Absolute Stasis (Fractured Days Split the Sky)

Frequently Asked Questions

Effect Rules

• What does moving pieces towards or away from something mean? (e.g., Pushing pieces towards the nearest Ocean with "Sweep Into the Sea.") What if you move a piece Inland?
  Move the piece in a way that either decreases or increases (respectively) its Range from the key location. All game notions of "nearer" and "further" in effect text use Range – you never need a ruler, and a land that looks physically closer might not actually be at shorter Range!

  When you Push towards the Ocean with "Sweep Into the Sea," the land you Push to must be closer to the nearest Ocean than the land they're currently in. So, e.g., a land 2 away from its nearest Ocean could only Push to lands 1 away from that Ocean (Coastal to it). As with all ambiguous cases, if multiple Oceans are closest, you decide which one to consider "nearest".

  Similarly if you move a piece Inland, you move it further away from the Oceans collectively: each land it moves through must be further from the nearest Ocean than the land it came from. The piece can't move e.g., from a Coastal land on one board to a Coastal land on another board; even thought it's increasing its Range from the Ocean it was originally closest to (from Range 1 to Range 2), it's still just as close to an Ocean (Range 1).

  The routes most directly towards or away from something are an objective trait of the board layout and not affected by Isolate (just like how Isolate doesn't change which lands are Coastal), though the routes can be altered by something that changes the board topology for all purposes, like "Weave Together the Fabric of Place." Isolate can still stop Invader pieces from moving if they can't make progress on any of the shortest routes towards or away from something. Specific movement effects can overrule these restrictions, such as Isolate affecting which routes Thieves attempt to take to the coasts in the Despicable Theft scenario.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Range, Move, Isolate, Sweep into the Sea, 9 more...

Event Cards

• Does a Spirit have to pay for the Power Card played via Ethereal Conjunction?
  No, since the card is put directly into play without needing to pay its cost.

  However, the Spirit still needs to pay any costs associated with using the Power, whether that's a mandatory "Cost to Use" (e.g., for Absolute Stasis) or a cost associated with a particular choice (e.g., for Hazards Spread Across the Island). You can pick a Power Card with a Cost to Use that you can't afford; in that case, you fail to use the Power and then Forget the card.
  Tags: Cost To Use, Resolving Powers, Ethereal Conjunction, Absolute Stasis (Fractured Days Split the Sky), 3 more...
• In the "Visions Out of Time" Event, what happens if multiple Omens end up in one land? How about if an Omen is temporarily out of the game due to being under Absolute Stasis?
  On the turn after "Visions Out of Time" is drawn, in each land that's in the game and has Omens, gain 2 Fear, Ravage once, and Remove 1 Omen after the Ravage Step. Any leftover Omens (whether due to multiple Omens stacking up in one land or the Omens not being in a land at the relevant time) can be removed from the board to reduce clutter, since it's unlikely they will do anything relevant for the rest of the game.

  As a more thematic option, you can treat Omens as if they had the ability on the Event Card: "Starting next turn, after the Ravage Step: 2 Fear; Invaders Ravage; Remove this Omen." In that case, stacked Omens can cause multiple Ravages in one land, and Omens under "Absolute Stasis" will cause problems after Ravage Steps of future turns.
  Tags: Visions Out of Time, Absolute Stasis (Fractured Days Split the Sky), Weave Together the Fabric of Place, Bargain of Coursing Paths, 0 more...

General Play

• If an effect says that you may X to Y (e.g., paying Energy to gain a Power Card, Destroying Presence to skip an Event on a board), are you allowed to get the second half for free if you can't do the first half?
  No, the second half is gated behind paying the cost in the first half. Similarly, "you may Y by X" requires paying the cost in the second half to get the effect in the first half.

  While this tends to be pretty obvious when the cost is paying Energy, it's less clear if the cost is performing some other effect, like discarding a card or removing Presence.

