In the Shadow of Virtue - Rise of the Bane Chosen
In the Shadow of Virtue - Rise of the Bane Chosen was a live event within the In the Shadow of Virtue event cycle. It became active on Publish 66.2 with The War between the Bane Chosen and Ophidians and continued on Publish 67 with The War between the Bane Chosen and the Meer and Publish 69 with the The Attack of the Bane Chosen.
The War between the Bane Chosen and Ophidians
The first spotlight of the event was the war between the Bane Chosen forces and the Ophidians in the Lost Lands.
Bane Chosen Side
Bane Chosen camp was located at 24°52' N 17°17' W, in Lost Lands Desert. John the Recruiter respond to the specific keywords:
- Name: Lieutenant John of the Bane Chosen army.
- Job: It is my duty to recruit new soldiers for the Bane Chosen cause.
- Cause: We seek to take back the land of Sosaria from the uncivilized races, such as the Ophidians.
- Ophidians: The Ophidians are a vile race. I lost several members of my family when they attacked Britannia.
- Chest: If you commit to our cause and help us drive out the Ophidians, I will pay you and the other soldiers from this chest.
- Bounty: The bounty collector is collecting crystalline blackrock to keep it from the Ophidians but he will only discuss it with those who have proven their loyalty.
- Loyal: If you want to prove yourself, go up to the front lines where the banners are and start killing Ophidians. Telling me you're loyal proves nothing.
- Hound: A hell hound trained by our hound masters bond to them supernaturally, the hound will defend its master to the death.
- Dragon: We use the Bane Dragons because they are powerful and loyal mounts, our bane dragons cannot be stolen.
If you had more than 2000 loyalty points for the Bane Chosen side, Bane Chosen Bounty Collector was offering the Dragon Food quest where you need to obtain 20 Crystalline Blackrock to get a Blackrock Stew 
as a reward.
Ophidian Side
Ophidian Temple was located at the Ophidian Lair, at 43°3' N 11°48' W in Lost Lands Desert. Ophidian Delphi the Recruiter responded to the specific keywords:
- Name: My name is-s-s Ophidian Delphi.
- Job: I s-s-seek to reward those who help us-s-s.
- Cause: The Bane Chos-s-sen attack us-s-s. They s-seek our crys-s-stalline blackrock.
- Ophidians: The Ophidians-s-s want peace with the humans-s-s. They attack us-s-s unprovoked... again.
- Chest: This-s-s ches-s-st. It contains-s-s s-s-some of our mos-s-st valuable treas-s-sure. If you help us-s-s drive away the Bane Chos-s-sen, we will pay you from it.
- Bounty: Our alchemis-s-st trade for crys-s-stalline blackrock. But they will not trade with those who s-s-seek to hurt us-s-s.
- Loyal: Thos-s-se who are loyal to us-s-s would drive away the Bane Chos-s-sen. Help us-s-s on the front lines-s-s of the battle and you will be rewarded well.
- Shatter: The s-s-shattering potion caus-s-ses-s-s crys-s-stal and glasssss to shatter! We use it against the Bane Chos-s-sen.
- Fear: The fear potion caus-ses-s thos-se who are affected to be paralyz-s-zed with fear.
If you had more than 2000 loyalty points for the Ophidian side, Ophidian Bounty Collectors were offering the Essence of Fear and the Desperate Measures quests where you need to obtain 10 Crystalline Blackrock to get 3 Fear Essences 
or 3 Shatter Potions 
as rewards.
The War System
Players started with neutral loyalty rating for both sides. Attacking any side made players' Loyalty Rating negative and made them an Enemy of that side. For each enemy they killed, their loyalty towards the side they've chosen increased 1 - 5 points while decreased triple this amount for the opposing side.
| Loyalty Points | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| From 5000 to 10000 | Ally | More than 5000 points were needed to be able to receive the quest A Dish Best Served Cold. Note that the loyalty rating was capped at 2500 points during this live event. |
| From 2000 to 4999 | Friend | More than 2000 points were needed to be able to receive quests from the Bounty Collectors. Note that the loyalty rating was capped at 2500 points during this live event. |
| From 500 to 1999 | Symphatizer | More than 1000 points were needed to recieve a reward upon your side's Victory. |
| From 0 to 499 | Neutral | All players started Neutral towards both sides. |
| From -15000 to -1 | Enemy | Theoretically, when one has 2500 loyalty points on one side, they should have -7500 on the other. However, the loyalty rating for both sides has an upper limit of 2500 points while it doesnt have a lower limit of -7500 (-15000 instead) which means that it is possible to have negative loyalty rating for both sides. |
The war began in the middle of the road connecting the two war camps. Each side had their own flag indicating their front line. Double clicking on this flag would tell the progress of that spawn for that side:
- (Ophidians - Bane Chosen) have lost (0 - 19) of 20 from wave (1 - 3) of their front line.
Killing the enemy side on these front lines yield more loyalty points:
- You assist the (Ophidians - Bane Chosen) in pushing back the (Bane Chosen - Ophidian) army.
But killing the spawn on any other place yield less loyalty points:
- You kill one of the (Ophidians - Bane Chosen) in the back ranks of their army and gain little recognition.
When all the 20 creatures of the wave were killed on one side, the spawn was advancing to the next wave:
- Beware, reinforcements are coming!
More powerful creatures spawned on each wave just like a mini-champ:
| Wave | Army | Base Loyalty Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bane Chosen | Ophidian | ||
| Wave 1 | Bane Chosen Recruits | Ophidian Enforcers Ophidian Warriors |
1 |
| Wave 2 | Bane Chosen Hound Masters Hell Hounds |
Ophidian Apprentice Mages Ophidian Healers Ophidian Shamans |
3 |
| Wave 3 | Bane Chosen Dragon Riders Bane Dragons |
Ophidian Avengers Ophidian Healers Ophidian Knight-Errants |
5 |
The front line moved further to the losing side's camp when all the creatures of all three waves were killed:
- The (Ophidians - Bane Chosen) have secured this location, the front line has moved up!
