Archery also allows the noble to train archers and
elite archers, via the TRAIN order.

Swordplay [616]

Swordplay [616] two weeks
-------------------------
Usage:  USE 616
Time:   seven days

Use of 616 will cause the noble to spend time and effort practicing
swordplay, for use in personal combat.  Each seven-day use of 616
raises the noble's attack rating by 3-5 points if his starting
level is less than 100, and 1-3 points thereafter.  5% of the time
the noble will have an exceptionally good study period and will
gain 10 points.

Knowledge of Swordplay also allows the noble to train swordsmen,
knights, elite guards, and pirates, via the TRAIN order.

Weaponsmithing [617]

Weaponsmithing [617]  two weeks
-------------------------------
Usage:  MAKE   
Time:   as given

Weapons and armor are required for the training of some kinds of
fighters.  Archers require longbows, for instance, elite guard
require plate armor, etc.

Weapons and armor are made with the MAKE command.  The following
weapons and armor may be produced:

    num   item           material
    ---   ----           --------
     72   longbow        yew [68]
     73   plate armor    iron [79]
     74   longsword      iron [79]
     75   pike           wood [77]
     85   crossbow       wood [77]

One unit of the input material may turned into one of the desired
items each day.  For example, MAKE 72 2 would spend two days turning
two yew [68] into two longbows [72].

See the MAKE command for further information.

Petty thievery [631]

Petty thievery [631] two weeks
------------------------------
Usage:  USE 631
Time:   seven days

The skill of the common burglar, 631 allows a thief to work a
city for gold.  The thief may pick pockets, steal from merchants
in the market, enter homes in search of loot, or deceive townsfolk
into parting with their gold with confidence games.

631 may only be used in a city, where there are many opportunities
for the petty thief.  Since reports of thievery tend to make the
city residents tense and alert, 631 may only be used once per month
in each city.

A thief will earn between 50 and 150 gold for each successful use of
631.  There is a 5% chance that instead of obtaining gold, the thief
will be caught and beaten, and receive a 5-15 point health loss.

The amount of gold the thief obtains from the city is deducted from
the city's tax base for the month.

Cities which have recently been pillaged offer no opportunities for
petty thievery, as the residents have already been stripped of their
valuables, and are wary of strangers.

Determine inventory of character [632]

Determine inventory of character [632] two weeks
------------------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 632 [character]
Time:   seven days

Sneakily learn the contents of the specified character's inventory.
The spy must be in the same location as the target.

Determine skills of character [633]

Determine skills of character [633] two weeks
---------------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 633 [character]
Time:   seven days

Sneakily learn what skills the specified character possesses by
crafty observation and spying.

The spy must be in the same location as the target.

Determine character's lord [634]

Determine character's lord [634] two weeks
----------------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 634 [character]
Time:   seven days

Reveals what player the specified character is sworn to, unless
the target character is concealing its identity.  The spy must be
in the same location as the target.

Conceal faction [635]

Conceal faction [635] four weeks
-------------------------------
Usage:  automatic when necessary

Knowledge of 635 causes a character to keep its faction affiliation
secret.  Other units attempting to learn the what player the unit
belongs with the skill Determine character's lord [9521] will fail.

Permissions set for the player of a character concealing its faction
affiliation will not include the character.  For example, suppose
unit [5499] is concealing the fact that it belongs to player [613].
Permissions declared for player [613] (such as ADMIT, DEFEND, etc.)
will not include the sneaky unit [5499], since [5499] will not admit
to an affiliation with [613].

Furthermore, such units will not DEFEND units from their own faction
by default, since this might reveal their identity.

Learn of richest nearby noble [636]

Learn of richest nearby noble [636] two weeks
---------------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 636
Time:   seven days

Must be used in an inn.  The character will chat with the local
patrons of the inn, inquiring as to the recent comings and goings
of other nearby characters, paying special attention to clues
which would indicate the presence of wealthy units.

Use of 636 will reveal the identity of the richest noble within
three provinces of the inn.  Any character with less than 500
gold is not considered wealthy, and is ignored by 636.

Torture prisoner [637]

Torture prisoner [637] three weeks
---------------------------------
Usage:  TORTURE [prisoner]
Time:   seven days

Torture is the practice of inflicting pain on a captive prisoner in
order to extract information against the victim's will.

Torture will attempt to learn what faction the prisoner belongs to.
Each torture attempt inflicts a 50 point health loss on the prisoner.

The chance of success depends on the prisoner's loyalty:

	loyalty		chance
	-------		------
	oath-2		  0%
	oath-1		 10%
	contract	 50%
	fear		100%

Sneak into structure [639]

Sneak into structure [639] three weeks
-------------------------------------
Usage:  SNEAK [building or ship]
Time:   three days

The character will sneak into the specified building or ship.
Once inside, other occupants of the structure will see the
character in their location reports, unless the unit employs
additional methods of concealment.  Occupants will not see the
character enter, however.

To exit the structure by the same means, use SNEAK with no
arguments.

The unit must be alone in order to sneak into and out of buildings
or ships.  It may not be stacked with any other characters, or
possess any followers, such as peasants, soldiers, workers, etc.

Conceal self [641]

Conceal self [641] four weeks
-----------------------------
Usage:  USE 641 [flag]
Time:   three days

This skill allows a character to conceal itself from view.
When activiated, other characters will not see the unit in their
location reports, and will not see the unit come and go.

The unit must be alone in order to conceal itself.  It may not be
stacked with any other characters, or possess any followers, such
as peasants, soldiers, workers, etc.  It may also not be the first
character inside a sublocation, building or ship.  The owners of
these small locations are always visible.

Hiding takes three days to accomplish.  However, turning off
concealment takes zero time.

Use of the skill will set whether or not the unit is trying to
hide from view:

	use 641 1	# Hide from view, takes three days
	use 641 0	# Don't conceal self from view, zero days

Note that attempts to gain entrance to buildings or ships with
the MOVE order will subject to the unit to the ADMIT system.
A failure to gain entrance with MOVE will give the unit away to
the structure's owner.

Bird spy [651]

Bird spy [651] three weeks
--------------------------
Usage:  USE 651 
Time:   three days

The beastmaster employs the use of a bird to fly into an nearby
location and return with a report.  A direction may be given, as
with the MOVE order, or a destination may be specified.  The
destination may be any sublocation in the same province, or
any neighboring location.

For example, a bird could fly from inside a castle in a province to
spy on a tower in a city in the same province.  The bird could spy
on a neighboring province, but not enter sublocations in the
neighboring province.

Capture beasts in battle [652]

Capture beasts in battle [652] four weeks
-----------------------------------------
Usage:  automatic when needed

Wild animals will ordinarily fight to the death.  Nobles who enter
combat with these creatures must either kill them, or be killed
themselves.

Beastmasters with knowledge of 652, however, can capture rather
than kill these wild animals.  The skilled beastmaster will lure
the animal into a trap, or carefully engage it until the beast
becomes exhausted.  If a group of many beasts is attacked, most
beasts will die during battle, leaving a few (or sometimes none)
for the beastmaster to capture.

652 is used automatically whenever the character attacks (or is
attacked by) one of the following wild beasts:

    nazgul [55]
    centaur [271]
    minotaur [272]
    giant spider [278]
    rat [279]
    lion [280]
    giant bird [281]
    giant lizard [282]
    chimera [284]
    harpie [285]
    dragon [286]
    gorgon [288]
    wolf [289]

To capture wild beasts, the noble should ATTACK them.  A regular
combat will occur, and the noble's stack may suffer casualties.
652 does not change the progress of battle, or the outcome if
the noble loses.

If the noble is victorious, however, instead of the wild beasts
being destroyed, their unit wrapper will be disbanded, and the
beast items will be added to the noble's inventory.

The beastmaster need not be the stack leader for 652 to work.
However, the stack leader will always receive the booty.

For example:  suppose Osswid is stacked over Feasel, and Feasel
knows 652, but Osswid doesn't.  Beasts will be captured in
battle, but they will go into Osswid's inventory, not Feasel's.

Use beasts in battle [653]

Use beasts in battle [653] four weeks
-------------------------------------
Usage:  automatic when needed

This skill grants the beastmaster the ability to control animals
in battle.  Any wild animals in the possession of the beastmaster
will be treated as additional fighters.

For example, a character with 10 soldiers [12] and one lion [280]
who did not know 653 would only use the soldiers in battle.
However, a beastmaster with knowledge of 653 would also employ
the lion in combat.

Only the beasts directly possessed by the beastmaster will aid
combat.  Animals owned by units which do not possess knowledge
of 653 will not be used in battle.

The following animals may be used in combat:

    nazgul [55]          (80,80,0)
    centaur [271]        (30,30,0)
    minotaur [272]       (30,5,0)
    giant spider [278]   (150,100,0)
    rat [279]            (3,3,0)
    lion [280]           (100,100,0)
    giant bird [281]     (200,150,0)
    giant lizard [282]   (45,45,0)
    chimera [284]        (130,130,0)
    harpie [285]         (80,120,0)
    dragon [286]         (500,500,250)
    gorgon [288]         (10,20,0)
    wolf [289]           (5,5,0)
    hound [295]          (1,1,0)

Breed beasts [654]

Breed beasts [654] four weeks
-----------------------------
Usage:  BREED  
Time:   varies

Attempt to breed two animals together to produce an offspring.
Not all animals produce successful offspring.  Occasionally,
cross-breeding different beasts will produce strange results.

For example:

	To breed two wild horses together:

		BREED 51 51

	To attempt a cross-breed of a horse and an ox:

		BREED 51 76

Because some animals are often unpredictable and violent, there
is a 20% chance that one of the breeding parents will be killed
in the attempt.