  While you must be able to pay the cost in order to get the bonus, ongoing effects can alter the final result of the cost being paid. For example, you can successfully pay the cost of "Destroy 2 Presence" even if "Flowing and Silent Forms Dart By" will end up saving that Presence from destruction if you do so. On the other hand, you can't attempt to pay the cost with Presence under "Absolute Stasis," since that Presence only exists for Victory/Defeat – it doesn't exist as far as the Event is concerned.
  Tags: Action Modifiers, Absolute Stasis (Fractured Days Split the Sky), Turmoil's Touch (Wandering Voice Keens Delirium), Water Nourishes Life's Growth (Downpour Drenches the World), 11 more...
• If you create a land with no adjacent lands, how do things like Blight cascades or Push work? Can you target it from lands Range 2+ away?
  

  • There are no adjacent lands to add Blight to, so cascades don't add Blight in an adjacent land. (Anything that replaces cascades, like Habsburg Mining Expedition's Level 1 "Avarice Rewarded" effect, still happen.)
  • You can't Push/Gather anything (unless you can Push to a land 2 away / Gather from a land 2 away – e.g., Many Minds Move as One – and there's a land 2 away, see below).
  • Whether you can target the land depends on whether you can measure Range from your Presence to it. If you made a disjoint land via the combination of "Cast Down into the Briny Deep" and "Absolute Stasis", yes, because the land is Range 2 from other lands. But if you completely wall off a land by Repeating "Absolute Stasis," then there's no way to measure Range to it, so the only way to target Powers there would be to either have Presence in the land or the ability to ignore range (e.g., Finder of Paths Unseen).

  Note that Isolate is NOT usually sufficient to generate any of these situations, since it only affects adjacency for Invader pieces (JE rules, p. 10).
  Tags: Island Boards, Push, Range, Targeting, 9 more...

Power Cards

• When exactly do you have to pay a "cost to use" on a Power Card?
  Before targeting it - "using" / "resolving" a Power includes choosing a target land and verifying that it's legal.

  This can be relevant for cards like Scream Disease Into the Wind, which set up a triggered action after a Power is used on a land.
  Tags: Cost To Use, Triggered Actions, Scream Disease Into the Wind, Mists Shift and Flow (Shroud of Silent Mist), 4 more...
• Can "Flowing and Silent Forms Dart By" save Presence from destruction even if that Presence can't be pushed? (e.g., if the only adjacent lands are under "Absolute Stasis")
  No, "Flowing and Silent Forms Dart By" can only save Presence if that Presence can leave the land where it's being destroyed.

  The Dark Fire Aspect, on the other hand, does not check if the Push is possible; it'll save 1 Presence no matter what.
  Tags: Saved From Destruction, Shroud of Silent Mist, Absolute Stasis (Fractured Days Split the Sky), Mountain Home (Volcano Looming High), 4 more...
• What happens if Cast Down into the Briny Deep sinks a board where a land is under Absolute Stasis?
  If you want and you have a convenient coaster or other object that can represent the Stasis'd land, then the Stasis'd land survives. If it is disjoint from the rest of the island, consider it Range 2 from the land(s) nearest to it, per the Archipelago rules in Jagged Earth. If you don't want to do this, or have no convenient way of representing a single land, then Cast Down into the Briny Deep overwhelms the Stasis, ending its effects and affecting the land normally.

  If by doing this you create a land with no adjacent lands, see this FAQ for how, e.g., Blight Cascades work.

  Similarly, if the Deeps aspect of Ocean's Hungry Grasp creates a land separated by ocean from the rest of the island, consider it Range 2 to cross the ocean for all purposes, including (e.g.) Growth.
  Tags: Player-convenience choices, Absolute Stasis (Fractured Days Split the Sky), Cast Down into the Briny Deep, Deeps Aspect (Ocean's Hungry Grasp), 0 more...
• How does "Absolute Stasis" interact with victory condition X or loss condition Y?
  It doesn't, per the text on the card. The land is an ordinary land for any game-end conditions.

