
GAMEPLAY: THE IMPERIAL ALTARS
This page concerns one of the major faction-exclusive quest-chains in the game.
We are metioning it in an effort to make sure nobody misses it unwillingly by not checking their mailbox or by ignoring the messages inside.
Why would there be a major communication node in Belitsa? Maybe there was something important there?
Digging deep
The Belitsa occupation corps delved too greedily and too deep and found an ancient evil.
More precisely, they found some old stones and were about to dismiss them, but an aspiring young Seventh path scientist, while playing with a prototype for a new device, accidentally registered disturbing levels of something that she called “arcane energy pressure”. It was definitely the old stones that emitted it.
A young and talented mage historian approached her with his find of an imperial manuscript, mentioning a “Templum Deo Belli”. Their… cooperation, among other things, led to uncovering two major historical mysteries: the origin of the name Belitsa and the fact that the local population was just about to die horribly of ancient magic poison.
Templum Deo Belli
The Temple area had several altars, where offerings in imperial coins were accepted. To protect the offerings from theft, a sophisticated defence system was built. In fact, so sophisticated that, unlike the temple itself, it survived the Mage Wars intact.
Time, however, was not so forgiving, and the system started to deteriorate. The accumulated malfunctions are about to cause a series of arcane meltdowns that will be lethal to the locals and might poison the vicinity.
High risk, high reward
A general evacuation would be the most rational and non risky thing to do. But the high risk missions often come with high reward.
Doing exactly the thing that the system was built to prevent – opening the altars – will:
1) Relieve the pressure and prevent the explosions.
2) Give access to the offerings.
Not to mention the reputation among the local community.
The time window to do that is short….
And now the actual gameplay
1. All factions with a Portal Mail Box will receive detailed information regarding the upcoming crisis from the International Imperial Research Institute.
2. The Institute is a fictional body of faction-neutral scientists that share information willingly with all nations in an effort to solve the issue.
3. By deciphering the information in the messages from the Institute, players can learn the exact location of defective Altars.
Learning how to unlock the Altars and relieve the pressure, however, is entirely up to the players.
Timing
4. Altars are unlockable only for a short period before their meltdown, therefore finding an altar before it has been located by the Institute has little to no use.
Ancient riches
5. Unlocking an Altar will grant you access to riches (Imperial Coins) and international renown (Prestige tokens).
6. If a group unlocks an Altar together (which will usually be the case) splitting the reward is entirely up to them.