Eldur Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Play (Overview)
• Setup - Play Area
• Setup - Players
• Game Components
• Game Play
  • The Four Helpers
• Game Play - Action Sequence
  • The Five Actions
• 1 - Activate Alþingi - Optional
• 2 - Draw an Incident Card - Mandatory
  • Resolve the Incident Cards
    • Example
  • The Incident Cards - Icons Explained
• 3 - Activate Up to 2 Activation Cards - Mandatory
  • The Match
    • Example - 4 Players
  • The Activation
  • The Movement
    • Example
  • The Collection of People, Sheep & Goods
  • Moving the Knerrir & Collecting from Harbours
    • The Harbours
  • Deliver & Gain Balance - Fulfil the Victory
  • Humans Winning - Volcano Winning - or Tie
    • Reaching a Winning Goal - Balance Track
• 4 - Draw a Volcano Card - Mandatory
  • Placing Down Lava Tiles
    • Example
  • Effects of the Lava Tiles
  • Fissures, Cracks & Special Circumstances
  • Special Circumstances
• 5 - Refill the Activation Cards - Mandatory
• Game End Triggers
• Eldurpedia
  • Some Noticeable Volcanic Eruptions in Historical Times
  • Alþingi

Game Play (Overview)

Eldur is a cooperative game for 2-4 players, ages 14 and up. Players must work together to evacuate the island before the active volcano takes control.

There are 4 helpers that players cooperatively activate to fulfil the task; the Gatherer seeks goods, the Herder searches the mountains and hidden valleys for sheep and the Seeker looks for lost families. All of them are safely transferred to the harbours where the Knerrir sails them to safety on the newly discovered island.

However, the volcano is unpredictable; no one knows where the lava will flow. Ash falls, cracks, or new fissures may open at any time, making no place safe. The challenge is to see whether the humans can complete their evacuation or if the volcano will regain control of the island.

Setup - Play Area

Note! This setup is based on Setup card 1. For alternative setup or more challenging games feel free to randomly choose 1 of the 8 available setup cards. The (first 4) are for basic games, while the setup cards are more difficult. After some games you can create your own Setup, or even create a kids' version with fewer sheep, goods or people & few of them in the highlands.

1. Place the box with the open lid within easy reach for all players. Remove all components from it, and place:

   • a) The Harmony marker on the space on the balance track.
   • b) All Volcano tiles face down in the left corner of the box.

2. Shuffle & place the Incident cards beside the box on the right side. The right part of the box is a discard pile for used cards (c).

3. For your 1st game, setup the board according to SETUP card 1, by placing Sheep, Goods & People as shown on the map.

   • d) The Seeker (purple) always starts here
   • e) The Sheep herder (white) always starts here
   • f) The Gatherer (orange) always starts here
   • g) The Knerrir (brown) always starts here

   After the Setup, there should be 10 of each type placed on the board. Place the remaining 5 of each type beside the board (h). The unused setup tiles showing mountains & lakes are taken aside for now. They are only used in some setup variations, based on the chosen Setup card.

   Note! The Setup card shows Cracks & Lava fissures, they are not placed down during setup!

4. Shuffle the Volcano cards, but remove the Large & Small fissure cards before. Count 10 cards, place aside. Take 4 cards from the deck & based on the chosen Setup card, shuffle either a Large or Small fissure card among these 4. Place these 5 cards UNDER the previous 10 cards, then place these 15 cards on top of the deck. Lay down the deck face down beside the left side of the board, leave space for the discard pile (i).

5. Place the ocean tiles beside the game box lid as shown.

6. A) Place the storage board as shown. The movement marker goes on space 6 on the People, Sheep & Goods movement track. B) Place the boat storage board beside the ocean tile.

Setup - Players

1. Give player board number 1 to a random player, then the remaining players each get 1 player board in numerical order (2, 3 & 4). The player board received is the faction leader that the players will be playing during the game.
2. Take a cube in each participating player's colour (red, yellow, green or blue) and place it on the Alþingi board.
3. Deal 7 Activation cards to each player face down.

