The below post spoils the entire storyline for the game.
If you don't want to play the game but want to know what it is about, this is for you.
I won't go through every specific reveal, or all of the box contents, as you can search for other threads about those, but instead I'll walk through the various story points during the campaign as you open up the sealed boxes.
If you want detailed specifics on things, these are good threads to read:
https://boardgamegeek.com/article/24830269#24830269
https://boardgamegeek.com/article/24644574#24644574: specifics on the light of truth
https://boardgamegeek.com/article/24952270#24952270: specifics on unlocking boxes 4, 5, 6
TL/DR:
[o]The island at the end of the world is literally Hell, the Island of the Damned, where the souls of all who have died before are.
After the island is revealed and an emporer crowned, the forces of Hell are unleashed on the world.
You play one final game where you work to close the Gate before the forces of Hell destroy all the colonies. If you don't close the gate in time, the entire world burns and all players lose, if you do close it, a new emporer is chosen.
In addition, there is a Secret society made up of many of the advisors you have hired during the campaign. You'll get a black light to shine on the advisors to know who is part of the society or not. This light can also be shined on Tablet cards to find coded symbols, on the tomb's map to find hidden tomb entrances, and on the back of advisors to find Maps to the Island at the end of the world.[/o]
From the beginning:
[o]Generally: all the boxes introduce new Advisors with better stats that you can hire, new milestones to achieve, and some new ship upgrades to buy or buildings to purchase
1. You start the prologue as the new ruler of a province that is just getting back into sailing out into uncharted waters. You used to do this many ages ago but stopped for some reason. AT THE END OF THE PROLOGUE you'll rip up your leader card and choose a new one before game 1.
2. Starting out, you'll explore various sites on the initial islands, discovering places to buy the 4 types of goods, as well as locations that provide ship upgrades, mines, or markets where you can sell your goods. Most of these discoveries read pretty much the same as you'll come across a site, perhaps populated by some natives, and then have a choice of how to proceed, either nicely or like a jerk. It's a crapshoot on whether the nice way is better or not. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. But either way you'll get to drop a sticker down on the site and also get some goods/ship upgrade/money.
3. (Box 1) You can now start attacking (raiding) other players ships/provinces to steal their goods/money/advisors as well as discover new islands and features in the sea (atolls, dangerous waters, currents for moving more quickly, etc.) The new islands provide additional sites to explore, including some with new symbols. Research cards soon come into play as well. These are map/chart cards you can acquire that will provide you additional successes when attempting certain Exploration or Raid endeavors.
4. (Box 2) After this you'll then be able to establish colonies on the various islands. The colonies provide some benefit to the controlling player (repair ships there, sell goods there, movement bonus if sailing from there) as well as a field which provides additional money and a location to build new structures.
5. (Box 3) Along with colonies, you'll soon discover Tombs of the Ancients. You tear open up the back of the Captain's Book and find a new map of various Tomb sites you can explore. Exploring these tombs you'll be rewarded with Tablets or Relics from 'the Ancient's' that provide powerful abilities like being able to teleport a ship to your home harbor, or being able to count some die rolls as additional successes, etc.
UP UNTIL NOW, the story has been (IMO) pretty slow. You've discovered sources for goods or upgrades, established colonies, and explored tombs. There have been some new event cards that have come out that have a Pirate King coming to steal your money or goods, as well as numerous references in the Captain's book about 'the Ancient's' and what they used to do out on the seas. Lot's of veiled supersticious references are made by the natives about these Ancients, as well as talk among our own people about not going down the path our ancestors did. Other than the Tombs you've explored, you don't really know what's going on with 'the Ancient's' other than the must have done something to die out.
6. (Box 4) Once you've researched enough to find a particular map card and established 4 colonies, Box 4 opens up, and the Pirate King on the Island of Patmos is introduced. He calls himself the 'Emperor of the Sea', latest ruler of The Ancients. He's pissed that you're sailing out into the sea like your ancestors did. All the islands that you've discovered are his and you've stolen a lot of goods from his people. When he comes out, everyone is immediately penalized for how many colonies they've established as well as how much the various islands hate you (the Enmity tokens/stickers). This penalty increases the price of everything you buy on the island sites, and generally makes it harder to do things. In addition, there are new, powerful 'Patmos Advisors' which can only be hired while at the island.
