At the start of each round, board and card locations should be stocked as follows. Board locations which need attention in this phase are blue for easy identification.

1) Place the top card of the Troll Deck face-up in the Troll Space on the board.

2) Place the top 2 cards of the Draugr Deck face-up in the Draugr Spaces on the board.

3) Place 1 Journey Card face-down in each empty Journey Space on the board.

4) Place 1 Rune Card face-up in each empty space next to the Runesmith Location.

5) Place 1 Monster Card face-up in each empty Monster Space on the board. Note: the rightmost Journey Space and Monster Space are only used in a 4-player game.

6) Reveal the top Merchant Ship Card, placing it on top of any previously revealed Merchant Ship cards.

7) Add 1 Viking Warrior (of the appropriate color) to each of the Swordsmith, Hafter, and Blacksmith locations.

8) Add 1 Food to the Smokehouse location.

Blue locations receive an additional item each round regardless of whether or not they are empty. These goods can build up and make these locations more attractive in future rounds.