Nomads have established themselves in the oasis. The nomads need wool and grain for which they offer commodities of the desert.

Since the Cataners always have a few sheep and grain sheaves left over, the nomads send out caravans to trade for the desired raw materials. Three caravan routes are formed with the camels. All settlements and cities on the caravan route count for one more victory point.

Any road running alongside the caravan's route counts double for the longest trade route.

Game Components

• 1 Oasis Tile
• 22 Camels

Setup

The oasis tile replaces the desert. The three arrows specify the starting points of three caravan routes. The oasis tile is placed exactly in the centre of the island. The arrangement of the arrows on the oasis is arbitrary. The camels are set near the play area.

Game Play

Play according to the basic rules with the following additions:

At the end of a turn in which a player builds a settlement or a city, a voting round takes place resulting in the placement of exactly one camel.

Place a Camel

Starting from the oasis, three independent caravan routes develop. A camel is always put beside a path (edges of 2 adjacent landscape tiles). A camel must always be placed so that it points away from the last camel placed on the chosen route. A branch from a caravan route is not allowed.

Camels may be put beside an existing road. A road may also be built on a path, which has a camel beside it. However, a camel may not be put beside a path that already has a camel beside it.

The first camel of a caravan route is placed on one of the three paths the caravan arrow of the oasis points to.

Important: The first camel of each of the three routes may not be placed beside a path along the border of the oasis.

Once the first camel of a route has been placed, there will be two options for the placement of each subsequent camel on this route. Therefore, between the three routes, there are up to 6 possible positions in which a new camel can be placed. The players vote and negotiate to determine where a camel is to be placed.

Voting Round

Beginning with the player, whose has just built the settlement and/or city, all players in clockwise direction lay out, face up, wool and/or grain cards. The players, who laid out at least one card, negotiate among themselves to decide at which position the camel is to be placed. Each player has as many votes as the number of cards he used.

If a single player has more votes than all other players put together, he decides alone.

If 2 or more players have the majority of votes, and if they agree on a position of the camel, they place it accordingly.

In the case of a stalemate with no agreement, the player who alone laid the most cards out decides. If there is no such player, then the player whose turn it is determines how the camel is to be placed, even if he did not lay out any cards. Subsequently, all players return their laid out cards to the supply.

Important: Each player has only one opportunity to lay cards out during the voting round. Adding to them later is not permitted.

End of a caravan route

If a caravan route reaches a dead end (there is no possibility of adding any more camels) this ends the route. If the supply of camels is used up, all 3 routes end. It is also possible and permitted that two caravan routes merge into one.

The longest trade route

A road, which runs alongside a caravan camel, counts like 2 roads. A longest trade route can therefore be established with fewer than 5 roads built, if a value of "5" is reached by including these doubled roads.

Revaluation of cities and settlements

Settlements or cities that lie between 2 caravan camels count for one more victory point.

End of the Game

The game ends, if the player whose turn it is has over 12 victory points.

Examples

Example 1

The first camel of a caravan route may not be placed on an edge of the oasis. For the first caravan camel there are therefore only 3 possible positions.

Example 2

The first camel of a caravan route may not be placed on an edge of the oasis. For the first caravan camel there are therefore only 3 possible positions.

Example 3

Further along in the game, 3 longer commercial routes have developed. One settlement of player "white" and 2 settlements of player "blue" each count for one additional victory point. In addition, 3 roads of player "blue" and 2 roads of player "white" each count double. Currently there are 6 positions for placing a caravan camel.

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