The end of Summer of Plunder 2025 is in sight, and the final two weeks are upon us. As such, our 3rd and final installment of a running narrative is ready for your enjoyment! Read on to find out how to win the biggest bonus prize we’ve given away to date.
The governor of the settlement and savior of the rebellion and evacuation may not be all he seemed to be… Could he have had a hand in the raid on his own settlement?
A Tale of Guilt and Subterfuge…
A haggard man sits alone at a table far from the hearth, the tavern’s din muffled by shadows and damp wood. His drink untouched. His gaze pinned to the warped grain of the tabletop as if answers might emerge from its knots.
The pewter goblet trembles in his grasp, not from cold or age.
“A family heirloom,” he murmurs, lips barely moving. “It belonged to my mother. That trunk. The one they took.” He says it again. Louder. As if repetition might turn lie into truth. “She used to keep letters in it. Lace ribbons. The sort of trifles women tuck away and swear they’ll pass on. I kept it near the window in her old room. It smelled like cedar and powdered violets. When the raiders came—I insisted it go with me. I told the clerks it held personal things.”
His voice tightens, now whispering to himself.
“They believed me. Why shouldn’t they? Governors have mothers too.” A beat passes. A scream of laughter from another table breaks the moment. He shakes his head to refocus… “But I didn’t keep HER letters…The ones inside… were mine.”
The governor’s hand slips to a pouch beside his coat for reassurance, the coins and gems realigning his thoughts. “Letters Letters about patrol routes. Militia strengths. Shipping logs. The terms of my own silence… How could iI have been so foolish?…This wasn’t supposed to happen. This wasn’t the agreement.” His voice hoarse now, unraveling. “They caused this. They did it to me. I am to be their scapegoat. They set me up…. A collaborator exposed for treason.”
His grip tightening on the chalice, knuckles whitening. His unhinged ramblings growing worse, “Treason in ink. Signed and sealed by my own hand. God help me… they’ll hang me.” He leans forward, forehead grazing the rim of the cup, words collapsing into a whisper.“I need it back. Before someone makes it public. Before it reaches the capital. Before a clerk recognizes the seal.”
A shadow looms beside the table. “Ah! Captain, you have arrived. Won’t you have a seat.” His voice cracked. Dry. Fragile.
“Less than two nights ago, a smuggler brig slipped from the inlet under a false flag. They will be hugging the coast northward by now—to the capital no doubt, or perhaps even New Providence if they are sobold. The chest is with them. It must be. The trunk—cedar-lined, brass hinges, faint scent of violets. My mother used to keep letters in it. Lace ribbons. The sort of trifles …”, he continued his rehearsed speech trying to convinvce the captain and himself. “You’ll know it by the crest etched beneath the latch. Retrieve it. Nothing else matters.”The captain studied him a beat, arms crossed. Thorne sat rigid, but the tremor in his fingers and the sweat at his brow betrayed him—panic held in check beneath a mask of guilt. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days. “Why all this fuss over keepsakes? ”
Thorne swallows hard, swigging rum to calm his nerves.
“Because it has certain … sentimental value to me. In fact… I’m not sure I could imagine my life with out it.”
Another pause.
“And you’re certain it left on that ship?”, mused the captain.
“It must have. There is no other explanation. My scout assured me that smugglers had pillaged everything. My manor was stripped bare.”
Governor Thorne slides a heavy pouch forward, raising a hand to prevent further inquiry.
fictional narrative by Jason Klotz
“Double the bounty I promised upon its return. No questions. Just the chest.”
He meets the stranger’s eye, voice barely holding.
“Burn everything else. Leave no survivors…”
What Does “Bonus Event” MEAN?
This is an additional optional objective that awards bonus “plunder” in addition to the other great loot we are offering. This prize is available to all players in any nation (including the Unaligned).