If the final line near any of the side's camp was cleared and players had more than 1000 loyalty points for the victorious side, they would be eligible to recieve a reward:
- Victory to the (Ophidians - Bane Chosen)! You have earned a reward for your service! (double click the chest in the (Ophidian temple - Bane Chosen camp) for your reward.)
Double clicking the war chest would put a bag into the backpack that contained one of the following:
Shared Items:
- A Random magic item.
- Relic Fragment
Bane Chosen War Chest:
Ophidian War Chest:
However, if the player had less than 1000 points, they wouldnt be able to receive a reward:
- You have assisted the (Ophidians - Bane Chosen) in routing the (Bane Chosen - Ophidians) but you have insufficient loyalty with them to receive a reward. (1000 loyalty required)
Outcome
According to Ophidian Delphi the Recruiter, while Ophidians succesfully defended their lair and the Bane Chosen camp is disappeared, Bane Chosen forces managed to get the crystalline blackrock resources of the Ophidians:
- Job: To warn outsiders-s-s about the threat of the Bane Chos-s-sen.
- Bane: Bane Chosen attack the Ophidians and take our crystalline blackrock! We hates them!
- Ophidians: The Ophidians-s-s want peace with the humans-s-s. Human Bane Chosen attack us-s-s unprovoked... again. Make them dead, pleas-s-se. We have powerful alchemis-s-sts, we will help those who are loyal to us-s-s.
- Loyal: Thos-s-se who are loyal to us-s-s would destroy these Bane Chosen. We will provide our allies-s-s with powerful potions-s-s!
Ophidian Merchants started to sell Shatter Potions and Fear Essences to be used against the Bane Chosen. It is also suggested that the Shatter Potions became more effective than before:
- Shatter: The s-s-shattering potion caus-s-ses-s-s crys-s-stal and glass-s-s to shatter! We have found a way to make it much more powerful than it was-s-s. Use it against the Bane Chos-s-sen!
The War between the Bane Chosen and the Meer
After sacking the Ophidians' crystalline blackrock, Bane Chosen forces attacked the Meer.
Bane Chosen Side
Bane Chosen camp is located at 24°52' N 17°17' E, Spirituality Moongate in Ilshenar. John the Recruiter responds to the specific keywords:
- Name: Lieutenant John of the Bane Chosen army.
- Job: It is my duty to recruit new soldiers for the Bane Chosen cause.
- Cause: We seek to take back the land of Sosaria from the uncivilized races, such as the Ophidians and the Meer.
- Meer: The Meer are a devious race, they creep about like cats and have dangerous magics. They once cursed Yew with their foul evil and it took many lives to restore it.
- Bounty: The bounty collector is now collecting Power Crystals to keep them away from our enemies the Meer. We believe they are planning to use them against the human race.
- Loyal: If you want to prove yourself, go kill those wretched Meer. Telling me you are loyal proves nothing.
Attack of the Bane Chosen
This live event started after it is revealed that the Virtuebane is behind the Bane Chosen forces and he wants to obtain the Crystal of Duplicity. The Bane Chosen Guards joined to the Bane Chosen forces and they started to invade Towns across Sosaria. As of 24th December, three waves of invasion has been seen where different towns are invaded on each shard. The outcome of the invasions differ on each shard. While the Defenders were mostly victorious, Bane forces are reported to capture a few towns on some shards.
The War System
Four different armies are present on the invaded Town:
| Defenders (Outside the City Gates) | Bane Forces (Inside the City) | |
|---|---|---|
| Army | ||
| Message | We've set up a barricade here. Go forth and rid the city of Virtue Bane's minions. | The time has come! Help us eliminate the defenders at the outskirts of the city in the name of Virtue Bane! |
| Artifact | Spell Focusing Sash | Defiler of Virtue (Bane Chosen Guards only) |
- Virtue Bane's army has been spotted invading (Town)! - Invasion Started
Following this, the messages will be updated throughout the invasion:
- Virtue Bane's army succesfully fight off the defenders of (Town)! - Bane Dominance
- Defenders make headway in pushing out Virtue Bane's army out of (Town)! - Defender Dominance
- Defenders of (Town) triumph against the invading forces of Virtue Bane! - Defender Victory
- Virtue Bane's succeeds in taking control of (Town)! - Bane Victory
The progress can also be followed from the Bell of Courage on a platform near the town bank. It will get corrupted once the Virtue Bane forces take control of the town.
Invasion on Shards
As of February 2nd, 2011, 14 waves are seen across different Shards. The Towns reported to be attacked on each wave are:
- _____ indicates Bane victory, * indicates the invaded town order might be wrong, ** indicates Virtue Bane was seen on the field of battle
- Blank entry indicated Bane Chosen conquered shard and no further attacks made or lack of data
December
January
| Shard | Wave 6 | Wave 7 | Wave 8 | Wave 9 | Wave 10 | Wave 11 | Wave 12 | Wave 13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chesapeake | Trinsic | Cove | Britain | Trinsic | Minoc | Vesper | Trinsic** | Britain |
| Europa | Trinsic | Britain | Britain | Minoc | Vesper | Trinsic | Minoc | Moonglow |
| Pacific | Cove | Skara Brae | Vesper | Skara Brae | Britain | Britain | Vesper** | Britain |
February
| Shard | Wave 14 | Wave 15 |
|---|---|---|
| Chesapeake | Moonglow | Skara Brae |
| Europa | Minoc | Skara Brae |
| Pacific | Trinsic | Minoc |