Your Presence and ability to control the Underdark is represented by your forces: the troops and spies you’ve placed on the game map.

Presence
Most actions you take on the game map require you to have Presence where you take the action. You have Presence...
• At any site where you have a spy, a troop, or a troop in a space adjacent to that site.
• At any troop space on a route if that space is adjacent to a site or space where you have a troop.



Troop Spaces
Troop spaces are the only spaces on the game map that may contain troop pieces.

White Troop Spaces
White troops are enemy troops that represent various denizens of the Underdark unaligned with the drow houses. These troops take no actions; they serve only to impede your conquest of the Underdark. Once a white troop is removed from the game map, its troop space becomes available for player troop placement

Sites
 A site has multiple troop spaces grouped together within a single, larger box. Sites may also include the following:
1. Name. The name of the site.
2. VP Value. The VP value at the end of the game for the player who controls the site.
3. Site Control Marker. Taken by the player who controls the site.
4. Starting Site. Where a player may deploy his or her first troop of the game. They can be recognised by their black color.



Control
You control a site when there are more troops of your color there than troops of any other single color.
You lose control of a site when the number of your troops there becomes tied with or surpassed by another color.
Total Control
You have total control of a site if all its troop spaces are filled only with your troops and no enemy spies
are present.



Site Control Marker
A site control marker is a marker you put in front of you to show that you control a site. When you take control of a site that has a control marker, take that marker from the game map or from the site’s previous controller and place it in front of you. If control of the site becomes tied, return that site’s control marker to the game map.
Once on each of your turns, for each site control marker you have, you get an effect that depends on your degree of control over the site (control or total control). Flip the marker to the appropriate side. You get the indicated effect starting immediately on the turn you take the marker.

Routes
A route is a path between two sites that contains one or more troop spaces.