The Long Wake

With the Night of the Watch (at the start of this week) begins the month-long public mourning period of the Long Wake, commemorating the many fallen heroes and others who fell throughout the long period of the Man-Kzin Wars centuries past. This period has, perhaps, especial poignancy this year as the threat of the Red Cloud and his Kzinti warbands hangs over the cities of Cothon-Gadeed.

Beginning this evening, the nights will be filled with the sound of drums, the high eerie trilling of elegiac pipes, and the keening of mourning songs. Professional mourners like the Poor Brothers of the Dead will begin processions memorializing the dead, both within the city and along the Pallbearers' Way, and they will also bear both those who have recently died to be interred in the Necropolis of the Tel al Safina as well as sacrifices to be dedicated to the dead already there. These sacrifices are of course be bloodless--sweet cakes and milk--for it is not wise to give bloody victims to the dead.

At the end of the Long Wake will be Stillest Night (on 27 January), a commemoration specifically of the poet-squire Nguen hla Rii standing silent watch over his slain master, the warrior Karkhor, composing the death song as he waited for dawn to come for him to retrieve Kharkor's corpse to Tsurr after a disastrous battle. This is a week of silent mourning when nothing new is undertaken and no downtime is to be undertaken even by barbarians.

And then, as Stillest Night ends, the next week brings the beginning of the Coreguyi Games! These are the great circuit of athletic and gladiatorial games, mostly held within the huge Coreguyi Arena in Cothon, which begin the solar-year cycle of the Tripartite Games. These Games will be held during the week ending 3 February this year, and more information will be provided for them then.

For player-characters interested in participating in the Long Wake, the scribes suggest these opportunities (these are suggestions; individuals may describe for themselves what they are paying for if they prefer otherwise):

Gold Spent	Public Mourning
25 dn	Pay for a great mess of pottage of beans and greens for the Poor Brothers
50 dn	Hire torchbearers for a procession to the Necropolis
100 dn	Pay for a Poor Brother's stint as a tomb-watcher for the month
250 dn	Dedicate a burial mask of a hero in silver or electrum to the Necropolis
500 dn	Hire gladiators for a private funeral games for the recent dead

Any player-character who spends at least 100 dinars will get +1 on reactions with the Poor Brothers of the Dead for the rest of the year. Spending 500+ dinars on ostentatious public mourning will extend this +1 on reactions to the Dual-Cities at large.

The Zihuitlani Games

Almost a lunar year ago, Gan ad-Din and the Chroniclers went on a short tour outside the Dual Cities and up the western coast to Ittiyqa and the port of Baldashmun on the island across a short strait before returning to Cothon-Gadeed.

The time coincided with the solar new year and the Eid of the New Sun, when sacrifices are made in honor of the sun and with the intent to strengthen it and rejuvenate it for the next year.

This time is especially important in the city of Ittiyqa. Rather than simply making citywide sacrifices and donating excess meat to the poor and needy throughout the city, the Ittiyqans especially revere their founder hero Zihuitle, who was a fire bearer and so a kind of cognate with the sun and its need of rejuvenation.

To this end, the traditional sacrifices have been transformed into the Zihuitlani Games, which encompass both sacrifices and games--and specifically, the mix of the two that is gladiatorial combat (which is thus given a double meaning of funereal sacrifice and regenerative sacrifice with the spilling of the blood of the gladiators).

Gan ad-Din has been noted expressing interest in taking part in such games as a gladiator and champion himself--not only the Zihuitlani Games, but also the tripartite games of Cothon-Gadeed (Coreguyi, shortly upcoming, Tsamri-Hane, and Xoldasoteri).

For those who are aspiring, but less sure of themselves, the games include a tourney, the winner of which is granted "champion" status and then allowed to participate in the real gladiatorial challenges of the Games. To participate, one pays a 60 dinar fee to the administrators of the Games, and then participate in one-on-one duels until losing or becoming the ultimate champion, who wins 400 dinars and the title of Champion, with which one may enter the real to-the-death gladiatorial combats of the Arena.

The Champion portions of the Games are where the real glory is to be won, however, before the entire audience of the great Arena. First, there are a series of one-on-one or two-on-two (or rarely more) bouts between evenly matched fighters--these serve as the bulk of the real gladiatorial entertainment. Then, with the climax of the Games, there is some staged combat between teams, made elaborate with set pieces, monsters, and higher objectives than simply slaying one's opponents.

This year, the rumored staged combat is to represent a rekindling of the sun by one team needing to capture coals or brands away from another defending team and thus to light their own bonfire. The particular circumstances will only be revealed at the time of the Games, of course--the gamesmasters don't want to let the surprise be ruined!

Each combat in the Champion portions of the Games are affairs to the death (though individual gladiators, or those following the whim of the crowd, may strike false blows to yielding opponents, rather than actually killing them). Losers' bodies are ransomed back to their families, friends, or fighting-society, while their arms and armor are kept by the winner as his prize. It is known that the especially wealthy and magically connected may keep different panoplies ready in case of death or defeat, and in case of death may even be supernaturally called back to their bodies by those knowledgeable enough in the deep philosophies.