Before continuing, it is needed to briefly explain the connection between the Activation cards & the player boards:

• a) The turn actions, will be explained on page 7.
• b) Player's shield, displaying the player's colour. The number is connected with player's Incident slot on the box. Explained on page 8.
• c) One Activation card goes here. This icon shows that the card placed here can match only the right most card of the player on your left. By matching, it means that the card needs to have the same image on the top part as the other player's card facing the same way.
• d) Another Activation card goes here. This icon shows that the card placed here should match any other card of other players' middle cards.
• e) The third Activation card goes here. This icon shows that the card placed here can only match the left most card of the player on your right. In a 2 player game, all 3 cards laying opposite each other could be matched.

(Illustrations show a match and a non-match.)

4. Now when the Activation cards match is better understood, we need to set up our start-of-the-game cards. The player with the highest number (for example player number 4) starts to lay down his cards as he sees might be beneficial for the first round.

   The player to his left now lays down his cards, trying to match his right most card, ideally also or at least his middle card. Continue with next player to the left, until all players have laid down 3 cards face up in front of them, ideally matching a card to their left, middle or right with at least ONE card of other players. The remaining 4 cards are their hand cards, should be kept secret.

   NOTE! The match of 2 jokers - players choose which 1 of 4 colours will be activated/matched.

5. The player with the LOWEST number starts the game, hand him the Active player token. SETUP COMPLETE!

Game Components

• 4 Setup cards
• 4 player boards
• 40 incident cards
• 40 volcano cards
• 60 Action cards
• 56 lava tiles
• Alþingi board + 4 cubes
• Harmony marker
• Active player token
• Box, with lid & ocean & storage boards
• 3 x 15 sheep, goods and people pieces
• 2 activation markers
• 1 Knerrir - boat
• 1 Gatherer, 1 Herder, 1 Seeker
• 40 various board tokens
• Overview sheet in EN, DE & IS
• Rules in EN, DE & IS

Game Play

Eldur is a co-operative game where players need to coordinate their actions in order to evacuate families, life stock & valuables before the active volcano claims their lands.

During the game, the currently active player goes through a series of actions he needs to do. He uses other players' cards to make the best use of his actions, setting up his own cards for the others to use in the best possible way as fits the situation as well, during their turn.

After each player's turn, the Volcano does its action. Creating chaos and issues for the players to resolve together.

The game ends when either the players have fulfilled their evacuation goals or their victory goals, as indicated on the bottom of the Setup card used.

But there is also a chance that the Volcano will claim the lands prior to the humans evacuation or victory goals are completed. The humans lose if the Volcano manages to place lava on any of the 3 towns OR if one of the helpers cannot reach their home town OR if the volcano reaches its victory goal, as indicated on the chosen Setup card. Let the evacuation begin!

The Four Helpers

The players represent the clan leaders that activate the helpers during their turn. The helpers are scouting the lands to collect valuable goods left behind, sheep that have gotten lost or scared away by the roar of the Volcano or humans lost in the ash clouds or blocked by impassable paths.

• The Gatherer - The goods collector. He is roaming the lands with his wagon to collect bundles of wheat, hay & other valuables that have been left behind. His home base is in the South.
• The Sheep Herder - The sheep collector. She is roaming the lands with her little staff seeking sheep that have been left behind. Her home base is by the Large Lake.
• The Seeker - The savior of families. She is roaming the lands with her horses, to make sure no man, woman or child is left behind. Her home base is by the East coast.
• The Knerrir - The transporter to the new lands. He is sailing between the 3 harbours, collecting goods, sheep or people that he transports to the new Island. His home base is on the New Island.

Game Play - Action Sequence

In Eldur, each player's turn is operated in a series of 5 actions that are done in order, starting with the Alþingi activation and continuing until all actions have been completed. Then the active player token is handed to the next player to the left, continuing so until either of the two situations come up; the players cooperate to fulfil their activation goals or the balance leans towards the Volcano, leading to reclaiming the land.

