Cocklefighting

A whorl is a special rule a charm gives, drawn at random when the charm rolls.

What a whorl is#

A knack is a figure your gear sums and caps. A whorl is a rule the cockle carrying it lives by. Most change the fight: a Second bite may bite a third time, the first blow crits, the shell shuts early, a knack runs past its cap. The rest work between fights: charms drop more often, you steal more gold, turns refill faster, town builds advance while you rest.

A whorl sits on the card under the knacks, in italics and red with its own mark (), and on your sheet the same way. A fight’s intro names every whorl in play, and the log says when one fires.

The draw#

Every whorl is drawn at random from the pool below when a charm rolls, and only onto a charm. Gear supplies the figures, a charm the rules. A charm draws 1 at most. That ceiling matters: you can wear 10 charms, and unsealers add where every other whorl keeps only the stronger of two. A mythic, legendary or Tidebound draws one for certain, and a legendary’s or Tidebound’s is never a dud (drawn from 35% and 50% of its range up). An epic draws one roll in 2 and a rare one in 4. Common and uncommon draw none. No charm is built with a whorl: two copies of the same legendary carry different ones. Relics carry none.

Two whorls of one kind never stack. Your gear keeps the stronger. An unsealer’s added figure is the one exception: those add.

The value#

A whorl’s value rolls in its own range like every other figure on the charm, and counts toward the copy’s Lustre. The range is the charm’s own: a lower rarity carries a narrower whorl because it wakens so much further. A rare runs at 45% of a legendary’s width, an epic at 60%, and a primordial set’s grant at 115%. Wakening grows it on the rarity’s knack curve (a rare’s 3% a level, a legendary’s 9%).

Wear never touches a whorl. It reads the same on a worn charm as on a fresh one. A whorl can be rerolled, identity and value, for a Whorl Oil (see Rerolling). A whorl never changes a copy’s name.

Unsealing#

Every knack is held to a cap however much your pieces add up to (see Gear). An unsealer lifts one knack’s cap to its unsealed ceiling while you wear it, and adds a figure of its own on top. With the right whorl and high rolls, every blow can crit, every blow can bite twice, no effect need ever land. The sheet’s cap chip reads “unsealed” on that line.

It is the last step of a chase. A charm’s knack multiplier lands before the cap (see the knack multiplier), so a high roll and a strong multiplier spend themselves against a ceiling. The unsealer gives them room. Roll the knack, socket the charm, chase the whorl.

The fight whorls#

Each whorl at the bottom and top of its range, as its card says it. The win chance prices every fight whorl, yours and your rival’s.

