DragonZone

In the dark past a life form existed that has now passed into the realm of legend. Born of an egg, with serpentine or reptilian traits, the life form existed throughout many ages in time and in the myths of many cultures across the earth. They are the dragons.

Dragons, from the Latin draconem - meaning huge serpent - are supposedly mythological representations of huge firebreathing lizards or snakes. With large batlike wings and hard, armoured hides they live in underground lairs or caves, only emerging to wreak havoc on unsuspecting rival clans.

The legends speak of capturing princesses and destroying villages, of burning forests and consuming those who did not revere them or provide them treasure. The legends tell tales of heroic hunters, dragon hunters, who sought out the dragons and engaged them in epic battle to rid the earth of the foul creatures. The legends say that all dragons are now extinct - if they ever existed at all - other than in tall stories or tales long committed to the fantasy books of old.

The myths of the dragons are further from the truths you have been told, and closer to reality than you could ever suspect.

Dragons are known to exist. They are not legend. They are real. They live in the dragonZone.

Dragons are fiercely territorial, and intensely loyal. They rule over areas of land, making life merry for those clans who control their treasures, and attacking all others who would try to gain control over their treasures. These territories are known as the dragonZones. Clans battle to control the treasures that exist in the dragonZones; for the more treasure that is controlled, the greater their control over the presiding dragon.

There are four rival clans battling for control of the dragonZones: Clan Griffin, Clan Phoenix, Clan Cerberus, and Clan Minotaur. Choose your clan wisely, for should the numbers in each clan become unbalanced, restoration of the balance may be undertaken by divine intervention.

Attacks by rival clans to control the treasure, and therefore the dragons, are frequent. Excursions into opposing clan territory happen every day, from dawn until dusk, and from sunset to sunrise, until a new clan controls enough treasure to control the dragonZone. Treasure can be created in a dragonZone and controlled by a clan, but unless the clan keep a watchful eye on the treasure and continue to control it, rival clans can take control of a single piece of treasure and move the allegiance of the dragon from one clan to another. Certain treasures can be moved from one dragonZone to another, but the cunning clan will only bring in those treasures which they control, as all allegiance to the treasure will be moved along with it. If you bring in a treasure which is controlled by another clan, you might find your dragonZone moving allegiance to a rival clan. Clans will strive to maintain or gain control of treasure that exists in a dragonZone to help sway the dragon to their own clan allegiance.

The more treasures and dragonZones controlled by your clan, the higher your prestige. Not all treasures are considered equal. The dragons are only interested in physical treasure. Virtual treasure is not considered worthy and does not contribute to dragonZone control. The exception to this are all Burke and Wills caches regardless of whether they are a physical treasure or a virtual treasure.

Helping your clan to control a dragonZone is one thing. Helping yourself to a higher rank is another.

The more you battle, the faster your dragonZone points accumulate, but the greater the struggle to achieve new ranks. Finding a treasure automatically allocates dZPoints for your clan to that treasure. The clan with the highest dZPoints allocated to a treasure will control the treasure. The clan with the greatest number of controlled treasures will control the dragonZone. Each treasure can be controlled by multiple clans, and multiple clan control for a dragonZone is also permitted. Do you and your clan want to share the glory or retain it all?

At the time you find a treasure you will also receive personal dZPoints. These can be used to boost the control value for a treasure, but you have limited opportunity to use these additional dZPoints. You are not obligated to assign your additional dZPoints immediately. Instead, you can store your additional dZPoints in your bank. Your bank is infinite and you can store your dZPoints for eternity. If you want to assign additional dZPoints to a treasure, you can only apply them to a treasure you have found within the last seven days. If you find the same treasure multiple times within a seven day period, you can only assign additional dZPoints once. You will be restricted as to the number of additional dzPoints you can assign to a treasure depending on your rank. Make wisely your decision between immediately assigning your dZPoints, or banking them for later use.

Hiding a new treasure pleases the dragon realm and the treasure will be awarded more points initially than a standard find. Your personal dZPoints for hiding a treasure will accumulate at a faster pace for each new rank you achieve. The more treasure you find and hide, the faster you will achieve new ranks. As with treasure finds, not all treasure hides are created equal. Large treasures are worth more than regular treasures, which are worth more than small, micro, or nano treasures. Difficult treasures are worth more than easy treasures. Treasures hidden in tough landscapes will be worth more than treasures you hide on the street.

When you publish some treasure after you have joined the game, each subsequent find will attract some personal dZPoints for you as a form of Karma for contributing back to the game.

Join dragonZone at Geocaching Australia to enjoy the fun of geocaching at a new level.