Global Quests

Global quests are specialty quests that can be participated in all over the game map. These quests are semi Player vs. Player, but players will not necessarily directly attack each other while completing these quests. Each quest chain is separate from all other quest chains and they are completely independent of any faction.

Most, if not all, of the global quests use the Favour system. Most, if not all, also use the Scales system.

Essence of the Shade Lord
The Shade Lord was a big bad that was partially destroyed during an earlier Armageddon. His essence survived, although it was scattered across the realms. With the release of magical powers, the Shade Lord as been able to create a means by which a part of his former self can be returned to Orth.

Tip the Scales
Every game turn, elements of the Shade Lord will be spawned on Orth. By killing off these elements the player earns the Shade Lord's favour. If the Shade Lord is released, the player with the most favour gains control of the Shade Lord.

There are Lawful elements and Chaotic elements. Each time a Lawful element is killed, the scales tip toward Chaos. If a Chaotic element is destroyed, the scale tips toward Law. If either side reaches zero, the Shade Lord is released in either his Chaotic Form or his Lawful Form. When the Lord is released, he will choose which player he will follow.

Over time, elements that are more and more powerful will be spawned on the land.

At any time, a player may choose to spend his favour to earn a much lesser reward. However, this option goes away once the Shade Lord is released.

Essence Types
There are 4 different types of Shade Lord apparitions. For complete details on each type, review the game's compendium.

Crux
- the purpose of the essence (hammer)

Soul
- the heart of the Essence (commander)

Saurian Warmongers vs. Freedom Fighters (Hobgoblins & Desert Elves)
The Saurian weapon dealers and the Hobgoblin weapon dealers are in permanent competition with each other vying for the sale of illegal weapons and armor.

The Saurians specialize in X type weapons, while the Hobgoblins specialize in Y type weapons.

Players will work to win favour from one or the other faction by doing their quests.

If a player does a Saurian quest, they gain favour with the Saurian faction. Favour can be exchanged for weapons at various locations on the map. Similarly, if a player does Hobgoblin quests, they gain Hobgoblin favour and they can trade that in for weapons in various locations on the map.

Each time a quest is done, it moves the needle toward either Saurian supremacy or Hobgoblin supremacy. Should either side take over, it destroys the other faction knocking them out of the game permanently. Furthermore, the players with the 5 highest levels of favour, at the time one faction is knocked out, gain control of one of the winning faction's cities, it's ruler and it's weapon cache. The top player will earn the kingdom ruler, the second player will earn a territory ruler, and the remaining 3 players will each earn a barony ruler. Additionally, the player who has spent the most favour on the purchase of weapons will receive an Artifact weapon.

Crimson Tide (Vampires) vs. Mortem Lupus (Lycanthropes)
The real reason why the Vampires and the Lycanthropes have been at each others throats over the last few decades has long since been forgotten. They now simply see each other as mortal enemies. The bite of a lycanthrope is deadly to a vampire and as such, the vampires seek to rid Orth of their stench. The lycanthropes, in retribution for the atrocities committed on their peoples now seek to exterminate all vampires. Their hatred for each other is deep and unreasonable and neither race is willing to end the blood feud.

The roots of each race can be traced back to "the Original". It is suggested that destroying "the Original" with a Silvered weapon would cause the all Lycans on to lose their lycanthropic status. Similarly, it is suggested that destroying "the Original" with an Obsidian weapon would cause all Vampires on Orth to lose their Vampiric status.

Players can join one faction or the other. Joining the faction earns you either the title "Blood Borne" or "Luna Campe", which automatically puts you at war with the other faction. Players may join a faction by having either the Vampire Hunter title or the Lycanthrope Hunter title.

Any time a character belonging to a position that is a member of this faction kills its foe, they will receive Favour points equal to the target's level squared.

Players may cash in favour at any time in order to receive bounty from their faction. The actual bounty received varies from game to game. Please refer to the game's compendium for exact details.

Any player that has 10,000 points of Favour with their faction may attempt to defeat "the Original". This is an encounter level 32 party quest. The player cannot send an army to complete this mission.

Fair Traders Union vs. Auctioneers
The Fair Traders deal in standard production commodities like food, lumber and minerals. They occasionally have access to some rare materials and flora that might otherwise be hard to obtain.

The Auctioneers deal in slaves and the exploitation of Orth's natural and unnatural resources. They have been openly warring with the Fair Traders because they are cutting into their natural resources market. The Fair Traders have also been relentlessly attacking vessels and caravans carrying slaves where they take the slaves to Free Cities where they can either live out their lives in peace or find passage back to their homelands. Many of the freed slaves have joined with the Fair Traders Union to help them in the quest to end slavery on Orth.

In recent years, the slavers have been growing in strength and number. Backed by the Followers of Arachnielle and Helja's Heart, they have grown more and more bold. Raids on human and Elven outposts were becoming commonplace, until the Guardians of Orth and members of the Seven Sigils began to intervene.