Every fight whorl, what it does and its range

Whorl	What it does	Range	Carried by
Third Bite	30% chance a Second bite strikes a third time Only a hit that already struck twice can strike again.	20% to 40%	charms
First Blood	+20% damage on your first hit, which is always a crit Every fight opens with a guaranteed crit.	10% to 30%	a primordial set
Spines Against the Crit	x2 Urchin damage back against a crit Your spines hit back hardest against crits.	x1.5 to x2.5	charms
The Sure Sting	Corrosion, Chill and Shock can land up to 75% of the time Raises the cap on every effect you deal.	50% to 100%	charms
Backwash	35% of the elemental damage your resistance blocks is dealt back to the attacker The damage you return ignores their resistance.	20% to 50%	charms
Second Wind	Heals 23% of your Health once a fight, when you drop below 20% Triggers once per fight, when you need it most.	15% to 30%	charms
Off the Mark	Your first 3 hits land at double speed A fast start to every fight.	2 to 4	a primordial set
The Shut Shell	Shut works from 68% of your Health instead of 50% Shut kicks in earlier, so it protects you for longer.	60% to 75%	charms
The Full Tide	Corrosion and wounds tick once more. Chill and Shock are 20% stronger Your effects last longer and hit harder.	15% to 25%	charms
Held Line	x1.75 Turn chance against a crit Your guard is best against crits.	x1.5 to x2	a primordial set
The Even Keel	Hits against you vary 45% less Rivals' hits land closer to average, so fewer lucky big hits.	30% to 60%	charms
Glass Edge	+60% Split, but crits against you also hit 25% harder Bigger crits, both ways.	40% to 80%	charms
The Long Memory	+5% Seam chance for every hit that doesn't crit, until one does Each hit without a crit builds toward the next one.	3% to 6%	charms
Kindred Tempers	45% of your main elemental damage is also dealt in the other 2 elements Your main element spreads to all 3.	30% to 60%	charms
The Deep Drink	Your Drink also heals 75% of the damage your Urchin and Snapback deal Damage you reflect heals you too.	50% to 100%	charms
Undertow Grip	+18% Gap, and a hit they Turn aside still deals its full Chum wound A blocked hit still bleeds.	10% to 25%	charms
The Patient Shell	45% of the damage your Turn blocks is dealt back to the attacker What your Turn blocks, the attacker takes.	30% to 60%	a primordial set
The Midnight Ebb	Below your Shut line, your Frenzy counts as at least 7% of a full streak Your Attack knacks work off low Health instead of your win streak.	4% to 9%	charms
The Turning	Your Turn grows by up to 45% of itself as your win streak climbs Your Defence knacks work off your win streak instead of low Health.	30% to 60%	charms
The Tortoise's Hide	Your elemental damage grows by up to 15% as your Health falls Your Elemental knacks work off low Health instead of the rival's resistance.	10% to 20%	charms
The Kraken's Notice	Your Gill works at 30% strength even when you aren't wounded Your Health knacks work off fight length instead of waiting for a wound.	20% to 40%	charms
The Siren's Last Note	Slack and Riptide take 75% more from a rival already under an effect Your Speed knacks also work off the effects on your rival.	50% to 100%	charms

Four of these are never drawn: First Blood, Off the Mark, the Held Line and the Patient Shell come only from the primordial sets built around them (see Sets). Glass Edge cuts both ways: deeper crits for you and against you.

The tell-breakers. Every knack fires on its stat’s tell: Attack the streak, Defence the shell, Speed the clock, Health the wound, Elemental the resistance (see Knacks). Five whorls break that rule (The Midnight Ebb, The Turning, The Tortoise’s Hide, The Kraken’s Notice and The Siren’s Last Note) by making one stat’s knacks fire on another’s tell. A Midnight Ebb Frenzy pays while you are nearly dead instead of on a streak. None lifts a cap. They change when a knack fires, never how far it goes.

The Shore whorls#

These do nothing in a fight and everything between fights. They are read off what you wear at the moment it matters: when a win is paid, when the Battle list is dealt, when a turn refills, when rest credits an hour. Any charm may carry any of them. You can swap charms between fights.

Every Shore whorl, what it does and its range

Whorl	What it does	Range	Carried by
Lodestone	+35% chance to find a charm after a win You find charms more often.	20% to 50%	charms
Wreck-Light	+55% chance to find rolled gear after a win You find rolled gear more often.	30% to 80%	charms
Salt-Wise	+35% chance to find tempers and essences after a win You find materials more often.	20% to 50%	charms
Reaver’s Hook	+18% gold taken from a beaten rival Take more gold from every rival you beat.	10% to 25%	charms
Miser’s Clasp	38% less gold taken from you when you lose Rivals who beat you take less gold.	25% to 50%	charms
Tidewise	+10% XP from every win Every win gives a little more XP.	5% to 15%	charms
Bell-Caller	+100% chance a boss appears on your board Bosses find you more often.	50% to 150%	charms
Limpet’s Grip	45% less chance your charms are stolen Your charms are harder to steal when you lose.	30% to 60%	charms
Cutpurse Current	+45% chance to steal a charm on a win Steal charms from beaten rivals more often.	30% to 60%	charms
Swift Tide	Turns come back 14% faster Less waiting between fights.	8% to 20%	charms
Shipwright’s Hand	Town buildings progress 28% faster while you rest Every hour you rest builds more of the town.	15% to 40%	charms
Harbourmaster’s Due	+28% rest pay per hour You earn more while you rest in town.	15% to 40%	charms