Welcome to the Age of Sail, when wooden ships ruled the seas and expansionist spirits brought men and women to the far edges of the world. This is the period in which Beat to Quarters takes place.

The scene of the action is the Caribbean isles and surrounding waters, better known at the time as the West Indies. The year is 1741, sometime in the month of September. Here is a timeline of major historic events leading up to that point.

King George II is the current ruler of the British Empire, with Sir Robert Walpole as the first Prime Minister. Tensions are high between the European nations regarding the succession of the Hapsburg throne, and Britain and Spain are at one another's throats in the West Indies. Famine has devastated Ireland. Science and Philosophy are starting to be in vogue.

But while this is the dawn of the Enlightenment and the Age of Reason in Europe, reason has yet to conquer all the mysteries and secrets of the far side of the Atlantic, where some areas of the map remain uncharted. Where will your wanderings take you? Will you sail to the ends of the earth? If so, what awaits you there?