*Berylia: England, Greywind: France, Fireblade: Spain, And Lastly, Ellowyn: The Netherlands.*

One by one the other four join the game.

By unspoken accord Berylia gets first pick, choosing England, which she knows created your country of origin.

Greywind is next to go, taking France, which she reasons is the most subtle of the four countries.

Fireblade, of course, chooses the Spanish, who are the most aggressive of the four standard nations, with their bonus to attacking native settlements...

And Lastly, Ellowyn is left with The Netherlands, but you privately think the others were foolish to not grab the Netherlands for themselves, as they are the nation best adapted to the later game, and are no slouches when it comes to the early game either...

For a map, you picked the original Americas, which gives you a slight edge, but you're going to need that when up against professional leaders of a nation...

The game starts, and you wait your turn, which will be last of the five 'player' nations, after all the natives even.

When it at last comes to you, your caraval appears on the western map edge, and you think :Huh, this is unexpected,: but don't mind very much as this gives you a strong advantage in establishing a thriving colonial presence away from your lovers/rivals. Because of the nature of this map you are able to set your colonists ashore quickly, and make contact with the Native Americans, whom you are quick to make peace with, and even can send your Careval back to Russia on turn one...