Sometimes, players might even get aid from the Seers (from Vedur), or the Rune-Master (from Runir) finds helpful carvings. Even the Mythical Beings (from Sagnir) might show up to assist, but some will also assist the Volcano. So be aware!

The Five Actions

1. Activate the Alþingi board - Optional
2. Draw & activate an Incident card - Mandatory (influenced by Activation cards of a player to your right)
3. Activate up to 2 Activation cards - Mandatory (match Activation cards with other player(s))
4. Draw a volcano card - Mandatory (lay down Lava tiles & solve special effects)
5. Lay down & Refill Activation cards - Mandatory (all players refill used cards, 4 in hand, 3 laid down)

1 - Activate Alþingi - Optional

Alþingi is where the players use their influence and gain their Activation cards. The Alþingi space represents the leaders meeting to discuss & evaluate the situation.

ONCE per game only, each player can use their leader action to choose 1 single EXTRA action. NO activation card match is needed, it's a free action! Once chosen, no other player can choose that specific action. To choose the action, lay down a cube in the player's colour on the action icon:

• Activate & move the Gatherer
• Activate & move the Herder
• Activate & move the Seeker
• Activate & move the Knerrir 2 spaces
• Remove all Incident cards from their place holder on the box.
• Keep all Incident cards on the box, do not place a new card this turn.

2 - Draw an Incident Card - Mandatory

The Activation cards have black or white frame around them. When players refill any of the 3 Activation cards on their Player boards, they need to consider these colours; should I place a white card or a black card? The reason is that the laid down Activation cards on your player board, influence the Incident card drawn by the player to YOUR left.

Generally, white cards have a positive effect while black cards can cause some challenges for players to deal with. But sometimes, how the cards are laid down is not always in the players' hands or certain situations require a certain layout of the Activation cards.

The majority of laid down Activation cards with a black or white frame ON THE PLAYER BOARD TO YOUR RIGHT, indicate which side of the drawn Incident card will be valid:

• If there are 2 or more BLACK cards, the BLACK side of the drawn INCIDENT card will be valid.
• If there are 2 or more WHITE cards, the WHITE side of the drawn INCIDENT card will be valid.
• Place the drawn card behind the SHIELD of the active player's colour on the box. This card is now considered ACTIVE.
• This card will be active until the same player becomes the active player again and replaces it with another active Incident card *.
• All active cards will influence ALL PLAYERS' TURNS, both positive & negative outcomes.
• NOTE! All cards with a lightning symbol on them will be solved immediately, then placed in the discard pile inside of the box.
• When an Incident card gets inactive, place it in the discard pile.

* Certain cards can also deactivate as well as the Alþingi action.

Incident card anatomy: what is being affected (in the example, the boat); the effect (in the example, move the boat 2 spaces); a symbol for "solved right away"; the TOP is the active part (in the example, influenced by 2 white & 1 black framed Activation cards, majority is white); positive divider; challenging divider; the BOTTOM IS IGNORED; the card # is for card reference in the overview sheet.

Resolve the Incident Cards

• Check the Black / White majority of the Activation cards to your right
• The majority colour determines the active part of the Incident card, facing up
• First, check if the card has a lightning symbol, if so the card is resolved right away then placed in the discard pile (inside the box).
• If the card does not have the lightning icon, it is placed behind the shield of the player that drew it.
• This is now active and will remain so until:
  • a) The player that drew this card replaces it with another card during later turns (he might draw multiple cards in between).
  • b) Cards with X are drawn (cards # 38, 39 & 40), they remove all currently active cards.
  • c) A player (any) uses the Alþingi board action that remove all cards.
• There can be up to 4 active Incident cards at any given time, some good, challenging or any combination of them.
• Try to avoid to have too many challenging cards active for a long time, as each card affects all players' turns & it might make your victory goals much more challenging to complete.

Example

It's Katrin's turn, she checks the combination of Atli's cards to her right; Atli has 1 card with a white frame, but 2 cards with black frames.

