Player vs Player Combat
Aetolia player versus player combat is unlike anything you've played before. Its complexity and variety is literally incomparable to anything but its IRE brethren, and even then it is unique unto itself.
The base system of combat is built around a personal set of balances, physical and mental. Actions take one or both, and leave you off balance for a period of time (usually seconds). No round based combat here! Your actions are determined by you.
And we're not talking a hotbar of 12 abilities you can do on cooldown! Aetolia has hundreds of abilities to use in PvP, causing a variety of reactions from simple damage to broken limbs, sicknesses, or even meta effects attempting to make the player behind the other screen make mistakes. Death can come in many forms! From simple damage, to tearing their soul from body, even to ambushing an enemy from the shadows and holding them in a noose, every class has different routes to winning.
Unlike our brethren IRE games, Aetolia has static curing. This means that if multiple afflictions or problems share a single cure, the order of operations for curing follows the same logic every time. Aetolian combat is thusly entirely skill based, allowing you to track what affects your target and yourself, with no guessing. Make your plan and execute it, only yours and your enemy's choices matter- no wishing on the RNG.
Sect of Blades
The Sect of Blades is a loosely-run, but strictly overseen, organization of honor-bound warriors located near Esterport, outside the southern city gates. Ages past saw the Sect as a common grounds for mastering martial prowess and tactical lore, building around principles of honor and skill to form a brotherhood of warriors. Members of the Sect prove their mettle and honor by accruing marks of triumph, earned for fights performed with no assistance. The ability to slay one's target or defend from one's aggressor with only the tools at their disposal is valued above all for the honor of the Sect.
Those who prove their worth will rise in rank within the Sect, discovering more of the organization's membership and perks, including the ability to pinpoint champions among the Sect and entering the famed Hall of Blades. Those who obtain the highest levels of honor are granted various privileges, including the ability to personalize one's deadliest techniques - an individualized version of a beheading, and a gruesome, unique deathsight to accompany it. Those who stand upon the Sect's Council, bearing the greatest honors, may also compete among one another for a legendary Ankyrean artifact, said to bring omniscience to those surrounded in battle.
The Duel
Held by the city of Esterport, the Duel is a long standing tournament that was born in the original Delosian arena and now finds its home in the second reincarnation of the Fields of Valor.
The Duel is a massive gauntlet of one-on-one fights where combatants rise through a double-elimination format by defeating their opponents in single combat. Seeding is initially decided by your standing within the Sect of Blades, followed by some slight adjustments at the host's discretion to keep things fair and fun.
The last warrior standing in the tournament is honoured with fame across the land and is granted the Rapier of the Master Duelist, a powerful artifact capable of singling out enemy fighters and challenging them to a one-on-one fight to the death.
The Hunting Grounds
The Hunting Grounds are sacred to Lord Haern, the Hunter, accessed by kneeling before the cairn stones that are dotted throughout the wilds of Sapience. Inhabited by beasts and other adventurers alike, it is a place for bloodshed and assertion of dominance as the top hunter, as only they will reap the rewards the Grounds have to offer. A variety exists and has been known to aid those in search of ylem and leylines in a myriad of ways. These ancient artifacts are impossible to give away or take save by death, making all who bear them open to combat and death at any moment.
Orrery
Every in-game year, on the 10th of Variach and the 10th of Midsummer, the Orrery becomes active for roughly 40 hours, ending at midnight on the 20th of the same month.
Essence of Spirit or Shadow will periodically spawn in a radius around the Orrery. You must pick up the appropriate essence for your tether and then take it anywhere inside the Observatory area and INFUSE ORRERY WITH <essence>, which is a short channeled action. Doing this will influence the Orrery towards your tether and away from the opposite.
At Midnight every day during the active period, whichever tether holds alignment of the Orrery will gain an attunement point, and the Orrery will reset to neutral. When the Orrery locks on the 20th of the month, whichever tether has obtained the most attunement points will gain control over the Orrery until its next active season.
Be warned, the essence is raw and volatile, and once you pick up the essence it'll begin dealing damage to its holder, increasing over time. Globes sitting on the ground longer than 5 minutes will respawn. If a globe is dropped on the ground after being held by a player, it will respawn within a minute.