Ages and phases
In Otenos, every world lives through one Age. An Age lasts 28 days, is divided into three phases, and on the last day the player at the top of the rankings becomes the sovereign. The phases change the rules: what closes at the auction, what can be taken and when raids are allowed all depend on the phase.
The Age calendar
| Phase | Days | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Founding | 1-7 | Holdings grow; no raids on holdings. Altars can be held, but no rites take place. Only Instant lots close at the auction. |
| Contest | 8-21 | Everything opens up: raids, rites, Rare and Common lots. Holdings can change hands, except a player's last one. |
| Reign | 22-28 | The final act. Even a player's last holding can be taken, and that player leaves the Age. |
The length of each phase comes from the world's settings and scales with the total length of the Age. All times are the same for everyone.
Founding
Founding covers the first 7 days of the Age. During this phase:
- No raids can be sent against holdings. Scouting and reinforcements to an ally also count as marches on a holding, so they wait until Founding ends.
- Altars can be held. Marching on an altar is allowed, but with no rites taking place, altars produce no Tender in this phase.
- Only Instant lots close at the auction. All Rare and Common lots are spread across Contest and Reign.
- New players arrive. The world is open to newcomers for the first 11.2 days of the Age.
Contest
Contest runs from day 8 to day 21, and every door in the game opens:
- Holdings under a declaration of war can be raided (Raids, sieges and conquest).
- The rites begin; whoever holds an altar during its rite earns Tender (Altars).
- Rare and Common lots close one at a time, on schedule (Auction).
- When a holding's loyalty drops to zero, it passes to its conqueror. A player's last holding can't be taken in this phase.
Reign
Reign covers the last 7 days of the Age. The rules are the same as in Contest, with one difference: a player's last holding can be taken too. A player whose last holding falls leaves the Age; their story goes into the chronicle as it stood that day, and they can make a fresh start in another world if they wish (Raids, sieges and conquest).
Joining window
A world is open to new players for the first 11.2 days of the Age. Once the window closes, no one can join that world; newcomers see a list of open worlds instead. When a world is close to full, or when no open worlds are left, a new one opens on its own.
When the Age ends
When the last day is over, every score is settled, the rankings freeze and a page is written into the chronicle for every player. Titles are awarded, the Age receives an epithet and the season rankings are updated. More in Chronicle and titles.
At the end of the Age, everything in the world resets: holdings, armies, Tender, deeds, alliances and your house. Your account, profile, chronicle, titles and cosmetics stay with you.
Days and hours
- All times follow the game clock; the interface shows them converted to your local time.
- A world's Age can begin at any hour. A "day of the Age" is a 24-hour block counted from the moment the world opened; daily rules such as the Mint's daily limit use these blocks.
- Your daily quest window, on the other hand, rolls from the moment you joined the world.