Holy site

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Description

Holy sites are randomly spawned zones for players to find, themed after specific gods and biomes, in unsettled areas of each server. Priests and followers of that deity maintain the site through prayers and sermons, allowing the Holy site to provide bonuses to all Premium account followers and priests of that deity, as well as additional positive effects within its radius. Some benefits are available to all Premium accounts, even if they are not followers of that particular deity, so being at a Holy site still provides some benefits regardless of which god you follow.

Holy sites are temporary, lasting 2 weeks on average.

Discovery

Each type of Holy site can only spawn in limited locations. You can also receive a map of the Holy site from prayer, giving sermons, or meditating, but only on those actions that could possibly give faith (or skill, in the case of meditating). These maps have modifiers applied to make them less clear than a normal treasure map or cartography map. Players may need to compare maps with others or combine them with their understanding of the server layout in order to find the Holy site. These map hints will be given only for Holy sites that have not yet been found and activated, and that are associated with the God a player follows. On PVP servers, players may also get hints about opposite-light gods’ holy sites (i.e. maps of White Light holy sites if your God is Libila and vice-versa).

If a Holy Site has already been found and activated by a player, a “Locate Holy Sites” action will become available on altars. Using this action, on any altar, will show the locations of all activated Holy sites on the in-game map, even those not belonging to a player's god.

Restrictions

Holy Sites are special places protected by their gods, and are meant to be accessed and used by the public. The following activities are disallowed within Holy sites:

• Founding a settlement.
• Expanding an existing settlement into the Holy Site.
• Terraforming (digging, mining, etc.).
• Building structures or fences.
• Changing tile types by packing, cultivating, adding, or removing pavement, dropping dirt/sand, transmuting, planting, or cutting trees, or any similar actions.
  • Creatures grazing or moving will also not pack tiles within Holy sites.
• (PVE servers only) Blocking or intentionally restricting access to the Holy site in any way.

Trying to engage in forbidden actions on Holy sites will result in the messages:
This land is being protected by <deity> and cannot be built upon.
This land is being protected by <deity> and cannot be modified.

Activation

A Holy site is dormant and provides no benefits until it is found and activated by a follower or priest of the Holy site’s god. To activate the Holy Site, pray or hold a sermon (with enough listeners for Faith gain) at the special item at the center of the Holy Site.

Once activated, the expiration timer of the Holy Site will reset, in order to guarantee that a Holy site will last for its full duration after being found no matter how long it takes to find.

Power & Corruption

Power and Corruption are the two most important characteristics of a Holy Site. Each ranges from 0 to 100.

Power: Strength of the deity’s influence

This is represented by the quality level of the special item at the center of the Holy site, and can be seen by examining it. Power affects:

• The size of the Holy site.
• The power or effectiveness of almost all Holy site benefits, such as the quality level of goods received from it.
• Possibility of the Holy site expiring early and with no rewards, if power ever reaches 0.
  • (most power effects are handled through adjusted power instead)

Power is increased by:

• Prayers and sermons within the Holy site by followers and priests of the Holy site’s god.
• Only prayers and sermons that are valid for gaining faith may increase the site’s power.
• The prayer or sermon may be done at the Holy site’s special item, but any altar will work, as long as it is within the current borders of the Holy site.

Power is decreased by:

• Natural decay over time once the Holy Site is activated.
• Chance for decay occurs at the same time as Pulse events.
• Amount of Power decay is randomized and may not occur at all.

Corruption: Malicious taint and impurity, making Holy Site less effective and possibly resulting in negative effects

This is represented by the damage of the special item at the center of the Holy site, and can be seen by examining it.

Corruption affects:

• Damage on items received from the Holy Site.
• Chance of backlash effects when performing prayers or sermons to increase the Holy site’s power.
• Disabling of pulse effects, item improvement bonuses, and some passive bonuses if corruption is at least 40.
• Possibility of the Holy site expiring early and with no rewards, if corruption ever reaches 100.
• The effective power of the Holy site when providing benefits. Much like an item with 80 quality level and 50 damage has only 40 effective QL for most purposes, a Holy Site with 80 power and 50 corruption only has 40 effective power for most purposes.

This will not affect the size of the Holy Site.

Corruption is increased by:

• Random chance when performing prayers, sermons, or special Holy site actions within the Holy Site.
  • This is far more likely if current Corruption is already above 0.
  • Power-affecting actions (prayer/sermons) have a higher chance to corrupt the site than special actions do.
  • Any corruption from performing an action may be partially or fully resisted by a soul strength skill check.
• Chance of corruption over time is triggered on pulse events and scales with the number of players who have contributed to the site’s power since the last pulse.
• Natural chance of corruption over time once the Holy site is activated.
  • Just like Power decay, this chance occurs at the same time as Pulse Events.
• (PVP only) Desecration actions performed by followers or priests of an opposing deity, using exorcism skill.

Corruption is decreased by:

• Purify actions performed on the Holy site item by followers or priests of the Holy site’s god, using exorcism skill.

Holy Site types

Each deity has two types of Holy sites that can spawn, with their own themes, possible spawn locations, and effects.

Fo

• Wishing Tree - A magical tree, blossoming with many types of fruit and other produce. Spawns in dense forests.
• Sampo - A strange divine mechanism, dispensing the necessities of life. Spawns on steppe.

Vynora

• Wellspring of Knowledge - A mystical fountain dispensing knowledge. Spawns on beaches and other natural waterfronts.
• Akashic mirror - A weird, black mirror that appears to be peering into another world. Spawns on roads and other paved areas.

Magranon

• Glowing Fissure - A glowing, volcanic crack in the rock. Spawns in barren, rocky terrain.
• Otherworldly Monolith - An obelisk that has fallen from the sky and buried itself into the ground. Spawns on sand.

Libila

• Abyssal Circle - An unholy ritual circle of uncertain purpose. Spawns on tundra.
• Pillar of Decay - A crude totem of skulls, viscera, and decay. Spawns on tar and peat.

Spawning

Holy sites spawn occasionally over time as special features, so one may or may not exist at any given time. The chance of a new Holy site spawning is also lowered with each Holy site currently existing on the server. Holy sites spawn far from settlements and other Holy sites, on reasonably flat ground, and will never overlap buildings or highways. Most types of Holy sites also avoid water.

Each type of Holy site also has specific requirements for the types of tiles they may spawn on or near, and may have other requirements that must be fulfilled by the nearby terrain in order to qualify as a possible location.

The exact spawning rules are complex and may vary depending on the type of Holy site. For example, a Wellspring of Knowledge Holy Site will always spawn near water as opposed to avoiding water, and a Glowing Fissure Holy Site may spawn on slightly steeper terrain than others.

Positive effects

Holy sites have several positive effects. Except when otherwise stated, all these effects are available only to accounts with Premium time, and that have at least 30 faith with the Holy site’s god.