World and map

In Otenos, each world is a separate realm of kingdoms, with its own map, its own players and its own Age. This chapter explains how the map is built, where holdings, altars and the sea lie, and how to read the map well.

World

  • Holdings: a world has 200 holdings. Newcomers and second holdings alike settle in these holdings.
  • Altars: there is one altar for every 4 holdings; a world of 200 holdings has 50 altars.
  • Joining: a world is open for the first 11.2 days of the Age. When a world is close to full, a new one opens next to it on its own.
  • Name: every world has its own name; it keeps that name for the whole Age and enters the chronicle under it.

Worlds are independent of each other. Armies, resources and Tender never cross from one world to another; with the same account, you can play in several worlds separately.

Map

The map is made of continents and islands in the middle of a great sea. Land makes up about 33% of it; the rest is sea. The landmasses are spread out as a few large continents with small islands around them.

  • Scale: one square on the map is one kilometer. Distances are always given in kilometers; no coordinates are shown.
  • Holdings: any two holdings are at least 6 km apart. Every starting holding has access to the sea within 8 km.
  • Altars: about a third of the altars stand on small islands off the coast; the rest are on land. Any two altars are at least 12 km apart.

Land and sea

Armies and caravans march by the shortest route over land; if following the coast makes the road shorter, they follow the coast. Every kilometer across the sea takes 2.6 times as long as one on land. An army with enough boats, however, crosses the sea at land speed (The sea).

An attack from the sea has a price, too: an army whose route crosses at least 20% sea without enough boats fights 30% weaker when it lands.

Regions and specialization

The map is divided into squares of 40 km called regions. Each region is abundant in one resource and scarce in another; the third resource and grain flow at the normal rate. Neighboring regions always have a different mix. The map's region layer shows each region's abundant resource by color.

Details and multipliers are in the Resources chapter, under Regions.

Reading the map

  • Holdings and their land: the land around each holding belongs to it. Empty holdings are where newcomers and settlers go; ruins are abandoned holdings.
  • Arms and banner: a holding whose Palace reaches level 15 flies its owner's arms on the map. A holding whose Wall reaches level 6 is drawn with its walls.
  • Movements on the road: you always see your own armies and caravans. You see other players' only while they pass through the sight range of a building that gives warning (Watching the roads).
  • Altars: who holds each one, the time of its next rite and its fortification.
  • Travel time: when you select a holding or an altar, the travel time is calculated from your own holding.

Ruins and empty holdings

  • Empty holding: a holding no one has settled yet. New players and settlers settle here.
  • Ruin: a holding whose owner gives no orders for 7 days falls into ruin. In a ruin, buildings are at half their level and there is no wall. A ruin can't be conquered; it is refounded with a settler, and the new holding starts with the ruin's buildings.
  • When a world has no empty holdings left, a new player takes over a ruin.