- Place the board so that each kingdom faces a player.
- Make the 12 seals are on the tower and place it in the center of the board.
- Place the buildings in their spaces.
- Create a supply of warrior and spirit tokens as well as 24 skulls
(note that the game comes with more than 24).
- Alliances: Set aside the power skulls. The app will tell you when/if to use them.
- Covenant: Keep the doom skulls in a separate supply from the normal skulls.
- Sort the gear cards into separate stacks of 3 (of the same) each.
- Shuffle the treasure cards and place them face down, then draw 3
and place them face up to create the market.
- Alliances: Shuffle the extra treasure cards into the treasure deck and deal 4 face up, instead of 3.
- Covenant: If you are only using the treasures from the expansion, create the market as normal (3 cards face up). If you are mixing these into the base game deck, deal 4 face up.
- Shuffle the potion cards into a face down deck.
- Shuffle the corruption cards into a face down deck.
- Covenant: Shuffle in any number of corruption cards to the base deck. Note that the corruptions in this expansion are more challenging than the base game.
- Place the companion cards, quest markers, and haggle die near the board.
- Alliances: Place the guild boards on your choice of
side A (easier) or side B (harder).
- Place a guild marker on the rank 1 space of each guild board.
- Place the guild flag in its building for each region.
- For each guild, shuffle its 3 matching companions and randomly place them face up under the rank 2, 3, and 4 slots.
- Add the influence tokens to the general supply, then place 8 influence on the influence vessel to create the hero's supply.
- Covenant: Create a supply of blessing cards, wasteland tokens, charge tokens, and offering tokens.
- Covenant: Follow the instructions in the app for placement of
monuments.
- For each monument, remove the indicated building (on monument card) from the indicated kingdom (the monument replaces it) and place a foundation tile in that space.
- Place the monument and its card (on the uncompleted side) near the matching kingdom.
- Each player selects a hero and:
- Takes the matching hero board
- Alliances: Take a heroic actions overlay to cover the heroic actions on your player board.
- Place the 3 matching hero virtue tiles on your board, inactive side up.
- Place your figure in your home territory (facing you) on the
citadel space.
- Covenant: If your hero starts in a kingdom with no citadel, place it in the monument space where the citadel would have been.
- Place the virtue tile matching your home territory in a slot on your player board.
- Collect your starting resources (7 warriors and 1 spirit).
- Takes the matching hero board
- Open the app and follow the instructions in it to setup your game.
The game is played over a series of "months", with the 1st month consisting of 1 turn for each player, but a variable number of turns in the months after.
Each month you will get a companion and adversary quest, place the appropriate markers on the board as a reminder of where these quests are.
- Winning the game: Complete the main goal, then defeat the Adversary.
- Losing the game (press the "game lost" button in the app):
- If any player would get a 3rd corruption.
- When the 6th month ends.
- When you need to take a skull from the supply and there are none.
- 1. Start of Turn
- You may take your banner action printed on your hero board.
- This can only be done at the start of your turn.
- Resolve any other start of turn effects you may have.
- You may take your banner action printed on your hero board.
- 2. Middle of Turn
- You may (optional) take any of the following actions in any order:
- Move. This can even be split between other actions.
- Heroic Action.
- Reinforce Action.
- You may (optional) take any of the following actions in any order:
- Move
- Move a number of spaces up to your move value (base value
is printed on your board + any modifiers).
- Some virtues or gear can modify your movement value.
- You may spend 1 spirit to double your move for the turn.
- This must be done before you start moving.
- Modifiers are applied before doubling.
- If your move value changes during your turn, the new value does not go into effect until your next turn.
- When crossing a river, you cannot move to a space further up or down the river.
- Nothing stops or hinders movement. You can move through foes, skulls, etc.
- Move a number of spaces up to your move value (base value
is printed on your board + any modifiers).
- Heroic Action
There are 3 different types (4 with Alliances or Covenant) of heroic action, but you may only take 1 of them on your turn.
After taking a heroic action, gain 2 spirit.
- Cleanse
- Remove all skulls from a building in your space (back to the supply).
- You cannot cleanse in a space without skulls.
- Battle
Battle a foe in your space and remove the foe from the board.
- First, tally up the number of advantages
you have for the battle (matching the foe's type).
- You cannot undo spent advantages.
