QUIRKS OF UNCHARTED WATERS : NEW HORIZONS....

When you sail long enough, you see alot of strange things, from harmless manta rays to the dreaded luck-sucking Ghost Ship. Tornadoes dump your goods, sirens steal your sailors, and birds burn your boats.  But there are weirder and more sinister things going on in the 1500's, such as...

The Danzig Stairway

This European city features a stairway that leads nowhere (as far as anyone knows)  Perhaps it leads to Joao's Atlantis, or maybe that's where all mates you never met wait until you are good enough to hire them.  Or maybe the programmer had too much coffee that day.

The Lubeck Silver Racket

If you are a Duke and have some time to kill, you can beat the citizens of Lubeck at their own game.  This lovely Baltic Sea port boasts pale blue waters, abundant eel, and an incredibly dumb populace.  If your country owns Lubeck and you have a tax-free permit, they're even more gullible.  Since a permit is free to a Duke, put a competent Bookkeeper in charge and go to the marketplace in Lubeck.  Buy silver for as low as they'll go, then prepare to swindle their glockenspiels right out from under them. Without leaving the shopkeeper's sight, sell the same silver right back to him for a profit.  It must be lonely up near the Arctic Circle...

The Trouble With Roberto And Louis

All mateys have unique combinations of skills, attributes and luck which govern how well they perform and how fast their skills go up with time.  Unfortunately some men are sent to sea because they were dropped on their heads as children.  Such is the case with Roberto Almanzan and Louis Costa.  If you are foolish enough to hire them, pray that they try to quit, because these two mateys are residents of the plains beyond Mount Learning Curve.  Today, they would be given 'protective custody' in a 'nurturing institutional environment'.  In 1522 it was probably legal to kill them, and when they still can't sail a dinghy after forty years of training, you will probably want to crush their tiny little heads as well.

Not-So-Simple Simon

There sails a man whose boot I could not fill, try though I might.  His name is Simon Sekeira, and he can often be found sailing a Portuguese fleet.  If you see him, do yourself a favor and kick his butt, take his fleet, and go immediately to a cafe to gossip and find out where he might be for hire.  I used this technique to hire Idin Leis and Khayr Ad-Din the pirates when I got sick of them jumping me all the time.  If you are lucky enough to hire Simon, you will find that he is almost never lower in skills than you. It's just a thing he does.  Try appointing him as your Bookkeeper (he's a great one) and you will be gaining experience points twice as fast as he is, for you are a captain.  Every time your navigation level passes his, watch the next time Simon advances a level and he will vault up by three levels at once, whether he earned them or not.  No one knows why he does this- is he some kind of witch, or just reeeeealy competitive?  Someday, I'll test to see if he does the same thing in Combat experience levels.  I have videotape evidence of Simon's antics.

The New Year's Eve Party

You are invited to the closest tavern to see the programmers' idea of a joke.  Try going into a cafe at 11:00 pm on December 31st some year.  If there is a waitress, chat her up and shower her with gifts.  Buy treats for your entire crew.  Gossip and gamble the night away with your mateys.  When you leave the cafe, it should be 11:30 PM, or 12:00 midnight or 12:30 am.  Instead, you may find that several hours have slipped by.  If not, go directly to the inn and leave a 9:00 am wake up call with the clerk.  When you wake up, it will be 9:00 am, but you may find that it is the morning of January 4th, and you have slept for over three days! Bottoms up!!

Baby, You're A Rich Man

The maximum monthly earnings at the bank is 29,126 gold pieces.  The maximum assets you may amass, including cash on hand, bank deposits, sale values of items, and the sale values of boats and goods you control is slightly less than six hundred and eighty six million gold pieces. At this level, you can support a crew and a fine fleet for 39,425 years without trading or investing.

There are more quirks that I have discovered, but which are not fully documented yet.