The time necessary for the BREED command to function is
dependent on the type of animal produced:
 
     beast                   days
     -----                   ----
     dragon [286]             45
     giant bird [281]         28
     giant spider [278]       21
     chimera [284]            21
     nazgul [55]              14
     lion [280]               14
     harpie [285]             14
     all other beasts          7

Wild horses [51], riding horses [52] and warmounts [53] may be used
interchangably with BREED.


Possible cross-breeds are:

     Beast 1         Beast 2         Offspring
     ==============  ==============  =============
     peasant         ox              minotaur
     peasant         wild horse      centaur
     lion            giant lizard    chimera
     peasant         lion            harpie
     giant lizard    giant bird      dragon
     wild horse      giant bird      pegasus
     peasant         giant lizard    gorgon
     rat             giant spider    ratspider
     winged horse    dragon          nazgul

Catch wild horses [655]

Catch wild horses [655] two weeks
---------------------------------
Usage:  CATCH  [number of horses]  [days]
Time:   as given or necessary

Attempt to catch any wild horses found roaming the plains or pastures.
Each day the noble will have a 50% chance of catching a wild horse,
if any can be found.  Up to five horses may be caught per month in a
plains province or a pasture.

A unit must know the Catch wild horses [655] subskill of
Beastmastery [650] in order to catch horses.

Examples:

    catch        # catch as many horses as possible
    catch 1      # stop after catching 1 wild horse
    catch 0 10   # try to catch horses for 10 days
    catch 1 10   # stop after catching 1 wild horse, or 10 days, whichever
                 # comes first

In all cases, horse-catching ceases when no more horses can be found
roaming in the location.

Train wild horse to riding horse [656]

Train wild horse to riding horse [656] two weeks
------------------------------------------------
Usage:     MAKE 52

Requires:  one wild horse [51]
Produces:  one riding horse [52]

Time:      three days

Wild horses are first broken to saddle, then trained to respect
and obey whatever riders they may serve.  Once broken, riding
horses become too timid and docile to be of any use in battle.

Train wild horse to warmount [657]

Train wild horse to warmount [657]
----------------------------------
Usage:     MAKE 53

Requires:  one wild horse [51]
Produces:  one warmount [53]

Time:      seven days

Unlike riding horses, war horses must not be broken.  The war horse
should be trained without destroying any of its spirit.  A warmount
is also be taught much more than a simple riding animal, as it
must know how to defend itself and its rider and to remain calm
in the most frightening situations.

Summon wild men [658]

Summon wild men [658] three weeks
---------------------------------
Usage:  USE 658
        MAKE 98 1
Time:   one day

Wild men, or savages, inhabit remote parts of the world.  Savages
communicate by beating their drums to indicate calls-to-arms,
battle challenges, or victory celebrations.

Use of 658 will attempt to summon wild men with drumbeats, and
persuade them to stack with the noble.  Savages will remain with
the noble for 3 months, during which time they will participate
in any battles the noble fights.

To summon wild men, the noble must first use the MAKE 98 1 order
to produce a drum [98].  A drum requires 1 mallorn wood [70] to
produce.  MAKE 98 1 requires knowledge of 658.

The drum may be used to summon wild men with the USE 658 order.
The noble should be in a remote province, preferably surrounded by
areas uninhabited by other characters.  The noble should allow time
for the savage men to hear and follow the drumbeats.  Any wild men
summoned to the province will stack with the noble.

For example:

	make 98 1	# make a drum
	use 658	# use the drum to summon the savages
	wait time 15	# give savages time to arrive and
			# stack with us

The number of savage units in the world is limited.  If all of the
available savages have already been summoned, none will come when
the drum is used.

Persuade wild men to remain [659]

Persuade wild men to remain [659] three weeks
---------------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 659 
Time:   seven days

Usage of 659 will induce a group of wild men to remain stacked with
the noble that summoned them.  An application of 659 will add two
months to the duration the wild men will stay with the noble, to a
maximum of four months.

The savage unit to be persuaded to remain must be specified as an
argument to USE 659.

Breed hound [661]

Breed hound [661] three weeks
-----------------------------
Usage:  USE 661
Time:   28 days

Breed and train for service one hound [295].

There is a 50% chance that a given hound will bark
if any stealth characters enter the same location as
the character containing the hound.  Hounds also have
a 50% chance of barking once per month (on a random day)
if any stealth characters are present in the current
location.

Hounds halve the chance that prisoners will escape from the
stack, and will bark each time an escape attempt is foiled.

Bribe noble [671]

Bribe noble [671] two weeks
--------------------------- 
Usage:   BRIBE   [flag]
Time:    seven days

Offer a character gold in an attempt to win their service.  The
amount must be at least 250 gold, or the receiving noble will not
consider it a serious offer.

Nobles with oathbound loyalty ignore bribes.  They may accept the
gift, but they will not renounce loyalty to their lord.

Nobles with contract loyalty will consider the bribe if it meets
or exceeds their current loyalty rating.  For example, a noble of
loyalty contract-750 would ignore any bribe of less than 750 gold.

Nobles with fear loyalty, or nobles not sworn to any lord, will
seriously consider any bribe of at least 250 gold.

If the receiving noble considers the bribe, there is a 33% chance
they will renounce loyalty to their current lord, and swear fealty
to the bribing character.  There is also a chance that they will
report the bribe or pocket it for themselves.  In some cases they
may even renounce loyalty to their lord, but not swear fealty to
the briber, instead choosing to go off on their own.

Characters who are successfully bribed will have loyalty contract-250
to the bribing character.  If flag is 1, and the bribe attempt is
successful, the bribed character will stack with the briber.

Bribes will be refused by characters who have already switched
lords during the month because of bribery.  For example, suppose
Osswid successfully bribes Feasel, and Feasel swears loyalty to
Osswid.  Later that turn, if Procrustes attempts to bribe Feasel,
Feasel will refuse to accept the bribe.

The bribing character will lose the number of NPs which have
been invested in the bribed character if the bribe is successful.
The previous owner of a bribed noble will have the invested NPs
returned.

Examples:

    bribe 5499 750	# Offer [5499] 750 gold to switch factions.
			# If successful, [5499] will not stack with the
			# briber.

    bribe 3409 300 1	# Offer [3409] 300 gold to switch factions.
			# If successful, [3409] will stack with the briber.

Persuade oathbound noble [672]

Persuade oathbound noble [672] three weeks
------------------------------------------
Usage:   USE 672  [flag]
Time:    seven days

Attempt to persuade an oathbound noble to defect.  There is
only a chance of success when used on oath-1 nobles.  Oath-2
nobles will not leave their lord under any circumstances.

672 costs 25 gold per use, to pay for gifts, fine meals, handsome
clothing, and other props useful in the persuasion attempt.

Each seven day use yields a 2% chance of success.

If flag is 1, and the persuasion attempt is successful, the target
character will stack with the persuading character.

In order to assume control over a new noble, the persuader
must pay the number of NPs which have been invested in the
desired character.  The previous owner will receive these
NPs when ownership of the character is lost.

Raise peasant mob [673]

Raise peasant mob [673] two weeks
---------------------------------

Usage:  RAISE
Time:   seven days

The noble gives an impassioned speech, rousing peasants and causing
them to gather into a crowd.  New peasant crowds will set their GUARD
flag to protect their homes from pillaging.

Peasant mobs may be formed in provinces and cities.  Only one crowd
may be raised per location.  Only when the raised mob is later killed,
or if the peasants return to their homes, may another mob be raised
there.

Rally peasant mob [674]

Rally peasant mob [674] three weeks
-----------------------------------
Usage:  RALLY 
Time:   seven days

Deliver a fiery speech to an existing crowd of peasants, causing them
to stack with the noble.  They will remain with the noble for three
months.  The mob must be specified as an argument to RALLY.

Use of 674 on a mob already stacked with the noble will renew the
peasants' enthusiasm, and add an additional three months to the time
they will remain stacked, to a maximum of five months.

Mobs stacked with the noble may not be given any orders, but will
participate in any combat the noble encounters.

Incite mob violence [675]

Incite mob violence [675] three weeks
-------------------------------------

Usage:  INCITE  
Time:   seven days

Speak out against the target in such as a way as to inspire
public hatred and ire.  The target will be made to seem a
malicious influence responsibile for all of the common man's
troubles.

An existing crowd of peasants must be specified as the first
argument, and the target of their violence as the second.
The mob may not already be stacked under another noble who
has rallied it.

There is a 50% chance that the mob will be roused to attack
the target.

There is also a 33% chance that patrons in any local inns will
learn that the noble is trying to incite a mob to violence
against the target.

Train angry peasants [676]

Train angry peasants [676] two weeks
------------------------------------

Usage:  TRAIN 23 [days]
        TRAIN 10 [days]
Time:   as given

The noble employs persuasive means to rouse mild-tempered peasants
into a state of anger.  Angry peasants fight with twice the attack
value of regular peasants.  However, in their excited state they
are untrainable to any other kind of man.

Examples:

	train 23	# train all peasants to angry peasants
	train 23 5	# train five peasants into angry peasants
	train 10	# calm all angry peasants back into peasants

Angry peasants require a monthly maintenance cost of 2 gold each.

Construct siege tower [681]

Construct siege tower [681]
---------------------------
Usage:  USE 681

Requires:  three wood [77]
           three leather [80]
           three workers [11]

Produces:  one seige tower [62]

Time:      fourteen days

The engineer directs three workers to build a wooden tower,
covered with treated leather skins or iron plating to protect
the tower from burning.  The tower contains several ladders
and a platform from which soldiers may attack.

In battle, the tower is wheeled up against an enemy's walls
and used by attacking soldiers to match the height of the
defenders.  The attackers may then climb from the tower onto
the walls.