- The app will tell you how many you have spent.
- For each battle card:
- You can spend these to make the card easier.
- You must resolve the losses or lose as much as possible and gain 1 corruption.
- When all battle cards resolved the foe is defeated and removed from the board.
Other Foe Removing Effects
- Some other effects will let you remove foes from the board.
- Open the foe status screen to remove them.
- This is not a heroic action, so you do not gain 2 spirit.
- The Adversary cannot be removed this way.
Battling the Adversary
- This works like a normal battle.
- You can retreat from the adversary battle.
- You must resolve at least 1 battle card, then you can retreat or continue.
- Advantages applied to battle cards remain for future battles.
- First, tally up the number of advantages
you have for the battle (matching the foe's type).
- Quest
Complete a quest, including the main goal, or explore a dungeon.
Complete a Quest
- You must be in the location or do whatever else the quest says you must do to complete it.
- Select the quest in the app, then press and hold the button and the app will tell you what happens.
- After completing the quest, remove the marker from the board.
- The main goal is a type of quest. If you complete this goal, it will cause the Adversary to spawn on the board.
Explore a Dungeon
- Dungeons will spawn as a part of certain quests.
- The goal is to explore rooms until you reach the target room.
- Completing a dungeon automatically completes its associated quest.
- Select the dungeon in the app to begin exploring it.
- Select an unexplored room to continue further into the dungeon.
- You may spend 1 advantage to improve a room's results (press the "improve" button).
- Follow the instructions to resolve the room.
- If you cannot lose the what the room requires, lose as much as possible and gain 1 corruption.
- After clearing a room (paying the costs and possibly
gaining a corruption), you may:
- Continue exploring the dungeon OR
- Leave the dungeon.
- If you leave a dungeon before it is complete, cleared rooms remain cleared for the next adventurer.
- Influence (Alliances)
- If you are at the guild hall, gain 2 influence to the influence vessel.
- Influence is considered to be unlimited.
Influence
- This is a pool of resources available to all players, and when collected, it should be placed in the influence vessel. Players will never have individual influence tokens.
- Influence is gained at the end of the month equal to the number of buildings without skulls.
- Influence tokens are considered to be unlimited.
- Build (Covenant)
- Each monument's foundation has a condition
that generates offerings (see its card).
- These conditions can be met by any hero in any kingdom on anyone's turn. When met, place an offering on the foundation
- A foundation can have a max of 3 offerings.
- If a foundation has 3 offerings, a hero in that space may perform a build action. When you build, do the following:
- Each monument's foundation has a condition
that generates offerings (see its card).
- Reinforce
- Once per turn, you may reinforce at a space with a building.
- On the building, you can choose to take the free effect or spend the cost for the enhanced effect.
Building Free Effect Enhanced Effect Citadel Gain 1 potion for free Spend 5 spirit to gain 1 virtue Sanctuary Gain 1 spirit for free Spend 5 spirit to remove all your corruption Village Gain 6 warriors for free Spend 1 spirit to gain 12 warriors Bazaar Gain 1 gear for free Spend 2 spirit to gain 1 treasure The Haggle Die
When you reinforce, you may roll the haggle die to affect the reinforce action.
Face Effect 
Reinforce normally 
After you reinforce, gain 3 warriors 
After you reinforce, gain 1 potion 
After you reinforce, gain 1 gear 
The reinforce action is canceled!
- 3. End of Turn
At the end of your turn, you must take a skull from the supply and drop it in the tower.
- If there are no available skulls, the players lose immediately.
- Different things may happen when dropping a skull.
- If a skull comes out of the tower, place it before resolving any other effects.
- Covenant: Lose any unspent blessings. They cannot be carried over to another turn.
Events
Events may occur during the end portion of a players turn (after dropping a skull).
- Resolve the event as shown in the app.
- When you are told to remove a seal, remove the 1 indicated by the glowing lights.
- If skulls emerge when a seal is removed or the tower rotates, place the skulls as normal
- Event types:
- Foes strike: Foes will move and/or attack. This is skipped if none of that foe type is on the board.
- Foes spawn: Foes spawn somewhere on the board.
- Foes grow in power: Foes change status to become more lethal. This is skipped if none of that foe type is on the board.
- The tower stirs: The tower rotates or a seal on the tower is removed.
