The Throne of Oblivion expansion focuses firmly upon Shadowbane's guild-based city systems and siege warfare, taking existing gameplay to an entirely new level. Siege refinements and new strategic systems form the second core theme of the expansion, with the new Realm and Rulership system promising to revolutionize the world of Aerynth. This new system is the 'Throne' in the title of the expansion, allowing player Guilds to vie for thrones and domains of their own.

For the first time since the Turning, the scattered factions of Aerynth are carving out new empires and bringing order to the Age of Strife. This extensive new system allows Guilds to claim rulership over an entire realm, gaining power and prestige.

All of the worlds have been divided into realms, which are visible in the World Map. Cities placed with these realms can vie for lordship, and those that succeed can upgrade their Tree of Life into a "Palace," a visible symbol of their power and prestige, and turning their city into the capital of their realm. Any realm can only have one Palace within it at a time; once claimed, a city will rule until its rivals can depose it in battle. Guilds with the power to build and maintain a Palace find that rule brings many benefits:

• City-based bonus based on the capital's outlook: Belligerent, Mercantile, or Feudal.
• The Guild Leader receives a title before their overhead name, from Baron or Marquis to Warlord, King, or even Emperor!
• Leaders of Nations that rule more than one realm gain loftier titles.
• The Guild's heraldry appears on the realm map, with the names of the guild, capital and ruler.
• Guild Leaders can appoint Tax Collectors, who have the power to levy weekly taxes of gold and resources from every other city in the realm.

Claiming a Realm
To Ascend the Throne and claim control over a realm, the guild/nation leader must activate a Realm Charter to upgrade their City's Tree of Life to a new Palace structure. The upgrade will not be easy, however. To create a palace and claim a realm, a guild must accomplish many goals:

Upgrade Cost
Preparations for the city capital must be made in the form of gold and other resources:

• Must have a Warehouse built within the city vying for dominion of the realm
• 8,000,000 Gold either in the Tree of Life strongbox or within the Warehouse
• 8,000 Stone - available from any stone or metal mine
• 8,000 Lumber - available from any lumber camp
• 15 Galvor - available only from the metal mine on Oblivion
• 15 Wormwood - available only from the lumber camp on Maelstrom
• If insufficient resources exist in the Warehouse (or ToL), the upgrade will fail.

Tree Rank
Only Rank 7 Trees can upgrade into palaces.

Maintenance Cost
Each week, the palace requires gold and other resources to maintain itself (and by extension, control over the realm):

• 1500 Stone
• 1500 Lumber
• 5 Galvor
• 5 Wormwood

Realm Charters and Types of Realms
In addition to city preparations, the Guild members will need to acquire a Realm Charter. These come in three varieties, which define the political outlook of the Realm. The Charter type determines the appearance of the palace, and also offers a unique set of benefits and drawbacks to the realm:

Belligerent Realm Charter
Belligerent realms focus their efforts on war and siege, placing might above other goals.

• CITY ASSET HEALTH MODIFIER: +15% Warlike realms focus on withstanding sieges, and build sturdy structures.
• UPGRADE TIME MODIFIER: +10% stronger buildings are harder to build.
• MAINTENANCE COST MODIFIER: +10% maintaining a city on a warlike footing is expensive.
• TAXATION RATE: 10% is the maximum allowed to tax any one city per week

Mercantile Realm Charter
Mercantile Realms are focused on trade and commerce, putting wealth first.

• CITY ASSET HEALTH MODIFIER: -15% Trade, not war, is the focus of these realms.
• UPGRADE TIME MODIFIER: -10% Rapid growth is a key focus of commerce.
• MAINTENANCE COST MODIFIER: -10%
• TAXATION RATE: 20% is the maximum allowed to tax any one city per week

Feudal Realm Charter
Feudal Realms take a balanced approach to government.

• CITY ASSET HEALTH MODIFIER: Normal
• UPGRADE TIME MODIFIER: Normal
• MAINTENANCE COST MODIFIER: Normal
• TAXATION RATE: 15% is the maximum allowed to tax any one city per week

The King's Path
But it takes more than iron, stone, or even a crown to make a king. To truly rule a realm, a player must receive the mandate of the Gods themselves. Once all the necessary resources have been collected and a Realm Charter has been acquired, the would-be ruler must go on a journey to visit 3 Hermits, scattered at remote locations across each game world.

Each Hermit can grant one Blessing to the aspiring monarch: the Blessing of Power, of Wisdom, and of Fortune. These blessings last a limited amount of time, and will be broken if the aspiring ruler is killed or logs out of the game. Additionally, the road to power is not easy: the blessings will burden the young King until the end of his Journey, preventing magical movement, summon travel, and slowing them down.

Under the protection of the guild and or nation, the guild leader must go to all three hermits, return to their city, and activate the Realm Charter while all 3 blessings are still in effect. If all of these conditions are met, the Charter will successfully activate, transforming the Tree of Life into a Palace.

Benefits of Rule
Once a realm has been claimed, the Guild controlling its capital city gains several benefits:

• The Realm "welcoming message" names the ruler, their title, and the ruling guild.
• The guild leader of the capital city gains a title based on Charter type, that appears before their name in game.
• Clicking on the realm in the World Map opens an info HUD containing the name of the ruler, ruling guild, and the realm type.
• Special bonuses based on the realm's outlook, as detailed above.
• The ability to tax all cities within the realm.

Losing Control of a Realm
There are two ways a capital can downgrade back into a Tree of Life, putting that realm back "up for grabs":

• If a capital cannot pay its maintenance costs, it goes into default. After 1 week in default, it will downgrade unless sufficient resources can be gathered.
• If a Palace sustains enough damage in a siege to destroy it, it downgrades to an R7 Tree of Life, and control over the realm is lot.

Controlling Multiple Realms
If a guild that controls a realm swears fealty to another guild that rules a realm, the ruling nation increases in status. All realms controlled by one nation will highlight together when moused over, and the title of the nation ruler will upgrade (from Baron to King, from King to Emperor) when 3 or 5 realms are controlled, respectively.

A nation cannot control more than 5 realms at once.