Council of Elrond

Exile of Solitude wrote:Hazard short-event
One strike of an at home manifestation of any unique Dragon can attempt to capture a non-Wizard character. This strike's prowess is modified by -1. If this strike is successful, it forces the discard of the character (with no body check) and all cards he controls.
Alternatively, all strikes of Earcaraxe at Home attempt to capture all non-Wizard characters defending against her strikes.

Exile of Solitude has no playability conditions specified on the card!

So:

Can this card only be played on guard or after Tidings of Bold Spies has been played on a site where there's an at Home Dragon?
OR
Can this card theoretically be played at any time during a movement/hazard phase? Say, for instance, a company is moving to a Dragon's Lair, could I play this card during the movement/hazard phase and then play an at Home on guard?

Play it before Tidings on an at home dragon and there's no problem.

I believe, though, that the card targets a strike/attack, and so the target must exist before Exile is played. The At Home must already be in play so that the site has gained the attack specified on the card.

I agree. It makes some effect on the attack, so attack is target.

Jambo wrote:could I play this card during the movement/hazard phase and then play an at Home on guard?

Dragon at Home does not affect AA, only creates new one, so it cannot be revealed from on-guard when company enters site (Scatha At Home can be revealed in response to influence attempt against faction).

Wow! Am I not the only one who thinks so?

It has been ruled that you can reveal an At-Home Dragon from on-guard. I'll try to track down the reference. I can't do it right at the moment though.

CoE weekly Rulings/Clarifications 13 wrote:7. Can at home manifestations be played onguard & if so, when is that attack faced?
*** Yes, and the attack is faced after the regular auto attack just as if the at home manifestation was in play all the time.

It would appear so Wacho.

So it begs the question: given the lack of specific playability conditions for Exile of Solitude, can I play it during the movement/hazard phase on an opponent's company that is moving to a Dragon's Lair if I play an "at Home" on guard?

Playability conditions does not need be specified as phrase "Playable on...".
Take New Moon as example. It taps one Elf character. It does not say that it is "Playable on Elf character".
If action makes effect on one specified entity and this entity is specified at declaration (not always choosen - sometimes there is no choice - you cannot "choose" on which Aragorn II Return of King will be played), such entity is target.
Target is playability (active) condition.

That seems odd; adding an auto-attack doesn't modify an automatic attack any more than removing an auto-attack does, and at homes are not creatures.

Indeed.

It all comes down to what 'modifies' is really meant to mean. The site's automatic attack is modified in so far as there's now another automatic attack at the site to face. However, the actual automatic attack of the site remains unchanged...

Go figure.

"One strike of an at home manifestation of any unique Dragon can attempt to capture a non-Wizard character."

Underline mine. This sounds as if the action/effect is entirely optional.