- The tower acts: The adversary strikes out from within the tower.
- Companion events: Companions reveal good events.
- New wares: Players may replace treasures in the market.
- Advantages
- There are 6 types of advantages (wild advantages count as any
advantage type):
- Beast
- Humanoid
- Undead
- Magic
- Melee
- Stealth
- You only add advantages that match the foes or dungeon you are encountering.
- These are spent to improve battle cards or dungeon rooms.
- There are 2 types of advantages:
- Automatic (black background).
- Conditional (gray background). These have a cost.
- These can be purchased in the middle of a battle or dungeon.
- If you gain any automatic advantages in the middle of a battle or
dungeon, you can use them immediately.
- Conversely, if you lose an item that gave you an advantage, you don't lose that advantage.
- You can spend up to 10 advantages in a single heroic action.
- Do not remove the item that is providing an advantage when you spend the associate advantage.
- Unspent advantages are lost when the heroic action is complete.
- Some quests will require advantages to complete.
- There are 6 types of advantages (wild advantages count as any
advantage type):
- Items
- There are 4 types of items and each has a carry limit:
- Potions: unlimited
- Gear: 1 of each
- Treasures: 4
- Quest items: unlimited
- You can only use items on your own turn.
- When you gain a potion, draw the top card of the deck.
- When you gain a gear, choose 1 from 1 of the face up stacks.
- When you gain a treasure, gain 1 of the face up cards in the market and immediately replace it with a new card from the deck.
- When you gain a quest item, take it from the quest item deck.
- There are 4 types of items and each has a carry limit:
- Trading
- You may trade once during your turn any heroes in your space.
- You may give/take warriors, spirit, items, and companions.
- You may not give/take virtues or corruptions.
- Virtues
- Everyone starts with 3 active virtues.
- Spend spirit at a citadel to gain a virtue, flipping 1 of your
inactive virtues to its active side.
- This goes into effect immediately.
- Spending vs. Losing
- Spending resources or items is optional and can be done at any time during your turn.
- Losing resources or items is mandatory and you must lose as
much as possible.
- If you cannot lose the specified amount of an item, lose as much as possible and gain 1 corruption. You cannot gain multiple corruptions from a single effect.
Resource/Item When spent or lost, return to... Warriors the supply Spirit the supply Potion bottom of the potion deck Gear the matching gear stack Treasure the bottom of the treasure deck Quest item the game box Influence (Alliances) the supply Blessings (Covenant) the supply
- Corruption
- You gain a corruption when 1 of the following happens:
- An event, battle card, dungeon room, etc. makes you lose resources/items that you do not have (gain 1 corruption, see also spending vs. losing).
- Alliances: Similar to the above, if you cannot fully resolve a power skull effect, gain a corruption.
- If you would gain a 3rd corruption, the game ends immediately as a loss.
- You cannot gain more than 1 corruption per event, battle card, or dungeon room.
- Removed corruptions go to the bottom of the corruption deck.
- You gain a corruption when 1 of the following happens:
- Skulls and Buildings
- Each kingdom has 1 of each of the 4 types of buildings.
- When skulls come out of the tower, they must be placed on
buildings, but the kingdom's owner decides where to place
the skulls.
- If skulls drop into a dormant kingdom (no owner), the current player decides where to place the skull(s).
- If a 4th skull would be placed on a building:
- The building is destroyed and both the building and the 3 skulls on it + the 4th that would be placed are removed from the game.
- The owner of the kingdom gains a corruption.
- It it was a dormant kingdom (no owner), no one gains a corruption.
- If you ever need to take a skull from the supply and there are none, the players immediately lose the game.
- Power Skulls (Alliances)
- The app will tell you how many power skulls of each type to use.
- The supply of power skulls is kept in the bag with standard skulls.
- When you enter a space with a power skull by any means, resolve
the skull effect (below).
- If you cannot fully resolve the skull effect, gain a corruption.
- If there are multiple power skulls in the space, resolve
each skull's effect, 1 at a time in your choice of order.
- It's possible to gain multiple corruptions in this case.
- If a power skull is placed onto a space with a hero, do not resolve its effect.
Type Effect Blight (green) Lose 1 item Omen (purple) Lose 1 influence Fire (red) Lose 4 warriors Frost (blue) Lose 1 spirit
- Doom Skulls (Covenant)
- These are used in addition to skulls from the base game (not replacing them).
