Map

The map is made up of hexagonal tiles. Every tile will have a specific terrain type that depends on its native Biome. Tiles can change their terrain type over the years through either natural phenomena or empire design. Tiles that are adjacent to Coastal or Ocean tiles receive a +1 bonus to their Food output.

A group of tiles contained together inside a closed border constitutes a territory. The edges of a territory are displayed with a line of dashes on the map. Each territory can only have one city or camp.

Terrain

Cities and camps can perform Landscaping to change the terrain of a tile.

Terrain	Output	Movement cost	Description
Barren		1	This exhausted soil produces nothing, except an eerie stillness.
Botanical Ruins	1 Food 1 Science	1	The remnants of an ancient civilizations' agriculture, perhaps?
Bush	1 Food	1	Laden with fruit, plants grow happily in this soil.
Dense Bush	2 Food	1	Ripe berries hide behind every leaf in this inviting thicket.
Dense Duse Lode	2 Dust	1	The earth is rich with Dust, the ground illuminated with a faint golden light.
Dust Lode	1 Dust	1	Glimmers move in eddies and swirls on the ground's surface.
Golden Scrub	1 Food 1 Dust	1	The infiltration of Dust hasn't stopped the plantlife flourishing.
Reaping Wastes	1 Dust 1 Science	1	Broken mechanisms litter the ground, still glowing with Dust.
Forest	1 Industry	2	A thicket of sturdy trees reach skyward.
Dense Forest	2 Industry	2	Rooted so closely together, the trees' scent is almost overpowering.
Grove	1 Food 1 Industry	2	The trees offer strong timber and pungent nourishment.
Lattice Forest	1 Industry 1 Science	2	Strange formations lodge in the trunks of the trees, fascinating scholars.
Ridge	Impassable	Impassable	Craggy rock crops from the ground, making passage difficult.
Ocean
Coastal Water

Anomaly

An Anomaly is a terrain that has a much greater output than regular terrain but does not allow districts to be constructed on it.

Anomaly	Output	Movement cost	Description
Fiber Spines	6 Industry	2	Few native fauna come close to the manufacturing riches of this species.
Purple Leaf	3 Food 3 Science 5 Approval	1	Many Saiadhans find the raw leaf bitter, but cooked the taste is transformed.
Saiadhan Boars	6 Food	1	A proud sight, these thunderous beasts like to wallow in shallow ponds.
Spiral Crabs	6 Dust	1	Crustaceans that embed Dust in their distinctive shells.

River

River is a terrain type that cannot be passed through. Instead, ordering an army to move on a tile with River terrain will bring the option to spend one turn building build one of the following:

• Temporary Bridge allows armies to move on the tile. The Temporary Bridge lasts for a limited number of turns and if an army is on it when it collapses the army will be destroyed. Temporary Bridges cannot be constructed during a Monsoon.
• Dam costs 50 Dust and requires the Keystones technology to be researched. It can be attacked by enemy armies.

Curiosities

Curiosities are atypical sites that can be explored by armies by moving the army on them. When explored curiosities give a one-time reward such as Dust, Influence, Strategic Resources, Luxury Resources, and many others. Most curiosities remain on the map until they are visited.

Levitations are special curiosities that will only appear during the Monsoon and disappear when the Monsoon ends. Exploring them gives 50 Dust and restores 2 Movement Points to the army that visited them.

Weather system

A Monsoon is a period of intense rainfall. During the Monsoon Brambles thrust from the ground and creatures rise from Rifts and Fortresses. When a Monsoon starts empires can reorganize their Council. During a Monsoon the following effects take place:

• +20 Health Regeneration on units starting their turn in a non-allied territory
• +100% gains on Battle Spoils
• -1 Vision Range on units
• Levitations curiosities appear on the map
• Villages that aren't pacified will attack anyone nearby

At the end of the Monsoon, Saiadha experiences Tidefall.