As black is in majority, she draws an Incident card and turns the black side up, the side above the black divider. This is now active: because there is a lightning icon it is resolved right away. The boat gets hit by a heavy wave. Because of the wave, remove 2 goods or people or sheep from the boat storage board, if any are placed there (any combination of 2). In addition, the boat cannot move this turn.

Card is resolved, Katrin places it to the discard & moves on to action 3.

The Incident Cards - Icons Explained

There is a # on each Incident card that refers to a number in the sheet where it is explained. You can also read about a thematic connection to the gameplay there.

• Increase / decrease the movement of the shown helper. Move it up or down on the storage board accordingly. If 0, then no movement.
• Move the boat 1 or 2 spaces. If crossed out, then the boat cannot be moved at all during this turn (if there is a lightning symbol) or until removed from the box.
• Lay down the shown (people, sheep, goods, mud, landslide or water tiles) on the spaces shown on the grid (referring to the board grid).
  • When placing people, sheep & goods:
    • If the space is occupied, place it on the nearest available space.
    • If a lava tile is present, do not place down and the Volcano gains 1 balance for each that cannot be placed down. Move the harmony marker towards the Volcano on the balance track accordingly.
  • When placing a Mud tile, a Landscape tile or a Water tile:
    • If a lava tile is present, do not place them down.
    • If people, sheep or goods are present, remove them and the Volcano gains 1 balance for each that was removed.
• Remove from the shown grid (if any people, sheep or goods there). The Volcano gains 1 balance for each that was removed. Move the harmony marker towards the Volcano on the balance track accordingly.
• Remove ALL from the shown storage area (if any people, sheep or goods were there). The Volcano DOES NOT gain any balance for anything that gets affected this way, they are simply lost.
• Showing + OR -. Add extra storage capacity if +, cover a storage space if - (using the X tokens). Lose everything that cannot be kept due to decrease of storage space. If there is a number, just remove that many people, sheep or goods if present. The Volcano never gains any balance when goods, people or sheep are removed from storages. They are lost.
• Affecting the surrounding area of the shown helper. Connected with an icon, as well as an image of people, sheep or goods. If something is removed, the Volcano gains balance for each, move harmony marker accordingly.

3 - Activate Up to 2 Activation Cards - Mandatory

The Activation cards represent the helpers that are eagerly searching the surrounding lands to collect goods left behind, sheep that were lost or frightened away from the roaring volcano or families that got lost in the ash fall or blocked by impassable lava fields.

The leaders meet at Alþingi to discuss the current situation; some rumours mention people, sheep or goods seen in various locations. Based on these meetings, it is decided which helper gets activated in order to seek out these rumours.

The Activation cards have black or white frames, that influence what Incident card will become valid during the active player's turn.

The Match

Generally, a match means that a card in front of the active player needs to face a card that either has exactly the same image of a helper or a joker facing it. This was briefly mentioned on pages 4 & 5.

Important note! The black or white frame is NOT relevant to matching, a card with a white frame can match the same card type with a black frame. The colours of the frames are only relevant to the activation of Incident cards, as mentioned before.

Example - 4 Players

All players can match with all other players' middle card. You can match with your nearest neighbouring cards to your left and right. All seen from the players' perspectives (players A, B, C, D around the table): Player D can match her right card with player C's left card (but not the right) and her left card with player A's right card (but not the left). She cannot match with player B's left or right cards.

The matching cards, the cards that are facing each other, must either have the SAME image (ignore frame colours) OR a JOKER to be a match.

Example: Player A has a Seeker as her right most card, same as player D's left card. This is a match. (Another illustration shows a non-match.)

The Activation

When a match has been decided, the active player takes his card as well as the matching player's card and places both into the discard pile on the Alþingi board. He then takes the activation marker(s) & places it on top of the helper's icon(s) on the storage board. This helps players to remember or have an overview of the helpers that have been activated this turn.

