Although sphere death would have suited you better!

I kept it in secret, but now I have to say the truth.
Grottimgesh was not designed as an ultimate PKiller.
I enjoy good fights and raids but I'm too slothful to hunt
people around. So most of my fights happened while raiding
or people coming after me, not me coming after them.
Some of them died, indeed, but I was more concerned with
how to stay alive rather than nailing a kill.
Because reeq is painful considering the set I was used to.


Any citizen who can should make the effort (or appearance of effort,
depending on the Imperial), to fight by your side when the odds are
against you.

That is very serious question. I would like to comment it a bit.
I won't make any common rules for it as players will always find
an abuse for any rules.
I just want to explain what I think about raid/defend stuff.

As a player, I don't like fake defenses. I feel cheated when somebody
makes appearance of efforts while not really defending.
Those defending healers who wait for dirt kick and recall make me sick.
Those ragers who come to "defend" and die like sheeps without
making any real efforts to harm intruders make me sick as well.
I prefer to see players who stays fair, if they don't plan to defend
they should not come at all. I would think even less of them if
they would come for fake defense.
That is general rule I tried to follow myself.
When I come to defend, I actually defend. I have a good plan,
or a few tricks to try, or I expect that some of my enemies will
screw something, or they will get cocky and will come without
good preparation and I will be able to knock one of them. Whatever.
If I don't think I can do anything constructive I usually don't
come to defend at all. The key word here is "I don't think".
Very possible, I'm mistaken and should I come I would defend
successfully. But if I'm not ready to defend in spirit
(nor have any idea how to do that). I don't come.

When a blade does not come to defend against 3 virtued paladins
because he is scared and doesn't know what to do, I have no problems
with him (he is not a rager berseker after all). Because it is not
the odds I would expect to be able to handle from many players.
When he is not ready to defend spiritually, he will not be able
to defend well anyway, he will just come and die.
Demotion would not teach him how to win against such odds.
Demotion would just make him to delete or burst out his con.

Though, of course, when odds are fair, imperial blades are supposed
to be able to handle them.