  For instance:

  • You can't win by using Stasis on the land with the last Cities;
  • You can't lose by using Stasis on the last of a Spirit's Presence
  • Beasts in that land count for Russia's additional loss condition; and
  • The final Ravage in Dahan Insurrection does not happen in that land, but any Invaders left there count against the victory condition.
    Tags: Victory and Defeat, Absolute Stasis (Fractured Days Split the Sky), Tsardom of Russia, Kingdom of Scotland, 3 more...
• When using a land-targeting Power with Range "—," which land is the origin land?
  In the rather rare case that it matters, you can choose any land with your Presence to be the origin of the Power.

  If you don't have any Presence to use as the origin (e.g., because all of your Presence is under Absolute Stasis or in the Endless Dark), you can't use the Power.
  Tags: Range, Absolute Stasis (Fractured Days Split the Sky), Emerge from the Dread Night Wind (Breath of Darkness Down Your Spine), Frightful Keening (Wandering Voice Keens Delirium), 7 more...

Scenarios

• If an effect specifically happens in the Slow Phase, but isn't a Slow Power, how does it work in the Blitz Scenario?
  Exactly as written. Blitz still has a Slow Phase, even if nothing usually happens in it because all Slow Powers are Fast.
  Tags: Speed (Fast/Slow), Blitz, Absolute Stasis (Fractured Days Split the Sky), The Great River, 3 more...
• In the Second Wave scenario, where exactly can a power from the first wave be used? What if the power is targeted from a Sacred Site? What about (one of many weird exception cases)?
  The power can target any land or Spirit it normally could – no current Spirit needs to have a Sacred Site (or Presence in a land of the correct terrain, etc.) The power is being "played" by the Spirit from the prior game – if it cares about the originating land, or where the Spirit has Presence / Sacred Sites, it can assume that for purposes of targeting and resolution the Spirit has up to 2 Presence in each land. The Power can't affect the playing Spirit (which is not in the game). Technically, Energy/other costs can't be paid, but it's more fun if you say that costs up to 8 Energy / 4 Time, can be paid. (Or rough equivalent, so "Elemental Teachings" can grant 3 of any element(s), "Draw Towards a Consuming Void" could redo its effects once, etc).

  Along similar lines, it would be thematically appropriate to apply most sorts of Special Rules for the Spirit "using" the Power, but creating a precise formal specification for exactly what should/shouldn't be considered would get very finicky. Use your judgment.
  (Discussion elsewhere) (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Targeting, Player-convenience choices, Second Wave, Elemental Teachings (Shifting Memory of Ages), 12 more...

Spirits and Innate Powers

• If Fractured Days gives away its Unique Powers (e.g., with "Entwined Power"), can other Spirits play them?
  Other Spirits can play them but not use them, since they would have to pay Time and have no way of gaining it.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Cost To Use, Transferring Power Cards, Fractured Days Split the Sky, Entwined Power, 4 more...
• When Relentless Gaze of the Sun uses Consider a Harmonious Nature to destroy Presence instead of adding Blight, which Presence can it pick?
  It can destroy any of its own Presence anywhere on the island, which includes Presence in The Endless Dark.

  Gaze can't destroy Presence that's not on the island, including:

  • On its Presence Tracks
  • Removed from the game, e.g., by a Bargain
  • Under the effects of Absolute Stasis
  • On Serpent's Deep Slumber Track
    Tags: Destroy, Absolute Stasis (Fractured Days Split the Sky), Deep Slumber (Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island), Consider a Harmonious Nature (Relentless Gaze of the Sun), 2 more...
• When Ocean’s Hungry Grasp is on a board, can Powers and Special Rules measure Range through that board’s Ocean?
  Yes, Powers and Special Rules can treat the Ocean as a land via Ocean in Play, so they can measure Range through it. Measuring Range through Land 2 is usually just as good, so this only matters if something has altered the board layout in some way:

  • The Thematic Map has some Oceans that are adjacent to more than three lands.
  • Land 2 is temporarily removed from play via Absolute Stasis.
  • Finder of Paths Unseen is using Open the Ways to connect a land to an Ocean.
    Tags: Range, Thematic map, Ocean In Play (Ocean's Hungry Grasp), Ocean's Hungry Grasp, 3 more...