Enhchanters: Darklands – A Dark Tale Begins!

AFTER exploring the forbidding oriental lands in the previous EastQuest expansion, the time has come to venture into some far more menacing regions of Enchantia. Steel yourself for a perilous journey into the Darklands!

No medieval fantasy world would be complete without its ghosts, vampires, and shapeshifters. These themes are front and center in the Darklands expansion.

This latest expansion features six new kingdoms to explore, packed with unique Items, Enchantments, Monsters, Villages, and Overlords. If the kingdoms of the Undead and the Mummies introduced in the earlier expansions left you hungry for more morbid monsters, you’re in luck!

Ghosts

As anyone who has already traveled through fantasy kingdoms will know… Ghosts are invulnerable to conventional weapons. This means that the monsters in this kingdom will systematically ignore the power of the items in your magical artifact. Brute force alone is not going to be enough. To come out on top, you are going to need your Enchantments or an Item such as a chain that lets you swap the last defeated monster in your monster stack with another monster on the Journey Track. However, activating this powerful effect will trigger the Buried keyword, sending your precious item to the bottom of your magical artifact stack… The kingdom’s Overlord – none other than Etern, the Soul Amalgam – steadily grows in power, feeding on the rage and hatred harvested from the souls of the dead. If there are any limits to his growth, they are unknown and nobody is particularly keen to find out! The village near Hauntshire Manor is known for its Enchantments. The more Enchantments you have, the easier it will be to gather crystals.

Woodfolk

To the untrained eye, the Goplanian farmlands appear rich and fertile. The Woodfolk are known as hard workers with a lust for life. This idyllic image masks a darker reality, however. In addition to being harassed by a decadent, greedy aristocracy, the Woodfolk are faced with a resurgence of Cockatrices and other ancient monsters previously believed to have been eradicated.

In the shadows, Baron Xona, the Noble Devil, plans to turn this situation to his advantage. Eschewing vulgar power for cunning, he has amassed a fortune and a string of noble titles through numerous marriages and inheritances.
Woodfolk kingdom cards are condition-driven. The powerful positive effects of Items and Enchantments are governed by a trait on your dashboard: Do you have the most Items, the gravest wounds, the fewest crystals? You must consider this factor when choosing cards on the journey track. Monster powers are subject to the same condition-driven mechanisms. The Goplania Farmlands village keeps people healthy and provides a few coppers for the needy.

Trolls

Stinkhorn Swamp is a very strange environment, with equally odd inhabitants. Although best known for its hulking trolls, Shirofolk makes up the majority of the population. When the first human clerics discovered these peculiar creatures, they tried to convert them, arguing the merits of their pantheon. The Shirofolk listened attentively before summoning their divinity to confront the humans’ god.

Amanitus, the Shirofolk God, manifested in the physical realm, massacring the dumbstruck clerics who were quite unable to invoke their own god. Since that demonstration, Stinkhorn folk have had little respect for other gods and the neighboring peoples that worship them and have in turn begun spreading their faith in Amanitus, … by force.
The game mechanic introduced by this kingdom’s cards will make you think twice when selecting cards on the Journey Track. As well as considering how many crystals you must spend to select a card, you will have to pay attention to the cards remaining on the Journey Track. When you Journey past and pass over certain cards, acquiring cards further along the Journey Track will trigger an effect. If you pass over a Will’o’wisp, it will hit you. If you pass over a Troll will cost you crystals… Similar conditions apply to the bonuses provided by Items and your magical artifact’s active Enchantments.

Vampires

The Vampires of Sferata Castle are led by Mihai, Lord of the Vampires. For centuries, they have been collecting their crimson dues from the downtrodden townsfolk. Mihai, who recently became the region’s eldest vampire, does not suffer fools gladly. Anyone tempted to judge him by his appearance would do well to remember that… Born a halfling, he was vampirized at the age of five. Some people have difficulty taking seriously an overlord who needs a booster cushion at the dinner table!

Mihai’s thirst for blood is insatiable. He has declared war on the world of the living, ushering in a grisly new era for the neighboring kingdoms.

Items, Enchantments, and Monsters in this kingdom are all affected by blood and wounds. Most cards instantly inflict hits when chosen from the Journey Track. Wounding monsters makes them more powerful. Avoid being overrun, because “blood will have blood!”

Werewolves

Tucked away in a sequoia forest, Vulkodlakia is a remarkable city, with shapeshifters making up almost 20% of the population. However, the relative peace between smooth skins and Wolfers was shattered when, night after night, full and new moons began to alternate with no break in between. Townsfolk are beginning to stockpile silver with an aim of eradicating this new constant threat. Before she was afflicted with the curse, Agatha, the Pack Leader had been a well-brought-up young woman from a loving family. Her family spared no effort to hide her condition, but Agatha rebelled against them, joining her kindred as pack leader. As well as living freely as a shapeshifter, she is committed to destroying the patriarchal social model. Young women shouldn’t just be princesses locked away in towers by their parents! Agatha aims to tear down these metaphorical towers and free the princesses inside!
The cards in this kingdom work in conjunction with the New Moon/Full Moon token. Cards associated with shapeshifters are more powerful when the moon is full, whereas human-linked cards (typically Items and Enchantments) are more powerful during the new moon. Some cards automatically flip the Moon token.

Witches

There have always been witches among the residents of Bufonid Lakeside. They were always ready to help people, curing their ailments and protecting the village against external threats. Over time, however, they moved beyond their original role to assume greater authority, including taking on political and judicial roles within the community. Yaba Bega, the Witch of the Lake, eventually took charge completely, fed up with incessant bargaining and having to explain even elementary facts to generations of simpletons! Under her leadership, the Witches manage all aspects of village life, and justice is swift and simple. If you misbehave or are as dumb as a bullfrog, you will be turned into one. Since this law was introduced, the banks of the lake are bursting with frogs, and the residents of Bufonid Lakeside go about their lives in fear.

Enchantments and Items in the Witch kingdom help you recover from wounds, collect crystals, and organize your stacks. Most importantly, however, numerous cards let you turn targeted monsters into frogs! These frog cards form a separate deck. When you have frog cards available, you can deprive your opponents of lots of victory points by transforming their hard-won monster trophies, worth five glory points, into lowly frogs, which score only one.

If you have ever dreamed of adding a touch of light-hearted gothic horror to your games of Enchanters, the Darklands expansion will make your nightmares come true!