Quests and the Wilds¶
Beyond the fifteen sites of every province lies the Wilds (site 16): unmapped land where a host can camp and see what fortune brings. A quest is a mission like any other, but it needs a free quest slot and its outcome is left to chance.
Sending a quest¶
- Target: site 16 of any province.
- Camp time: 1 hour up to as many hours as your Cartography level (at least 1).
- Quest slots: ⌊√Cartography⌋, + 1 with the Marshal, + 2 for a Wayfarer.
- The camp's aether is paid at departure with the march: each unit burns a tenth of its base aether per hour camped.
- The Circle of Sages marches 10% faster into the Wilds.
When the camp time is over, one event happens and you receive a quest report. The host then marches home (sooner or later, if it found a shortcut or lost its way).
Quest points¶
The size of most finds depends on the host's quest points:
Quest points = Σ units × (iron + runestone cost) × 5 ÷ 1,000, capped by the renown of the foremost lord in the world:
| Renown of the foremost lord | Quest point cap |
|---|---|
| 0 – 100,000 | 2,500 |
| 100,000 – 1,000,000 | 6,000 |
| 1,000,000 – 5,000,000 | 9,000 |
| 5,000,000 – 25,000,000 | 12,000 |
| 25,000,000 – 50,000,000 | 15,000 |
| 50,000,000 – 75,000,000 | 18,000 |
| 75,000,000 – 100,000,000 | 21,000 |
| 100,000,000 and more | 25,000 |
Picked clean: a province's Wilds give less when visited often. After three quests in the same province within 24 hours, each further visit lowers finds by 10%, down to 30%.
Events¶
| Event | Chance |
|---|---|
| A hoard of resources | 29.7% |
| A tale to tell (nothing) | 23.2% |
| Sellswords join the host | 20.4% |
| Fateshards | 8.4% |
| Lost path or shortcut | 8.4% |
| Brigands attack | 5.6% |
| Fell beasts attack | 2.8% |
| A wandering merchant | 0.6% |
| A boon | 0.6% |
| Swallowed by the Wilds | 0.3% |
- A hoard of resources
- A common hoard (89%) is worth 10 to 50 × the quest points, a rich hoard (10%) 50 to 100 ×, and a dragon's hoard (1%) 100 to 200 ×, times the picked-clean factor and quest-find bonuses. It is iron (60%), runestone (30%, halved) or aether (10%, a third). Rangers in the host double it, and a Wayfarer finds 1.5 × the world's economy speed more. Only what fits in the host's free load is taken.
- A tale to tell
- Nothing happens, but you get a story.
- Sellswords join the host
- Wandering companies join for free: three draws of units no better than the best (non-calling) unit in the host, worth 5 to 25 × the quest points × 10 in all. They march home with the host and stay.
- Fateshards
- 300 to 600, 600 to 1,200 or 1,200 to 1,800 Fateshards (each band equally likely), raised by Fateshard-find bonuses.
- Lost path or shortcut
- Two times in three the host loses its way and the march home takes 1.5 to 3 times as long. Otherwise it finds a shortcut and comes home in half the time.
- Brigands attack
- A real battle against brigands numbering 30% to 60% of each of your fighting units, two levels weaker in each war discipline than you.
- Fell beasts attack
- A real battle against beasts numbering 80% to 130% of your fighting units, two levels stronger than you.
- A wandering merchant
- A free trade with the moneychanger at the base rates, valid for a day. Use it from the Merchant panel.
- A boon
- A shrine grants one boon: a lesser blessing, a potion or a Ley Surge.
- Swallowed by the Wilds
- The host is lost with everything it carried.
When a Wayfarer's quest host fights brigands or beasts, the fallen of both sides leave a spoils field in that province's Wilds. Only Rangers can salvage it.