While this doesn’t count as fulfilling the standard weekly objective, you can hopefully accomplish the requirements while completing your other weekly games to earn a chance at a bonus prize.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THE “SMUGGLERS” EVENT
This bonus prize event is open to ALL players regardless of their nation!
- Submissions for this event will run from now until Sunday, August 3rd, 2025 @ 10 PM Eastern time (GMT-5). This is the day before the end of the campaign, so we can resolve the turn properly.
- When submitting your game on the entry form, please select “Yes” to the question “Did you play the ‘Bonus Prize Event’?”
Requirements to participate in this event vary by game system. Please review the appropriate section based on your chosen game system below.
Blood & Plunder Entry Requirements
Play any Land or Amphibious or Sea version of the BREAKTHROUGH Scenario (Core Rules) at any point level. At the start of the game, the Defender may add an Objective Token to any unit in their force representing the Prize.
- The possessing unit gains the High Standing Special Rule until it loses the Prize.
- The Prize moves with the unit and can be transferred:
- Spend 1 action to transfer to a friendly unit within 1”.
- A friendly unit within 1” may spend 1 action to take it.
- The Prize is automatically dropped if the unit Goes Prone, or becomes Shaken (Shaken units cannot possess the Prize).
- When dropped:
- A non-Shaken unit not engaged in Melee combat may spend 1 action to claim it.
- If dropped inside a Ship or Fortification, it is considered held by the Force currently controlling the structure. If no units are present in the structure, then no Force controls it.
- A player that deliberately destroys the token immediately loses.
- If a force controls the Prize in Round 4 or later, the opposing force suffers 1 Strike Point.
Oak & Iron Entry Requirements
Play the “SMUGGLER’S PRIZE” Scenario from TimberAndSail.com. In this scenario, players compete to capture a ship containing an invaluable prize.
Port Royal Entry Requirements
Play a game with any Scenario and Deployment. Before placing Objective Tokens, put a special token in the center of the board to represent the governor’s chest. The token counts as two Strike Points instead of 1. Do not include it in Step 3 of the POST GAME PROCEDURE. Instead, the player who controls the token at the end of the game receives 10 pieces of eight and 2 XP.
Determining the Winner for Bonus Event 3
- While you are welcome to play the objective multiple times, each player may only enter once. Duplicate entries will be null and void.
- A single winner will be selected randomly from all eligible entries.
- To enter, submit your game on the normal entry form and select “Yes” to the question “Did you play the ‘Bonus Prize Event’?”
- Entries must be received before Sunday, August 3rd, @ 10 PM Eastern time (GMT-5).
- Participants must provide a valid email address.
- No purchase necessary to enter or win.
What Do You Win?
Like Bous Event 1and Bonus Event 2, the winner of this event will win two “prizes”
- A Physical Prize of a $100 Gift Certificate to Firelock Games.
- A Strategic Advantage for your Nation in the week following the close of the contest.
The “Physical” Prize
This is possibly the largest bonus prize we’ve ever given away. We wanted to end with a bang, so we’re giving you one hundred, cold, hard, digital doubloons to spend at the Firelock Games online store to buy whatever your heart desires! You can use it to put it toward your Blood & Plunder Galleon Fund, pick up the speedy new Oak & Iron Galley Frigate, a new Port Royal Starter Set, or heck, you can use it to try Blood & Crowns or any of the other great Firelock Games titles.
Bonus Event #3 – Strategic Advantage Prize
In addition to the $100 Gift Card, the winner of the “SMUGGLERS” event, you will get to select one of the following options to help the nation of their winning entry.
- Option 1: Add a +1 to an Attack on any Location
- Option 2: Add a +1 to the Defense on any Location
- Option 3: +3 Success Modifier to the roll on your Commander’s next Raid Action.
This reward will be cashed in during the resolution of Week 9! So the winner will need to respond within 24 hrs.
Conclusion
We hope you are enjoying the Summer of Plunder campaign so far. Thanks again to Firelock Games.com for making the great games we love! Happy hunting and may the odds be ever in your favor…
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