The Tsamri-Hane Games

The blare of trumpets breaks the morning air!

Timbrels clash, and chants are raised in all corners of the Dual-Cities, paeans to heroes of old and warsongs for the fighting-men and -women who come forth armed for conflict in the great Coreguyi Arena.

Just as the Long Peace echoed last year's public mourning of the Long Wake, so this year's Tsamri-Hane Games are like the resounding notes of the great Coreguyi Games. But their place in the public memory of the state-cult are their own; for the Tsamri-Hane Games commemorate a negotiated peace during the Twelfth of the Man-Kzin Wars, the so-called Peace of Nagib. And though that peace was broken (by Kzin treachery!), still its negotiation is remembered as moment of strength for Gadeed and its (then small) military cothon-harbor, and a presaging of the current age of general peace between Men and Kzinti and Mrrshans. (the history of this Peace and its importance are sketched here)

So the trumpets blare, and drums roll, and the members of the fighting-societies raise their voices in song anticipating the Games! This will be a week of athletic contests and gladiatorial contests, of the spectacle of beasts and gore in arenas both great and small, and wine and sweetmeats overflowing from all the taverns of the cities in a great exuberance of festival.

Carousing the Games

Those player-characters who wish may spend downtime this week (ending 1/15) to carouse the taverns and arenas during this week's games, and may thus spend up to 100 gp per level, earning the same amount as xp, and then also rolling 2d6 on the table published along with the Coreguyi Games (here). 

• A character who spends at least 150 gp rolls on the table at +1
• A character who spends at least 500 gp rolls on the table at a further +1
• Providing a narrative description of at least part of how the money is being spent (as a comment here, or in the downtime thread of the Discord server) will also earn a player-character a +1 on their roll on the table
• (these are cumulative and so altogether a maximum of +3 can thus be earned)

Betting at the Arena

In the Coreguyi Arena, meanwhile, fresh sand is spread out in preparation for the week of gladiatorial matches and athletic competitions. The howls and snarls of animals can be heard from the pits and cages below the arena (linked to Medina al Taht, perhaps, and adventurer might muse?). And by the gates, placards are erected detailing the list of major matches between the more skilled and (in)famous gladiators, while bookmakers take up their chalk and slate and wet their lips in anticipation of the sheer volume of dirhams and dinars that will flow 'round through their books.

Player-characters may bet even if they don't spend any time carousing, and betting does not require any kind of downtime. As mentioned elsewhere (bottom of this post), the bookmakers of the Arena will not take bets over 1000 dinars (gp), as such extravagances are better suited to the private affairs of the extremely wealthy. Personal bets can be arranged however the bettors agree, completely ignoring official odds; the terms are up to the individuals staking money.

Barshan

The roster of major fights is as follows:

1. Drago of the Heroic Companions of Hrrl-ra vs. Barshan the Strong
   odds 4/5 favoring Drago, who recently helped win against a Bulrathi in another duel
2. Idrig the Denyan vs. Charna of Arnhe
   odds 1/2 favoring Idrig

   

   Idrig

3. Theriax the Peltast vs. the Sakkra javelineer Korbassh
   odds 3/2 favoring the Sakkra over Theriax
4. Elam al Kir vs. the Kzin Hlri-Manhunter
   odds 2/1 favoring the Kzin, despite Elam's ultimate victory during the Coreguyi Games
   
   

5. 

   Charna

   Mortu the Black vs. Shalla the Aridani
   odds 1/3 favoring Mortu and his "Blade of Death", ricasso notched with every killing-victory

Interspersed among these combats will also be a series of fights between deadly and
exotic beasts, namely:

1. a triad of hunting gadhars harassing an angry chlen draft-beast
   odds 1/2 favoring the gadhars

   

   Mortu

2. a many-legged yeki dueling a poison-whipped qaqtla-serpent
   odds 3/2 favoring the qaqtla
3. the dreadful leaping zrne hemmed in by a group of club-wielding chnelh ape-creatures
   odds 1/3 favoring the zrne

Shalla

Payouts will work thusly: assuming a bet of 100 dinars on Theriax (3/2), and a victory by him, the bettor would win back his 100 dinars, plus 150 more for 250 altogether.
Assuming the same bet of 100 dinars, but for Korbassh (2/3) and assuming he wins, the bettor would then receive back his 100 dinars, plus 66 more and 6 dirhams for a total of 166.6 dinars.

All bets must be placed by Sunday evening (1/16), either as a comment here or in the downtime section of the Discord server; thereafter the Scribes will addend to the chronicle regarding the outcomes of the various duels, and any payouts due. It should be noted that, in accordance with the Peace which these games are celebrating, it is in even worse than usual bad taste for gladiators to kill their opponents in the Arena; the fights are supposed to be exhibitions of skill and showy swordsmanship, with just enough blood to satisfy the crowds. A death during these Games is considered an omen of evil for the coming year, and so one can imagine the handlers of Mortu the Black stressing again and again that he is to maim his opponents at worst ...

(Though the beasts are of course expected to slaughter each other).

And, as with all of these public games and the violence and drunkenness and orgies that they entail, the Confraternity of 'Issa will be out "in force" over the next week, proselytizing about the evils of all this violence and the slavery that underpins it, and the cruelty to the animals relegated to the Arena; and though most will scoff at them, and shake the dust of their cloaks off on these zealots and their ridiculous beliefs, some few among the crowds may listen to and heed their arguments. But there will always be fools.