The Seven Seas

The Seven Seas is the world around the haven in Corsair Cove, and everything that is not construction happens out here. Regions start hidden under fog of war and stay hidden until a ship is sent to their discovery point. Each region carries its own quest line, its own side content, and its own minor events. See Expeditions for the voyage layer and Islands for the settled starting locations.

Discovery does not stick permanently. When no ship has been in a region for a while, the fog closes back over it, and a hull has to sail back to the discovery point to reveal it again.

Sailing to an Event

Events sit at various points inside each region, and reaching one means building a ship, crewing it, and sending it out. The voyage plays out in real time and typically runs a few minutes, during which the haven keeps running and other ships can be given orders. The simulation can be sped up to shorten the wait.

Only one ship can embark on a given event at a time. Assigning a second hull silently unassigns the first, which then stops wherever it happens to be and waits for new orders. When the assigned ship arrives, the captain speaks up and the ship halts, or trails the event if the event itself is moving. Entering it presents either a decision or a set of objectives, and everything else pauses while that plays out.

Types of Event

The events that turn up in a region fall into a handful of recurring shapes, alongside the entries belonging to that region's own quest line and to the four path quest lines.

• Crown port

• Drifting castaways

• Friendly port

• Jetsam

• Merchant ship or treasure fleet

• Shipwreck

• Smuggling run

Finishing a region's quest line converts one of its quest locations into a friendly port. A ship that enters one can repair, re-crew, and resupply on the spot in exchange for coin and resources, with no transfer of goods needed from home and no delay. Cargo already aboard stays aboard. The practical value is that a fleet can keep working without sailing home, which matters because returning to the pier costs a haven any accumulated Sea Legs buffs from the Shrine of the Sea.

Regions

The world is laid out in rings around the starting island. For orientation, the camera angle when first arriving at the haven, looking at the camp from the inlet, counts as north.

Skull Rock Vicinity

The first region opens with a single discovery point just south of Skull Rock, and carries the tier 2 path quests.

First Ring

Four regions surround Skull Rock, each with its own quest line, ambitions, decisions, and tier 3 path quests.

Second Ring

Nine further regions ring the first four. These carry more quest lines, more ambitions, captains waiting to be rescued, and the higher-tier path quests.

Quests at Sea

Region quest lines begin automatically on discovery, usually by presenting a decision, and some of those decisions align with one of the four pirate principles. They pay out in resources, coin, Cohesion, and, where the quest is tied to a path, principle points. The main story runs across these regions too, so exploration is not optional content sitting beside the campaign; it is where the campaign takes place.

Alongside quests, the seas carry recurring non-quest activity: pirate hunters, the Dread Whale, Crown patrols, merchant ships, and storms. See Naval Combat for how these fights resolve.