7. Once the Pirate King comes into play someone will eventually attack his Island, kill him, and claim the colony of Ker and the island of Patmos for themselves. His death is fairly uneventful, with the attacking player simply taking over control of his island and adding a bunch of enmity stickers to various islands as those islands now hate that player even more.
8. (Box 5) You'll continue on buying/selling, exploring various sites, and raiding, until you research another specific map card. With this map you explore to uncover a new island of Arados, it's temple, and a Secret Society. The Society warns you that you're starting to repeat the sins of the past for sailing too far from your lands. From now on, they will be more aggressive in influencing the course of history.
You get a black light (the Light of Truth, one of the coolest game compenents I've seen in awhile) that you can now shine on advisors you hire to find out if they are Society members. Some Advisor cards have black light sensitive printing on them that appears under the light. If an Advisor is a Society member, you'll read a little passage about them, and they eventually tell you to start shining the light on:
- Tablets you've recovered from the Tombs to find coded symbols
- The Tomb map at the back of the Captain's Book to find hidden Tomb entrances that use the coded symbols from the Tablets. Some of these hidden entrances lead to finding the 'Secrets of the Statues' which talk of bronze/silver/gold seals.
- the back of Advisor cards where you'll eventually find the map to the Island at the end of the world. The map appears on 4 different Society members, the highest ranking members of each Guild. You only need to find the map once, although additional maps are helpful.
THE ENDGAME IS NEAR. Once the Secret Society comes out, the last Box is unlocked only by finding the Map to the Island at the end of the World, and succeeding on an Exploration endeavor of difficulty 30 (meaning 30 successes rolled to get no damage). Previous endeavors have maxed out at around 12. To succeed, you'll need to upgrade your ship, purchase the right upgrades, and collect as many maps/charts, tablets, and relics as you can in order to improve your chances.
IMO this is where the game drags on. After box 5, you'll probably spend a number of games trying to find the 4 different maps so you can get +20 successes, along with finding the secrets of the statues. After opening box 5, our group played another 7 games before we could find the final island.
9. (Box 6) When you succeed in finding the Island at the end of the World you end the current game as normal, and crown an emporer with the most campaign glory. After doing so you open Box 6 and see you have discovered the Gate to Hell, and the Island of the Damned where the souls of all who died before are. Box 6 also allows you to gain the 3 seals, which are offerings made to the 3 bronze/silver/gold statues you found earlier. Gaining a seal simply requires sailing to the statue while having a lot of something, ex. 10 goods, 10 advisors, 70 gold. The seals provide additional successes when attempting to close the Gate to Hell.
10. After unlocking Box 6, you play one more game to close the Gate to Hell. This game is a race against time, and is essentially semi-coop. The forces of hell are periodically unleashed and destroy the westernmost colony. Once there are no more colonies and the forces reach the mainland the game is over and everyone loses. If you succeed in your endeavor to close the gate, a new emporer is chosen.
For the final game you create an 'Infernal Deck', rather than an Event deck, which has bad stuff happen after every player turn, not just at the end of the round. The Gate to Hell is a 20 difficultly endeavor. You gain additional successes in your attempts to close it if you have any of the 3 seals, any relics, or society advisors.[/o]
Side Quests:
[o]1. Veterans
There are 4 'maps' that you can create by picking up the right research cards. Each map is a picture split across 2 cards. If you collect both cards you can put them together and sail to where the picture tells you (westernmost iron market, Easternmost linen site, etc.). Once there, explore and you'll find an old veteran. The veterans provide overlay stickers for the 4 different ship stats that allow you to upgrade the stat to a max of 7 (previous max was 5).
2. Bronze/Silver/Gold Statues
There are 3 stickers for Bronze/Silver/Gold Statues. You find them by exploring some of the island sites. They each have a secret which you uncover by exploring Tombs using the hidden tomb entrances that the black light reveals. After box 6 is opened you can make an offering to a statue by sailing to it, and controlling a bunch of stuff, like 10 goods, 10 advisors, or 70 gold. When you do, you gain the seal, which provides some bonus on your turn, but it mainly provides 4 successes when closing the gate to Hell. You don't have to actually complete the 'Discover the Secret of the the Statue' milestones in order to make an offering to them, although if you do you can make an offereing with fewer resources.[/o]
If you don't want to play the game but want to know what it is about, this is for you.
