20 · Glossary

Status: Living page · Owner: TBD · Updated: 2026-09-23

Shared vocabulary. If a term appears in more than one page, it belongs here. Keeping this honest is how the team avoids three names for one system.

Game terms

Term	Meaning
Dynasty	A playable faction; a kingdom or empire that historically ceased to exist
Age	A major progression tier that visually and mechanically transforms the city
Core building	The city's gating structure; caps the level of all others
March	An army sent from the city to a map location
Rally	A multi-player coordinated attack led by one player
Node	A map tile that yields resources when occupied
Ruin	A map site left by a fallen dynasty; excavated for relics or blueprints
Shield	Protection preventing attacks on a city for a duration
Server / Shard	An isolated instance of the world with its own population
Season	A bounded competitive cycle within a server

Unit classes

See Units & Battle for the full damage matrix.

Term	Meaning
Swordman	Line infantry. Beats Pikemen, loses to Cavalry
Pikemen	Anti-cavalry infantry. Beats Cavalry, loses to Swordman
Cavalry	Shock and raid. Beats Swordman, loses to Pikemen
Marksman	Ranged. 1.5x to all units except siege; poor health
Siege	Wall breaker. 2x to buildings, 0.5x to units; normal health
Counter triangle	Swordman > Pikemen > Cavalry > Swordman
Multiplier	Damage scalar applied by attacker class against defender class

Production terms

Term	Meaning
Pillar	A design principle with the authority to kill a feature
Vertical slice	A small but fully finished piece of the real game
Live ops	Ongoing operation of a launched game: events, balance, economy
Faucet / Sink	Where a currency enters / leaves the economy
F2P / IAP / LTV	Free-to-play / in-app purchase / lifetime value

Per-dynasty terminology

Fill in as factions are locked — each dynasty's own words for its ranks, core building and military units. See Narrative.

Dynasty	Core building	Ruler title	Army term