The Active player can activate up to 2 matches each turn. If possible, or suitable, do the same with the 2nd activation card, for example here the active player has activated the Seeker (purple pawn) and the Herder (white pawn). The same helper can be activated twice, with 2 different matches.

Note! Sometimes, only 1 match is possible. In that case, activate only 1 helper. It is a tiny possibility also that the active player will not have a possible match during his turn. If that will be the case, NO match can be done & the active player uses his action 3 to re-arrange his cards so a match will be possible next turn.

The Movement

The movement of the helpers is indicated by the placement of the markers on the movement tracks, located on the right side of each helper on the storage board. The BASIC MOVEMENT is always 6, but this can increase or decrease during the game if Incident cards indicate so. When the Incident card that influenced the movement is discarded, move the marker back to its original position prior to the activation of the card. Diagonal movement is not possible.

The Knerrir only moves to the next boat icon on the ocean boards when activated. Hence, it would require 2 boat card activations to travel between 2 harbours.

• Each square on the map costs 1 movement to enter.
• Going UP to a higher plain or mountain costs 2 movement.
• Going DOWN from a higher plain or mountain costs 1 movement.
• Entering a Mud & Landslide space costs 2 movement for each space entered, if placed.
• Lake-, Flood- & dark tiled areas are ALWAYS impassable (X).
• Lava-, Flood-, Crack- & fissure tokens are impassable, after placement.

Example

The Herder has been activated, she has a few options. This is her movement cost:

• A: 2 (going up to a higher plain) + 1 + 1 = 4 (stop - the x is impassable)
• B: 2 (going up to a higher plain) + 1 + 1 + 2 (higher plain) = 6 (max moves)
• C: 2 (going up to a higher plain) + 1 + 2 (mountain) + 1 = 6 (max moves)

The Collection of People, Sheep & Goods

The aim of activating the helpers is to collect people, goods and sheep. When the helper gets activated he is moved as many spaces as the movement marker shows on the storage board.

• Use UP TO as many movement as indicated on the movement track, in this case 7.
• When entering a space with a meeple of the correct type (Seeker can only pick up the figures), remove it from the board & place it on the storage space.
• Each storage area can only hold 4, in this case only figures. If there is no space available, no pickup.
• The exception is if a +1 storage space had been activated by an Incident card.
• OR if a storage space has been blocked due to some Incident card (-1 storage), as is the case in the illustration.

The Seeker can only pick up people, the Herder can only pick up sheep, the Gatherer can only pick up goods. The Knerrir can pick up all the people, sheep & goods, but only from HARBOURS.

Moving the Knerrir & Collecting from Harbours

When the Knerrir is activated, each match only moves him from 1 ocean space to the next. He needs to get to the Harbours to EMPTY the storage areas onto him, & deliver them safely to the New Island.

THIS IS THE ONLY WAY HUMANS GAIN BALANCE; TO DELIVER PEOPLE, SHEEP & GOODS TO THE ISLAND WITH THE KNERRIR!

The Harbours

• GOODS HARBOUR - South Shore, under the B on the map.
  • Move the Knerrir to the Ocean space & remove all goods from the Goods storage and place it on the boat storage. Max load is 6.
  • When Knerrir is here, all goods collected by the Gatherer on the map can go to the Knerrir storage right away.
• SHEEP HARBOUR - South East Shore, under the I on the map.
  • Same rules as above, Herder collecting sheep instead of goods.
• PEOPLE HARBOUR - East Shore, by the 3 on the map.
  • Same rules as above, Seeker collecting people instead of goods.
• NEW HARBOUR - The New Island
  • Deliver all here to gain BALANCE to fulfil the Victory conditions!

Deliver & Gain Balance - Fulfil the Victory

After the Knerrir has picked up people, goods or sheep from any of the harbours he can then deliver any mix of them to the newly discovered New Island. Note that he has only 6 cargo slots, so usually a few routes back & forth need to be taken in order to safely evacuate from the erupting island in order for the humans to fulfil their victory conditions.

