Siege of the Crown Lanterns

Four castles

Each castle is entered from its realm. The Castle Board in each castle town, or /castles, shows every castle's holder and when the next siege begins.

When a siege happens

Sieges take place once a week for one hour, and castle maps fall into night while it lasts. Only guild members may stay in a castle during a siege. Members of different guilds that are not allied can fight each other there, while allies never harm one another.

The Crown Lantern

Each castle's inner chamber holds a Crown Lantern in place of the Emperium. It is protected by shields with three hidden weaknesses, chosen when the siege starts: weapon types and elements. Hitting a weakness reveals it and removes a shield. Once every shield is down, the Lantern is Broken for a short time and takes heavy damage. The guild that lands the final blow claims the castle.

Until it is Broken, the Lantern takes only a fraction of normal damage. During a siege the holders can ask the castle's Steward to re-forge the Lantern every few minutes, which gives it new weaknesses, so attackers must keep scouting.

A Blue Mage's Azure Study can read the Lantern and reveal a weakness, and it must be read again each time the Lantern re-forms. A guild Summoner's spirit can chip the Lantern with its elemental abilities and counts for contesting Wardstones (Wardbearer).

Wardstones and sealed portals

Three Wardstones guard the route to the inner chamber, each beside a sealed portal. While a portal is sealed, only the holders and their allies can pass. Attackers capture a Wardstone by standing near it with no defender nearby, which unseals its portal for everyone. Defenders can take it back and reseal the way.

When a castle changes hands, everyone who is not on the new holders' side is sent back to the realm entrance.

The Ashen garrison

A castle that no guild holds is defended by Ashen Covenant soldiers. If nobody attacks a held castle early in a siege, an Ashen assault force marches on it instead. Defeat its Warlord to drive it off. If the assault breaks the Lantern, the castle returns to the garrison.

Holding a castle

During a siege, a display on the castle map shows the time left, the holder, each Wardstone and its capture progress, and the Lantern's shields and discovered weaknesses.

• Your guild and its emblem are shown as the holder on the Castle Board and the siege display.
• At the end of each siege, the castle's tribute of Zeny and supplies is mailed to the guild leader.
• Guild members get 10% off at the castle town's shops.
• Guild members can work the castle's rich gathering node in its Lantern chamber, the only source of Crownstone. It is sealed during a siege.

Guild Expeditions and siege upgrades

The Expedition Quartermaster beside the Castle Board in Prontera takes gatherer-made goods, such as Crownstone, ingots, regional stones, named fish and cooked dishes, as Expedition Supplies for your guild. Each week an expedition sets out for one of the newer regions and asks for its stone, its fish and cooked dishes; goods it asks for count double, and meeting the whole request adds a bonus.

Between sieges, the holding guild's leader or an officer can spend supplies at the castle Steward on upgrades. They last until the castle changes hands, and the Steward, the Castle Board and the siege display show them.