When the young mermaid turned fifteen, she was given permission to leave. She swam toward the sky that she could see over her head.
With a spray of thousands of droplets, she raised above the sea's surface and saw on the deck of a magnificent caravel a young and handsome prince...
Components
- 24 Playing cards
- 2 Setting card for the basic game: A6 and B6
- A deck of 20 cards with the Sea Witch Pacts
- Instructions
Setup
The preparation and game play proceed as the normal Dark Tales, with the following changes:
Add the playing cards from the expansion to those from the basic game before shuffling. This will increase the playing time a bit. (If you wish to play a shorter game, randomly remove 10 different cards from the basic game before adding the cards from the expansion).
Add the two new setting cards (A6, B6) to those from the basic game before randomly selecting which two you will use for the game. (You can use these two new Setting cards with any Dark Tales game, not only games using this expansion!)
Shuffle the Sea Witch Pact cards, and place them nearby in a facedown Pact stack, separate from the Playing card deck. The Sea Witch Pact cards form a separate stack, and are never shuffled with the Playing cards (they are a different size to help you tell them apart).
The Sea Witch Pacts
Some of the cards in this expansion have this new symbol: @r.jpg.These are the Sea Witch Pacts. These Pacts offer a new way to score Victory Points, draw cards, or gain other benefits-for a price!
The Pact cards are kept in a separate draw pile called the Pact stack. Pact cards are not affected by normal Playing cards (such as those which tell you to draw cards from the deck or to count the number of cards in your hand, etc)., unless they show one of these two symbols:
Draw 1 Sea Witch Pact: When you play a card with this symbol, you must (unless specified otherwise) draw 1 Sea Witch Pact. This is the only way to draw Sea Witch Pacts. You can have any number of Pacts.
Discard 1 Sea Witch Pact: When you play a card with this symbol, you may (unless I specified otherwise) discard 1 of your Sea Witch Pact.
Pact cards are kept separate from the regular Playing cards. They do not count as part of your hand when drawn, and they are never added to the Playing card deck or discard pile.
Discarded Pacts are placed in their own discard pile. If the Pact stack is empty, re-shuffle the Pact discards and create a new stack.
During Phase 2 of your turn, instead of using an effect of the A Setting card, you may play 1 Sea Witch Pact, by placing it in the discard pile.
To play a Pact, you must perform the steps described in the First Condition, above the arrow. Then you gain the bonus below the arrow. fulfilling the First Condition is required!
If you cannot fulfill the First Condition, you cannot play the Pact. On the other hand, if you can't receive all of the bonus listed (such as drawing a card from the deck when it is empty), you may still play that Pact.
Once you have completed the First Condition, all players may benefit from the Second Condition. Each player, starting with you and going clockwise, chooses whether or not they will fulfill the Second Condition to gain the bonus listed. The Second Condition is always optional.
Example: It is Night. During Phase 2 of your turn, you play The Stinking Concoction, placing it on the Pact discard pile.
Then you play a Dragon from your hand. After resolving its effect, you take the last remaining Gold Coin from the supply (you are entitled to take 2, but only 1 is left).
Then you reveal an Ogre from your hand and score 1 VP. Each of the other players, in turn, may also choose to reveal a Villain from their hand to score 1 VP, or not. After the Pact is resolved, you move on to Phase 3 of your turn, where you play a card as usual.
Note that: 1) if you couldn't play a Villain from your hand (First Condition), you could not play the Pact and that 2) the Dragon you played for the Pact does not count as the card you must play during Phase 3.
Beware! You lose 3 Victory Points for each Pact you still have in your hand when the game ends.
Remember:
If a Pact instructs you to draw a card from the deck, it means the Playing card deck.
If a Pact asks you to reveal a card, the card is revealed and then it goes back in your hand.
Even though you can hold Pacts in your hand for convenience, they do not belong to your hand, which is made up only of regular Playing cards, and thus are never counted to determine when the game ends, how many cards you have in hand, etc.
The Witch (from the base game) does not prevent you from drawing Pacts!
The Seventht Heaven Pact does not have a Second Condition for all players. Even if you have more than 1 Prince or Female in play, you get the bonus only once.
Notes on the Cards
Little Mermaid
You can only take a Prince from another player who has him in front of them if there is no Prince in the discard pile.
Sea Witch
Remember that "all players" includes you, so you draw a total of 2 Pacts before getting the chance to discard 1.
Shipwreck
You may choose 1 Villain or 1 Male or 1 Female you have in hand and put it into play in front of you, even if it does not have the 
icon. When the card enters play, you don't activate any of its effects and you do not score any victory points.
However, if the card has continuous effects, these are triggered as normal (e.g., if you put the Old Sage into play, you still get victory points from him at the end of your turn if it's Day).
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