Aether Flares

Every aetherbubble is home to one of the great rings of the Aether Kings, of whom we know little. The various player organizations may compete to bring these rings into harmony with their respective nexii. This may only be done following an eruption of aether flares. Like village revolts, aether flares occur in a predictable cycle. In common parlance, the aether rings are specific rooms on each aetherbubble which become the focal point of competition.

Controlling an aetherbubble allows an organization to erect a construct there. Each organization has five construct blueprints, each with their own unique attributes. When aether flares erupt, any constructs which exist on the bubble are destroyed. In addition to the benefits associated with the construct itself for its members, 1000 power will be added to an organization's nexus per month, per construct built. Only the Power Minister can build a construct.

Aether flares then, naturally result in highly competitive battles which take place both on the ground and in aetherspace as players compete both for the opportunity to build constructs of their own, and to prevent their enemies from doing so. A more detailed summary of syntaxes can be found in the in-game HELP file for CONSTRUCTS.

Claiming

Following an eruption of aether flares, the goal is to bring the aether ring of a specific bubble into harmony with your organization's nexus. The process of establishing a harmonic accord with a given aether ring may be tracked, during flares, using the command POLITICS AETHERSPACE <aetherbubble>.

There are several levels of harmonic accord which must be traversed before this harmony is achieved, and the winning organization must have established itself by a certain breadth above all other competitors. Because of this, the amount of effort required to claim a bubble will vary depending on how many different organizations are competing over it. The threshold for each degree of accord may be raised throughout competition over the bubble, and so it may appear that one organization may lose ground, decreasing in levels of harmony as a competitor with a stronger force surpasses them.

Achieving this harmony may be done in two ways. A ground team may erect a colossus and focus their collective positive energy on it at the aether ring location, or a crew may bombard the aether ring from aetherspace. While it is possible to claim and aetherbubble utilizing only one or the other of these methods, it is generally desirable to work toward both, whenever possible.

Ground Battle

The focal points of the ground battle are the aether ring location and the colossus. The aether ring is a specific location on the aetherbubble, and one that is unique to every bubble. The colossus is a machine which is crafted by an artisan as a miniature, then activated on an aetherbubble. To ACTIVATE a COLOSSUS takes a few minutes' uninterrupted effort - if you do not give this action your undivided attention your work will be ruined and you will lose the colossus. Every organization has a unique colossus, and only one colossus per organization may exist on an aetherbubble at any one time.

Colossi are powered by golden hearts, made by lorecrafter alchemists and spellcrafter enchanters. Once powered, they may be entered and operated by those of guild protector rank (guild appointed) or better. The presence of a colossus at an aether ring location will result in a constant increase of the harmonic accord between the ring and the operator's nexus. The amount of this accord may be increased by having members of the ground team focus positively on the colossus at the aether ring location. The ability to focus on a colossus is learned in the Discipline skill. The ground battle consists primarily of a fight to physically occupy this location.

Due to the general inaccessibility of aetherbubbles, which are only reachable via ships (either flying or flashpoints) or by transplanar contrivances (bubblixes), during flares an organization may also activate a beacon, which requires similar uninterrupted action. Also constructed by artisans, an aether beacon will allow members of that organization to TELEPORT BEACON from their Nexus Worlds to easily reach the aetherbubble.

Colossi are not mere statues. As noted, they may be entered and operated, and can be used to move around and destroy an enemy colossus as well as enemy beacons. With the exceptions of tinkering and brewmeistery, all trade skills can create some form of upgrade to be inserted into a colossus, providing it additional benefits which noticeably improve its performance in these fights. The ground team may also directly affect a colossus's performance. Focusing negatively on an enemy colossus will slow it down (and also work toward negating the amount of harmonic accord it is bringing), while focusing positively on one's own colossus will speed up its reactions.

Related Note: Focusing on a colossus, either positively or negatively, will create auronidion particles. These are traded on gnome ships for auronispheres, which may be used as power stones, but which are more commonly sold at the Facility. A maximum of 50 particles may be stored in the standard rift. They are generally stored in aetherholds, one will simply PUT 50 PARTICLE IN AETHERHOLD until they are all in. Like glaetherial dust, particles will slowly decay in aetherholds.

Ground teams must be aware of what is happening in the aetherspace around the bubble as well. Communication can be difficult, but there are certain abilities available to an empath skilled in Aethercraft to facilitate this. Orbital bombardments can do devastating damage to those in the aether ring location when they strike. It is important to avoid being hit by them - and so anyone not inside the colossus should leave the room.

Aetherspace

During flares, harmonic accordance is achieved in aetherspace via turret bombardments from aetherships. Participation on this side of the effort will require a notable degree of skill in Aethercraft and of course, access to an aethership. Bombardments take several minutes to power up before giving a burst of 'points' to the effort of harmonization. Unlike the colossus on the ground, there is no constant gain throughout this process, only upon its completion. Only one bombardment per ship may be in progress at one time.

Bombarding requires that an aethership be positioned directly over an aetherbubble's dock. Should a bombadeer unlock from his module or should the aethership move away from this location or else dock, the bombardment will be interrupted, and will need to be begun over again. Bombardment may provide a more potent boost to the effort of harmonization, yet it is much easier to interrupt owing to its limitations. As with the ground battle, in aetherspace ships will be competing over control of one location - the dock. Naturally, ship to ship combat during aether flares is an expected occurrence.

Depending on the situation, an organization may opt to send out multiple ships with skeleton crews in the hopes of picking up several bombards in succession. This prospect is very risky, as undermanned ships are extremely vulnerable. A ship with a proper crew will have no difficulties in imploding these vessels, or at the least, forcing them to flee the location - which equally stops the bombardment. Should a ship implode or otherwise be destroyed, it will not be able to return to battle immediately, but forced to recover at the aetherplex for several minutes. In addition, the power stored in its active reserves is largely drained.

An effective front in aetherspace is hugely dependent on the ability to quickly get ships to an aetherbubble. The algontherine whistle is a popular artefact among aetherspace aficionados. The whistle can be blown at a dock which will summon an aethership from anywhere. In order to prevent this, a pilot may seal the dock, which will also prevent other ships from landing. The ship which is sealing the dock must then be destroyed or forced to flee the location before any other ships may reach the aetherbubble.

The further tactics involve in the ship to ship battles vary widely depending on the situation, both immediately, and in the overall effort to claim. Whether it is worth the risk to fight and continue a bombardment in progress in the hopes of bringing it to conclusion, or else flee to avoid implosion, are all dependant on what happens in the moment - as is the case with any fight.

Those who are on the aetherspace crew will often have a bird's eye view of the situation on the ground, and are frequently responsible for relaying information, aided by the skills in Aethercraft for communication. Alerting allies of incoming enemies, and other pertinent information, as well as issuing warnings of impending bombardment strikes are all very important.