1
Place the main board
Put the Main Board in the middle of the play area
2
Prepare translator decks
Shuffle each Deck of Translator Cards separately and place each into the indicated space along the top of the Main Board so artwork lines up
3
Set up scroll cards
Shuffle all 48 Scroll Cards, place 1 faceup onto each of the 6 Map spaces, and onto the top 3 spaces in the House of Wisdom
4
Place starting translators
Shuffle all 10 Starting Translators, reveal 4, return the rest to the box, and place revealed ones into their indicated Room matching the number on each card
5
Add resource cards
Shuffle all 10 Resource Cards, reveal 1 faceup below each Starting Translator, return the rest to the box
6
Distribute player components
Give each player 1 Player Board, 7 Action Cards, 20 Influence, 6 Research Markers, 1 Player Marker, and 1 Bag in their chosen color
7
Position research markers
Have all players place 1 Research Marker on the "0" space of each Research Track
8
Position player markers
Place Player Markers at the top-center space of the Map
9
Place neutral marker
Put the Neutral Marker on the bottom-center space of the Map
10
Create main supply
Place all Dice, Workers, Gold, and Silver into a Main Supply within reach of all players
11
Determine first player
Randomly select a starting player and give them the First Player Marker
12
Choose game length
Decide as a group whether to play Casual or Epic version
13
Prepare scroll draw pile
Shuffle all 4 Caliph Cards facedown, then use the Caliph Setup Card to create 6 separate stacks of Scrolls and Caliph Cards based on player count
14
Stack the draw pile
Place prepared stacks on top of one another in correct order to form the Scroll Card Draw Pile, place to the left of the Main Board
15
Distribute goal cards
Shuffle 6 Goal Cards, deal 1 to each player, return rest to box
16
Set up goal card
Place Goal Card on right-most space of Player Board with White Worker on top, indicated colored Worker below, and indicated secondary Die on bottom space
17
Give starting scroll cards
Each player receives their Starting Scroll Card matching the character on their Goal Card, placed faceup above their Player Board
18
Select starting resources
In reverse turn order, each player selects a Starting Translator and Resource Card pair, places 1 Influence on the chosen Translator, collects the Resource Card below it, and resolves its icons top to bottom
19
Resolve resource card
Add indicated Dice to Bag, draw 4 Dice at random and roll them, gain indicated Gold, Silver, Workers, and any other printed bonus