Stone quarrying [682]

Stone quarrying [682] two weeks
--------------------------------
Usage:     QUARRY [number of stones] [days]
Requires:  at least one worker

Building stone is used in the construction of temples, castles and
towers.  Up to 50 stone may be removed from mountain provinces or
rocky hills each month, or up to ten stone from desert provinces.

Each worker will cut and prepare one building stone [78] per day.

Examples:

    quarry         # cut as much building stone as possible
    quarry 25      # stop after cutting 25 stone
    quarry 0 5     # quarry stone for five days
    quarry 25 5    # stop after five days, or 25 stone, whichever
                   # comes first

In all cases, quarrying will cease as soon as the supply of ready stone
in the province has been exhausted.

Extract venom from ratspider [691]

Extract venom from ratspider [691] three weeks
----------------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 691

Required:  one ratspider [81]
Produces:  one ratspider venom [63]
Time:      seven days

The alchemist performs a delicate operation to extract the
highly poisonous ratspider venom.

The top of the ratspider's head is removed by inserting a sharp
knife above the head joint and twisting.  Two glands, from which
the ratspider venom is later extracted, are removed from behind
the mandible.

Risk is minimized by taking extreme care when handling the
ratspider.  The ratspider is killed in the process. 

Make potion of slavery [692]

Make potion of slavery [692]  three weeks
-----------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 692

Required:  one ratspider venom [63]
Time:      seven days

The alchemist brews a potion which, when ingested by a character,
causes that character to become a servant of the alchemist.
The unfortunate noble will swear fealty to the alchemist and
promise to do his bidding.

Use of the potion is dangerous:  there is a 33% chance that
the noble who drinks it will die.

The rare and highly poisonous ratspider venom is used in the
preparation of this potion.  Upon completion, the new potion
will be added to the alchemist's inventory.  The potion will,
of course, be unlabeled.

A character wishing to drink the potion should specify it
to the USE order.  For instance, to drink potion [601], issue
the order:  USE 601.

The creator of a potion must have the necessary NPs to assume
control of the character who drinks the slavery potion.  The
previous owner of the unfortunate character will have their NPs
returned.

Brew healing potion [693]

Brew healing potion [693]  three weeks
--------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 693

Required:  avinia leaf [65]
Time:      seven days

The alchemist brews a potion of healing.  Any character
ingesting the potion will be cured of any illness and
begin to recover.  The character may also receive a
random increase in their health rating.

Upon completion, the potion will be added to the alchemist's
inventory.  The potion's label will not reveal its purpose.

A character wishing to drink the potion should specify it
to the USE order.  For instance, to drink potion [602], issue
the order:  USE 602.

Brew potion of death [694]

Brew potion of death [694]
--------------------------
Usage:  USE 694

Required:  lana bark [64]
Time:      ten days

The alchemist brews a potion which will cause instant death
to any character which drinks it.

Upon completion, the potion will be added to the alchemist's
inventory.  The potion's label will not reveal its sinister
purpose.

A character wishing to drink the potion should specify it
to the USE order.  For instance, to drink potion [603], issue
the order:  USE 603.

Record skill on scroll [695]

Record skill on scroll [695]
----------------------------
Usage:  USE 695 

Requires:  blank scroll [84]
Time:      seven or more days

Record the given skill on a blank scroll.  The blank scroll will be
consumed, and a new unique scroll will be produced.  The new scroll
will allow another character to learn the skill.

Example:

    USE 695 nnnn     # make a study scroll for skill nnnn

Magical skills may not be scribed with this skill.

The skill must be known in order to be written.  The character will
still know the skill after writing it.

This skill requires as much time as the recorded skill takes to learn.
Writing a skill which requires two weeks of study to learn will take
two weeks.

Collect rare elements [696]

Collect rare elements [696]
---------------------------
Usage:  COLLECT  [number] [days]
Time:   as given or necessary

The noble will seek rare elements to collect.  See the COLLECT order
for details on the syntax of the arguments and an explanation of the
columns in the following table.

The followings kinds of rare elements may be collected with this skill:

   num  item         who      where          qty  skill  chance
   ---  ----         ---      -----          ---  -----  ------
    67  farrenstone  noble    caves            2   9584   100%
    71  pretus bones noble    sand pits        1   9584   100%

Turn lead into gold [697]

Turn lead into gold [697]
-------------------------
Usage:     USE 697 [amount]
Time:      one week
Requires:  one farrenstone [67]

Using obscure chemical processes, the Alchemist may turn lead
into gold.  One unit of farrenstone is required as a catalyst
for the conversion.

Up to 20 units of lead may be converted with each use of 697.
Amount defaults to 20 or all of the lead in the Alchemist's
inventory, whichever is less.  Each unit of lead yields 10 gold
after conversion.

Construct battering ram [701]

Construct battering ram [701] two weeks
---------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 701

Requires:  three wood [77]
           one iron [79]
           three workers [11]

Produces:  one battering ram [60]

Time:      fourteen days

The craftsman constructs a battering ram by selecting a large,
heavy tree trunk, sharpening the end somewhat and plating it
with iron, and then suspending it in a movable wooden frame
such that it may be swung back and forth against walls or gates.

The frame receives an iron plated roof to protect the operators
from boiling oil or pitch, rocks, or other missile weapons hurled
down upon them by the enemy.

Harvest lumber [702]

Harvest lumber [702] two weeks
------------------------------
Usage:     WOOD [number] [days]
Time:      as given or necessary
Requires:  at least one worker [11]

Workers enter the forest and select trees which are suitable for felling
and sawing.  Lumber is used in the construction of ships, buildings and
some weapons.  Timber is also used to support the roofs of mine shafts.

Must be used in a forest province.  Forests generate 30 wood [77] each
month.

Examples:

    wood         # obtain as much wood as possible
    wood 25      # stop after getting 25 wood
    wood 0 5     # cut timber for five days
    wood 25 5    # stop after five days, or 25 wood, whichever
                 # comes first

In all cases, timber cutting will cease as soon as the forest's supply
of wood for the month has been exhausted.

WOOD is an alias for COLLECT 77.

Harvest yew [703]

Harvest yew [703] two weeks
---------------------------
Usage:     YEW [number] [days]
Times:     as given or necessary
Requires:  at least one worker [11]

Workers enter a yew grove and select yew trees which are suitable for
collection.  Yew is used in the making of longbows.

Must be used in a yew grove.  Yew groves generate 5 yew [68] each month.

Examples:

    yew         # obtain as much yew as possible
    yew 1       # stop after getting 1 yew
    yew 0 4     # cut yew for four days

In all cases, yew harvesting will cease as soon as the grove's supply
of yew for the month has been exhausted.

YEW is an alias for COLLECT 68.

Collect rare foliage [704]

Collect rare foliage [704] two weeks
------------------------------------
Usage:  COLLECT <item> [number] [days]
Time:   as given or necessary

The noble will seek rare foliage to collect.  See the COLLECT order
for details on the syntax of the arguments and an explanation of the
columns in the following table.

The followings kinds of rare foliage may be collected with this skill:

   num  item         who      where            qty  skill  chance
   ---  ----         ---      -----            ---  -----  ------
    64  lana bark    noble    circle of trees    3   704     50%
    65  avinia leaf  noble    mallorn grove      2   704     20%
    66  spiny root   noble    bogs, pits         4   704     25%
    66  spiny root   noble    swamps             1   704     25%

Harvest mallorn wood [705]

Harvest mallorn wood [705] two weeks
-------- ----------------------------
Usage:    MALLORN [number] [days]
Time:     as given or necessary

Mallorn groves produce two units of mallorn wood [70] which may be
harvested each month.

Because of the careful selection required, and the small quantity of
mallorn which becomes ready to cut each month, a noble works at this
task alone.  No workers are needed for mallorn wood cutting.

Each day spent using MALLORN gives a 20% chance of obtaining one
unit of mallorn wood [70].

Examples:

    mallorn         # obtain as much mallorn wood as possible
    mallorn 2       # stop after getting 2 mallorn wood
    mallorn 0 5     # cut mallorn wood for five days
    mallorn 2 5     # stop after five days, or 2 mallorn wood, whichever
                    # comes first

In all cases, mallorn cutting will cease as soon as the groves's supply
for the month has been exhausted.

MALLORN is an alias for COLLECT 70.

Harvest opium [706]

Harvest opium [706] two weeks
-----------------------------
Usage:    OPIUM [number] [days]
Time:     as given or necessary

Poppy fields produce 25 harvestable opium [93] each month.
A noble using the OPIUM command will collect one unit of opium
each day.

Examples:

    opium          # obtain as much opium as possible
    opium 25       # stop after getting 25 opium
    opium 0 5      # harvest opium for five days
    opium 25 5     # stop after five days, or 25 opium, whichever
                   # comes first

In all cases, opium harvesting will cease as soon as the field's supply
for the month has been exhausted.

OPIUM is an alias for COLLECT 93.

Improve opium production [707]

Improve opium production [707] two weeks
----------------------------------------
Usage:    USE 707
Time:     seven days

Use of 707 causes the noble to pay special attention to the
development of a poppy field.  Through appropriate fertilization
and agressive weed and pest control, the opium production of the
poppy field will be doubled in the following month, from 25 to 50
units of opium.

Mine iron [721]

Mine iron [721]  two weeks
--------------------------
Usage:  USE 721

Requires:  ten workers
Time:      7 days

Iron is widely used in the making of weapons and armor.  It
is a required component of many of the weaponsmithing skill
uses, and is also used for applying a metal tip to galley
rams and battering rams.  An iron roof provides a protective
cover for siege towers.

