Each leader has a chance of hiding. This means that if they hide successfully they will not be displayed on other peoples turnsheets, allowing them to gather information on enemy activities (by STEALing, SPYing and FOLLOWing) without being noticed. In addition to this hiding can often be a good way of staying alive. The format for this useful command is, quite simply -
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{Leader Name} HIDE
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It takes 5 hours for your leader to find a suitable hiding place. It is difficult to HIDE
when accompanied by other troops. To have a good chance of remaining
hidden, try and keep the total encumbrance (including troop body-weight) to below
1,000. If you can get it below 100 you will hide even better. The
hiding chance increases by 5% per level of your leader but You will not know whether
your leaders attempts to hide have succeeded or not. Every leader and castle your leader
encounters has a chance of spotting him.
Thieves excel at hiding and will automatically attempt to Hide every turn, providing
they have time left after completing all other orders. All other class types must re-issue the HIDE
command every turn if they wish to remain hidden.
Thieves can attempt to SABOTAGE a castles extensions. The amount of extensions destroyed depends on the level of your character and will always take 100 hours to complete. The syntax for this order is -
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{Thief Name} SABOTAGE {Castle Name} {Extension-type}
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As with most antisocial thieving activities there is a very real chance of capture and imprisonment.
By the time a thief has reached 4th Level, they have cultivated sufficient contacts in the underworld to enable them to SMUGGLE Troops, Mounts and from their stockpiles to friendly castles. Anything can be Smuggled within your own Empire, however Troops will refuse to be smuggled to another Empire, so you can only Smuggle Mounts and Stockpiles to an Ally. The syntax for this command is:-
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{Thief Name} SMUGGLE {Castle} {Amount} {Item}
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{Thief Name} SMUGGLE {Castle} {Amount} {Item} {Amount} {Item}
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{Thief Name} SMUGGLE {Castle} {Amount} ALL*
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{Thief Name} SMUGGLE {Castle} {Amount} ALL EXCEPT {Amount} {Item}*
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* Click here for notes on ALL EXCEPT
The maximum distance that a Thief can smuggle is 1 square per level. It takes 30 hours for the Thief to complete his dodgy dealings.
At 6th level a thief has had enough business with the merchants to travel using the delivery network. The syntax for this command is:-
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{Thief Name} SKULK {Castle}
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The target castle must be on the delivery list for the merchants at that castle. Time taken is 100 hours.
When any of your armies (whatever their class) meets a leader or castle of an opposing player, you will be provided with an estimation of their forces. This natural ability to estimate an opposing force gets more accurate with each level.
Alternatively, a leader may select to SPY on an enemy leader or castle. This will provide a more accurate list of what you face, and what supplies they have. The accuracy of the spying depends on the level of the spy and his class. The format for this command is -
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This would instruct Lancelot to SPY on Mordred to get a better idea of the troops and items he is carrying.
Both the leader and the enemy leader or castle he is spying on must be at the same location after movement. If someone is on your square and you wish to SPY on them, FOLLOW them first to make sure you stay with them. Thieves are uncommonly good at spying and may report back with details of the victims orders. Thus it can be possible to overhear and thus 'steal' spells from careless wizards and priests.
Warning - Spying can be hazardous, and could mean capture, possibly leaving your army leaderless.
All leaders have a chance of stealing from other leaders and castles. Anything from gold to longships may be stolen, but we strongly advise that you don't attempt to steal the latter. Thieves are obviously the best at this type of work and it is best to STEAL in conjunction with the HIDE command, after all if the other player notices something missing from his turnsheet and sees one of your thieves sitting outside his city he may rather jump to conclusions. It is possible for experienced thieves to be accompanied by a number of henchmen to help cart off the loot. The syntax for carrying out the STEAL order is -
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{Leader} STEAL {Castle or Leader} {Amount} {Item}
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This would instruct Jimmy to try and steal 10 food from Lancelot. The amount your thief can steal is dependent upon their level and the amount they can carry. Should Lancelot not possess any food, Jimmy would go away empty handed. Stealing takes 20 hours. The penalty for being caught in the act of stealing is to be stripped of all your belongings and incarcerated within the deepest darkest dankest dungeon.
As well as receiving the usual news and rumours, Thieves ordered to Visit Taverns will use their thievish abilities to indulge in a spot of pick-pocketing. Thieves will gain 100 gold * Level for each night they visit a Tavern.
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{Thief Name} VISIT TAVERN {Number of Nights}
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This would instruct Jimmy to Visit a local Tavern 8 times. This would net Jimmy 100 gold * his level * 8. E.g. if Jimmy was a 5th Level Thief, he would gain 100*5*8 gold - 4000 gold in total. This is extremely useful at earlier stages of the game where gold may be scarce, especially when saving up for your all important Citadel.
Any gold acquired in this way is automatically transferred to the castles stockpiles immediately after the visits occur. Thieves must be ordered to Visit Taverns for this to work - Relying on 'auto-visit' (which all leaders do if they have spare time) will not gain any gold.
