David was woken by a strange noise coming from the living room. Peeking at his phone, he noticed it was five in the morning. Tossing his covers off, he rolled out of bed with a grunt. Having drunk himself senseless just to get some sleep, he found himself stumbling down the hall towards the noise.

“Oh, what the hell” David thought to himself as he noticed a small cake. It was sitting on a plastic milk crate being used as a makeshift coffee table. The cake had a few candles indicating his age of twenty-four. Ah, yes it was about that time.

David had yet to see his sister, Megan, but this was obviously her work. He quickly straightened himself trying to sober up or at least act the part.  

“Happy Birthday!” Megan announced

She pranced from the kitchen with a lighter in hand.

Of the two Megan had done the most maturing over the past three years. A lot of it was due to having to take care of David as he wallowed in his guilt. David was depressed and viewed himself as a fuck up. Many in the same situation would have thought the same. David believed himself responsible for causing the car crash that killed his fiancé, mother and father. David was the sole survivor of the accident and carried their deaths like mountains pressing down on his shoulders. The only saving grace to that hellish day was the fact that Megan had not yet been picked up from her high school soccer practice.

Megan started singing as she lit the candles.

“Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to David

Happy birthday, happy birthday…”

David knew the smell of alcohol on his breath would upset his sister, so he playfully moved in behind her. Wrapping her in his arms and tossing her to the couch, the only soft furniture in the living room. Before she could get up, David leaned down and blew out the candles.

David threw his arms in the air shouting “Best Birthday Ever!” David plastered a big smile on his face and glanced over at Megan checking to see if she was buying his act.

A brief blank expression crossed her face as she assessed him. She wasn’t buying it, and David could tell. But she quickly put her own act together placing a smile on and played along shouting “Presents!!!”

Megan rushed over to the kitchen, coming back with three, wrapped gifts.

David sat down on the floor and started unwrapping them.

The first gift David unwrapped was a new wallet already filled with photos of their parents and one of his fiancés. He guessed that Megan didn’t trust him to add photos on his own. His eyes briefly scanned his fiancé’s face, and he was quick to look up before any tears formed.

With a smile David did his best to get the words “thank you” out. Megan nodded as she sat down beside him and pushed the next gift into his hands.

The second gift was a prepaid phone card with his sister’s cell phone number written on it. David was having a hard time hiding the fact he was choking up as this reminded him that she would be moving out today. His sister had held off for as long as she could, but she couldn’t wait any longer. Her scholarship required her to live in the campus dorms.

“You’ll call me every morning and night.” She said while placing the card in his new wallet.

“I will, I promise.”

Megan had been saying the same thing every day for the past week. And David always responded with the same four words.

“Last gift, this one is a bit different.” She said doing her best to shift the mood back to their farce reality of happiness.

This one felt a bit heavier, and David opened it not really knowing what to expect.

David tore the wrapping to reveal “Phantasia Prima”. A cooperative kingdom building board game.

David looked over at his sister who was already clearing space on the floor.

“We used to play board games all the time with mom and dad.” Megan was clearly avoiding meeting David's eyes “And you know I uh, have to leave by noon today. So, I made sure to get you up early enough that we could play at least one game.”

David moved himself next to Megan on the floor and began opening the box.

Megan jumped up “I’ll get two plates so we can eat cake while we play.”

When she returned, the board and cards had been laid out.

Megan sat down offering a small plate with cake “Alright big brother read the instructions out loud like a good birthday boy.”

The game required a scenario to be selected. There were three starter scenarios. One includes an existing country that was in ruin due to economic collapse and the player selected noble houses would form an alliance to reforge the nation with the primary objective of becoming a regional leader in commerce.

It was the third starter scenario that caught David's interest. In this scenario the reigning power of the region had become overcrowded placing a strain on the local resources. The crown king offered to fund the transportation and one year of supplies to any noble house that sends the majority of its young members to colonize the newly discovered unclaimed lands across the great ocean. Each player selects a noble house then draws four cards to determine what key house members are sent to the unclaimed lands. The primary objective in this starter scenario is to complete three years (or twelve rounds, seasons) with at least sixty percent of the initial colonists surviving.

What really caught David’s eye with this scenario was that if the initial primary objective was successfully achieved then the game story could continue with a follow-on scenario that reminded David a lot of the American Revolutionary War. In that follow-on scenario the players must declare and win their independence, forming a new nation in the unclaimed lands.  

The game allowed each player to select one noble house faction to play as and then a second noble house as their sworn rival.

David enjoyed what he had read so far about the game. It’s rare to see many cooperative kingdom building games. So, wanting to play as quickly as possible David shuffled the noble house cards and randomly drew one card, the noble house of Cabrol.

