Soul Contracts, Lightless Lanterns, and Horror Marks

[earwicker7]

I'm thinking about a build that rushes Construction, so that I can get Soul Contracts and Lightless Lanterns. I know that each of these carries a slight chance of a Horror Mark. My question is this: Let's say, for example, that there are 20 researchers in my capital, and each is using a Lightless Lantern. If one of them gets a Horror Mark, and is attacked by a Horror, does that Horror take him on in one-on-one combat (similar to an assassination), or am I risking having all of my mages wiped out by the Horror (more like an assassin using "Attack Province")?

[Stavis_L]

It only attacks the horror-marked commander (it's an assassination attempt.)

[earwicker7]

Originally Posted by Stavis_L

It only attacks the horror-marked commander (it's an assassination attempt.)

Thanks!

[Kobal2]

You should also know that each Lantern has a vanishing chance of giving the researcher a single Mark, which in turn only translates into a 2% chance to get horror'd every turn. As long as you check your researchers every turn, take the Lantern away from the guys who got marked and pass them on to a new guy, they probably never will get a meeting with their fate.
If you're not using horrors in actual battles (through the Call Horror spells), then you can quite safely rotate the marked researchers to combat or communion roles. Once in a very, very long while you'll get a nasty surprise, but not often enough that you'll even notice it.

On the other hand, called Horrors do home in on marked characters first and in my experience they'll then keep attacking the nearest mages so never call a Horror if you have marked guys on your side.

[OmikronWarrior]

I can say that horror attacks occur very rarely when dealing with Lightless lanterns. You really do not need to worry about keeping the researcher safe. Just do not put them on an important mage or commander.

[Squirrelloid]

And i wouldn't bother to check my F1 mages with lanterns if you're spamming lanterns - if one dies to a horror attack, whatever. You might lose 1-3 over the course of an 80 turn game, its not a big deal.