I won't go through every specific reveal, or all of the box contents, as you can search for other threads about those, but instead I'll walk through the various story points during the campaign as you open up the sealed boxes.
If you want detailed specifics on things, these are good threads to read:
https://boardgamegeek.com/article/24830269#24830269
https://boardgamegeek.com/article/24644574#24644574: specifics on the light of truth
https://boardgamegeek.com/article/24952270#24952270: specifics on unlocking boxes 4, 5, 6
TL/DR:
[o]The island at the end of the world is literally Hell, the Island of the Damned, where the souls of all who have died before are.
After the island is revealed and an emporer crowned, the forces of Hell are unleashed on the world.
You play one final game where you work to close the Gate before the forces of Hell destroy all the colonies. If you don't close the gate in time, the entire world burns and all players lose, if you do close it, a new emporer is chosen.
In addition, there is a Secret society made up of many of the advisors you have hired during the campaign. You'll get a black light to shine on the advisors to know who is part of the society or not. This light can also be shined on Tablet cards to find coded symbols, on the tomb's map to find hidden tomb entrances, and on the back of advisors to find Maps to the Island at the end of the world.[/o]
From the beginning:
[o]Generally: all the boxes introduce new Advisors with better stats that you can hire, new milestones to achieve, and some new ship upgrades to buy or buildings to purchase
1. You start the prologue as the new ruler of a province that is just getting back into sailing out into uncharted waters. You used to do this many ages ago but stopped for some reason. AT THE END OF THE PROLOGUE you'll rip up your leader card and choose a new one before game 1.
2. Starting out, you'll explore various sites on the initial islands, discovering places to buy the 4 types of goods, as well as locations that provide ship upgrades, mines, or markets where you can sell your goods. Most of these discoveries read pretty much the same as you'll come across a site, perhaps populated by some natives, and then have a choice of how to proceed, either nicely or like a jerk. It's a crapshoot on whether the nice way is better or not. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. But either way you'll get to drop a sticker down on the site and also get some goods/ship upgrade/money.
3. (Box 1) You can now start attacking (raiding) other players ships/provinces to steal their goods/money/advisors as well as discover new islands and features in the sea (atolls, dangerous waters, currents for moving more quickly, etc.) The new islands provide additional sites to explore, including some with new symbols. Research cards soon come into play as well. These are map/chart cards you can acquire that will provide you additional successes when attempting certain Exploration or Raid endeavors.
4. (Box 2) After this you'll then be able to establish colonies on the various islands. The colonies provide some benefit to the controlling player (repair ships there, sell goods there, movement bonus if sailing from there) as well as a field which provides additional money and a location to build new structures.
5. (Box 3) Along with colonies, you'll soon discover Tombs of the Ancients. You tear open up the back of the Captain's Book and find a new map of various Tomb sites you can explore. Exploring these tombs you'll be rewarded with Tablets or Relics from 'the Ancient's' that provide powerful abilities like being able to teleport a ship to your home harbor, or being able to count some die rolls as additional successes, etc.
UP UNTIL NOW, the story has been (IMO) pretty slow. You've discovered sources for goods or upgrades, established colonies, and explored tombs. There have been some new event cards that have come out that have a Pirate King coming to steal your money or goods, as well as numerous references in the Captain's book about 'the Ancient's' and what they used to do out on the seas. Lot's of veiled supersticious references are made by the natives about these Ancients, as well as talk among our own people about not going down the path our ancestors did. Other than the Tombs you've explored, you don't really know what's going on with 'the Ancient's' other than the must have done something to die out.
6. (Box 4) Once you've researched enough to find a particular map card and established 4 colonies, Box 4 opens up, and the Pirate King on the Island of Patmos is introduced. He calls himself the 'Emperor of the Sea', latest ruler of The Ancients. He's pissed that you're sailing out into the sea like your ancestors did. All the islands that you've discovered are his and you've stolen a lot of goods from his people. When he comes out, everyone is immediately penalized for how many colonies they've established as well as how much the various islands hate you (the Enmity tokens/stickers). This penalty increases the price of everything you buy on the island sites, and generally makes it harder to do things. In addition, there are new, powerful 'Patmos Advisors' which can only be hired while at the island.