The character must be in a mine shaft to USE 721.  The mine's
monthly yield of iron will be obtained.  Once mined, no further
iron can be mined until the next month.

Use of this skill will cause the mine shaft to become one-third
of a level deeper.

The quantity of iron obtained will vary with the depth of the
shaft.  The largest deposits of iron are usually found in
shallow mines.

Mine gold [722]

Mine gold [722] two weeks
-------------------------
Usage:  USE 722

Requires:  ten workers
Time:      7 days

Gold is widely accepted as a currency in Olympia.  Its
scarcity lends gold a high value, but it is not so rare
that it cannot be used in the everyday exchange of goods.
It has a high value, but weighs little, and thus is easy to
carry.  Gold is also readily assayable to guarantee its value.

The character must be in a mine shaft to USE 722.  The mine's
monthly yield of gold will be obtained.  Once mined, no further
gold can be mined until the next month.

Use of this skill will cause the mine shaft to become one-third
of a level deeper.

The quantity of gold obtained will vary with the depth of the
shaft.

Mine mithril [723]

Mine mithril [723] two weeks
----------------------------
Usage:  USE 723

Requires:  ten workers
Time:      7 days

Mithril is a magical metal used in the by the ancient
elf-lords to construct their bright, fearsome weapons.
Today mithril is the component of some rare construction
skills.

The character must be in a mine shaft to USE 723.  The mine's
monthly yield of mithril will be obtained.  Once mined, no
further mithril can be mined until the next month.

Use of this skill will cause the mine shaft to become one-third
of a level deeper.

The quantity of mithril obtained will vary with the depth of the
shaft.  Mithril is usually found only in very deep mines.  As
the dangers of poison gasses or collapse of the mine shaft increase
with depth, mithril mining tends to be risky.

Conceal identity of trader [731]

Conceal identity of trader [731] two weeks
------------------------------------------
Usage:  BUY      1
        SELL     1

This skill allows a trader to conceal his identity when
dealing with a market.  By working through middlemen and
employing shady contacts, the trader will not reveal his
identity to the other party to his transaction, or to the
market at large.

To use this skill, the trader should supply a "1" flag as
the fifth argument to the BUY or SELL command.  Note that
The first four arguments must be specified; use "0" for
have-left if it is to be left as the default.

For example, to conceal one's identity when selling 10
pots for 2 gold each, issue the order:

	sell 95 10 2 0 1

If the conceal trade flag is supplied, but the character
does not know 731, the BUY or SELL order will fail.

Find tradegood for sale [732]

Find tradegood for sale [732] two weeks
---------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 732
Time:   21 days

Use of 732 searches for a seller of a new rare
tradegood in the city market.  At the completion of use,
a new tradegood will be created and offered for sale by
the city.

Up to two tradegoods may be sold by each market.
Use of 732 will fail if there are already two rare
tradegoods for sale in the city.

The tradegood will remain for sale in the city for
24-36 months following its addition to the trade list.
At the end of this period it will be removed and no
longer offered for sale (lowering the count of tradegoods
sold in the city by 1).

732 must be used in a city in part of the regular world
(not Hades, Faery, the Cloudlands, or Subworld.)

Markets for rare tradegoods created with 732 may be
found via the skill Find market for tradegood [733].

Find market for tradegood [733]

Find market for tradegood [733] two weeks
------------ -----------------------------
Usage:  USE 733 <tradegood>
Time:   14 days

Use of 733 will attempt to find a buyer for a rare
tradegood in the local city market.  The trader must
possess at least one of the tradegood that a buyer
is being sought for.

Markets to purchase rare tradegoods must be at least
8 provinces away from the market selling the rare
tradegood.  A city will purchase at most two rare
tradegoods.  For a given tradegood, there is a 50%
chance that a city will purchase it.

If successful, the city market will begin buying the
rare tradegood.  A trader can hope to earn 2000-3000
gold in profit if a full quantity of the tradegood
is transported between the originating and consuming
cities and sold.

When the tradegood ceases to be sold in the originating
city, the purchasing city will also remove the item from
its purchase list, thus making room for another tradegood
to be bought.

733 must be used in a city in part of the regular world
(not Hades, Faery, the Cloudlands, or Subworld.)

Receive vision [751]

Receive vision [751]
--------------------
Usage:  USE 751 <ID>
Time:   ten days

Receive a vision of a character, place or unique item.  A
character may only see a vision for a particular target once.

Visions will fail if the target is in a different world than
the priest, i.e. if the priest is in the normal world, but
the target is in Faery or Hades.

Each attempt to receive a vision has a 50% chance of success.

Resurrect dead noble [752]

Resurrect dead noble [752] four weeks
-------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 752 <body>

Time:   ten days

Resurrect dead noble [752] must be performed by a priest
in a temple.  The priest must be holding the body of the
dead noble.  There is a 50% chance of success for each
attempt.

If successful, the character will be restored to full
health in the priest's location, and be under the
command of the original owner.

The defense rating of the resurrected noble will be
lowered by 25 points.  If the noble would have a new
defense rating lower than 1, resurrection is not
possible.

Preparatory ritual [753]

Preparatory ritual [753] three weeks
------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 753
Time:   three days

The priest completes a holy ritual which assures future religious
acts of success.  Many skills within the Religion category have a
50% chance of failure; completing 753 before use of these skills
removes the possibility of their failure.

Lay to rest [754]

Lay to rest [754] four weeks
----------------------------
Usage:  USE 754 
Time:   ten days

Use of 754 will commend a dead noble's body to its final resting
place.  The priest must possess the body of the deceased, and
perform 754 in a graveyard.  Upon completion, the dead body will
be consumed, and the NPs invested in the deceased character will
be returned to the original owner.

Remove blessing from soldiers [755]

Remove blessing from soldiers [755] four weeks
----------------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 755 
Time:   ten days

Remove the blessing from all of the target's blessed soldiers.
Any blessed soldiers possessed by the target will be converted
back to regular soldiers.

If a target is not specified, the target will default to the priest.
The target must be present in the priest's location.

This prayer has a 50% chance of success.

Immunity from Vision [756]

Immunity from Vision [756] four weeks
-------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 756 [target]
Time:   ten days

Immunity from Vision allows a character to prevent scrys
from the Receive Vision [751] skill, and when they
succeed, to detect the identity of the visioning priest.

Each use of [756] increases the vision defense count
of the target character by one point.  If a target is
not specified, [756] works on the priest himself.

A vision attempt by a priest will fail if the count is 1
or higher, and decrease the count by one.  If the count
is zero, a vision by another priest against the
character will succeed.

Characters with Immunity from Vision [756] will be
notified of vision attempts against them, and will
learn the identity of the visioning priest.

Vision defense point are only deceased in response to
a vision attempt from another priest.  The current
vision defense level will be listed in the character's
turn report.

Meditate [801]

Meditate [801] two weeks
------------------------
Usage:  USE 801

Required aura:  none
Time to cast:   seven days

The magician enters a restful trance which regenerates body, mind
and current aura level.  Current aura level will rise by one point
or 5% of the mage's maximum aura level, whichever is higher.

Meditation is limited to raising current aura to one point above
maximum aura.

Perform common tasks for gold [802]

Perform common tasks for gold [802] two weeks
---------------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 802 [days]

Required aura:  none
Time to cast:   as given

Even powerful magicians sometimes require gold to further their plans.
This skill allows the magician to perform trivial or common tasks for
the local population of a city or province to earn gold.

Examples of common tasks are curing runny noses, concocting love
potions, dowsing for water, or performing conjuring tricks.

This skill earns 10 gold per day for the mage, while work at common
tasks is available.  Cities and provinces support 5 days of work at
common tasks for each point of civilization level.  For example, a
civ-2 city will allow a mage to work for 10 days at common tasks,
earning 100 gold.

If multiple mages work the same location, they compete for the
available work.  Two mages who each began using 802 on the first
day of the month in a civ-2 province would each work for five days,
and each would earn 50 gold.  See the COLLECT order for more details
regarding competition for resources.

Appear common [803]

Appear common [803] two weeks
-----------------------------
Usage:  USE 803 [aura]

Required aura:  as given
Time to cast:   one day

The caster expends aura to conceal the fact that he is a magician.
Nobles who possess magical powers are identified to others in the turn
reports with a tag:

        max aura        tag
        --------        ---
          6-10          conjurer
         11-15          mage
         16-20          wizard
         21-30          sorcerer
          30+             ??

Use of 803 allows the tag to be suppressed for a number of turns
equal to the amount of aura invested in the cast.

Uses of 803 are addititive.  A mage with 4 turns of concealment
remaining who ordered "use 803 3" would have a total of seven turns
of concealment.

View current aura level of others [804]

View current aura level of others [804] three weeks
---------------------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 804 [aura]

Required aura:  one or more points, as given
Required item:
Time to cast:   seven days

The specified aura will be invested to learn the current aura
levels of other mages in the location.  The default amount of
aura to use is one point.

The current aura level of other mages present in the same location as
the caster will be shown, unless they are shrouding their abilities.
If a mage is employing an ability shroud, the aura invested in USE 804
must exceed the shroud's aura, or that mage's current aura level won't
be shown.

For instance, USE 804 1 will show the current aura for mages that are
not shrouding their abilities.  USE 804 3 will show the current aura
for all mages except those shrouding their abilities with three or more
points of aura.

Reveal abilities of another mage [805]

Reveal abilities of another mage [805] two weeks
------------------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 805 <target> <magical skill category> [aura]

Required aura:  one or more points of aura, as given
Required item:
Time to cast:   seven days

Used against another magician, this spell will attempt to
reveal all spells known by the other mage within the given
magical skill category.

