A treatise on the rules of boundary conflict

• Cylill, Councilor and Veteran to the Duke’s army.

In the old Empire, long before the explorers came to Meridian 59, the ruling class of aristocracy used flags to mark the boundaries of their territories. If a lord wished to gain the territory of another without mortal combat, he would command a small group of his soldiery to secretly and stealthily replace the flag of his opponent with one of his own. Each feudal lord had soldiers that were experts at doing such a task, and the bloodshed in these boundary wars was kept to a minimum. This practice grew outdated and soon was sent into disuse as the populace as the society grew towards a more exploratory and scholarly nature than a feudal one.

However, the noble factions and the rebels vie for control of the lands once again. The council, in its wisdom, has established rules for the conquest of land in the struggles between the factions.

THE RULES

These are the rules of the territory conquest, as determined by the councilof Meridian:

Only a recognized soldier of the faction may possess the flag and try to claim the flagpole, but any faction member may support the claim with their presence. There will need to be at least a score of the warriors of Meridian in the land, and a soldier will need to have at least two of his or her factions’ members in the area at the time.

A territory may only be claimed if it is adjacent to a territory that has already been claimed. A territory is considered adjacent if the player can walk directly from one territory to the other without passing through other territories. A special exception can be found below.

Once you stake the claim and place the flag, it will take ten minutes or so for the information to reach the faction leaders via scouts and the power will shift. Unclaimed territories may have soldiers defending it, so be wary, it is best to eliminate the threat before proceeding with claiming the territory. In some cases, common soldiers may be called to defend the flagpole from being taken.

Should the soldier leave the area or be killed, the claim will be considered failed. If failure occurs, it will be at least eight hours before an attempt can be made again.

CITIES AND FACTIONS

Because of the civilians living in the cities, they cannot be taken by force. However, claiming the land around a city will claim the city itself. Please note that cities do not hold any special weight, they are simply another territory to capture in each faction’s quest for the rulership of Meridian.

Each faction will begin in a city. If the city is lost to another faction, then the faction will relinquish all territory claims. The starting cities are also special in that a faction can always reclaim flags around their starting city. Therefore, a faction can always restart a conquest of the territories by starting at their home city.

The faction of Her Majesty, Princess Kateriina, will start in the town of Barloque. The Royal City may be claimed by any faction claiming the territories of The Queen’s Way, the Main Gate of Barloque, and the Outskirts of Barloque.

The faction of the Duke Akardius, will start in the City of Tos. The City of Tos may be claimed by any faction claiming the territories of the Main Gate of Tos, The Border of the Badlands, and the Outskirts of Tos.

The faction of Jonas, Rebel leader, will start in the town of Jasper. The town of Jasper may be claimed by any faction claiming the territories of the Lake of Jala’s Song, the Sweetgrass Prairies, and Deep in the Forest of Farol.

Marion and Cor Noth are strategic positions, and if they are claimed it will count as a favor towards the liege that you follow. I would recommend that you do not misinterpret the significance of these places in Meridian.

The town of Marion is a neutral place, but the taking of these two places will allow you to claim this town for your faction: Deep Woods of Ileria, and West Merchant’s Way through Ilerain Woods.

The town of Cor Noth is a neutral place as well, but the taking of these two places will allow you to claim this town for your faction: The King’s Way, and the Main Gate of Cor Noth.

Please choose wisely when participating in this feudal war, for the council nor the fair Shal’ille will not shine highly on those that use this age-old way of warfare as an excuse to enact wholesale murder. Do not dishonor your ancestors.

Courage and Honor, Cylill, Veteran of the Duke’s Army, Councilor.