When reaching the New Island, the humans finally gain balance! For each good, sheep or people delivered GAIN 1 BALANCE. Move the Harmony marker towards the human side on the balance track, if it reaches the Victory Conditions shown on the Setup Card it triggers a Victory. But only if the Volcano will not change it during its turn. If the Harmony marker remains on its place, Humans win!

Humans Winning - Volcano Winning - or Tie

There are a few conditions that trigger the end of the game. As explained in the setup, an additional Volcano fissure is added to the Volcano deck. When that fissure gets revealed (see Volcano cards), it will speed up the end of the game.

NOTE! The Volcano WINS instantly if a helper gets blocked by a Lava tile so it can no longer reach its HOME base!

Reaching a Winning Goal - Balance Track

When Humans or Volcano gain balance, the Harmony marker is moved in the direction of the one that gained the points; the balance is shifted towards the Volcano or it is shifted towards the Humans.

The Victory conditions are shown on the chosen Setup card; it has an icon & colour of the location needed. When the harmony marker reaches the shown colour, it triggers game end for either the Volcano or humans.

Trigger End of the Game - Remove a Type of Meeple

At any given time, when only ONE MEEPLE remains (1 sheep, 1 figure or 1 wheat) on the board it triggers the END of the game. After the Volcano has done its final turn, during phase 4, the winner is determined by the location of the Harmony marker on the balance track:

• If it is on the right side of the centre spot, more towards the humans, they win!
• If on left side of the centre spot, the Volcano wins!
• If on the centre spot, no one wins. It's a tie, and all can live happily in harmony!

4 - Draw a Volcano Card - Mandatory

The Volcano cards represent the Volcano doing its normal natural flow of its existence; while active, it flows lava to the surface & sometimes it even gets a bit more aggressive with its explosive rocks, ash clouds, toxic clouds or earthquakes.

Card anatomy:

1. Volcano effect: Lava flow (normal action - lay down Lava Tiles), or a special action: Toxic Cloud, Fire Rocks, Ash fall, Earthquake.
2. Number of Lava tiles to place down: 1, 2 OR 3.
3. Grid location of affected areas (if any).

Note! No tile will be laid down on the map when the Volcano does its special actions, that is all other actions than Lava flow.

All Volcano effects are instant & are resolved immediately! If a sheep, wheat or figure meeple is on the affected Grid location, REMOVE it to the discard and give the Volcano 1 BALANCE for EACH that was removed. If a helper is ON AN AFFECTED LOCATION, don't remove him, move him to a free adjacent space & lose 1 balance.

Placing Down Lava Tiles

The lava tiles represent the flow of the lava from the Volcano. There are 4 types:

• Whole
• 3/4 covered
• 1/2 covered
• 1/4 covered

Rules of laying down:

• Draw ONE tile at a time (not 2 or 3 then choose the order).
• Lava tiles must always be laid down so the lava has a chance to flow. It is not possible to block it from flowing, unless inevitable.
• The 1st tile should be laid adjacent to the Volcano in the top left corner.
• Lava tile must be laid down side by side against previously laid down tiles.
• Lava tiles can never be laid over lakes, ocean or impassable dark areas.
• Lava tiles can never go "up hill", that is up to a higher plain or onto mountains.

Example

For the lava tile drawn in the illustration:

1. Position 1 would be fine, the lava can flow freely.
2. Position 2 would also be fine.
3. Not possible to place it at position 3, this area is impassable.
4. Not possible to place it at position 4, lava can't flow uphill.
5. Not possible to place it at position 5, lava flow on these tiles is not connected.
6. Position 6 is not possible, Lake.

Effects of the Lava Tiles

Lava flow is one of the most destructive force on the planet, but at the same time the foundation for a new beginning. When laying down the lava tiles, we can do so in any way we feel that is best for us, within the possibilities explained above. But it will also affect its surroundings when laying down, sometimes damage is inevitable.