If the target is shrouding his abilities, the aura invested in
USE 805 must exceed the shroud's aura, or the spell will fail.
For instance, USE 805 4 (costing four aura points) is required 
to overcome a three-aura ability shroud.

Tap health for aura [806]

Tap health for aura [806] three weeks
-------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 806 

Required aura:  none
Time to cast:   seven days

The mage will dip into his own health to generate current aura.
The health loss received is equal to five times the amount of
aura generated.

For example, USE 806 10 would generate 10 points of current aura,
and cause the mage to receive a 50 point wound.

Use of this spell is dangerous, as any wound runs the risk of
infection, and death could result.  See the section on Health
in the rules for more information about wounds and healing.

Heal [807]

Heal [807] three weeks
----------------------
Usage:  USE 807 [target] [aura]

Required aura:  1-3 points, as given
Required item:
Time to cast:   seven days

Attempt to cure the specified target of illness.  Between one
and three points of aura may be invested in the attempt.  The
default is one point.

The more aura invested, the less the chance of failure:

	aura	chance of failure
	----	-----------------
	 1	      30%
	 2	      15%
	 3	       5%

No healing will take place if the spell fails.  If successful,
the target will cured of sickness, and the target's health will
begin to recover at the normal rate.  The target must be in the
same location as the caster.

Modern magic script [808]

Modern magic script [808]  three weeks
-------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 808 [spell]

Required aura:  two points
Required item:  blank scroll [84]
Time to cast:   seven or more days

Transcribe the given spell onto a blank scroll.  The blank scroll will
be consumed, and a new unique scroll will be produced.  The scroll will
permit one character to learn the spell from the scroll.

Example:

    USE 808 nnnn       # make a one-time study scroll for spell nnnn

Only Magic [800] spells may be scribed with this skill.

The spell must be known by the character in order to be written.
The character will still know the spell after it has been scribed.

This spell requires as much time to cast as the skill takes to learn.
It takes two weeks to write a spell which requires two weeks of study
to learn.

Shroud abilities from scry [809]

Shroud abilities from scry [809]  three weeks
--------------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 809 [aura]

Required aura:  one or more points, as given
Required item:
Time to cast:   three days

Attempt to prevent other mages from successfully scrying
the caster to learn magical abilities.  Creates an ability
shroud with the given amount of aura.  A greater amount
of aura must be spent by another mage to pierce the shroud.

The default amount of aura is one point.

The magical shroud loses one point of aura at the end of each
month.  Successive uses of 809 are additive; USE 809 1
followed by USE 809 3 will result in an ability shroud with
an aura of four points.

Detect ability scry [811]

Detect ability scry [811]  three weeks
-------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 811

Required aura:  one point
Required item:  none
Time to cast:   seven days

Knowledge of 811 will inform the mage of attempts made by other
magicians to scry his abilities.  No USE is required in order for
scry attempts to be detected.  The skill is automatically employed
whenever the mage is the target of an ability scry spell.

USE of the skill will cause the magician to practice scry detection.
Practice should improve the experience rating with this skill over
time, and cause the mage to become more adept at discovering scry
attempts and identifying their source.

Aura is only consumed by this spell when it is used for practice.
No aura is depleted when a scry is detected.

Dispel ability shroud [812]

Dispel ability shroud [812]  three weeks
---------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 812 [target]

Required aura:  three points
Required item:
Time to cast:   three days

Dispels any magical shroud inhibiting scrying of the specified
character's abilities.

Advanced meditation [813]

Advanced meditation [813]  three weeks
--------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 813

Required aura:  none
Time to cast:   seven days

The mage is able to quickly enter a deep meditative state.
Current aura level will rise by two points or 10% of the mage's
maximum aura level, whichever is higher.  Current aura may rise
above maximum aura by two points with Advanced Meditation.

Hinder meditation [814]

Hinder meditation [814]  three weeks
------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 814 [target] [aura]

Required aura:  one to three points, as given
Time to cast:   ten days

Clouds the target's mind with disturbing images and incoherent
thoughts.  The target mage will have difficulty achieving the
proper mental state during his next attempt at meditation.

The next meditate spell issued by the target may fail, resulting
in the mage not acquiring a point of current aura. The more aura
invested in 814, the greater the chance the target mage will fail:

	aura	chance of failure
	----	-----------------
	 1	      10%
	 2	      25%
	 3	      50%
	 4	      75%
	 5	      90%

Hinder meditation [814] directed against mages using Advanced
Meditiation [813] will cause them to only gain half of the
normal aura obtained.

If the target does not meditate, the spell will lose one point
of aura at the end of each month until it has dissipated.  Casts
by multiple mages accumulate on the target, although the spell may
not accumulate more than five points of aura.

For example, if two mages each cast USE 814 501 3, character [501]
will have a 90% chance of failure in his next attempt to meditate.
(One aura point has been wasted, since only five may accumulate on
the target).  At the end of the month, the strength of the 814
spell against [501] will diminish to two points, and [501] will
have a 50% chance of failure during his next meditation.

A mage may cast multiple 814 spells; they accumulate on the targets,
not on the casting magician.

814 has no effect on non-magicians.

The default amount of aura is one point.

Fierce wind [821]

Fierce wind [821]
-----------------
Usage:  USE 821 [storm] [target] [aura]

Required aura:  none
Time to cast:   seven days

Use a wind storm to damage a building or a ship.  The target will
be buffeted with fierce winds, causing an amount of damage to the
target equal to the amount of the wind storm's aura spent in the
attack.

For example, "USE 821 <storm> ce90 5" would cause <storm> to spend
five of its remaining aura points against target [ce90], causing
five points of damage.

If aura is not specified, the storm will expend all of its remaining
energy in the attack.  The mage does not need to be in the same
location as the storm.

Bind storm to ship [822]

Bind storm to ship [822]
------------------------
Usage:  BIND [storm]

Required aura:  three or more points
Time to cast:   seven days

Bind an existing storm to a ship.  The caster must be the owner of
the storm (having summoned it himself, or siezed control of it),
and must be on the ship the storm is to be bound to.

Subsequent movement of the ship will cause the storm to follow.
This can be especially useful if a wind storm is bound to a
roundship, as the roundship will enjoy faster travel while the
aura of the wind storm lasts.

Scribe weather symbols [823]

Scribe weather symbols [823]
----------------------------
Usage:  USE 823 [spell]

Required aura:  two points
Required item:  blank scroll [84]
Time to cast:   seven or more days

Transcribe the given spell onto a blank scroll.  The blank scroll will
be consumed, and a new unique scroll will be produced.  The scroll will
permit one character to learn the spell from the scroll.

Example:

    USE 823 nnnn       # make a one-time study scroll for spell nnnn

Only Weather magic [820] spells may be scribed with this skill.

The spell must be known by the character in order to be written.
The character will still know the spell after it has been scribed.

This spell requires as much time to cast as the skill takes to learn.
It takes two weeks to write a spell which requires two weeks of study
to learn.

Summon rain [824]

Summon rain [824]
-----------------
Usage:  USE 824 [aura] ["Name of storm"]

Required aura:  three or more points
Time to cast:   seven days

Summon a rain weather entity.  Rain storms may be summoned from
forest or ocean provinces.  Once a location has produced a rain
storm, another rain storm may not be summoned from that place
until the first storm has dissipated.

The storm will have a strength of twice the amount of aura invested
in its summoning.  Storms lose one point of strength at the end of
each month.  When a storm's strength reaches zero, it dissipates.

While the storm exists, the summoner will get a location report
for the storm's province.

Summon wind [825]

Summon wind [825]
-----------------
Usage:  USE 825 [aura] ["Name of storm"]

Required aura:  three or more points
Time to cast:   seven days

Summon a wind weather entity.  Wind may be summoned from plains,
ocean, mountain or desert provinces.  Once a location has produced
a wind entity, another wind may not be summoned from that place
until the first has dissipated.

The wind entity will have a strength of twice the amount of aura
invested in its summoning.  Wind loses one point of strength at
the end of each month.  When a wind entity's strength reaches zero,
it dissipates.

While the wind exists, the summoner will get a location report
the province that it is in.

Summon fog [826]

Summon fog [826]
----------------
Usage:  USE 826 [aura] ["Name of storm"]

Required aura:  three or more points
Time to cast:   seven days

Summon a fog.  Fog may be summoned from forest, swamp and ocean
provinces.  Once a location has produced a fog, another fog may
not be summoned from that place until the first has dissipated.

The fog will have a strength of twice the amount of aura invested
in its summoning.  Storms lose one point of strength at the end of
each month.  When a fog's strength reaches zero, it dissipates.

While the fog exists, the summoner will get a location report for
the province that it is in.

Character sightings will not appear in foggy province's location
report.  Characters in sublocations of the province will still
be seen, however.  Consequently, automatic HOSTILE attacks do not
function in provinces when fog is present.

Also, all sublocations of a foggy province are treated as if they
are hidden.  Thus, if a sublocation is already known to a character,
the character will continue to see the sublocation.  However,
locations which have not been visited by a character will have to
be found with EXPLORE before they can be entered (or until the
fog passes.)

Direct storm [827]

Direct storm [827]
------------------
Usage:  USE 827 [storm] [direction destination="" or=""]

Required aura:  none
Time to cast:   one day

Direct an existing storm which the caster has previously summoned
to move to an adjacent province at the end of the month.  Storms
only move once per month, and may only exist at the province level
(they may not move into sublocations or buildings.)

The caster need not be in the same location as the storm in order
to direct it.

At the end of the month, the storm will move to its new province,
and the mage will receive a report for the storm's new location.

