Over the past three months, the Flight program transformed the Guild. Hunters aligned themselves under the banners of the Lorewardens, Embercallers, or Thornbound, competing for points through hunts, trades, puzzles, and bestiary entries. What began as a simple experiment quickly grew into a season of rivalries, alliances, and unexpected strategies, culminating in the Thornbound’s victory despite being the smallest of the three Flights.
The Premise
When we first discussed the idea of Flights, the aim was simple: to allow the community to create more engagement and more stories without doubling the number of dragons hidden in the wild. We wanted to offer hunters the opportunity to explore locations unsuitable for dragon hunts, places where a hidden creature would never survive the elements but where lore, puzzles, or challenges might flourish. We wanted to see what the community could do with a structure that was more than hunts alone.
The Flights were always an experiment, born from curiosity and the desire to deepen the game without overwhelming the small team that runs it. They were meant to enrich the world of the Guild, giving players a stronger sense of belonging and purpose, while also stretching the lore into new shapes.
We wanted to give you something over the summer to pick up and play with, and very much make your own. What followed was a level of gameplay we had not anticipated, with hunters weaving strategies, rivalries, and stories far beyond our expectations.
The Flights
Originally, the story of the Guild was built around a united front against a shadowy force. We thought this external enemy would serve as a rallying point. But when we began to explore different philosophies of dragon hunting and collecting, we realised that splitting the Guild into three distinct factions was far more compelling.
The Lorewardens were formed around history, puzzles, and the recovery of knowledge. The Embercallers embodied instinct, fire, and boldness. The Thornbound pursued influence, trade, and strategy. Each Flight carried its own identity, its own symbols, and its own aesthetic. From the outset, we knew the Embercallers would attract those drawn to action, the Lorewardens would gather the patient and the curious, and the Thornbound would appeal to a smaller, more mercantile-minded group.
That split changed the feel of the game. Instead of simply being members of the Guild, hunters became representatives of banners, champions of colours, participants in rivalries that felt as old as the myths themselves.
The Points
With the Flights came a points system. At first, we designed a range of mechanics that could feed into this structure. Bestiary entries, hunts, trades, relics, and puzzles were all considered. Some were implemented, some were scrapped. On paper it worked well, but in practice we quickly realised how much time and resource it demanded from us.
This was always intended as an experiment, and one of the clearest lessons was that points are a hungry system. They require balance, transparency, and consistency. Hunters threw themselves into the competition with enthusiasm, and soon it became clear that keeping pace with that energy was harder than expected. We spent many hours logging hunts, recording art and trades, and processing submissions that had been sent by DM or email. Far more than we had anticipated.
We are glad we did not make it more complicated. Participation was much higher than we expected, and even the system as it stood consumed vast amounts of time.
Momentum
The first two months were everything we had hoped. The Flights created energy, speculation, and healthy rivalry. Hunters were identifying one another in the wild with secret symbols, comparing totals, and strategising about how to push their banner forward. For a time, the Guild felt alive with a new fire.
But momentum is difficult to sustain. Outside factors made it harder for us to keep up with the hype we had generated, and by the last month we were struggling to deliver on what we had envisioned. In the end, we had to scrap several mechanics because two of the three Flights were playing harder than the third. Balancing that kind of energy is difficult, and the uneven pace revealed cracks in the system.
And yet, despite being the smallest Flight, it was the Thornbound who emerged victorious. Their triumph was fitting: the traders and vault keepers claimed their crown through persistence, cunning, and focus. Their victory will remain one of the defining stories of the first cycle.
The Flights Are Canonical
Even with their flaws, the Flights are now part of the Guild’s history. They are not something to be discarded or forgotten. The banners of red, green, and blue were raised, and their stories will ripple forward.
The Flights were an attempt to revive old factions within the Guild and give them new life. We are sure the Embercallers, Lorewardens, and Thornbound of old would be proud to see their banners raised once again across the hidden sites and ruins of East Anglia.
They were and always have been part of the Guild’s history, one which will be explored in other media. You have already seen this begin to happen. The Embercallers were mentioned in the first issue of Chariots, and references to the other Flights will surface in future stories. They are part of the mythology now, a layer of lore that cannot be untangled from the Guild.
The Thornbound’s victory will be remembered. The Embercallers’ fiery energy will not be forgotten. The Lorewardens’ patient pursuit of knowledge will echo in the records. Whatever shape the Guild takes next, the Flights have carved out their place.
Will the Games Return
Hunters often ask whether Flights, or similar systems, will return. The answer is a cautious yes. We are deeply interested in ARGs, augmented reality games, but in a form that remains low-tech and true to the spirit of Hidden Dragons.
This project has never been about apps or screens. We have always been an ARG built through exploration, story, and physical connection to the land. If we bring back the Flights, or build something new, it will be with that principle at its core. The real world is the game board. The myths of Norfolk and beyond are the playing pieces.
The experiment with Flights showed us how hungry the community is for deeper systems, for rivalry and identity, for the chance to weave their own stories into the Guild. It also showed us the challenges of scale, balance, and sustainability. Next time, we will build with those lessons in mind.
For now, the Flights rest. The Guild stands united once more, facing other mysteries and threats. But the banners are not gone. They are folded away, their colours remembered, waiting for the moment. And that moment might be sooner than you expect.