After some deliberation, the group divided the campaign into three phases: Gathering, Production, and Siege.
This sparked a slew of logistical questions. Where were the resource nodes? How should they lay out the barracks, and how many troops were needed to defend them? What was the best angle of attack for the siege, and how would they push to the west gate? They wouldn't know the answers until the fog of war lifted.
Ultimately, they decided on a player-centric strategy backed by NPC units. The deployment cost was capped: 20,000 DP for players and 10,000 DP for NPCs. Their initial NPC queue prioritized economy over military: 1,000 Miners, 1,000 Lumberjacks, 1,000 Stonecutters, 500 Builders, and 50 Level 38 Boss units. Once they stockpiled enough resources, they would shift production from logistics to combat troops. Players would inevitably burn through their lives in the war zone, but the NPC spawner could pump out infinite reinforcements.
Strategy locked, Isolde drafted the call to arms. To keep the event balanced, the system capped guild participation at 500 players per banner. Isolde fired off invites to Crimson Bloom and their seven allied guilds, locking in 4,000 slots right off the bat. Then, she broadcast the server-wide announcement:
[System Announcement: Starlight Town calls upon 16,000 champions to siege Starter Village 9139 tomorrow. Registration is now open. Requirement: Level 30+.]
The moment the prompt dropped, an Event Registration NPC spawned in the plaza. Starlight Town was already packed shoulder-to-shoulder with players from every major city. A tidal wave of bodies surged toward the NPC. In less than sixty seconds, all slots were filled.
The lucky few who snagged a spot erupted.
"Holy shit, I got in!"
"Missed the last two events, but my ping didn't fail me today!"
"I backed the wrong faction during the Blackwind Brotherhood and Starlight Village events. No way I'm losing this time!"
Those left in the dust raged.
"Bullshit! It filled up too fast!"
"It's rigged! Only Starlight Town locals got slots!"
"Trash devs."
"I'm from Starlight Town, and I still missed out, you idiot!"
"Are we really just going to sit on the sidelines again?"
Of course, plenty of players were just there for the spectacle.
"Anyone putting together a watch party for tomorrow?"
"Can we even zone in if we aren't registered?"
"No clue."
"Hey, check it out. A bunch of NPCs just spawned."
"Whoa, those must be the siege units for tomorrow!"
"Are they marching from here?"
"Makes sense. We aren't that far from Village 9139."
Grinding was forgotten. The entire server buzzed with anticipation for the siege. But Lila wasn't slacking off. She was already working her network of Starlight Town players, gathering intel on Village 9139.
Village 9139.
Ten thousand defenders had already rallied. Every player here had undergone a race change—from standard picks like Taurens, Orcs, and the Undead, to rare choices like Fox Spirits and Fallen Elves. They hailed from every corner of the map, including a few moles from Starlight Town. Normally, in an event of this scale, operational security was tight. A victory here meant massive reputation gains within The WarChief faction, opening doors for advanced class promotions and rare loot.
But to the players from Starlight Town, faction rep was secondary. What reward could possibly beat getting in the good graces of Dawnbreaker and Lila?
The truth was, moments after The WarChief issued the call to arms that morning, the system locked Village 9139 to non-Orc classes. Once they hit their ten thousand player cap, they booted everyone else from the zone and handed out defensive assignments. The defenders had effectively phased into the event map a full twenty-four hours early.
Nobody knew where they came from, but legions of The WarChief's NPC troops materialized on the outskirts of the village. The players joined them, claiming the entire eastern forest and locking down every chokepoint with barricades.
The Burning Horde's numbers swelled to nearly twenty thousand. Running the math against Isolde's metrics, The WarChief was fielding almost 100,000 DP in NPC forces alone.
"A hundred thousand?!"
When Lila dropped the intel on Isolde, SkyVault, and the rest of the war council, the room went dead silent. The power gap was insane. Their coalition only had 30,000 DP total, and that included their player roster.
"There's a silver lining," Lila added, easing the tension in the room. "Their army composition doesn't include any Builder-class units. No production structures. That means every kill is permanent."
A collective sigh of relief washed over the group.
"Manageable, then," someone muttered. "We can win a war of attrition."
"Still, we need to pivot," Lila said. "Here's what I'm thinking..."
The war council strategized deep into the night. Factoring in The WarChief's troop movements and defensive lines, they hammered out a series of counter-tactics.
While the two main factions prepared for war, a third party lurked in the shadows: Caleb Mordant.
Because Caleb played a Human, he didn't meet The WarChief's racial requirements. His initial plan to blindside Starlight Town was dead on arrival. But the instigator wasn't about to fold. He always had contingencies. With Plan A scrapped, he moved straight to Plan B.
Ten players gathered before him.
Magnus, the guild leader of Prideful Gods, beamed. "Cousin, I got in!"
Ashveil, the guild leader of Aegis Prime, looked just as thrilled. "Me too, Cousin!"
Caleb looked at his two cousins, pleased with the results. "Good work. What about the rest of you?"
The other eight guild leaders—all loyalists of Serpent’s Coil—kept their heads down, refusing to meet his eye.
"Useless! I'm surrounded by trash!" Caleb exploded. "All you had to do was click a button to register for Starlight Town's event! Between the ten of you and your vice-leaders, we had over a hundred people spamming the NPC, and only two of you made the cut?!"
The eight guild leaders stared harder at the floor.
This was Caleb's Plan B: sabotage from within. He wanted his people to take up slots in Starlight Town's roster and simply go AFK when the siege started. If all ten guilds had made it, that would have been 5,000 players actively throwing the match. Starlight Town's combat effectiveness would be crippled before the first sword was swung, leaving Kael and Lila as generals without an army. How could they raze a village then?
But the system's speed had ruined it. Still, Caleb swallowed his rage.
"Forget it. A thousand saboteurs is still a thousand lost slots for them." A dark gleam flickered in his eyes. "Tell your men to stand by. We're moving to Plan C."
"Understood!"