Dissipate storm [828]

Dissipate storm [828]
---------------------
Usage:  USE 828 [storm]

Required aura:  none
Time to cast:   seven days

Dissipate an existing storm.  The storm must be owned by the mage,
and be in the same province as the caster.  One-quarter of the
remaining strength of the storm will be added to the mage's current
aura rating.

Renew storm strength [829]

Renew storm strength [829]
--------------------------
Usage:  USE 829 [storm] [aura]

Required aura:  as given
Time to cast:   three days

Invest aura in an existing storm.  The storm must be in the same
province as the caster.  Each point of the mage's aura used will
add two points of aura to the storm's strength.

Lightning bolt [831]

Lightning bolt [831]
--------------------
Usage:  USE 831 [storm] [target] [aura]

Required aura:  none
Time to cast:   seven days

Use a rain storm to deliver a lightning bolt against a target in the
province.  Aura is the amount of storm strength to deliver in the
blast.  If aura is not specified, the storm will expend all of its
remaining engery in the bolt.  The mage does not need to be in the
same location as the storm.

The lightning bolt may be delivered against any building or character
directly in the storm's province.  It will do an amount of damage
equal to the strength of the bolt.

Seize control of storm [832]

Seize control of storm [832]
----------------------------
Usage:  USE 832 [storm]

Required aura:  five points
Time to cast:   seven days

Seize control of a storm from another mage.  The storm must be in
the caster's province.

Fog of death [833]

Fog of death [833]
------------------
Usage:  USE 833 [storm] [target] [aura]

Required aura:  none
Time to cast:   seven days

Use a fog to kill an enemy target's men.  Only peasants, soldiers,
crossbowmen, workers and sailors are vulnerable to death by fog.
Two of the target's men are killed for each point of the storm's
aura used.  If aura is not given, all of the remaining strength of
the storm will be used.

The caster does not need to be in the same location as the fog to
cast this spell.

Scry location [841]

Scry location [841]
-------------------
Usage:  USE 841 [location] [aura]

Required aura:  one or more points, as given
Required item:
Time to cast:   seven days

Grants the mage a vision of the specified place, no matter
how far away he might be.

If the target location is magically shrouded from scry attempts,
sufficient aura must be used for 841 to pierce the shroud.
For example, a location shroud of three aura would require
USE 841  4 to overcome (costing four aura to cast).

It is not possible to scry a netherworld location (a location in
Hades or Faery) from the real world, or vice-versa.

The default aura to use is one point.

Shroud location from magical scry [842]

Shroud location from magical scry [842]
---------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 842 [aura]

Required aura:  one or more points, as given
Required item:
Time to cast:   three days

Creates a magical shroud over the mage's current province.  The
shroud hinders attempts by distant mages to view the location by
magical scrying.

The shroud is invested with twice the aura used in its creation.
A mage attempting to view the location from a distance with a
scry spell must expend a greater amount of aura than the shroud
possesses to succeed.

The shroud loses one point of aura at the end of each month.
Successive uses of 842 are additive.  For example, USE 842 1
followed by USE 842 3 will result in a location shroud with an
aura of eight points.

The default aura to use is one point.

Dispel location shroud [843]

Dispel location shroud [843]
----------------------------
Usage:  USE 843 [location]

Required aura:  three points
Required item:
Time to cast:   three days

Dispels any magical shroud inhibiting scrying of the specified
location.

Ciphered writing of Areth-Pirn [844]

Ciphered writing of Areth-Pirn [844]
------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 844 

Required aura:  two points
Required item:  blank scroll [84]
Time to cast:   seven or more days

Transcribe the given spell onto a blank scroll.  The blank scroll will
be consumed, and a new unique scroll will be produced.  The scroll will
permit one character to learn the spell from the scroll.

Example:

    USE 844 nnnn       # make a one-time study scroll for spell nnnn

Only Scrying [840] spells may be scribed with this skill.

The spell must be known by the character in order to be written.
The character will still know the spell after it has been scribed.

This spell requires as much time to cast as the skill takes to learn.
It takes two weeks to write a spell which requires two weeks of study
to learn.

Create magical barrier [845]

Create magical barrier [845]
----------------------------
Usage:  USE 845 [aura]

Required aura:  one to eight points
Required item:
Time to cast:   ten days

Erects a magical barrier which prevents anyone from entering the
location.  The barrier will lose one point of aura at the end of
each turn, and will dissipate when it has no aura remaining.

For example, USE 845 1 will create a barrier over the location
which lasts until the end of the turn.  USE 845 2 will create
a barrier which lasts until the end of the next turn.

Multiple casts of 845 are additive.

A barrier which achieves eight points of aura becomes permanent.
Permanent barriers do not decay at the end of each month.  They
may only be removed by a magician.

Aura defaults to one.

Remove magical barrier [846]

Remove magical barrier [846]
----------------------------
Usage:  USE 846 [direction] [aura]

Required aura:  one to four points, as given
Required item:
Time to cast:   seven days

Attempt to remove a magical barrier from the location in the
given direction.  If direction "0" is given, a barrier over
the current location will be removed.

The chance that the barrier will be successfully removed is
proportional to the aura invested in the attempt:

	aura	chance of success
	----	-----------------
	 1             10%
	 2             25%
	 3	       50%
	 4	       75%

Detect location scry [848]

Detect location scry [848]
--------------------------
Usage:  USE 848

Required aura:  one point
Required item:  none
Time to cast:   seven days

Knowledge of 848 will inform the mage of attempts made by other
magicians to scry the mage's current location.  No USE is required
in order for scry attempts to be detected.  The skill is used
automatically whenever the mage's location is the target of an
location scry spell.

USE of the skill will cause the magician to practice scry detection.
Practice should improve the experience rating with this skill over
time, and cause the mage to become more adept at discovering scry
attempts and identifying their source.

Aura is only consumed by this spell when it is used for practice.
No aura is depleted when a scry is detected.

Locate character [847]

Locate character [847]
----------------------
Usage:  USE 847 [character] [aura]

Required aura:  one to three points, as given
Required item:
Time to cast:   ten days

Attempt to locate the specified character.  If successful, the
mage will learn the location in which the character is currently
located.

The more aura expended, the greater the chance that the character
will be located.

	aura	chance of success
	----	-----------------
	 1            50%
	 2            75%
	 3            90%

It is not possible to locate a character in Hades or Faery
if one is in the real world, and vice-versa.

Farcasting [849]

Farcasting [849]
----------------
Usage:  USE 849 [location]

Required aura:  distance in provinces to 
Required item:
Time to cast:   seven days

If successful, the location check for the next spell cast
attempted will be made from the given location instead of
the location the mage is in.

The amount of aura consumed is equal to the distance in
provinces from the mage's location to the target location.
For instance, to project a cast into an adjoining province
requires two aura.  To project a cast between any of the
sublocations within a province requires one aura.

The projected cast state will persist until the mage's next use
of magic.  The mage may move before casting the next spell;
movement will not alter the target location for spell projection.

Unless the mage is projecting to the same location he is in,
a magical shroud over the target location will cause this
spell to fail.

Farcasts may not be initiated between Hades, Faery and the real
world.

Save farcast state [851]

Save farcast state [851]
------------------------
Usage:  USE 851

Required aura:   three
Required item:
Time to cast:    seven days

The state where a mage's next cast will be projected to a different
location may be saved with this spell.  A potion will be created
which, upon use, will revive the projected cast state.

For example, a mage establishes that his next spell cast will be based
from Drassa [cx59].  He then issues USE 851 to preserve this state.
Magical potion [8764] is created.  He later issues USE 8764 to drink
the potion.  His next spell will be based from Drassa.

The mage will no longer have a projected cast state after use of this
spell.

Banish undead [852]

Banish undead [852]
-------------------
Usage:  USE 852

Required aura:  number of undead in location
Time to cast:   seven days

Banish all undead from the caster's location.  Requires one aura
point for every undead to be banished.  The spell is all-or-none;
if sufficient aura is not available to banish all of the undead at
once, the spell fails, and no undead will be banished.  (No aura
is used if the spell fails, however).

Teleport [861]

Teleport [861]
--------------
Usage:  USE 861 "location"

Required aura:  one point for each 50 weight
Required item:  gate crystal [83]
Time to cast:   one day

This skill allows a mage to teleport to the given location without
a gate.  A gate crystal is required to fuel the jump.  The gate
crystal is consumed by the jump.

One point of aura is required for each 50 units of weight in the
caster's stack to be transported.

Teleportation between the netherworlds (Hades & Faery) and
the real world is not possible.

Detect gates [862]

Detect gates [862]
------------------
Usage:  USE 862

Required aura:  one point
Required item:  none
Time to cast:   seven days

Identify any gates present in the current location.

If there are no gates in the caster's location, Detect gates [862]
will indicate how far away the nearest gate is.

Jump through gate [863]

Jump through gate [863]
-----------------------
Usage:  USE 863 [gate] [key]

Required aura:  one point for each 50 weight
Required item:  none
Time to cast:   one day

The caster will teleport through the specified gate.  The gate
must be present in the current location.  If the gate is sealed
with a key, the key must be supplied for the jump to succeed.

One point of aura is required for each 50 units of weight in the
caster's stack to be transported.

Seal gate [864]

Seal gate [864]
---------------
Usage:  USE 864 [gate] [key]

Required aura:  six points
Required item:
Time to cast:   seven days

Seal the gate with the given key.  The gate must be present in
the current location, and must not already be sealed.

The key is a numeric password which will be required for further
access to the gate for jumps or other manipulations.  Only those
who supply the key number will be granted access.  The number
should be between 1 and 999.

    For example, if Gate [8192] is sealed with USE 864 8192 123
    then the key "123" must be supplied as a parameter to the
    jump spell, or the jump will fail.

