meteordust | The return of the Raven

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

- The Fellowship of the Ring, J R R Tolkien

RO. Yesterday's siege.

It was Ryuzin who began it, and it snowballed from there. Openly homesick for Valkyrie Realms 3, he stated his willingness to go in and try to take it back, singlehandedly if need be. But the rest of us couldn't let him do this thing alone, and he wasn't the only one longing for a castle again. So by the time Sunday arrived, we were decided.

We were going home. And heaven help those who would stand in our way.

We gathered outside Valkyrie Realms 3 before the siege began - and in such numbers that the defenders, Dragons of Destiny, surely had to be alarmed. We got ourselves organised into parties, and when the time came, we entered the gates.

We weren't the only ones after this castle, and I soon lost sight of my guildmates in the chaos. I ended up being attacked by one of the castle guardians, but a friendly priest healed me. We fled through a portal together, only to find that it led straight into the arms of another guardian. At that point my screen froze, and I was convinced that the Prontera castle maps had gone down again. But it seemed I was wrong - relogging put me back in Prontera City, at my save point.

I went back inside the fort and this time almost made it to the emperium room entrance. I managed to Double Strafe the wizard who was Storm Gusting us, but then I got taken down by a knight's Spear Boomerang. I respawned in Prontera. As I was making my way back, the announcement came that Shin Ravenloft had captured Valkyrie Realms 3.

It was seventeen minutes into the siege, and an hour forty three from its end.

The victory was sweet, but there was no time to sit back and enjoy it. We had to set up our defences urgently, or else lose the castle to someone else. I hurried to the emperium room, encountering the miniboss Ghostring and its mob of giant whispers along the way. Apparently Dragons of Destiny had been undermanned and only possessed a weak defence, which they had supplemented with monsters spawned from dead branches.

So anyway, we endured several attacks but succeeded in repelling each one, including an assault by The Shiny Ones, a well-known high-level guild. As I listening to the banter of my fellow defenders, I realised something - I like the War of Emperium not just for the challenge of it, but for the sense of comradeship it invokes. It's the only time when all the members of Shin Ravenloft gather together as a group. Normally people solo, or at best party with others close to their own level, but WOE allows everyone - regardless of level or class - to participate and be part of a team.

At its worst, WOE can cause guilds to become enemies, allies to fall out, friends to quarrel, and individuals to quit the game. But at its best, it inspires teamwork, morale, and a true sense of belonging.

And that day, sometimes for inexplicable reasons, many people who had helped us in the past rallied to our aid. Gargust, who had left Shin Ravenloft to join XGMR. powerpuff bubble and p-chan, who had followed him there. Valky, who had also departed when they did. Goblin Hero, who had somehow ended up in Dragons of Destiny, and whom we had killed several times earlier in the siege, before he switched back to us. Maddog and Sephiroth, who had left to form their own guild Team Legend. And No Love, our good neighbours and allies.

When it came down to the finish line, with only ten minutes to go before the end of the siege, we were warned that Cataclysmos were planning a last ditch attack. Novae Inflammo and Trees of Light were gathered too. We braced ourselves for a heavy assault, and when it came the fighting was fierce. But we held the line, and when the siege was over, the castle was still ours.

Beyond all hope, through fire and tempest, we had come home.