Artifacts
Description
What Are They
Artifacts are crafted relics with strong magical properties that may become unstable when their powers are harnessed on a regular basis. Some are created by powerful Kingdoms, others are found in the unknown lands, relics of long-gone Ages. Each use increases their instability. Eventually they can consume the careless user backfiring in uncontrolled bursts of magical energies. The effects they cause when used can be of gigantic power, but with each use a side effect is always possible.
Where Are They
If you are willing to take the gamble and hunt out an artifact, you can sometimes find them by exploring for the unknown. If you are lucky enough to find out about another kingdom in possession of one of these rare devices, you can attempt to steal the artifact from them with looting. Occasionally, a quest will be announced with an artifact as the reward. These are usually very dangerous quests. It is also possible for a Dwarf to forge a new artifact for a minimum of 50,000,000 gold, though it is useless unless enchanted by a powerful High Elf with a minimum of 500,000 mana. These newly created artifacts are rarely very powerful and can turn on their owner as well. It has been said that very powerful artifacts created and enchanted by kingdoms can withstand the fury of a reset and bury themselves in the unknown for someone who is lucky enough to pass them by.
A kingdom ruler can possess only one artifact at any time. Artifacts are impossible to destroy, even as they become wild and uncontrolled. They can only be stolen or bequeathed as the prize of a grand quest.
Artifacts Found In The Unknown
In former versions of the code there was a set of precreated artifacts. Once someone found an artifact, it was chosen from the list. Unknown junkies usually cleared out those artifacts in the first 1k turns. Later on players got the message: "You found the resting spot of an artifact, but it was already gone."
The current code guarrantees that the player always gets an artifact when the odds say artifact. The artifact name and spell are randomly generated. The artifact power depends on the amount of rangers and the search mod. If you get the above message about an artifact gone, its a random message and you werent going to get an artifact anyway.
The chance to find an artifact in Dan is 5 times higher than otherwhere
Artifact Mechanics
As stated above, the artifact's power depends on the amount of rangers and the search mod of the kingdom. An artifact can be "stable" or "unstable", terms that refer to frequency of backfiring. When an artifact is used, there is a chance that it will backfire instead of do its normal effect. The backfire of an artifact is an offensive spell casted on the kingdom that uses the artifact, and its not the same spell each time the artifact backfires. An artifact that is used too many times in a small time period becomes less stable. An artifact that is not used is getting more stable as time passes by.
When a dwarf kingdom creates an artifact, it is more stable if the dwarf kingdom uses more gold in its creation. The more the gold, the steadier the Artifact. Also, the more the mana put into the spell bound in it from the High Elven kingdom that enchants it, the less stable it will be. So, summing up: when created, more gold makes it more stable, and more mana makes it more unstable.