Unseal gate with key [865]

Unseal gate with key [865]
--------------------------
Usage:  USE 865 [gate] [key]

Required aura:  three points
Required item:
Time to cast:   seven days.

Remove the seal from a gate by supplying the key.  The key will
no longer be required for jumps through the gate.

    For example, if Gate [8192] were sealed with key "123",
    the spell USE 865 8192 123 would unseal the gate.
    Jumps through the gate could proceed without supplying
    the key.

Notify if gate unsealed [866]

Notify if gate unsealed [866]
-----------------------------
Usage:  USE 866 [gate] [key]

Required aura:  five points
Required item:
Time to cast:   seven days

Inform the sealer of the gate if the seal is broken, and of the
identity of the mage who removes the seal.  The gate must be
present in the current location to apply this spell.  However,
notification will occur wherever the caster happens to be.

Forcefully unseal gate [867]

Forcefully unseal gate [867]
----------------------------
Usage:  USE 867 [gate]

Required aura:  eight points
Required item:
Time to cast:   seven days

Forcefully remove a seal from a gate without specifying the key.
The key will no longer be required to perform jumps through the gate.
The gate must be present in the current location.

Reveal gate key [868]

Reveal gate key [868]
---------------------
Usage:  USE 868 [gate]

Required aura:  ten points
Required item:
Time to cast:   seven days

Reveal the numeric key necessary to make use of a sealed gate.
The gate must be present in the current location.

Notify of gate jumps [869]

Notify of gate jumps [869]
--------------------------
Usage:  USE 869 [gate]

Required aura:  six points
Required item:
Time to cast:   seven days

Notify the caster of the identity of any mages jumping through the
specified gate.  The gate must be present in the current location
to apply this spell.  However, the caster will be notified if the
gate is used, wherever he may be at the time.

Only one [869] spell may be active on a gate at a time.  Casting
this spell on a gate already notifying another mage of jumps will
displace the previous mage's spell.

Language of the Ancients [871]

Language of the Ancients [871]
------------------------------
Usage:  USE 871 [spell]

Required aura:  two points
Required item:  blank scroll [84]
Time to cast:   seven or more days

The Ancients were a race of wise, powerful men who walked the lands
long before the modern inhabitants had arrived.  Their language is
heavy and descriptive, well suited to expressing their detailed and
complex thoughts.

Transcribe the given spell onto a blank scroll.  The blank scroll will
be consumed, and a new unique scroll will be produced.  The scroll will
permit one character to learn the spell from the scroll.

Example:

    USE 871 nnnn       # make a one-time study scroll for spell nnnn

Only Gatecraft [860] spells may be scribed with this skill.

The spell must be known by the character in order to be written.
The character will still know the spell after it has been scribed.

This spell requires as much time to cast as the skill takes to learn.
It takes two weeks to write a spell which requires two weeks of study
to learn.

Reverse jump through gate [872]

Reverse jump through gate [872]
-------------------------------
Usage:  USE 872 [gate] [key]

Required aura:  two points for each 50 weight
Required item:  none
Time to cast:   one day

Gates were long thought to be one way portals through space.
Most mages believed that returning to the starting location
required a second gate or a conventional journey.

However, it is possible to jump back to a gate from the gate's
destination.  Reversing the direction of teleportation is
difficult, so the jump requires twice as much aura as a
forward jump.

As with a conventional jump, the mage must know the gate's
entity number as well as the key, if necessary.

Forge auraculum [881]

Forge auraculum [881]
---------------------
Usage:  USE 881 [aura-level] "Name"

Required aura:   as specified by caster
Required items:  100 gold, 5 mithril
Time to cast:    fourteen days

Forge a magical auraculum, giving it the specified name.

   An auraculum is a magical artifact which concentrates and amplifies
   a mage's power.  A permanent investment of maximum aura is made when
   constructing the auraculum.  The artifact doubles the invested aura.
   However, since a portion of the mage's pneuma has been bound in the
   auraculum, it is important to safeguard it from being lost or stolen.

In addition to depleting the caster's current aura level, the specified
aura amount will be permanently removed from the magician's maximum aura
rating.  The new object, while possessed by its maker, will augment the
mage's maximum aura rating by twice the amount of aura invested in its
creation.

Possession of an auraculum doubles the amount of aura a mage naturally
recovers each month, from two points to four.

Creation of an auraculum also grants knowledge of the Advanced sorcery
magical skill category.  Advanced sorcery may not be learned in any
other way.

Example:

   A mage of current aura level 10, maximum aura 10 who issues
   USE 881 5 "Ring of power" will be reduced to current aura level 5,
   maximum aura level 5.  However, the new artifact will add 10 points
   to the maximum aura rating of its creator, but only while it is in
   his possession.

       Current aura:   10
       Maximum aura:   10

    1: > use 881 5 "Ring of power"
    1: Attempt to forge an auraculum.
       ...
   14: Created Ring of power [js80].
   14: Learned Advanced sorcery [166].

       Current aura:   5
       Maximum aura:   15 (5+10)
 
Characters other than the auraculum's creator do not receive an aura
bonus from possession of the object.

Since the mage has bound a portion of his aura into the artifact, its
destruction would deal him an instant, fatal blow.  Thus, the creator
of such an object should use all means to prevent it from being lost
or stolen.  However, magical items of such power are hard to destroy.
An auraculum may only be destroyed in the province in which it was
created.

This spell may only be used once.  A magician may only create one
auraculum during his lifetime.

The creator of the artifact may change its name later with the
NAME order.  The object must be possessed in order to rename it.

   > name js80 "Wooden staff"
   Ring of power [js80] will now be known as Wooden staff [js80].

Reveal creator of artifact [882]

Reveal creator of artifact [882]
--------------------------------
Usage: USE 882 [artifact] [aura]

Required aura:  one or more points of aura
Required item:
Time to cast:   seven days

Reveal who forged a magical artifact.  The artifact in
question must be possessed by the caster.

The artifact may be shrouded against magical inspection.
If so, a greater amount of aura must be specified with
882 than was used to apply the shroud.

Reveal where artifact was created [883]

Reveal where artifact was created [883]
---------------------------------------
Usage:  USE 883 [artifact] [aura]

Required aura:  one or more points
Required item:
Time to cast:   seven days

Reveal the location in which a magical magical artifact was forged.
The artifact in question must be possessed by the caster.

Some magical artifacts may only be destroyed in the location where
they were constructed.

The artifact may be shrouded against magical inspection.  If so,
a greater amount of aura must be specified with 883 than was
used to apply the shroud.

Cloak creator of artifact [884]

Cloak creator of artifact [884]
-------------------------------
Usage:  USE 884 [artifact] [aura]

Required aura:  one or more points
Required item:
Time to cast:   seven days

Inhibit the ability of another mage to learn the identity of the
creator of the specified magical artifact.  The artifact must be
in the inventory of the caster.

The more aura used, the more difficult it will be for another
mage to overcome the magical cloaking.

The default aura to use is one point.
Multiple casts of 884 on the same artifact are additive.

Cloak region of artifact creation [885]

Cloak region of artifact creation [885]
---------------------------------------
Usage: USE 885 [artifact] [aura]

Required aura:  one or more points
Required item:
Time to cast:   seven days

Inhibit the ability of another mage to learn the region in which
the specified magical artifact was created.  The artifact must
be in the inventory of the caster.

The more that is aura used, the more difficult it will be for
another mage to overcome the magical cloaking.

The default aura to use is one point.
Multiple casts of 885 on the same artifact are additive.

Curse noncreator loyalty [886]

Curse noncreator loyalty [886]
------------------------------
Usage:  USE 886 [artifact] [aura]

Required aura:  one or more points, as given
Required item:
Time to cast:   fourteen days

Curses a forged magical artifact such that possession by any
character other than the creator will cause that character's
loyalty to erode.  The amount of loyalty lost is proportional
to the aura invested with 886.

For example, USE 886 8192 10 would place a ten aura noncreator
curse on artifact [8192].  Anyone except the artifact's creator
would lose ten points of loyalty each turn that they held the
object.

The actual loss of loyalty will occur on a random day during
the month.

Multiple uses of 886 on the same artifact are additive.

Aura defaults to one.

Forge magical weapon [887]

Forge magical weapon [887]
--------------------------
Usage: USE 887 [aura] "Name of item"

Required aura:  one or more points
Required item:  one mithril [82], 500 gold
Time to cast:   seven days

Create a magical weapon.  The weapon will grant its owner an
attack bonus equal to 5 * the amount of aura invested in its
creation.

Up to 20 aura may be invested in a magical weapon.

Example:

	use 887 5 "Sword of Death"
	> created Sword of Death [ha53].

	Inventory:
           1  Sword of Death [ha53]           0  +25 attack

Forge magical armor [888]

Forge magical armor [888]
-------------------------
Usage: USE 888 [aura] "Name of item"

Required aura:  one or more points
Required item:  one mithril [82], 500 gold
Time to cast:   seven days

Create magical armor.  The armow will grant its owner a defense
bonus equal to 5 * the amount of aura invested in its creation.

Up to 20 aura may be invested in magical armor.

Example:

	use 888 5 "Shield of Achilles"
	> created Shield of Achilles [ha53].

	Inventory:
           1  Shield of Achilles [ha53]           0  +25 defense

Forge magical bow [889]

Forge magical bow [889]
-----------------------
Usage: USE 889 [aura] "Name of item"

Required aura:  one or more points
Required item:  one mallorn wood [70], 500 gold
Time to cast:   seven days

Create a magical bow.  The bow will grant its owner a missile
bonus equal to 5 * the amount of aura invested in its creation.

Up to 20 aura may be invested in a magical bow.

Example:

	use 889 5 "Hand of Legolas"
	> created Hand of Legolas [ha53].

