The enemy within
Apr. 8th, 2004 08:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meteordustAuson flushed a dull red, and looked away. "Just trying to stir up a little action. We've been on this damned blockade duty a frigging year."
"Stir up action," Thorne muttered disgustedly. "You would."
- The Warrior's Apprentice, Lois McMaster Bujold
RO.
When I woke up on Sunday morning, the guild castle records reported that Shin Ravenloft had been in possession of Valkyrie Realms 3 for twenty days. By the time I went to bed that night, the counter had been reset to zero.
The is the story of how that happened.
The last few sieges had been unremarkable, and this one began the same way. In fact, no one was attacking us at all for the longest time. Those of us on duty in the emperium room were more than a little restless at the lack of action.
I envied Cyrus and Gargust, who were out skirmishing at other castles as usual. They were involved in the fierce fighting over Balder Guild 3 in Payon, and even managed to take it from Flames of Passion, who had taken it from Slaughtered Saints, who had taken it from EvA, who had taken it from The Dragon's Pride. (Alas, Fatty Chubby Kitties ended up the owners at the end of the siege.)
Back at the ranch, it was still damn quiet. Some of the people in the emperium room asked permission to join the front lines or go skirmishing around the castle corridors. Permission was granted, since there weren't even any people gathered at the front of the castle. I was sorely tempted to add my own request, having spent the last few sieges holed up in the emperium room. But quite a few people had already gone ahead of me, and as always I was reluctant to leave the defence stretched too thin.
The attack, when it came, was sudden. One minute everything was normal, the next Sevenne was paging us on guild chat to say that the front line was down. Attackers flooded the emperium room soon after. I died, respawning in Prontera just in time to hear that Eternal Empire had conquered our castle.
It was 2:00 PM, one hour into the siege and one hour away from its end.
Cyrus came charging back from Payon along with Gargust. No time for recriminations or hindsight, just fighting. I had the unpleasant experience of being attacked by our own guardians - guardians who now served the new owners of the castle, of course.
Seven intense minutes later the castle was ours once more.
We set up our defences again, the emperium room packed with people who were now anything but bored. The surprise attack on our castle seemed to have acted as a general signal, and we found ourselves busy for the rest of the siege.
When things had stabilised a little, Lunakitty sent Cyrus and Gargust off to cause trouble for The Blue Hearts, who had been instrumental in the earlier attack. They were one of our neighbours, being the owners of Valkyrie Realms 2, and it seemed like an unnecessary provocation for them to be attacking our fort. They learned the price of interference when Elf took their castle amid the chaos, although The Blue Hearts took it back before the end of the siege. Both of us licking our wounds, then.
The debrief meeting after the siege was a stark analysis of what went down. The attack had come suddenly, true, but sudden attack was something we should have been prepared for. We were too complacent, especially after the easy victories of the last few sieges. Even the wizards had stopped their spell-spamming after a while, something which would normally be unthinkable. We let down our guard - and others took advantage of that.
Something I realised after that siege - winning a fort is thrilling, fighting for a fort is intense, but guarding a fort is a long, often trying vigil that demands discipline and commitment. And keeping a fort depends on all three. If you're not prepared to put that effort in, then maybe you don't want it badly enough.
Which is, in the end, fair enough. Maybe you have better things to do with your time, and no one says you have to own a castle. But if that's the prize you desire, then you'd better be willing to pay the price.
"Stir up action," Thorne muttered disgustedly. "You would."
- The Warrior's Apprentice, Lois McMaster Bujold
RO.
When I woke up on Sunday morning, the guild castle records reported that Shin Ravenloft had been in possession of Valkyrie Realms 3 for twenty days. By the time I went to bed that night, the counter had been reset to zero.
The is the story of how that happened.
The last few sieges had been unremarkable, and this one began the same way. In fact, no one was attacking us at all for the longest time. Those of us on duty in the emperium room were more than a little restless at the lack of action.
I envied Cyrus and Gargust, who were out skirmishing at other castles as usual. They were involved in the fierce fighting over Balder Guild 3 in Payon, and even managed to take it from Flames of Passion, who had taken it from Slaughtered Saints, who had taken it from EvA, who had taken it from The Dragon's Pride. (Alas, Fatty Chubby Kitties ended up the owners at the end of the siege.)
Back at the ranch, it was still damn quiet. Some of the people in the emperium room asked permission to join the front lines or go skirmishing around the castle corridors. Permission was granted, since there weren't even any people gathered at the front of the castle. I was sorely tempted to add my own request, having spent the last few sieges holed up in the emperium room. But quite a few people had already gone ahead of me, and as always I was reluctant to leave the defence stretched too thin.
The attack, when it came, was sudden. One minute everything was normal, the next Sevenne was paging us on guild chat to say that the front line was down. Attackers flooded the emperium room soon after. I died, respawning in Prontera just in time to hear that Eternal Empire had conquered our castle.
It was 2:00 PM, one hour into the siege and one hour away from its end.
Cyrus came charging back from Payon along with Gargust. No time for recriminations or hindsight, just fighting. I had the unpleasant experience of being attacked by our own guardians - guardians who now served the new owners of the castle, of course.
Seven intense minutes later the castle was ours once more.
We set up our defences again, the emperium room packed with people who were now anything but bored. The surprise attack on our castle seemed to have acted as a general signal, and we found ourselves busy for the rest of the siege.
When things had stabilised a little, Lunakitty sent Cyrus and Gargust off to cause trouble for The Blue Hearts, who had been instrumental in the earlier attack. They were one of our neighbours, being the owners of Valkyrie Realms 2, and it seemed like an unnecessary provocation for them to be attacking our fort. They learned the price of interference when Elf took their castle amid the chaos, although The Blue Hearts took it back before the end of the siege. Both of us licking our wounds, then.
The debrief meeting after the siege was a stark analysis of what went down. The attack had come suddenly, true, but sudden attack was something we should have been prepared for. We were too complacent, especially after the easy victories of the last few sieges. Even the wizards had stopped their spell-spamming after a while, something which would normally be unthinkable. We let down our guard - and others took advantage of that.
Something I realised after that siege - winning a fort is thrilling, fighting for a fort is intense, but guarding a fort is a long, often trying vigil that demands discipline and commitment. And keeping a fort depends on all three. If you're not prepared to put that effort in, then maybe you don't want it badly enough.
Which is, in the end, fair enough. Maybe you have better things to do with your time, and no one says you have to own a castle. But if that's the prize you desire, then you'd better be willing to pay the price.