- "Creeping Doom" events will instruct you to place doom skulls in the tower.
- Place doom skulls in the same fashion that you would place normal skulls when they come out of the tower.
- Doom skull may not be removed, cleansed, moved, or returned
to the supply by any effect.
- They are only removed from the game when the building is destroyed.
- Doom skulls count as regular skulls for all negative effects.
- Glyphs
- When seals on the tower are removed, they may expose glyphs.
- Each glyph matches a specific action.
- When a revealed glyph is facing your home kingdom, you must spend 1 spirit to take the depicted action.
Icon Description 
Banner 
Cleanse 
Battle 
Quest 
Reinforce
- Guilds (Alliances)
- Each guild has a rank (1-4) represented by the guild marker on it.
- You can increase the guild's rank by performing a Reinforce
action at the corresponding guild hall.
- Note that you do not gain the building's normal reinforce effect.
- As with a normal reinforce action, you may roll the haggle die.
- If the rank would ever increase beyond 4, it stays at 4, but every hero in the guild's kingdom gains 2 spirit.
- If the guild's rank would ever decrease below 1, it stays
at 1, but every here in the guild's kingdom loses 2 spirit.
- Gain a corruption if you cannot lose 2 spirit.
- You can increase the guild's rank by performing a Reinforce
action at the corresponding guild hall.
- If a guild hall is destroyed, discard all remaining companions and set the rank to 1. The rank can never be increased again.
- Each guild has an ongoing effect (positive or negative, depending on the rank) that applies to heroes while they are in the guild's kingdom.
- If a guild's rank is increased and there is a companion in the slot, recruit them immediately. Update the app via the guild companion button.
- There is a monthly guild quest that works like other quests, but if not completed, will usually result in a penalty.
- Each guild has a rank (1-4) represented by the guild marker on it.
- Monuments (Covenant)
- For information on building monuments, see the build action.
- A completed monument counts as the building it replaces.
- Each monument can hold up to 3 skulls.
- If it would receive a 4th skull, it is destroyed (like a normal building). See Skulls and Buildings for this process. In addition, note in the app that it was destroyed.
- Each completed monument has the free reinforce effect of the building it replaces.
- Each completed monument has a new enhanced reinforce effect, which replaces the normal enhanced effect. See the monument card for this new effect.
- Reinforcing at a monument counts as a normal reinforce action.
- Completed monuments will generate beneficial events.
- Once a monument has been completed, that kingdom will no longer gain wasteland tokens.
- Also see the clarifications for monuments.
- Wastelands (Covenant)
- The app will tell you where and when to place these.
- A space with a wasteland token loses its terrain type. They can never gain a terrain type from other effects either.
- When a hero enters a space with a wasteland token, they may not leave the space for the remainder of the turn. This includes regular movement, but also special effects.
- Wasteland tokens can only be removed by specific effects that expressly remove them.
- Once a monument has been completed, that kingdom will no longer gain wasteland tokens.
- Wands (Covenant)
- These are a new type of treasure that uses charge tokens.
- Note that an acquired wand will start with a certain number of charge tokens (indicated on the card).
- You can spend charge tokens to use a wand.
- The card indicates how you can gain additional charges.
- There is no limit to the number of charge tokens on a wand.
- Charge tokens are considered to be unlimited.
- Blessings
- These are gained from various effects.
- You can spend a blessing during a heroic action to gain a wild advantage.
- At the end of your turn, lose any blessings you have not spent. You cannot keep them between turns.
- Blessings cannot be traded.
- When spent/lost, they are returned to the supply.
- The supply of blessings is limited.
App Icons
Icon Description 
Advantage 
Adversary Quest 
Battle 
Completed Quest 
Companion Quest 
Dungeon 
Event 
Foe Status 
Game Lost 
Main Goal Terrain
Icon Terrain 
Desert 
Hills 
Mountains 
Lake 
Forest 
Grasslands Buildings
Mini Building 
Citadel 
Sanctuary 
Village 
Bazaar
- Undaunted Aegis
- Can have up to 3 corruptions.
- During setup, you will gain a random corruption from the deck.
- The game is a loss if this hero would gain a 4th corruption.
- Relentless Warden
- Take the quarry token (bird) at the start of the game.
