City control

Which towns have seats

A seat is a town's player-guild Charter. The three Crown seats are Daggerfall, Wayrest and Sentinel; every other location with a Palace in its records is a Palace seat. A town without a Palace has none, and a location is one seat however many Palaces it holds. Crown reach and the Free Lands' Watch bonus boost claims.

Pledge a town

The week has three parts: Muster, from Sunday's Turning; Reckoning, its last 48 hours; Turning, when everything settles. A Guildmaster or Officer pledges during the Muster: one seat in a region, in up to five regions. Pledges lock at the Reckoning, but influence earned then still counts. A guild that holds a seat is pledged there automatically and cannot pledge to another seat in that region; unpledged work earns nothing. Influence counts for the guild your account is bound to — the first guild one of your characters contributes to that week — and only from a character seven days in the guild.

Earn influence

Each account contributes at most 2,000 influence per seat per week. Ten percent of a guild's influence carries into the next week as Legacy.

Thresholds, fees and upkeep

A claim needs the threshold and the fee in the guild's Marks treasury. If the second claimant is within 10% of the first on an unheld seat, neither takes it: the two fight a Tourney.

Holding more than one seat costs more: upkeep rises 25% per extra seat-weight and defence falls 5%, with a Palace weighing 1 and a Crown 3. Standing starts at 50 and caps at 100, and shifts defence. A short Marks balance puts the Charter into Neglect at −10 Standing, and a second short week in a row lapses it.

What holding a Charter gives

The holder sets a whole-number Tithe once a week: up to 10% at a Palace and 15% at a Crown, a Market Hall raising the cap. It comes from local sales and board fees and goes to the guild's treasury.

The holder sets one Edict a week, paid at the Turning; the same Edict cannot repeat except Market Day, which cuts shop prices 10% for everyone. Members get 10% off at a Palace or 15% at a Crown, and Standing 80 adds 5%.

Sieges and fortifications

The Turning names a Right of Siege for a held seat. The holder picks the day and start hour, Wednesday to Saturday between 16:00 and 02:00 UTC (default Wednesday 20:00). A Palace battle lasts 30 minutes, a Crown battle 45, a Tourney 20, and rosters close 10 minutes before. A side fields 10 at a Palace or 20 at a Crown, plus up to 2 or 4 Sellswords; a fighter must have been seven days in the guild at the Turning and bound to it in the week that won the Right.

At a Palace the attackers take the Gate, Market and Temple banners, then hold the Throne: 2 of 3 banners opens it, and the Throne must stay uncontested for 120 seconds. A Palace with tier-3 Walls adds a Gatehouse. At a Crown they need 3 of 4 banners, then the Gatehouse, then 180 seconds on the Throne. A Gatehouse must be breached. If time runs out the holder keeps the seat.

A defence adds 15 Standing (10 if the attackers reached the Throne) and 20% defence at the next Turning; a forfeit gives 10 and the same bonus. A capture moves the Charter, drops each fortification one tier and clears the former holder's Legacy.

Fortifications: Walls quicken defender waves; Gatehouse adds 50% gate vitality a tier and needs a Crown or tier-3 Walls; Watchtowers warn at half or a quarter of the defence; Barracks add guards; a Market Hall adds listings and Tithe cap; a Shrine adds gate influence and Standing. A project stands 2, 4 or 7 days after its last material, and seat writs supply it.

Common mistakes

• Confusing a pledge with a Charter. The claim resolves at the Turning and must meet its tier's threshold and fee.

• Contributing too early. Your character must be seven days in the guild.

• Burning Marks on Tribute first. Tribute is capped at a fifth of the guild's whole week and is spent.

• Assuming a guild can keep a seat without upkeep. Unpaid Charters lapse, and several seats cost more.

Next

• Player guilds

• The Arena

Sources & checked facts

• src/systems/town/townSeats.js: seatOfLocation, deriveTownSeats (which locations have seats)

• src/net/townSeatLaw.js: SEAT_WEEK_MS, SEAT_RECKONING_MS, SEAT_PLEDGE_REGIONS_MAX, WATCH_INFLUENCE, WATCH_DAY_CAP, GATE_INFLUENCE, GATE_WEEK_CAP, GATE_REGION_AGREE, HOME_INFLUENCE_DAY, HOMES_SEAT_MAX, RENOWN_XP_PER_INFLUENCE, RENOWN_WEEK_CAP, WRIT_INFLUENCE_PER_MARK, TRIBUTE_MARKS_PER_INFLUENCE, TRIBUTE_SHARE_MAX, ACCOUNT_SEAT_WEEK_CAP, SEAT_MEMBER_WAIT_S, SEAT_LEGACY_SHARE, CLAIM_THRESHOLD, CLAIM_FEE, CONTESTED_MARGIN, SEAT_UPKEEP, CROWN_SCALE, SEAT_WEIGHT, OVERREACH, STANDING_START, STANDING_MAX, STANDING_LOVED, STANDING_CHANGES, TITHE_CAP, MEMBER_DISCOUNT, SIEGE_WINDOW_DAYS, SIEGE_WINDOW_HOURS, BATTLE_LENGTH_MS, SIEGE_SIDE_MAX, SELLSWORDS_MAX

• src/net/fortLaw.js: FORT_WORKS, FORT_TIER_DAYS, WALLS_WAVE_STEP_MS, GATEHOUSE, RAM, barracksGuards, marketHallListings, shrineGateInfluence, watchtowerShare

• src/net/watchReceipt.js: WATCH_TICK_MS; src/net/tideLaw.js: TIDE_EFFECTS

• src/net/siege/siegeRef.js, siegeHerald.js: battle field and announcements

• server-account/src/seatInfluence.js: creditGate, creditRenown, creditSeatWrit, payTribute

• src/ui/seatTab.js; bible/11-Multiplayer/Seats-Arc.md; research: handbook/research/R2.md, W1.md