🙇 Captives -

Any defeated Banner Lords present in a conflict can normally be captured if certain criteria are met. If a Player is ever located in a region that gets conquered by an army loyal to an opposing side, (usually through having used their Banner Lord Bonus in the Defeat) they may be taken captive. This can happen either through an objective from a successful Battle Order or through the capture of the region. Any Banner Lord present in a defeated region is vulnerable to capture, regardless of the objectives listed on the successful Battle Order, unless they specifically tell Control before the battle that they are not participating in the battle and ceding their Banner Lord Bonus. In this case, they will be immune from default capture but their side will not benefit from the victory point for having them present at the battle. Players that do this will still be vulnerable to attacker objectives targeting their capture specifically. If a Player thinks far enough ahead, they may draft any Gambits in the previous rounds with the intent of helping them to escape from a lost battle and capture. However, a successful battle objective to specifically capture that Banner Lord, will always supersede singular Gambits of that nature. Counter gambits would then supersede the Battle Order, though any opposing Gambits to assure the players capture would then sway the matter back again.

Capture is represented by the victorious House holding the table Banner of the defeated Player(s) at their own team/council table. A captured Player may act as normal in a round while their character is considered captured with the key exceptions of submitting Travel Papers, and participating in Battle Orders. This is because the Player will be considered held in a region or location of the captor’s choosing. Being captured may have other effects that come up in play. Captured Banners have no affect on the influence order of the capturing alliance or House, and cannot be used in conflict until the capture is resolved. Only one banner needs to be held by a captor, any other table banners that the captive holds due to lands can be left where they are at the time of capturing. These banners are vulnerable to capture in other conflicts like normal and can be deployed in Battle Orders by other members of the captured Player’s House or alliance.

The captured Player may submit Gambits each round to try and escape or achieve other outcomes while imprisoned. Other Players can also submit Gambits to try and release them. A House that is holding captives can counter Gambit to increase their own security, etc. If more Gambits to escape are undertaken then those to counter, the Player might escape. The last remaining Gambit targeting the captive Player, without opposition, will be the result. If the Player succeeds in escaping or is released through other means, they can return their banner to their chosen alliance as normal. If the region which a Player is being held in is captured by friendly forces, they can be released in the same fashion, though this is up to the Battle Leader of any such actions to determine this. The same applies to ambivalent or other hostile forces overtaking the captured Player’s location. Players can choose to switch their alliance at any time in order to be released, if that is offered to them.

The apprentice candidates to the Babayaga are considered captives and their banners should sit at Baba’s House. In this case, the candidates could leave at any time, however, this may have ramifications with Baba and their House should they choose to do so. If one of Baba's apprentice candidates is captured then once released, they may choose whether to return to their House or Baba.

Hostage Taking -

Hostages are mechanically captives for the purpose of the game, though there are more reasons for the Players to be taken and to take hostages such as political manoeuvrings and providing collateral. Any Player can be willingly taken hostage, giving up their ability to travel in order to serve some agenda of their House or others. This is a dangerous action though, as trust may be thin and any Player, taken captive by another House is vulnerable to execution at the behest of their host alone. Hostage takings and returns can be instigated at any time but for placement purposes, the Player’s game location will not change until the following round. This can affect things like duels where the Player’s region must be taken into account.

Moving with Captives -

Travel Papers cannot be submitted on behalf of a captive or hostage by any Player holding them in order to move them to a different region, but there is a section on their own papers to list any Captives moving with them. Mechanically the captive Player’s character can only move to the same location as one of their captives as listed on their papers. Escape gambits by the captured Player will be more likely to succeed on turns where they are being moved.