> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ashenmarch.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Conquering Land
> How claims, tiers, fortification, effort, decay, walls, and districts work.
## Claiming territory
Run a **loop** (your path encloses an area). On sync, a loop that meets the minimums registers as a claim and the enclosed area becomes your territory at **Outpost** tier.
* Minimum distance: **500 m**
* Minimum enclosed area: **5,000 m²**
**What if my loop overlaps land someone already owns?** You only claim the part that isn't already owned (the non-overlapping portion). Overlapping someone else's territory starts a **siege** instead — see [War](/en/war).
**My run wasn't a clean loop.** Self-crossing routes (figure-8s, an out-and-back that ends in a loop) claim the **largest enclosed loop**. A purely linear/out-and-back route doesn't enclose area, so instead of claiming land it builds a **Wall** (below).
## Why didn't my march count?
Your GPS track is always saved first — you never lose a march — but land is only claimed if the track passes validation:
* **Too short or too small:** a claim needs the minimum distance and enclosed area above (water routes use smaller minimums). A tiny loop builds toward a Wall instead.
* **Not enough GPS:** a track with only a handful of points can't be trusted as a real route and is set aside.
* **Implausible movement:** points that jump an impossible distance apart (a GPS "teleport"), or a sustained speed too fast for your activity, flag the march for review rather than claiming land.
A flagged march shows as **under review** — no land is awarded, but nothing is lost, and genuine routes clear review. GPS drift among tall buildings, a partial drive, or an indoor/treadmill session with no real GPS are the usual reasons a march doesn't claim.
**Worked example — your first claim:** you jog a 1.2 km loop around your neighbourhood park, enclosing roughly 40,000 m². Both minimums clear easily, so on sync the park becomes your **Outpost**, painted in your colours. The same route tomorrow doesn't claim again — it **fortifies** (below). A rectangle of city blocks, a park perimeter, or a campus loop all make natural first claims.
## Tiers, fortification & effort
Claimed land has five tiers, from weakest to strongest:
**Outpost → Village → Keep → Stronghold → Citadel**
Higher tiers resist invasion better. The map shows a territory's tier and degrades it visually as its defence drops.
**Raise a territory's tier** by running through it again. Each campaign adds **fortification**:
> **fortification = effort × distance (km)**
A 5 km run at your normal pace adds 5 units; the same route run hard (1.5× effort) adds 7.5. Walking counts too — it's measured against your own walking pace.
**Effort** is your pace **compared to your own 30-day average**, not absolute speed. A fast day *for you* earns a high modifier no matter how fast that is in absolute terms:
* Way below your average: 0.5× (a floor — slow/recovery days still count)
* At your average: 1.0×
* 10% faster: 1.2× · 25% faster: 1.5× · 50%+ faster: 2× (the ceiling)
**Why doesn't an elite runner have an advantage over me?** Because everything is measured against *your own* baseline. Your personal best earns the same reward tier as anyone else's personal best.
**Worked example — the road to Citadel:** tier thresholds are 2 / 6 / 14 / 30 fortification ([reference](/en/reference#territory-tiers)). Your fresh Outpost reaches **Village** after one easy 2 km run through it (2 × 1.0×). Three more average 3 km runs (+9) carry it past **Keep** (6) toward **Stronghold** (14). One hard 5 km effort at 1.5× (+7.5) later, you're at 18.5 — two more solid weeks of showing up and the **Citadel** (30) is yours. Consistency builds castles.
## Decay
Territory drops one tier if you don't run it within its decay window:
| Tier | Days before it drops a tier |
| ---------- | ---------------------------- |
| Citadel | 14 |
| Stronghold | 12 |
| Keep | 10 |
| Village | 8 |
| Outpost | 21 → becomes **Unprotected** |
Higher tiers hold out longer — the reward for building a Citadel is durability. Full current values live in the [Game Reference](/en/reference).
**Unprotected** means an Outpost left for 21+ days. It still shows in your colours but has **no defence** — a rival can take it easily. Territory never decays *below* Outpost; it just becomes Unprotected.
An **Unprotected** holding is free for any rival to take — no siege, no fight — and it pays **no tribute** while it sits. If you're going away for a while, spend your last runs on the holdings you most want to keep: a Citadel buys you two weeks per tier of grace, an Outpost only three.
Decay is per-holding, not per-account: one weekly loop that threads through several holdings resets all of their clocks in a single campaign. The War Council's **Fortify** mode plots exactly that route for you.
## Walls
A **linear** run (out-and-back, minimum 500 m) builds a defensive **Wall** along your route. Walls aren't land — they're border fortifications that make it harder for invaders to cross.
* **Wall** — decays after 14 days without a run.
* **Reinforced Wall** — stronger; decays back to a plain Wall after 21 days.
**Get a Reinforced Wall** by running the route **twice** within the decay window, or **once at high effort** (above your baseline pace).
## Districts
Claim two of your own territories that sit next to each other on the map.
Run the linear route between them to raise a Wall along the connection (see Walls, above).
Once the Wall connects both holdings, name the new **District** yourself — or let your Herald choose a name for you.
Your two holdings and their connecting Wall are drawn together under one **unifying outline**, with your crest and the District's name at its centre. Each District shows a **completeness** meter reflecting how fresh its connecting Wall is and how healthy its member territories are.
A District becomes **fractured** (drawn with a broken, dashed outline) if its connecting Wall decays away or one of its member territories is lost. You have a short grace period to restore it — re-run the Wall or win the territory back — before it dissolves.
## Different activities
Beyond running/walking, **Cavalry** (cycling) and **Naval** (rowing/paddling/watersports) are supported. Each activity is measured against **its own** personal baseline, so effort is fair across activity types. Water routes claim along waterways; cavalry covers more ground at speed.
The five tiers are the same underneath — only the labels change to suit the activity:
* **On foot:** Outpost → Village → Keep → Stronghold → Citadel
* **Cavalry (cycling):** Staging Post → Barracks → Garrison → Stronghold → War Camp
* **Naval (water):** Mooring → Harbour → Naval Station → Admiralty → Fleet Anchorage
Decay timers and defence behave identically across all three.