Escorting caravans
- This page is about a source of missions / jobs.
Jobs are offered at the Tyrants Gate in Ephebe and the Onion Gate in Ankh-Morpork. Up to six players may participate together to escort a caravan between the two cities. [1]
At the Tyrants Gate in Ephebe, the schedule is:
Telonis says with an Ephebian accent: The schedule's very busy at the moment! Let's see... Telonis says with an Ephebian accent: First, there's a caravan leaving for Ankh-Morpork with a rare and valuable cargo. Calls here on Thursdays at 1:00am and Octedays at 1:00am. Telonis says with an Ephebian accent: Next, a caravan with reasonably priced merchandise leaves for Ankh-Morpork every day at 2:00pm. Telonis says with an Ephebian accent: Oh, and I almost forgot! An expedition for Ankh-Morpork leaves every day at 4:30pm. I believe it carries a profitable cargo. Telonis exclaims with an Ephebian accent: With all that activity I'm sure you can find some employment as a bodyguard with one of them!
At the Onion Gate in Ankh-Morpork, the schedule is:
You ask around and hear that a caravan with extremely expensive trade goods departs to Ephebe on Tuesdays at 2:00am and Saturdays at 2:00am, a caravan with moderately expensive trade goods departs to Ephebe every day at 9:00am and a caravan with rather expensive trade goods departs to Ephebe every day at 9:00pm.
The job requires following the caravan and protecting it from bandits along the road. More expensive cargo attracts more powerful bandit squads.
Experience and money is awarded upon completion of a successful escort mission. It seems that amounts depend on contribution in some way but additional research is needed.
Mechanics
About 20 minutes before departure time, a caravan will arrive at the gates. Players can join the caravan as escort between this time and the departure time.
Traders will enter the caravan and it will start moving at departure time. The caravan can not be followed nor pursued. The only way to keep up with the caravan is to walk manually. The caravan will try to journey on the road as much as possible and only use 'walking' when journey isn't possible. If you miss the caravan, it will be mentioned on the map with the symbol 'C'.
The caravan moves quickly and will travel after ~4 seconds with the message 'the caravan rolls on'. When a non journey exit is used it will 'roll slowly'.
The caravan will be attacked multiple times on the road. When this happens the caravan will stop in the room and the traders will exit the caravan. The traders will then be attacked by bandits.
To avoid failing the mission it's important to heal the merchants by non-magical means (bandage works only when you are not in combat), protect the merchants (parry is used for this) and to kill the bandits. Magic and re-shielding are not possible in the same room as the combat.
Once all bandits are killed the caravan will start moving again after ~5 seconds. Re-shielding is possible while the caravan is moving.
If most or all traders have survived the trip you will get a monetary reward, else you will only get xp which depends on numbers of traders alive and possibly other mechanics (not Guild level).
Help File
Commands
> enquire after caravans
> join caravan as escort
Description
Every so often, caravans travel from one place to another, and they
want protection. Here, you can join a caravan as an escort. If your
employers successfully reach their destination, you will be awarded
some xp and some money.
Applying and Enquiring
Caravans travel at set times and days, and have varying difficulties
(rich caravans are more likely to be ambushed by strong bandits than
poor ones). To find out the expected time for all caravans starting
here, just "enquire after caravans".
Caravans require an escort of two people or more. When a caravan is
waiting, players can join by typing "join caravan as escort". Anyone
can join, up to 6 people in total. If the leader of a group joins
the caravan, then all other members of the group who are in the room
are automatically included, too.
The caravan will depart when its departure time comes, provided it
has an escort of two or more people. If there is only a one-player
escort, the caravan will wait a bit longer, to see if more people are
going to join. Eventually, it will depart with just the one-player
escort.
Note: if you have already joined but leave the room, then the caravan
might leave without you, or you may be replaced by a more present
escort. If you log out, then you are no longer considered as an
escort, even if you log back in before the caravan leaves.
Following the Caravan
The caravan does not announce its direction when it moves, but
follows the fastest route to its destination. This
includes journey exits. Only when the caravan is said to
"roll slowly", a non-journey exit is used.
