The Dragon Alliance

A defensive alliance of guilds on the Empera server of Tibia formed in 2005. The Dragon Alliance formed the foundation for the modern day Serenial group which continues to this day over a decade later.

### Formation

The Dragon Alliance began when players from Antica and Pacera decided to move to the then new Empera server. A guild named Dragontear was formed within a few days of the servers launch.

The guild decided that aside from leveling there should be a few other priorities; preparation for an inevitable war for power over the server was important, it was also important to establish a permanent base of operations as many players of the guild were eager to purchase in-game real-estate.

### Location

After some consideration, the guild decided that it was feasible at the time to purchase all the player own-able property in the Greenshore region of the city of Thais. In order to do this the guild would have to spawn other guilds with the understanding that access would be shared for all members among the areas three guildhalls.

1. Castle Greenshore
2. Greenshore Clanhall
3. The Tibianic
4. Greenshore Village 1
5. Greenshore Village Shop
6. Greenshore Village 2-6
7. Greenshore Village 7
8. Greenshore Villa

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Dragonheart and Dragonclaw were formed quickly afterwards the guildhalls were purchased and members began buying up individual player properties on the island. The island held a distinct strategic geography in only having two entrances. A two lane bridge on the surface, and a one lane underground tunnel that linked to the Thais dragon cave as well as main city.

The group established a border within the island offering protection from unjust player killers in the local area. Eventually it was decided to expand that operation into the city proper. Eventually additional guilds were formed to purchase properties in the city, such as the Dark Mansion north of the city which connected to Greenshore via the underground tunnel, the Warriors Guildhall in the center of the city, the Fibula Clanhall located on an island southwest of Thais. The alliance also purchased Wolftower located at the center of the continent north of the Jakundaf Desert due to high levels of player killing activity in the area and guild interest in research into the mysteries of the desert.

### The Skull System

Tibia's player versus player system is very unique among most contemporary mmorpgs. While there are a few options for pvp type, the Empera server was open-pvp which used the skull system, it indicated the level of violence the player committed as well as set rules on how open engagements worked.

#### Green Skull

Indicates that the player is a member of your party. As any skull, attacking or killing a green skull will be a justified kill.

#### White Skull

Indicates that the player had attacked or killed someone unjustly recently. These players cannot enter safety zones for a specific. Killing a white skull is a justified kill.

#### Red Skull

A player gets a red skull if they kill three or more unmarked characters in one day (24 hours), five or more unmarked characters in one week (7 days), or ten or more unmarked characters in one month (30 days).

The red skull lasts for 30 days and any deaths will result in the dropping of ALL items.

#### Black Skull

A player gets a black skull for exceeding double the amount of kills required to gain a red skull. This lasts for 45 days, has all the mechanics of the red skull but the player is unable to attack unskulled players or use any aoe skills or summon any creatures.

#### Yellow Skull

A player will receive a yellow skull if they attack someone marked with a black, red, white or revenge skull (orange). The yellow skull is only visible to the recipient of the attack which allows for fair defense of themselves.

### Player Killer Killers

The alliance openly targeted any skulled players encountered (with the exception of green) with the intent to kill, diplomacy often occurred during combat, but unjust murder of another player was seen as a pretty clear cut case, and a loss of loot/exp and a trip back to the players spawn point was seen as a fairly lenient punishment by the alliance.

### The Desert Mystery

The alliance was attracted to the Jakundaf Desert region due to high levels of player-killing in the area. This was because of the Desert Quest in the area. The quest allowed a level 20 team of each of the games classes to traverse a complex, mysterious and dangerous dungeon with the reward for success being ten thousand gold. High level players would often offer safe guidance on this quest to teams in exchange for a small gold fee, however after completion of the quest, the low level players were vulnerable to being unjustly killed upon exiting the dungeon.

The alliance saw this as an opportunity to justly kill those who had robbed the innocent quest goers, returning the quest rewards and lost items and keeping the loot dropped by the skulled players. This turned out to be a lucrative venture for the alliance as after returning the quest reward to the rightful owners, the alliance would often be rewarded with the original fees as well as additional loot from the just kills.

This brought both positive and negative attention to the alliance as now they were protecting a large source of player revenue. Players under the protection were extremely appreciative, and the would-be bandits were left without their prize and showing a pretty substantial net-loss due to their unfortunate encounters with the alliance.

    The alliance began offering their own guides for the dungeon and began researching the vast lore surrounding it as well as the many alternate paths and traps scattered throughout the dungeon and surrounding areas. The dungeon itself was host to many mysteries that connected to many other areas of the game.

The library contained many books relating to several points of in-game lore, and the dungeon itself was host to many pitfalls that would easily kill a team of level 20 if even a single wrong turn was made in the labyrinth itself. A lot of time was spent researching lore and following leads presented through this dungeon in addition to normal guild operations.

### Empera War

It wasn't long before alliance activity at the desert dungeon brought the attention of those who would lose profit by their existence. It first began as scattered attempts to ambush members of the alliance followed by diplomatic measures. War however in an open pvp environment was inevitable.

A hastily formed group of many high level players and guilds was formed in opposition to the alliance and an organized attack on Greenshore was executed. The suspicious group was spotted gathering in Thais, in reaction the alliance called in all members to take up defensive positions on the island.

The Alliance was able to hold the front-line at the Greenshore bridge for prolonged periods of time and against an enemy that vastly out leveled and out numbered them due to several reasons; firstly the island offered a distinct strategic advantage due to it's geography, unbeknownst to the enemy the guild was easily able to resupply via an underground tunnel network that connected to the City and the Dark Manor. A counter attack was quickly executed.

While the main forces held the line at the bridge, a secondary force was supplied and sent underground to route the enemy from behind. Once in position the word was given for the main forces to push forward causing an enemy retreat right into the arms of the secondary force which wiped their forces completely. The only loss for the alliance was the death single low level alt-player who was acting as a scout and caught by the enemy south of the blockade just before the encounter began. That player was well paid from the alliance treasury for their service of it's interests.

### After War

After the war the alliance continued it's activity, it became very heavily involved in guild politics for the server, often intervening in wars waged within their territory pledging to work toward wiping out both sides until the conflict was resolved. One tactic used was to demoralize both sides by standing by peacefully until one side won the conflict, only to have what remained of their forces wiped out by the alliance who walked away with all of the dead players loot.

Activity in the desert continued for some time, both in regards to protection and guidance but also in research into the secrets the desert holds. As time marched on the alliance moved on and dissipated. Some key members went on to play Dream of Mirror online in the guild Celestial, forming TCD and then becoming Serenial.