7. Once the Pirate King comes into play someone will eventually attack his Island, kill him, and claim the colony of Ker and the island of Patmos for themselves. His death is fairly uneventful, with the attacking player simply taking over control of his island and adding a bunch of enmity stickers to various islands as those islands now hate that player even more.
8. (Box 5) You'll continue on buying/selling, exploring various sites, and raiding, until you research another specific map card. With this map you explore to uncover a new island of Arados, it's temple, and a Secret Society. The Society warns you that you're starting to repeat the sins of the past for sailing too far from your lands. From now on, they will be more aggressive in influencing the course of history.
You get a black light (the Light of Truth, one of the coolest game compenents I've seen in awhile) that you can now shine on advisors you hire to find out if they are Society members. Some Advisor cards have black light sensitive printing on them that appears under the light. If an Advisor is a Society member, you'll read a little passage about them, and they eventually tell you to start shining the light on:
- Tablets you've recovered from the Tombs to find coded symbols
- The Tomb map at the back of the Captain's Book to find hidden Tomb entrances that use the coded symbols from the Tablets. Some of these hidden entrances lead to finding the 'Secrets of the Statues' which talk of bronze/silver/gold seals.
- the back of Advisor cards where you'll eventually find the map to the Island at the end of the world. The map appears on 4 different Society members, the highest ranking members of each Guild. You only need to find the map once, although additional maps are helpful.
THE ENDGAME IS NEAR. Once the Secret Society comes out, the last Box is unlocked only by finding the Map to the Island at the end of the World, and succeeding on an Exploration endeavor of difficulty 30 (meaning 30 successes rolled to get no damage). Previous endeavors have maxed out at around 12. To succeed, you'll need to upgrade your ship, purchase the right upgrades, and collect as many maps/charts, tablets, and relics as you can in order to improve your chances.
IMO this is where the game drags on. After box 5, you'll probably spend a number of games trying to find the 4 different maps so you can get +20 successes, along with finding the secrets of the statues. After opening box 5, our group played another 7 games before we could find the final island.
9. (Box 6) When you succeed in finding the Island at the end of the World you end the current game as normal, and crown an emporer with the most campaign glory. After doing so you open Box 6 and see you have discovered the Gate to Hell, and the Island of the Damned where the souls of all who died before are. Box 6 also allows you to gain the 3 seals, which are offerings made to the 3 bronze/silver/gold statues you found earlier. Gaining a seal simply requires sailing to the statue while having a lot of something, ex. 10 goods, 10 advisors, 70 gold. The seals provide additional successes when attempting to close the Gate to Hell.
10. After unlocking Box 6, you play one more game to close the Gate to Hell. This game is a race against time, and is essentially semi-coop. The forces of hell are periodically unleashed and destroy the westernmost colony. Once there are no more colonies and the forces reach the mainland the game is over and everyone loses. If you succeed in your endeavor to close the gate, a new emporer is chosen.
For the final game you create an 'Infernal Deck', rather than an Event deck, which has bad stuff happen after every player turn, not just at the end of the round. The Gate to Hell is a 20 difficultly endeavor. You gain additional successes in your attempts to close it if you have any of the 3 seals, any relics, or society advisors.[/o]
Side Quests:
[o]1. Veterans
There are 4 'maps' that you can create by picking up the right research cards. Each map is a picture split across 2 cards. If you collect both cards you can put them together and sail to where the picture tells you (westernmost iron market, Easternmost linen site, etc.). Once there, explore and you'll find an old veteran. The veterans provide overlay stickers for the 4 different ship stats that allow you to upgrade the stat to a max of 7 (previous max was 5).
2. Bronze/Silver/Gold Statues
There are 3 stickers for Bronze/Silver/Gold Statues. You find them by exploring some of the island sites. They each have a secret which you uncover by exploring Tombs using the hidden tomb entrances that the black light reveals. After box 6 is opened you can make an offering to a statue by sailing to it, and controlling a bunch of stuff, like 10 goods, 10 advisors, or 70 gold. When you do, you gain the seal, which provides some bonus on your turn, but it mainly provides 4 successes when closing the gate to Hell. You don't have to actually complete the 'Discover the Secret of the the Statue' milestones in order to make an offering to them, although if you do you can make an offereing with fewer resources.[/o]