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"It's meant to be a race!" Inaya i Bylera i Riqueza threw up her hands in disgust. "We set out to win!" she bellowed, jabbing her finger at Trienus, the blue-feathered herald stood in front of her. She repeated her claim in a stacato voice, stabbing the creature in the chest with her index finger as she emphasized each word - "It's... meant... to... be... a... race..."The bird-faced pilot blinked in alarm, clearly perturbed by this confrontation. "It is a race!" it protested. "It is all the races! Furole has guided your Empire's ships to every race in the world. We have taken you everywhere we could find dangerous currents to sail?"Inaya's eyes narrowed as she realised that the herald was using that word rather differently than everyone onboard had assumed up to now. "You said the ship that was quickest would be the winner!" she insisted. "I've been attacked by kraken and chased by Grendel pirates. We've been pelted by hail the size of freshly baked Marcher cobs. We've seen more lightning in one night than I've seen in a lifetime at sea. The Crimson Wave is taking on water, we've lost the fore-mast and the midden-mast. And you tell me that it doesn't matter how fast we are going now?""It's never mattered how fast you were going!" squawked Trienus, frantically backpedalling as it realised this was not the welcome news they might have hoped. "Furole said the winner would be the one who had the best time! Are you not having the best time?" they asked with what sounded like genuine concern.Inaya hung her head in despair. She'd committed everything she had to this mad voyage. Her family had backed her, selling what they could spare to pay for the supplies they'd taken on. They'd bet it all on wining the prize... she couldn't bear the thought of letting them down."Yes Trienus, we're having just the loveliest time... I wouldn't miss this for the world." It was meant as withering sarcasm, but even as she said it, she realised it was truer than she had intended. Dangerous as the journey had been, she was not sure she would have done anything differently even if they did now return empty-handed. She stopped and exhaled, breathing her anger out. Finally she looked up. "Are you're telling me that nobody is going to win?" she pleaded.Trienus grinned from ear to ear, his wings flapping in excitement. "Not at all noble captain! We have all risked our lives on this terrifying adventure - we have found danger at every turn! These are the greatest prizes the King of the Nine Tides can offer! And still glory awaits you and all your fellow captains if you can complete the final leg..."Inaya craned her neck back to stare at the sky, seeking some new inspiration. She'd heard reports from those ships that had turned from the race to go in search of wealth... There was still time to follow them she thought, still a chance to turn a profit from Stormchaser's crazed race. But could she really turn back now... when she'd come so far?"What's it to be captain?" called the helmsman.

Overview

The Great Race began in Summer 386YE, after the Regent of the Eternal Sea, announced that they would arrange an impossible contest to travel to the four corners of the known world. The marathon would take a year to complete - as the Spring Equinox draws to a close, the final dramatic leg of the race is about to begin.

Contestants who completed the first leg of the race were given three choices. To turn widdershins by riches and go in search of plunder and wealth; to turn deosil to mystery to sail in search of discovery and excitement; or to sail straight on for glory in hope of triumph and renown.

Captains were warned that decision would be critical - that it could not be changed later. Those who went in search of riches can continue to do so for as long as the race continues, but they can no longer seek the unexplored or try to win the race. Those who chose to turn deosil to mystery discovered that they must sail for a second season before they would reach the promised destination, or they could abandon the search and look for treasure but they were no longer in the running to win the victors laurels.

Only those who chose to stay the course and sail straight on for glory for the last two seasons are now in sight of the finish line. How the Bright Zephyr intends to judge who has won the race has been a mystery so far. Their heralds of Furole have waved away these concerns throughout the race, expressing indifference or ignorance of the actual rules of the race. Only now, as fleets as the start of the final leg of the race draws near, are they becoming more forthcoming with those who are still doggedly sailing in search of glory.

Don’t Follow Them

Characters who sailed Deosil to Mystery for two seasons have returned with a map of the lands they have visted and a pair of tourmaline eyes Your pack will include a short description of a unique location your character has visited

More than thirty Imperial captains have completed the expedition to sail deosil to mystery, setting forth in search of the great unknown have returned to Anvil with a unique treasure. Each captain has visited a unique location in the world, a place not known to the Empire.

The world is vast, and filled with wonder - captains might know how to navigate to the Principalities of Jarm or the Sarcophan Delves but all the great powers of the world are located on huge continents, the vast reaches of which no Imperial citizen has ever set eyes on. Some captains have discovered a previously unknown location on one of the known continents, some have found a strange island or simply a place on a smaller landmass.

In addition to visiting this unique location, each captain has gained a map showing some of the the coastline of the lands they sailed near. The heralds of the Endless Voyage claim that as the journeys of each captain has been unique, so each captain's map will likewise be unique. By working together, captains might be able to piece their maps together to produce some kind of rough atlas. That will likely be a lot of work, but then sailing half-way round the world was no easy venture! At the very least, those captains who have completed this leg of the journey are likely to have a fragment of map that will be of great interest to Imperial cartographers.

Finally, each captain has gained a pair of "tourmaline eyes" (these can be phys-repped with glass marbles). Some of the eyes are red, some are green and some are blue - but other than that they appear to be much the same.

For the captains that sailed in search of adventure, their participation in the Great Race is now complete. As promised, the heralds of Diving Falcon have enabled them to seek our new lands and discover something new, but the option to sail deosil to mystery has now ended. They may yet turn widdershins to riches for the final season, but otherwise their participation in the Great Race is over.