House Cabrol had a white Stag on a black background as their noble house sigil. The house patriarch was Samson Evergreen, a tall well-built ebony skinned man. However, the scenario indicates that the house patriarch or matriarch cannot be sent. So, the first house member drawn will lead the house in the unclaimed lands.

David drew Markus Evergreen, the “Harvest Shield”. Markus was the second oldest of Samson’s sons and was known for his bravery, evident by the sacrifice of his left arm to protect a peasant girl from an errant arrow during a harvest festival. Markus’s unique trait was that the peasant class were steadfast in their loyalty to Markus. The trait note indicated that although riots due to famine and taxation could still occur other forms of unrest by the peasant class would not occur. In addition, this trait allowed for widespread support for recruitment of peasant labor in infrastructure initiatives or local militia.  

Megan scanned through the noble houses before selecting House Ursid. The noble house of Ursid had a brown bear on a green background as its house sigil. This house was one of the six with a matriarchal family structure. She then randomly drew house member Elke Brown, “Mystic Eye”. Elke was the fair-skinned niece of Bulger Brown, the reigning matriarch of House Ursid. Elke was known for her mystical talents. Elke’s unique trait was the ability to see one random event that would occur in the upcoming round. Rounds were effectively seasons, and this gave Elke the ability to prepare one round in advance for one of the three random events that take place each round.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

After selecting their nobles’ houses, they each selected one additional house card that would represent their rival noble house. These cards remained face down and the instructions indicated that these cards would not be a factor in the starter scenario but would play a large role in the follow-on scenario.

David reviewed the available house member cards and selected three. The rules stated these three have an unbreakable allegiance to him. As events cards were flipped, he would choose one of his three most trusted house members to address the issue. In a sense these house members were how the game managed each player’s action economy.  

Gabrial Dunn a highly regarded Steward, a frontier logistics officer and staff manager. David selected this house member largely because the photo on the card reminded him of a large nosed boy about Megan's age. David had long ago guessed Megan secretly had the hots for him.

Casius Deer an accomplished Marshal, a Knights Commander and leader of all men-at-arms. David chose Casius Deer simply because he had a hero’s chin and pulled it off without looking like a prick. Choosing Casius also assured him that the military events would likely be handled by David rather than watching his sister send all their forces on doomed causes.

Petra Love was a known socialite, secretly she operated as a Spymaster, an organizer of covert operations and skilled manipulator of the nobility and merchant class. David paid little attention to Petra Love’s traits and abilities. Instead, he quickly chose her as the Disney-like portrait reminded him of his mother.

Megan selected her own house members for more pragmatic reasons.

Brum Dallas a Master of Coin, tax collector, master of purse, and lead organizer of mercantile affairs. Megan at first was clearly picking Brum because there were obvious advantages in controlling the money. However, the reason for selecting Brum quickly shifted as she noticed a cartoon-like portrait looked a lot like her dad. The man in the portrait even had her Dad’s expression clearly exhausted, after being dragged out with his daughter on an all-day shopping trip.

Katheryne Wright a celebrated Arch Magus, master of arcane arts and disciple of the First Magus. Megan wanted magic so obviously she snatched up the Arch Magus Katheryne.

Pearl Lane a Historian, chief counselor and chronicler. If finding a card that looked like her dad wasn’t strange enough this one was like an anvil falling on her head. Megan wasn’t sure she would play this card. Pearl’s portrait was absolutely David’s deceased fiancé, Mercia. It was strange enough to find her dad’s doppelganger but finding this card one that looked like Mercia caused her heart to leap.

“I’ll only play the Historian card if I’m sure David is in the right mood. I really don’t want to upset him just before I’m about to leave.” Megan thought to herself.  

Megan and David each then selected one resource to be present at their starting location. David selected the resource Frost Drake Nesting Grounds. Although the resource card indicated moderate risks associated with having settlements nearby, David could not help but like the idea of Knights mounted on Frost Drakes.

Megan selected Dryad Orchards. Megan was a bit more practical in her choice considering that the resource card indicated that settlements could not impede the orchards growth and in return the Dryads would freely share their fruits in the hopes of spreading the seeds and starting new orchards. Clearly free food had to be the biggest boon a colony could hope for.

With that the two were finally prepared to play. And so, they played.

Hours later, it was nearing nine in the morning, and the two successfully completed the first scenario of the board game Phantasia Prima with seventy-five percent of their colonists surviving.

The biggest struggle had been winter and the cold causing sickness and food shortages. Early on they had become too dependent on the free fruit supplied by the Dryad Orchards. However, after some quick thinking they shifted from individual residences and instead focused on community long houses. This approach really reduced the initial manpower and resource requirement to ensure all the colonists stayed warm and dry. The added community benefits were also clearly a big help. This was in regard to how family’s could more easily leave their children at the long house to be cared and watched over by the elderly or injured. This freed up more women to join the labor pool. With all the added labor, more farmlands could be developed, and winter preparations easily addressed. The only drawback with this approach was that each round they had to roll to avoid a community outbreak and spread of disease. This contrasted with the initial disease rule of only rolling once every four rounds to avoid an outbreak.

