The Coreguyi Games

The Pyre is lit!

Even as the pink fingers of dawn just reach over the eastern horizon, the red-orange glow of the Heroes' Pyre shines forth over the walls of the great Coreguyi Arena, as the effigies of heroes laid low of old are once again laid on the bier and sent with the rising flames to join the transcendent halls of the honored dead. The secret rites of the fighting-societies have been conducted all through the night; now with the lighting of the pyres, a fanfare of trumpets from the high walls of the Arena announce the beginning of the Coreguyi Games and the public participation in the funereal remembrance of heroic ancecstors.

From their guildhalls, the various fighting-societies gather and make their processions through the streets of the Dual-Cities to the Arena, clashing swords and spears against their shields, carrying aloft the colors of their society, marching to the beat of drums, to the blare of trumpets, or even to the fifing pipes.

Herds of hmela will be slaughtered this morning and during the following week, and roasted in the public houses and temples, the best cuts taken by nobles and priests, but the rest of the meat shared out to the common people in public feasts and liturgies. And wine will flow in at these liturgies, and then in even greater abundance afterwards in private symposia.

At the Arena itself, every day will bring a new slate of athletic and gladiatorial contests. Footraces, boxing, archery, wrestling, and even rhetorical and poetical competitions will take up the morning, open to anyone willing to compete for the prize of a palm frond and a silver torc. Then the afternoon will be filled with the bloodsport of the fighting-societies: gadhars, zrne, chnelh and other beasts will be hunted through the arena, whetting the crowd's appetites, and then the gladiators, famous veterans and newcomers alike will pair off.

Such warriors as Grond the Grim, Himar al Chlen, Theriax the Peltast and even the fighting-woman Shalla the Aridani will all shed blood for the enjoyment of the populace--and some in the crowd will secretly hope for another tragedy like the last Games, when the infamous and cruel Mortu the Black refused mercy for the beloved veteran Wulfherr the Barbarian, and slew him despite the cries of, "Let him go!" from the seats above.

 

Taking part in the festivities of the Games requires spending a character's downtime for the week--the various feasts and symposia, and attending the Arena to watch the Games themselves, not to mention the late night benders through the taverns with gladiators and athletes, victorious and defeated--all of this precludes and productivity on other projects during the week. (those not partaking in the Games are free to spend their downtimes as they wish, of course)

To fully partake in the Games, a character may spend up to 100 gp per level; he or she will gain an equivalent amount of xp (barring certain outcomes below), and then roll 2d6 and cross reference the result with the occurrences on the table below.

Any who have spent at least 100 gold on the Long Wake in the weeks prior to this will add +1 per 100 gold to the results of their 2d6 roll (and thus may avoid the worst outcomes, while possibly rolling higher than a "12")

2d6 Roll	The Coreguyi Games
2	Whether  you indulged in too much wine during the festivities, or that one street  vendor's falafel gave you food poisoning, you spent most of the Games with the  flux; gain no xp
3	Competing  in one of the non-gladiatorial contests--a footrace, boxing match,  etc.--nevertheless turned out poorly. Not only did you lose, but suffer an injury,  temporarily weakened by -1 HD (minimum hp 1) on your next expedition
4	Your support for one particular gladiator earns you the enmity of his rival's  supporters, and things got heated. You now have a Rival in the city, and must roll a d20; if it's over your CHA, the argument got physical, suffer 1-4 hp damage
5	Not everyone can win--the gladiator you wagered on was defeated, and now you're out 10-200 gold (1d20 x 10 gp)
6	Your enjoyment of the Games was interrupted by a group of Issites who invaded  the Arena near you and loudly decried the Games as sinfully violent, and abhorrent evidence of the evils of slavery; earn only ½ xp from this event, but you may approach the Issites to initiate a new relationship with their leader
7	From a good seat you get a full view of the various competitions and gladiatorial  contests and thoroughly enjoy the Games!
8	Luck guided your gold when betting, and your man won through to take up the  palm frond of victory--and you win 10-200 gold (1d20 x 10 gp)
9	A spared gladiator notes your gesture of the "sheathed thumb" in particular when defeated, and makes a point of finding you out in the crowd afterward to make your acquaintance; this opens a new friendly relationship with the fighting-man
10	To the skilled, victory! Competing in a footrace, archery shoot, or perhaps even a  contest of oration and poetry, you actually beat out your competitors and receive a palm frond and a silver torc fashioned like a wreath of laurel (worth 250 gold)
11	At one of the many public liturgies (feasts) offered by citizens and those of means  during the festival, you prove to be an interesting dinner-companion; this opens a new relationship with a citizen of Gadeed, or some other personage
12	After the Games you find yourself at the Heroön, tavern of the gladiators,  celebrating with paeans to the victors and elegies for the dead. Gain xp equal to 1.5 times the gold you spent (or, if feeling loquacious, earn double xp if you actually write up a bit of verse!)
13	You found yourself part of the procession of a fighting-society as it marches  through the streets and ultimately enters the Arena, led by a lictor and musicians; invited to join the society during the "melee", you acquit yourself well, and receive a splendid weapon or piece of armor from the society in gratitude
14	Part of your gold is spent purchasing a beast for the "hunts", or outfitting a slave or squire to take part in the combats; if they survive, their service is yours
15	Not only did you win a prize in one of the various competitions (as 10 above), but your victory was so commanding or graceful that it earned you the notice of a  potential Patron, thus opening a special relationship clock

Let me know in the comments down below, on Discord, or by email the results of your character's carousing