Protection and attack windows
Outside a siege, a city's buildings are safe only under a protection contract. Outposts and mines open once a day.
- The Heartwood always protects itself. It can only be harmed once a siege has begun.
- A building with no protection contract can be attacked at any time.
- Other buildings are safe only under a protection contract. The Inner Council arranges contracts at the Heartwood: select it, press F, and choose Manage Protections.
- Once a siege has begun, protection counts for nothing inside the city grid.
- Outposts on their own nation's ground can be attacked only during their daily one-hour window (anywhere else, at any time), and mine towers only during their daily 30-minute window.
- Siege engines obey exactly the same rules as swords and arrows: a catapult cannot knock down a protected building outside a siege.