Realm

Realms are a type of claimed land, similar to a Village, which collect Authority, provide stat bonuses, and enable the use of special authority skills. However, a Realm does not protect things beneath it in any way, and crimes committed in a Realm leave no scent.

To establish a Realm, one must be wearing a Royal Crown and construct a Coronation Stone. Realms are expanded by constructing inexpensive Border Cairns, which serve as banners for the realm.

Realm authority is collected when inhabitants of the Realm gain experience points. Note that these experience points are not 'taxed' from the player, but rather added to the Realm additionally, as a bonus. Living in a realm does not reduce the amount of experience points earned by your character.

Authority is collected whenever characters inside the realm collect experience points and whenever a character collects experience points whose hearth fire is inside the realm. This means characters contribute double authority when both their character and hearth fire are in a realm.

Challenging Realms

Border Cairns can be 'challenged' by other Realms, for an initial cost of 10,000 authority. The cost increases for each additional, simultaneous challenge your Realm places. Challenging a Realm places a special type of crime called an "Ominous Smoke of War" which can be used to track the challenger's Realm.

After a Border Cairn has been challenged for two real-life hours, it can be attacked and destroyed. Destroying another Realm's Border Cairn awards your own Realm 5,000 authority.

Note that only one person at a time can attack a Border Cairn. It usually takes ~30 minutes to destroy a Border Cairn, so plan accordingly.

All Realm objects can be attacked without challenge for two real-life hours after first being built. Realm members are messaged on log-in when their Realm is challenged. They may also toggle indication arrows that show them challenged Cairns.

Realm Objects

Realm Object		Authority Cost (per real-life day)	Purpose
	Coronation Stone	500	Establishes and maintains the Realm. See page for more details.
	Border Cairn	10	Expands Realm territory.
	Menhir	500	Increases Strength, Farming, and Exploration by 1 point, for every character in Realm [Verify]
	Grotesque Idol	500	Increases Perception, Unarmed Combat, and Survival by 1 point, for every character in Realm [Verify]

Realm Authority Skills

Skill	Authority Cost	Effect
From the Public Coffer	2000 (increases with use)	Gives you 1000 experience points.
State Funeral	50000	Grants a fallen Hearthling a state funeral, granting his heirs an additional 30% of his character values as inheritance.
Last-minute Diplomacy	5000 (per challenged Border Cairn)	Stalls all active challenges on Border Cairns by 1 real-life hour.