- As your banner action, you may assign the quarry token to any foe on the board, including the Adversary.
- If your quarry token is on a foe during your banner action, you may move that foe up to 2 spaces (instead of placing the token).
- You cannot move the quarry token to another foe until the foe is removed from the board and the quarry token is returned to you.
- Devious Swindler
- When rolling the haggle die for your banner action, gain any result shown on the die. The bazaar closed face has no effect.
- The bazaar closed face has no effect when rolling the haggle die during a reinforce action.
- Reverent Astromancer
- Also take 6 spell cards and 4 invocation cards during setup.
- Start the game with the spell cards in hand, but not the invocation cards (set them aside).
- During setup, also create a supply of protection tokens near your hero board.
- Prepare a number of spells at the start of each month equal to
the month number (2 spells at the start of month 2).
- This is done after the monthly quests are revealed, but before the 1st player takes their turn.
- To prepare a spell, place a spell from your hand near your hero board. Set aside any unprepared spells.
- You may cast each prepared spell once during the month it was
prepared.
- Once cast, return the spell to your set aside cards.
- Casting a spell is not an action.
- If you've unlocked the Zealous virtue, gain a blessing after resolving the spell's effect.
- You may not cast a spell if it would have no effect.
- If you unlock the Exalted virtue, you can now choose from spells or invocations to prepare. Invocations work the same as spells.
- You may not keep prepared spells/invocations from month to month. Uncast spells/invocations are returned to your hand with no effect.
- Also take 6 spell cards and 4 invocation cards during setup.
- Spells and Invocations (Covenant)
- Aura of Friendship: You can use the reinforce effect of any building on the board when you take the reinforce action. Pay any cost as normal. This effect includes completed monuments.
- Bounty of the Gods: Shuffle the quest item cards and look at 3 at random, choose 1 to gain, and return the other 2 to the deck. At the end of the turn, return the chosen item to the deck if it has not already been returned (and even if another player now has it).
- Ritual of Warding: Place a protection token on your space. The next time a wasteland or foe would spawn on that space, the protection token blocks it. Remove the protection token after a block occurs (back to the supply). Also indicate in the app if a foe is blocked. It does not prevent the Adversary from spawning.
- Smite the Wicked: Remove a savage or lethal foe from anywhere on the board. Update the app to indicate this foe being removed.
- Soothing Word: 1 hero on your space puts 1 of their corruption on the bottom of the corruption deck and draws a new 1 to replace it. Note that this does not count as gaining a corruption.
- Monuments (Covenant)
- Arch of the Golden Sun
- Offering: Place an offering when you end your turn with 2 or more foes on/adjacent to your hero. Foes do not have to be on the same space.
- Argent Oak
- Offering: Place an offering when you gain a corruption through a game effect. You cannot just take a corruption to advance this.
- Reinforce: You may spend any number of items to remove an equal number of corruptions from your hero.
- Cenotaph of the First Prophet
- Offering: Place an offering when you defeat a foe in a wasteland space with the Battle action. Removing a foe via some other effect does not trigger this.
- Reinforce: Choose a virtue tile for any hero not in the game and place it active side up on your player board, replacing 1 of the inactive virtues (remove it from the game).
- Colossus of Björn
- Offering: Place an offering when you lose 8 or more warriors in a battle. You must remove at least 8 warriors in total, so if an effect reduces the number, you have not met the condition.
- Reinforce: You must place yourself and the monument on the same space. Any skulls on the monument move with it.
- Endless Necropolis
- Offering: Place an offering when you spend or lose a treasure. This must be spent/lost via a game effect. You cannot simply discard a treasure.
- Reinforce: Return any number of skulls to the supply. You do not gain spirit for this as it is not a cleanse action. You cannot remove doom skulls.
- Special Effect: This monument can hold any number of skulls, but you cannot cleanse to remove skulls on this monument.
- Moonstone Temple
- Reinforce: You may battle and cleanse any number of times on the turn you pay the cost. After each of these heroic actions, gain 2 spirit as normal.
- Nightmare Cage
- Reinforce: Remove a foe. Update the app for the foe you removed.
- Tower Shard
- Offering: Place an offering when you defeat a foe adjacent to the tower with a battle action. Removing a foe by other means does not trigger this.
- Arch of the Golden Sun