Wresting the Effigy of Victory from the mighty grasp of Ashtan,
champions of the last CTF, Shallam has emerged as the triumphant victors
in the recent game of Capture the Flag! Congratulations to the city of
Shallam and her allies.

It was truly a nailbiter from start to finish: one of the rare CTFs
where the outcome was uncertain to the very end, exhilarating for
participants and spectators alike. Determined to keep the Effigy within
the Bastion of the North, Ashtan pulled ahead in the beginning, with no
small thanks to Jaizsur who was the first to find and plant a flag
for his city. His prowess in locating numerous flags throughout the rest
of the game has forced me to dub him the Flagmaster.

I believe Eleusis was next to plant, followed by Shallam, aided by
Cyrene. Hashan planted a flag as well, and soon enough, so did Mhaldor,
ensuring that no city would be tarnished by the stigma of a zero-point score
in this game. But it was clear that the battle was now between Ashtan,
Shallam, and Eleusis.

Nearly a third of the way into the CTF however, Ashtan had somehow
managed to misplace all their flags, and Eleusis had taken the lead!
Nearing the halfway mark, Shallam pulled ahead, with Eleusis in second
place and Ashtan dragging behind. At about the halfway mark, the sole
remaining Eleusian flag was uprooted by Chidori, who promptly planted it
for Mhaldor and knocked Eleusis out of the game.

Though Eleusis made some efforts to regain their position, by the last
quarter of the CTF it was Ashtan and Shallam neck and neck, and Ashtan
soon overtook Shallam to take the lead once more! Meanwhile, Mhaldor had
gained two planted flags and guarded them valiantly, while members of
Hashan and ultimately, Eleusis, decided to join forces with the
Shallam-Cyrene alliance to defeat Ashtan.

This quadruple-threat overtook Ashtan's lead only in the last 10 minutes
of the game in a breathtaking finale, and kept it, gaining first place
for Shallam! While Ashtan must unquestionably be applauded for their
impressive second place score achieved largely alone, in the end,
victory was meted this time to those with skill in alliance. With what I
believe was their strongest showing to date in a CTF, Mhaldor achieved
the honour of third place.

The final scores:

Ashtan 9104
Shallam 10212
Hashan 557
Cyrene 146
Mhaldor 6181
Eleusis 4381

Well played, all! For comparison to the scores of the previous CTF, read
announce news #2223.



Penned by my hand on the 9th of Mayan, in the year 429 AF.