• If a lava tile goes over a helper, the Volcano wins instantly.
• If the lava tile goes over a Village, the Volcano wins instantly.
• If a laid down lava tile blocks the way to a helper's home town, the Volcano wins instantly.
• If a lava tile goes over a sheep, wheat or people, they are lost & removed. The Volcano gains 1 balance.
• If any side of the laid down lava tile is facing its lava flow towards a sheep, wheat, people or helper they are in the danger zone. The Volcano gains 1 balance.
• If the green side of the laid down lava tile is facing a sheep, wheat, people or helper they are safe! No effect!
• If a sheep, wheat, people or helper are standing on a mountain or a higher plain above, the laid down lava tile has no effect (the figure shown is on a mountain).
• LAVA TILES CAN NEITHER BE ENTERED NOR REMOVED.

Fissures, Cracks & Special Circumstances

During the Setup of the game, a new volcano fissure card was shuffled into the deck. At some point, this card will be drawn and the tile placed on the board. If a lava tile is already there, remove it. Same goes with the Crack cards, when drawn, tiles are placed onto the board on the grid locations shown on the Setup card.

Setup card 1 example:

• 1st drawn crack on location 8B.
• 2nd crack drawn on location 6G.
• 3rd crack drawn on location 4G.
• The new Volcano fissure on 7C.

If obstacles (mud, landslide or flood water) are present when crack locations appear, they are removed. Anything on locations when laid down is lost and removed; if so, +1 balance for Volcano.

Note! Cracks can never be entered after laid down. They are permanent obstacle & only replaced by lava flow. If a lava tile is on the crack location shown on the Setup Card, do not place down the crack tile.

SPECIAL RULE for the new Volcano fissure: when drawing & laying down Lava tiles, for the rest of the game 1 lava tile MUST be laid down adjacent to the new fissure or lava flow connected to it.

Special Circumstances

It is possible that throughout the game, there can come up circumstances where no lava tile can legally be laid down (illustrated cases):

1. Closed, no lava available
2. Lake, not a legal lay down
3. The tile must be laid down against an available lava flow. The small lava endings must be connected.

The result: A NEW FISSURE WILL OPEN.

• Place the new fissure (if not triggered by the fissure card yet) as shown on the Setup card. If the fissure has already been laid down and it is not possible to place a lava tile, the game end is triggered and Volcano wins immediately.
• Then proceed as normal; drawing lava tiles but now at least one tile must be placed by the new fissure or a flow connected to it.
• It is still possible to lay down lava tiles to the older lava flow, when at least 1 tile has been laid down to the new fissure.
• It is advised to try to avoid the lava flow from stopping on purpose, the new fissure is located in that way that they usually trigger the game end within a few rounds. Not necessarily in the favour of the humans.
• If the fissure card appears after a new fissure has been laid down, ignore it & draw a new volcano card.

5 - Refill the Activation Cards - Mandatory

After the match of either 1 or 2 Activation cards, ALL players that have used Activation cards refill it both onto their board as well as refilling the cards on their hand, starting with the active player:

1. The Active player lays 1 or 2 cards down to his player board, depending on how many cards he activated this turn. Observe match possibilities with other players.
2. He then draws 1 or 2 cards up to his hand, so he has a total of 4.
3. The player to his left then lays down his right most card, if it was activated by the active player. Also his middle card, if activated. Try to match.
4. She then draws 1 or 2 cards to hand, if needed, up to 4 cards.
5. The 3rd & 4th players then refill their cards & hand, if the active player used any of their Activation cards for a match this turn.

End of the turn! The Active player hands the Active player token to the player to the left and a new turn begins. As a reminder, the active player token has an arrow to the right indicating that the active player should check the colours of his right hand neighbour when drawing the next Incident card (2nd action).

Game End Triggers

These 5 actions are repeated until some game end triggers might come into play:

• The Human players reach their Victory goal as shown on the Setup card.
• The Volcano reaches its Victory goal as shown on the Setup card.
• Any of the sheep, people or goods have only 1 left on the board, then victory is based on which side of the centre spot the harmony marker on the balance track is located *.
• If any of the villages get overrun by lava, the volcano wins.
• If any of the 3 helpers cannot get back to their home towns, due to lava blocking their way, the volcano wins.

