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will we find? A fertile paradise flowing with milk and honey or a desolate swamp full of mosquitoes and poisonous fumes? Let’s just say that some of the answers would unsettle her subjects. That’s why we’ll create the image of the world to fit the Queen’s wishes.
Since our beloved ruler often changes her mind, we draw Edict cards at the beginning of each game to know what her current orders are. She could desire to see more Shoreside Expanse and Sentinel Wood, but the next time wish to see more Golden Granaries and Borderlands. There are always four royal orders to obey in parallel. So, you could be asked to draw as many forest fields at the edge of the map as possible; to fill in as many diago- nals as possible; avoid drawing water bor- dering fields; or create large village areas. Mapping goes on for a whole year. After each spring, summer, autumn and winter, we evaluate the scores for two of the four royal commands. This means that each
season scores twice, which is similar
fangs. They’re
often referred
to as monsters,
but we’re sworn
to secrecy on this point. Still, the monsters must also be mapped, causing a rule change when adding terrain.
And, so that nobody
takes sole responsibility for man-
gling their drawings, we lend our
maps to the person sitting next
to us, who kindly takes over the
task for this turn. However, this
is often done with unfriendly intentions and usually in such
a way as to mess up your map,
since horizontal and vertical
empty spaces adjacent to mon-
ster zones give you negative points. So, after the mean neighbor has marred untouched hinterlands, the good cartog- rapher has to try to fill in the blank spots
around the monster area as
what all players have to sketch next on their 11-by-11 map sheet. They usually have two choices, for example: to either draw an L-shaped forest or a field; or draw a body of water in a three-square-line or five-square-angled pattern. If you choose the smaller shape option, you will
also receive money. Money earns points at every evaluation, so money multiplication is a good idea – as always, and everywhere.
Regardless, cartographers have
to deal with difficult choices,
and it starts with the very first decision. In order to conjure up
a charming spot of earth that
seems worthy of our conquering Queen, the areas we record on
our maps must be true all-round-
ers. As such, they should increase
the points for the next evaluation
and at the same time strategically pre- pare for later evaluations. And also sur- round the mountain fields that are pre- printed on the map, because that brings additional money. Not to mention that they should also keep all possible options open for the future.
I Pacify borders
I wish I could say that’s what actu-
ally happens but, unfortunately, it’s not. The story unfolds in front of us, on the very sheet of paper over which we are sweating, and we ponder problems such as whether we should draw the required T-shaped piece as forest, because the con- nection is worth points, or as water that fits perfectly under a mountain range; or
to Isle of Skye, but I would never
dare to mention this in the presence of Her Majesty.
Another thing that affects scoring are the northern clans. The clan members are very intolerant of foreigners, and have oversized claws and
soon as possible – if he can. He
has until the final evaluation to do so. But, of course, this has to fit in with the other tasks he has to perform.
So, how is the map drawing done? One card is drawn from the deck to determine
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