“That was a great game. Do you think the Noble house of Ursid has enough time to play the second scenario?” David jokingly asked

“You know what, that was really fun, I have a few hours so let’s try.” Megan responded with a genuine smile.

“Okay it says here that first we need to unwrap the gold-colored event envelope labeled, A new world!”

Megan grabbed the golden envelope and broke its seal and revealed an envelope.

“Your success breeds envy and your rival noble houses have petitioned the king to begin carving your lands out from under you. Your largest settlements have been promised to your rivals. In addition, heavy taxes have been levied ….”

The apartment shook. A crack formed at the corner of our living room window spreading out along the wall.

The floor dropped, what felt like a foot. And then everything went black.

…Sometime later

David’s head was pounding, and he was having trouble opening his eyes. All he could think about was if his sister was okay.

‘Lord Evergreen, please come back to us” a nasal voice causing David to wince as he finally opened his eyes.

David looked up at a man who seemed familiar, with his pronounced nose.

“Gabrial?” David asked.

Was this Gabrial the house steward from the game. The one that oversaw the noble house logistics, daily management and supplies. Damn he looked just like the face on the noble house card, big nose and everything.

“Yes, my lord, what happened? Was the tea poisoned? You and Lady Brown both collapsed. It must have been that new boy who delivered the tea. I should have never trusted him.” The man said as he helped David up into a chair.

A young woman was helping Lady Brown into her chair. Was that Lady Brown it sure looked like the image on the noble house card that Megan selected.

Lady Brown suddenly popped both her eyes open and shouted, “What the fuck, where is David?”

“David? Who is David my lady?” said the young woman as she straightened Lady Browns dress.

David turned his head and noticed a mirror. Staring into the mirror for a moment, he didn’t see himself but instead saw Markus Evergreen.

“Leave! All but Lady Brown.” David shouted

“But my lord are you alri...” Gabrial said stuttering to a stop.

“Leave Lady Brown and I immediately!”

Once everyone had left, David looked over at Lady Brown as she was sizing up her surroundings.

“Megan is that you?” David asked

“Yeah, who the fuck are you?”

“It’s me David. Look I think we are in Phantasia Prima. The board game we were just playing.”

It was at this point that David noticed a golden envelope in Lady Brown’s right hand.

“Megan, look at your hand. Is that the envelope you were just reading before the earthquake?”

Megan looked down and unfolded the letter.

“Greetings Lady Brown and Lord Evergreen,

We, Mataus Ziler, by the Grace of the Twin Moons, High-King of Alzerek, Emperor of the Five Baronies, Defender of the Lands of Man, send our regards to you, our trusted Colonial Lord Pioneers, tasked with the honorable responsibility of overseeing our interests and the welfare of our loyal subjects in the Unclaimed Lands.

It is with great satisfaction that we acknowledge the progress and prosperity under your steadfast stewardship. The reports of your dedication to justice, governance, and the cultivation of our dominion are a testament to your exemplary leadership. Your efforts in fostering trade, maintaining order, and upholding our sovereign authority have not gone unnoticed.

We are pleased to grant our approval of the recent initiatives you have undertaken to enhance the infrastructure, agriculture, and educational institutions within the colony. Your judicious administration and unwavering commitment to the principles of our realm ensure that our people prosper and thrive under your benevolent rule.

As we look forward to the continued growth and development of our colony, we extend our gratitude for your loyalty and service. Your diligence in carrying out our directives and your astute management of affairs merit our highest commendation.

In recognition of the turbulence of governance in an ever-expanding colony we hereby inform you that members of House Prada and House Goldfury are enroute to assist in the claims of the Kingdom of Alzerek. House Prada shall take governance of the Northern coastal settlement previously administered by Lady Elke Brown of House Ursid. While House Goldfury shall take governance of the Southern coastal settlement previously administered by Lord Markus Evergreen of House Cabrol. It is imperative that you continue your pioneering effort and expand inland, developing new settlements in the heart of the unclaimed lands.

Strife along the Orcish Ridge has continued and requires a new tax that shall be administered at all ports moving forward. Members of House Prada and House Goldfury shall have more information and will represent the crown in the administration of this new tax.

May God bless you and guide you in your noble endeavors as you continue to govern our colony with wisdom and fairness.

Given under our hand and seal at the Gold Spires of Man, this Twelfth day of Septimus, in the year of the Crow of the Twin Moons.

Mataus Ziler

High-King of Alzerek”

“David, what the hell is happening?”

“Sis, I think we are getting the Jumanji treatment.”