Table
Difficulty levels. ? 5=6? 1=3, 2=4?
| Difficulty level | Cargo name |
|---|---|
| 1 | Reasonably prized merchandise |
| 2 | Profitable cargo |
| 3 | Moderately expensive trade goods |
| 4 | Rather expensive trade goods |
| 5 | Rare and valuable cargo |
| 6 | Extremely expensive trade goods |
Time table.
| Day | Time | Difficulty | Staring point | Destination | Mission ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04 Thursday | 01:00 | 5 | Ephebe | Ankh-Morpork | 001 |
| 08 Octeday | 01:00 | 5 | Ephebe | Ankh-Morpork | 001 |
| 01 Monday | 14:00 | 1 | Ephebe | Ankh-Morpork | 002 |
| 02 Tuesday | 14:00 | 1 | Ephebe | Ankh-Morpork | 002 |
| 03 Wednesday | 14:00 | 1 | Ephebe | Ankh-Morpork | 002 |
| 04 Thursday | 14:00 | 1 | Ephebe | Ankh-Morpork | 002 |
| 05 Friday | 14:00 | 1 | Ephebe | Ankh-Morpork | 002 |
| 06 Saturday | 14:00 | 1 | Ephebe | Ankh-Morpork | 002 |
| 07 Sunday | 14:00 | 1 | Ephebe | Ankh-Morpork | 002 |
| 08 Octeday | 14:00 | 1 | Ephebe | Ankh-Morpork | 002 |
| 01 Monday | 16:30 | 2 | Ephebe | Ankh-Morpork | 003 |
| 02 Tuesday | 16:30 | 2 | Ephebe | Ankh-Morpork | 003 |
| 03 Wednesday | 16:30 | 2 | Ephebe | Ankh-Morpork | 003 |
| 04 Thursday | 16:30 | 2 | Ephebe | Ankh-Morpork | 003 |
| 05 Friday | 16:30 | 2 | Ephebe | Ankh-Morpork | 003 |
| 06 Saturday | 16:30 | 2 | Ephebe | Ankh-Morpork | 003 |
| 07 Sunday | 16:30 | 2 | Ephebe | Ankh-Morpork | 003 |
| 08 Octeday | 16:30 | 2 | Ephebe | Ankh-Morpork | 003 |
| 02 Tuesday | 02:00 | 6 | Ankh-Morpork | Ephebe | 004 |
| 06 Saturday | 02:00 | 6 | Ankh-Morpork | Ephebe | 004 |
| 01 Monday | 09:00 | 3 | Ankh-Morpork | Ephebe | 005 |
| 02 Tuesday | 09:00 | 3 | Ankh-Morpork | Ephebe | 005 |
| 03 Wednesday | 09:00 | 3 | Ankh-Morpork | Ephebe | 005 |
| 04 Thursday | 09:00 | 3 | Ankh-Morpork | Ephebe | 005 |
| 05 Friday | 09:00 | 3 | Ankh-Morpork | Ephebe | 005 |
| 06 Saturday | 09:00 | 3 | Ankh-Morpork | Ephebe | 005 |
| 07 Sunday | 09:00 | 3 | Ankh-Morpork | Ephebe | 005 |
| 08 Octeday | 09:00 | 3 | Ankh-Morpork | Ephebe | 005 |
| 01 Monday | 21:00 | 4 | Ankh-Morpork | Ephebe | 006 |
| 02 Tuesday | 21:00 | 4 | Ankh-Morpork | Ephebe | 006 |
| 03 Wednesday | 21:00 | 4 | Ankh-Morpork | Ephebe | 006 |
| 04 Thursday | 21:00 | 4 | Ankh-Morpork | Ephebe | 006 |
| 05 Friday | 21:00 | 4 | Ankh-Morpork | Ephebe | 006 |
| 06 Saturday | 21:00 | 4 | Ankh-Morpork | Ephebe | 006 |
| 07 Sunday | 21:00 | 4 | Ankh-Morpork | Ephebe | 006 |
| 08 Octeday | 21:00 | 4 | Ankh-Morpork | Ephebe | 006 |
