OFF SOUNDINGS

The west is gone. Sail east, or not at all. Trade in port, develop your crew as you sail, and line up your broadsides at sea. When the hulls touch, the sailors you kept alive become the cards you fight with. The World's EndSea Year 1147. Thirty-one expeditions sailed west. Seventy-one returned. Of those who saw the end, none came back. If the west is closed, only the east remains. Buy a ship in Tallinn, fill the hold with Baltic herring, and chase cloves to the Spice Islands.

Take the long way around the world, until you reach the western edge no one has ever reached.A Voyage Outlasts the SeasonThe nearest port is eight days away. Cross an ocean, and the season changes. Between ports, twenty sailors depend on you. Set their watches, keep them fed, and hone their skills. You can plan every day. The storm does not care. The Ledger Runs at SeaWages rise. The ship ages. No money comes in until you reach port.

Pepper is in limited supply. Arrive late, and another ship takes it. Profit belongs not to the fastest, but to the one who arrives on time. When the Hulls TouchAt range, gunnery is a matter of angles. When the smoke clears, the hulls collide. What follows is settled by men, not iron. The crew you trained becomes your boarding deck.…