* If the harmony marker is leaning towards the humans, they successfully evacuated to their now homelands. If the balance shifts more towards the Volcano side, just try again!

Eldurpedia

Iceland is a volcanic island rising up from the Mid Atlantic ridge. Due to its location, it has many active volcanoes and is rich in geothermal energy that both heats the houses as well as generating electricity. All energy used in Iceland is 100% green energy.

Iceland started to form about 18 million years ago, so geologically it is extremely young land. The oldest parts of the island are actually the east and the west coasts, & once they were connected. Iceland is split in half, with the North Atlantic tectonic plate on the west side & the Eurasian tectonic plate on the east. Since it first rose from the seabed, it is moving a minimum of 5-10 cm apart every year with volcanic activity filling the void, a process that is still happening today.

Some Noticeable Volcanic Eruptions in Historical Times

• Vatnaöldur (874); A huge ash eruption with a very specific light brown ash layer that covered the whole island. This ash layer is called The Settlement layer, as most archaeological finds are on or above this layer & it is very clear in the ground layers, it can give a specific date when the settlement of Iceland started. Although, recent finds indicate that it might have been partly settled prior to this date.
• Eldgjá (930); One of the largest effusive eruptions on the planet in the last millennium (VEI 5). The fissure was 75km long & during its 2 year activity it covered around 780 square kilometres of lava fields, producing around 18.6 cubic kilometres of lava. The eruption caused a temperature drop around the whole globe.
• Hekla (1104); A massive eruption in this infamous stratovolcano, that buried the whole valley of Þjórsárdalur under a thick layer of ash & volcanic rock. Among them the chieftains home at Stong, later to be re-discovered by archaeologists, revealing incredible historical finds & evidence of everyday lives of the vikings.
• Öræfajökull (1362); A massive eruption in the highest peak in Iceland (2.110m). The wealthy district of Litlahérað was destroyed by floods, pyroclastic flows and ashfall. Assigned as a VEI 6 eruption, it left the area covered with thick layers of lava boulders & ash that can still be seen today.
• Laki (1783 - 84); A VEI 4 scale lava eruption in the southern part of Iceland. It produced well over 42 billion tonnes of basalt lava, but more importantly over 120 million tonnes of sulfur dioxide was spewed into the Northern Hemisphere. The result was devastating for Iceland, as much as 1/4 of its population perished & up to 80% of some livestock died. It also caused crop failures in Europe and may have caused droughts in North Africa and India. By many, this single event is also thought to have triggered the French revolution.
• Katla (1918); A large ash eruption that added 0,2 km3 of ash to the black sands in the south & moved the southern shore out by 5 km.
• Vestmannaeyjar (1973); A large lava eruption that emerged in the middle of the town on this small island to the south. Luckily, all the fishing fleet was in the harbour at the start of the eruption so people could safely be evacuated to the mainland. Although it left the hometown of 5000 people in a thick layer of ash and lava, not a single life was lost. Often referred to as Pompei of the North.

Alþingi

Althingi claims to be the longest running parliament in the world. Its establishment as an outdoor assembly or thing held on the plains of Þingvellir ('Thing fields' or 'Assembly fields') from about 930, laid the foundation for an independent national existence in Iceland. To begin with, the Althingi was a general assembly of the Icelandic Commonwealth, where the country's most powerful leaders (goðar) met to decide on legislation and dispense justice. All free men could attend the assemblies, which were usually the main social event of the year and drew large crowds of farmers and their families, parties involved in legal disputes, traders, craftsmen, storytellers, and travellers.

The centre of the gathering was the Lögberg, or Law Rock, a rocky outcrop on which the Lawspeaker (lögsögumaður) took his seat as the presiding official of the assembly. His responsibilities included reciting aloud the laws in effect at the time. It was his duty to proclaim the procedural law of the Althingi to those attending the assembly each year.