Seafall is a Legacy game that’s played across multiple sessions and every time you play new rules can be introduced, cards can be torn up and thrown away, you can write on the board and a number of new elements can be introduced along the way – the game evolves as you play.
This is going to be the story of our play through from Prologue to completion. Each post will document the events of one session and will contain spoilers for the game, so if you don’t want to know what is hidden in the game or how it can pan out, it’s probably best to stop reading.
If you missed the last part you can catch up here.
Game 3
Players – 4 – Serendair, Kickassia, The Blood Coast, Hyrule
Objective – Target glory of 13, first player to reach it, wins.
Milestones available – The Seas Embrace, Trade Flourishes
News of the new islands spread fast, whether by spies or general chatter every province soon knew of the secrets that Pastie Crust had discovered in the chests brought to her by Swift Tug. Every leader now had their eyes firmly focused West. But this left each provinces port vulnerable and Pirates knew this all too well.
The Blood Coast were the first victims to a Pirate raid. Under the cover of darkness no one really paid them any mind, they looked just like any other sailing vessel that had been out for a long day of fishing. The pirates knew exactly where to hit and before anyone knew what was happening the raid was over and the gold was stolen right from under the noses of The Blood Coast. The Pirates must have had people already within the provinces as they knew who to hit, when to hit them and exactly where to hit them. With tensions already high between the province leaders this made things far worse.
Distrust grew and trigger fingers became ever more twitchy. Truth be told, the leaders weren’t even sure if it was pirates carrying out the raiding, either no one saw anything or no one wanted to say if they did.
Kali, still reeling from losing her gold, wanted action to be taken swiftly and it was the King of Red Lions that would be the victim.
On its return journey after filling it’s hold with wood in order to carry out vital structure upgrades the King of Red Lions was caught off guard.
The Blood Lust approached in the light of the setting sun, the glare of the sun across the choppy seas hid the ship from the eyes of the lookouts. They were able to get close before the King or Red Lions was even able to react, with such heavy holds there was no way for them to outrun the much quicker Blood Lust. Not wanting to risk losing the ship the King of Red Lions eventually gave in and handed over the stores of wood, left with their pride in tatters, but at least they still had the ship sailing.
As the first winter rolled ever closer all Provinces felt vulnerable to attacks and were unsure of exactly what to do. The idea that Pirates or even other provinces ships could attack at a moments notice was something that hadn’t been experienced in a long time.
A new spring came around and with the clear and calm seas the Tempest was able to spot what looked like a land mass on the horizon. With the low winds it look longer than expected to reach it but once they did they found lush blue seas surrounding a small Atoll. One of the ship’s crew spotted what appeared to be a small boat dragged on shore, a decision was made to investigate. A few of the crew rowed in to the shallows of the Atoll and discovered that the boat looked to be a merchant vessel and had long been abandoned, after searching through the remains of the wreckage they discovered that some gold had been missed by who ever left the ship to perish.
With the good weather continuing in to the summer it was Boaty McBoatface’s fortunes that were about to change. From the crow’s nest as the sun was almost at its highest in the sky the call was heard “Land, land ho!” the rest of the crew ran to the Port side of the ship to look in the direction the lookout was pointing. It was far off, but land could be seen. Boaty McBoatface dropped anchor off shore and the Captain ordered the crew to rest for on the morrow they would be heading in land to search the island.
News made its way back to the mainland and Cheeziod read aloud the letter she’d received:-
We have found paradise! This island is bountiful and beautiful and none want to leave its environs. Vast rolling plains, easy to explore and exploit! Here, we have found nothing but sandy beaches and locals only to keen to help us.
The news was like music to Cheeziod’s ears, new lands to exploit and take advantage of, although she’d likely not keep her new-found secret long. If she wanted to benefit from this discovery then swift action would need to be taken. As the winter approached Kickassia had already begun to exploit the newly discovered lands.
Over the next year more and more ships were being encountered out to sea, some friendly offering trade others acting more hostile. The Blood Coast were the most hostile of the provinces attacking and Usain Boat off of the coast of Zora. The aggression of The Blood Coast was starting to have an effect on the crew of some ships. A letter had found its way back to the mainland to the son of one of the crew. He decided to read the letter aloud to his friends whilst sharing pints of ale thinking it would tell grand tales of the seas. The truth of the letter was a much darker reality, the seal read The Seas Embrace.
I cannot sleep. When I sleep, I dream. When I dream I see the bodies of those I have sent to the bottom of the seas. In my dreams they rise up from the their deaths, mouths gaping but saying nothing. They move tho dead, working the riggings and manning their ship. I find myself at the bottom of the ocean. I see all the ships that have ever sailed the world arrayed in a vast armada. They are restless, ready to rise again.
“Sounds like ghost stories to me” One of the young men said wiping away the foam from his mouth as he slammed his mug of ale back on the table. “My gran used to tell me ghost stories all the time” He continued, “Restless bones, was my favourite. A ghost ship would rise out of the seas all covered in clouds or mist or summit, attack anyone who was nearby, take em down to the depths too if they could. Some say it’s true too.”
In Hyrule things we much more cheerful, a hopeful merchant had just struck what he deemed the deal of a life time and he couldn’t wait to share the news. He sat at his desk at home, inked his pen and began to scribble furiously with excitement.
Trade Flourishes! I write to you today, my love, to bring tidings of wealth for us and for our future! I have worked diligently with great families to bring great rush of the goods from the islands to market. We have managed a contract that ensures a flow of gold for years to come. I do not wish to speak of what we did out on the seas in order to procure these goods as I fear retribution of some sort. There are those out in the waters that ally against the continent. In any case, the charter houses are debating whether to put our new wealth into further trade contracts or to build up the resources of the province. At long last, I shall ask your father for the right to marry you. Our waiting draws to a close.
This deal that was reached had angered Rhapsody, the stocks of wood from islands close by had been taken, it had caused her to change plans, meant that her ships had to sail further a sea in order to gain the necessary stocks to carry out any work in the province. But this had also left Hyrule complacent. Rhapsody had ordered the return of both the Tempest and Normandy, under the cover of darkness they were to raid Hyrule and take from them their most prized possessions. Both of Hyrules ships had just returned from voyage which made things a little more tricky, but they still weren’t prepared for what was to hit them. Rhapsody called upon her most trusted and experienced advisors to assist with the raid, experts in combat they would provide a vital edge in the battle to come.
Cannons roared in the darkness lighting up the ships for fleeting moments wood splintered, metal broke, bodies were tossed aside from explosions both The King and Prince of Red Lions were woefully unprepared for the attack and could barely put up a fight, both ships were quickly put out of action as the mast from the King of Red Lions was torn from the deck and crashed down on to any cannons that may have been put to use. The crew from the Prince were mostly ashore taking well-earned rests the rest left aboard weren’t able to fight back.
In the confusion the Tempest was able to put together a small landing party that were to quickly rush to land and steal any treasure they could find from the treasure rooms of Hyrule. The mission was a resounding success and left Hyrule reeling in glory lost whilst Serendair celebrated.
Far West The Blood Coast’s ships discovered even more new lands, a letter had made its way to Kali – the perfect end to a bloody year.
Blessed be, after our long travels, we struck upon land just past dawn yesterday. We spent much of the day upon the southern shores where we were greeted near nightfall by some inhabitants of the land. We managed to communicate despite our language differences and they seemed surprised, but not upset, to see us. When night fell, they were quite insistent we sleep upon the ship and they set guards all night to ensure that we did. I can only surmise that visiting is acceptable, but staying on the island is some sort of taboo.