Sometimes You’re Ahead

Those who have sailed Widdershins by Riches have returned hom laden with wealth plundered on their voyage In addition, each captain has a cinquefoil brooch, which appears to have little apparent value Any vessel that entered the race previously or that is enchanted with Golden Voyage may sail widdershins by riches for the final time this coming season

This season, all those captains who turned their vessels widdershins by riches have been led into dangerous waters controlled by enemies of the Empire. Instead of sea monsters, there have been encounters with Jotun skjaldir or Druj chikad. In place of storms and hurricanes there have been sea battles with Grendel pirates or Asavean warships.

Each captain has returned with ample plunder as well as a single cinquefoil brooch. This small silver brooch contains five empty lobes that could each hold a small jewel or tourmaline eye. The heralds claim that Pathtwister will reward any captain who is able to collect enough eyes to fill all five of the lobes. To claim the reward, a captain should call on the patronage of Foamfollower and invoke the power of the brooch to send the brooch - and up to five tourmaline eyes - to the eternal.

The Great Race is nearly done, but one final season remains. As before, any vessel that has been enchanted with Golden Voyage at any point since the race began may seek out whatever riches are on offer in the final leg of the race. All are welcome to throw caution to the winds and sail widdershins by riches.

Those that took this option previously can continue on this path for the remainder of the race if they wish, but they may not sail straight on for glory. Any ship that is enchanted with Golden Voyage at the start of downtime may also take this option, even if it has not joined the race previously. Widdershins by riches is a questing voyage, so Golden Voyage will boost the returns provided.

OOC Note: The player will need to provide their own phys-rep for their cinquefoil brooch. Ideally this would be a brooch with five "lobes", but any piece of jewellery should be suitable.

The Race is Long

Those who sailed straight on for glory have seen their vessel battered by an impossible storm Each captain has been given a single magical item by a herald of Rhianos and a single tourmaline eye These captains who wish may continue on their current course for the final season to try to claim glory in the Great Race

Over fifty Imperial captains have doggedly sailed straight on for glory for the last two seasons, eager to claim the winner's laurels. The servants of Shimmergold have claimed that that those who stay the course will find glory, but this season the journey has brought only disaster. Those who chose this course have been assailed by monstrous storms, their vessels attacked by terrifying winds that have shredded sails and shattered masts. Most have barely stayed afloat as massive waves attempted to capsize the ship and drag it under.

Even with the help of heralds of the Lord of the Argent Rime, each ship has only narrowly escaped certain destruction. Every crew has had to patch their ship as best they can, rigging a temporary mast and single sail, and limping back to port. Expensive and time-consuming repairs have consumed most of the wealth earned on this voyage, leaving little to spare. All that most have to show for their efforts is a single magical item, a unique talisman that will maintain its magic for the next year, apparently a gift from the eternal themselves, along with a single tourmaline eye. Some of these orb-like jewels are red, some are green and some are blue - but other than that they appear to be much the same.

Nobody has ever been told how the winner of the race will be determined, but given how poorly each vessel has fared this season, it has been hard for any captain to hope that their vessel might yet be victorious. However as the Spring Equinox arrives, the heralds of Corposant reveal that this brush with devastation has not yet cost anyone their place in the Great Race. They explain that the Great Race has never been about which vessel is the fastest. Who can get somewhere first, is not something that Golden Shatterspray has any interest in at all. The Sailor on the Sunlit Seas, is only interested in adventure! in opportunities to face and overcome danger! in providing mortals with the chance to test themselves and gain glory from completing the journey.

The Great Race, they say, is not about who will win - all those who turned aside from the race in search of wealth have found riches, while all those who have sailed in search of the unknown have found new mysteries. So it is that all those who go in search of glory are bound to find what they seek. One last adventure remains, a final chance to brave unimaginable danger - but all those who stay the course will win the glory that Roaring Wavefather promised.

As the final season of the Great Race begins, those captains who have stayed the course have one final choice to make. Now that is has been revealed that all who complete this final leg will share the laurels together, they can sail straight on for glory and claim whatever prize the Booming Avalanche is offering. Alternatively, they may abandon this dangerous quest and instead turn widdershins to riches and at least claim a share of whatever wealth the Glimmerbreeze is offering to treasure seekers in the final season.

OOC Note: A suitable phys-rep for a tourmaline eye is a simple marble, ideally of the appropriate colour but in fact any small, round, glassy item will do (you may want to secure a couple of marbles of each colour, red, green, and blue - so you have suitable physreps for whichever tourmaline eye ribbons receive but this is by no means mandatory). Given the challenges of attaching a ribbon to a marble, you may want to carry the item in a small pouch or box that you can attach the ribbon to. The phys-rep for the talisman that Rhianos has provided ideally wants to be something you can wear - a piece of jewellery, an amulet, a mask, or something similar.

Cinquefoil and Tourmaline

The cinquefoil brooches can be activated at the Imperial regio to send them to Rhianos, along with up to five tourmaline eyes Alternatively, they can be placed in an ephisis box - the heralds of the City of Lead and Gold have indicated they will pay 1 crown for each brooch and each eye that they receive

This season, some captains have gained cinquefoil brooches enchanted with power by the Regent of the Eternal Sea. Others have gained one or two tourmaline eyes - none of which appear to have any magical powers.

Each small silver brooch contains five empty lobes, each intended to hold a single tourmaline eye. Any character can use the brooch by calling on the power of Rhianos using of the eternal's given names and invoke the brooch's power to send it - and up to five tourmaline eyes - to the eternal.

In return for the brooch alone, the eternal will provide a single Imperial ring. If the brooch contains a red tourmaline eye then whoever invokes it will receive a crown. If the brooch contains one red tourmaline eye and either a green or blue tourmaline eyes then Treasure Giver will provide the captain with one Imperial throne for each green or blue eye - to the maximum of four.