	Inventory:
           1  Hand of Legolas [ha53]           0  +25 missile

Dispel cloaking from artifact [891]

Dispel cloaking from artifact [891]
-----------------------------------
Usage:  USE 891 [artifact]

Required aura:  eight points
Required item:
Time to cast:   ten days

Remove any cloaking spells from the specified artifact.
The artifact must be in the caster's inventory.

Arcane symbols [892]

Arcane symbols [892]
--------------------
Usage:  USE 892 [spell]

Required aura:  two points
Required item:  blank scroll [84]
Time to cast:   seven or more days

Transcribe the given spell onto a blank scroll.  The blank scroll will
be consumed, and a new unique scroll will be produced.  The scroll will
permit one character to learn the spell from the scroll.

Example:

    USE 892 nnnn       # make a one-time study scroll for spell nnnn

Only Artifact construction [880] spells may be scribed with this skill.

The spell must be known by the character in order to be written.
The character will still know the spell after it has been scribed.

This spell requires as much time to cast as the skill takes to learn.
It takes two weeks to write a spell which requires two weeks of study
to learn.

Destroy artifact [893]

Destroy artifact [893]
----------------------
Usage:  USE 893 [artifact]

Required aura:  two points
Required item:  a magical artifact
Time to cast:   seven days

Attempt to destroy a magical artifact.  The artifact must be in the
caster's possession.  Some artifacts can only be destroyed in the
location in which they were created.

Any spells contained in the artifact will be lost when it is destroyed.
Any aura trapped in the artifact will be released into the caster's
current aura rating.

Forge palantir [894]

Forge palantir [894]
--------------------
Usage:  USE 894

Required aura:   eight
Required items:  one mithril [82]
                 one gate crystal [83]
Time to cast:    ten days

A palantir, or stone of far-seeing, is a crystal orb used to
view images from a great distance.  Once created, the palantir
may be used to view a distant location:

	use  

For example, if a USE 894 creates Palantir [6289], then one may
view City of Drassa [cx61] with the palantir by issuing the order:

	use 6289 cx61

Use of the palantir takes seven days.  Any character may use the
palantir; no magical abilities are required.  However, a palantir
may only be used once each turn.

Transcend death [901]

Transcend death [901]
---------------------
Usage:   automatic when needed

Transcend death allows a mortal to pass through Hades unmolested
by the foul and dangerous spirits who live there.  The necromancer
must be alone, however.  He cannot be stacked with any other
nobles, or be accompanied by any followers.

It is also said that when a necromancer with knowledge of 901 dies,
the body vanishes, and the mage is recreated somewhere in Hades,
albeit lacking any of his worldly possessions.

Runes of Evil [902]

Runes of Evil [902]
-------------------
Usage:  USE 902 [spell]

Required aura:  two points
Required item:  blank scroll [84]
Time to cast:   seven or more days

The most basic and powerful of the magical languages, Runes of Evil
may represent vast power.  Descended from neither man or spirit,
they represent the fundamental Commands which shape the world and
its events.  They may represent concepts which men are incapable of
speaking, or even thinking.

Transcribe the given spell onto a blank scroll.  The blank scroll will
be consumed, and a new unique scroll will be produced.  The scroll will
permit one character to learn the spell from the scroll.

Example:

    USE 902 nnnn       # make a one-time study scroll for spell nnnn

Only Necromancy [900] spells may be scribed with this skill.

The spell must be known by the character in order to be written.
The character will still know the spell after it has been scribed.

This spell requires as much time to cast as the skill takes to learn.
It takes two weeks to write a spell which requires two weeks of study
to learn.

Summon ghost warriors [903]

Summon ghost warriors [903]
---------------------------
Usage:  MAKE 18 [days]

Required aura:  one point per day
Time to cast:   as given

Each day of summoning requires one point of aura, and yields two
ghost warriors.

Ghost warriors [18] are spirits of dead soldiers summoned to fight
again on the battlefield.  They have no substance, and thus are
ineffectual attackers.  Opponents will still select them in combat,
however, so they are useful for absorbing enemy hits.

Ghost warriors have a attack and defense values of zero.  One hit
by any attacker will cause them to vanish.

One ghost warrior returns to the Land of the Dead at the end of
each month.

Raise undead [904]

Raise undead [904]
------------------
Usage:   COLLECT 31 [days]

Required aura:  none
Time to cast:   as given

Undead [31] are dead bodies animated with foul magic, summoned
from their graves.  While not particularly swift or strong,
their horrifying nature often inspires terror amongst their
foes on the battlefield.  Thus they fight with combat rating
attack-10, defense-10.

One undead may be summoned per day from a graveyard.
Graveyards furnish up to 15 undead each month.

One or two undead may decompose at the end of each month.

Summon demon lord [905]

Summon demon lord [905]
-----------------------
Usage:  USE 905 [aura]

Required aura:  three to eight points
Time to cast:   seven days

Summon a demon lord unit from a graveyard.  The demon lord will
appear with 15-25 undead and stack with the summoner.

Each graveyard will support the summoning of one demon lord.  No
further demon lord units may be summoned from a graveyard until
the graveyard's demon lord has been destroyed or banished.

The amount of aura invested in the summoning determines the
strength of the demon lord.  The default aura is three points.

	aura	attack/defense
	----	--------------
	 3	  (100,100)
	 4	  (150,150)
	 5	  (190,190)
	 6	  (220,220)
	 7	  (240,240)
	 8	  (250,250)

Each undead accompanying the demon lord fights with attack-10,
defense-10.

The demon lord's service is secured with a bond which lasts five
months, unless renewed.  Demon lords should be banished or have
their bonds renewed before the five months expires, or they may
exercise their wrath on the summoner.

Other Necromatic spells provide for banishment of demon lords and
renewal of their loyalty bonds.

Renew demon bond [906]

Renew demon bond [906]
----------------------
Usage:  USE 906 [target]

Required aura:  three points
Time to cast:   seven days

Renew the loyalty bond for a demon lord.  This spell will cause
the demon lord to remain stacked with its summoner for an additional
four months.  Demon lord loyalty bonds accumulate to a maximum of
eight months.

It is wise to keep a demon lord's loyalty bond renewed, lest it
erode completely, and the demon unit turns on its master.

Banish demon lord [907]

Banish demon lord [907]
-----------------------
Usage:  USE 907 [target]

Required aura:  six points
Time to cast:   seven days

Return an demon lord to the Land of the Dead.  The demon lord
unit must be present in the caster's location.

Once banished, a summoner may again call the demon lord from
his home graveyard.

Eating of the dead [908]

Eating of the dead [908]
------------------------
Usage:  USE 908 [dead body=""]

Required aura:  five points
Required item:  ratspider venom
Time to cast:   fourteen days

A complex ritual is executed whereby the mage ingests the ratspider
venom together with the brains of the dead noble.  The mage will
learn every skill previously known by the dead noble.

There is a 33% chance that the toxic venom of the ratspider will cause
the mage to perish during use of this skill.

Advanced Sorcery [920] cannot be learned through the use of 908.

Aura blast [909]

Aura blast [909]
----------------
Usage:  USE 909 [target>] [aura] [have-left]

Required aura:  as given
Time to cast:   one day

The mage directs a blast of raw energy at the target character.
The target will suffer two points of damage for each point of
aura used in the blast.  For example, USE 909 5201 25 would
send a blast of 25 aura at [5201], causing a 50 point wound.

If aura is zero, all available current aura will be used.  If
have-left is given, at least that much current aura will be
retained, and not used for the blast

It is not possible to aura blast between Hades, Faery and
the real world.

Absorb aura blast [911]

Absorb aura blast [911]
-----------------------
Usage:  USE 911 [flag]

Required aura:  none
Time to cast:   zero days

Knowledge of 911 will, by default, cause the mage to absorb any
blasts of aura instead of being harmed by them.  If absorbed,
half of the aura used in the blast will be added to the aura
of the mage being blasted.

Instead of absorbing aura, the blast may be reflected back to the
attacker.  To set this option, specify a flag of 1:

	use 911 1	# reflect aura blasts back at attacker
	use 911 0	# absorb aura blasts into current aura

Aura blasts may only be reflected once.  If a blast is reflected back
to an attacker with knowledge of 911, the attacker will be harmed,
and will not absorb or reflect the blast.

Trance [921]

Trance [921]
------------
Usage:  TRANCE

Required aura:   none
Time to cast:    28 days

Causes the mage enters a deep trance which lasts nearly an
entire month.  Upon completition, the mage is cured of any
illness or injury.  The mage's current aura rating will be
raised to 2/3 of his maximum effective rating (maximum
aura rating plus bonuses from any items held.)  If the
mage's current aura rating is already higher than 2/3 of
his maximum, the current aura rating will be unchanged.

Teleport items [922]

Teleport items [922]
--------------------
Usage:  USE 922 [to-who] [item] [qty] [have-left]

Required aura:   three points + one per 50 weight
Time to cast:    three days

Teleport quantity of an item in inventory to another character.
Specifying zero for quantity will cause the unit to teleport all
of its inventory of the item.  An amount specified by have-left
will be retained.

For example, if Feasel has 100 gold [1]:

        USE 922 5499 1 50          #  Send 50 gold to [5499]
        USE 922 5499 1 0           #  Send all 100 gold to [5499]
        USE 922 5499 1 100         #  Send all 100 gold to [5499]
        USE 922 5499 1 100 25      #  Send 75 gold to [5499]
        USE 922 5499 1 0 25        #  Send 75 gold to [5499]

Three points of aura are required to teleport items, plus one extra
point of aura for each 50 units of weight to be sent.

Use of 922 is subject to the same permission checks as GIVE.