The official website for The Settlers of Catan

The “Age of Darkness” Expansion

• Marie the Shieldmaiden - I have received a hero that can perform an action and is discarded afterwards. May I perform the action with him immediately after taking him over?

  No, not until your next turn.

• Marie the Shieldmaiden - May I refrain from taking over the heroes offered if I don't like them?

  No, you must take one of the heroes.

• Master Merchants' Alliance - If my opponent repeatedly trades the same resource with the bank during his turn, do I receive a resource each time he does so?

  Yes.

• Master of the Brotherhood - Do I have to pay gold if my opponent has placed the Master of the Brotherhood and I want to play an Arsonist against his Trading Station?

  Playing the Arsonist is initially meant as a general attack against the opponent's buildings, without targeting any specific building. Therefore, gold must be paid whenever the opponent has other buildings besides the Trading Station.

• Master of the Brotherhood - Do I have to pay gold if my opponent has placed the Master of the Brotherhood in his principality and loses a card via secondary effects?

  No. The Master of the Brotherhood only takes effect if, according to the text on the card played, a direct effect may occur.

• Mendicants - Can I lose gold in the Gold Cache to the Mendicants?

  Yes.

• Merchant's residences (in general) - How much does it cost to place a residence?

  It costs nothing. You only have to meet the requirements for it.

• Merchant's residences (in general) - Is a city required to build a residence?

  Yes.

• Merchant's residences (in general) - Is it allowed to play an Arsonist against a Residence?

  No.

• Merchant's residences (in general) - Is it true that the residences may be built for free?

  Yes. All you need to do is meet the requirements for building them.

• Merchant's residences (in general) - May I rotate a residence to the next higher level (e.g., by converting 2 wool into a commerce point) and use this commerce point to receive two different resources?

  Yes, if you have a Commercial Harbor.

• Merchant's residences (in general) - Must the lumber or wool to be converted into commerce points come from the regions adjacent to the residences?

  Yes.

• Michael the Master Builder - May I use Michael when building a Border Fortress?

  No. To build the Border Fortress, you must pay brick from the region adjacent to which you place the Border Fortress.

• Michael the Master Builder - May I use Michael when building settlements, cities, and metropolises?

  No, only when you build buildings.

• Michael the Master Builder - May I use Michael when building the Great Thingstead?

  No, the Great Thingstead is an extraordinary site, not a building.