The Idea

As of writing this call to adventure in the Arena of Ittiyqa, these are my thoughts on the nature of the game:

• it is retroactive, i.e. it has already happened in the past within the fiction (IF a player-character dies an ultimate death--which the scribes find unlikely, given the magic the players have access to--that PC would have to cease being played, being dead, with the reasoning being that they didn't recover properly after the Games, but got a year of "extra" life before succumbing; and that's a pretty big IF, like I said, but risk is a part of the game)
• any player/character wishing to participate need only pay some fee chartering a ship (or transport by other means), and they'll be present; we're not going to worry about logistics at this hour
• depending on the number of players who wish to be directly involved, there will be a bout with Gan alone, or perhaps with a "squire" to aid him, and other players may take antagonistic roles, or play the crowd
• there will also be a larger staged bout as described including everyone who wishes to participate and (presumably, assuming he wins) Gan ad-Din as captain of one of the gladiatorial teams
• given their foreign status (coming from another city of the League), player-characters involved in fighting will have to pay a 5000 dinar fee to the gamemasters to get their team into the big staged combat; this is unique to circumstances now, and will almost certainly be different with subsequent Games (remember, winners get ransom money and losers' arms and armor)
• player-characters may of course attend the Games without participating other than to bet on the outcome--if anyone chooses to do this, I'll have to work up some odds, but for the moment I'd rather hear that there is interest before I do so

Good Hap to the Lunar New Year!

 and the Feasts of Investiture

With the close of Urodas-Bayzadis 1 and the beginning of the new lunar year, it a time for feasting and celebrations. The clash of timbrels and the winding of horns at sundown at the end of the lunar year herald the coming of the new year, and denote the beginning of a night of feasts Cities-wide.

At the top of society, the Souffets feast in their palace and re-invest their officers in the offices they have held for the past year--or choose to invest others in their place, as the case may be. They dine on fine dejeja meat, delectably roasted in butter and stuffed with dates; and eat pickled ninyelu, and rice pudding, and drink lassi, spiced or sweet, and fine wines.

Among the houses of Gadeed, the feasts are no less sumptuous, and mirror rituals of investiture are performed for the various officers of the banu houses. But even in humble households of Gadeed, or even of Cothon, feasts are still held--families take mowaj haunches from the markets for great roasts, or slaughter hmelu for themselves, and even they repeat the ritual for their humble servants of investing them with their responsibility within the household.

For player-characters:

Those who wish to partake in the festivities may spend 100 dinars (gp) per level to participate in a feast, as sumptuous as their means allow--and thus earn experience points equal to the gold they spend.

If they describe their festivities in detail, either below in the comments or on our Discord server, the experience they earn will be increased by 10%.

For Iqtadar Sesel:

In addition to the option above, Sesel, as a citizen, may also be called to perform some further office, into which he would be invested, if selected in particular, or if selected by lot. 

Let Sesel roll a d100 and consult the following table:

1 - called to serve as one of the Thalatheen (a panel of judges)
2-3 - called to serve on the Bem (the popular assembly)
4-10 – no office
11 - Katib to the Harbor
12 - Katib to the Knights Pylaea
13 - Katib to the Censors
14 - Katib to the Poor Brothers
15 - Katib to the Migdol of the Dyers
16-29 - no office
30 - Katib to the Court of the Moon
31 - Katib to the Court of the Mount
32 - Katib to the Souffets
34 - Katib to the Armory
35-49 - no office
50-51 - Hamladdir to the Mahanet (General)
52-63 - no office
64-70 - called to serve the army
71-92 - no office
93 - Katib to Alagadrein
94 - Katib to al Zaytun
95-98 - envoy to the Xolda Princess
99-00 - envoy to the Attine Spire

Thalatheen – the Thirty
A panel of thirty judges who review the conduct of civil and military officers. A citizen selected for this office should roll 1d6 at the beginning of each month; a 1 indicates a review is afoot, details to be generated by the referee

Bem – the Popular Assembly
The Bem is responsible for voting on certain proposals of the Souffets. If the Bem is summoned, the player-character must spend their downtime for that week attending the assembly to listen to debate and vote on the proposal

Katib – Scribe
A minor official assigned to a variety of offices to assist operations. Very much like the quaestors of ancient Rome, the Kataba's chief function is as auditors and assistants. A player-character performing such duties must spend one downtime per month attending to said duties; on the upside, this will entail some familiarity with the officer they are assigned to, and to the arena they are engaged in

Hamladdir – Shieldbearer
No longer literally the shieldbearers/bodyguards of the Mahanet (General), this is a junior military officer who acts as an aide de camp or sometimes a quartermaster. A player-character chosen for this office must either attend the Mahanet in person, or supply a person of character and skill in their stead (e.g. a son, a trusted servant, or perhaps a cousin, &c.). While the Mahanet is in the city it requires only one downtime per month to fulfill this duty, but if the Mahanet marches forth, then his Hamladdir must perforce go wither he goes

Army Service
A player-character called to serve the army as a citizen must supply armsmen to the army according to his rank and wealth. This does not necessarily mean personally serving (many nobles outfit their own Gilmani or men-at-arms to serve), though citizens of lesser means are expected to outfit themselves with arms and serve in the heavy infantry.
An iqtadar of a smaller holding might be expected to send a heavily armed infantryman and his shieldbearer, plus ten archers/skirmishers, and a slave or servant or two to serve their camp.

Envoy to Klackons
An unusual post, but Sesel's reputation precedes him enough that he is in consideration. He helped spearhead the crusade against the creatures haunting the Sixth House in the Spire of the Attines, after all. This post would entail service similar to that as a Kitab, although with the additional responsibility to act as a liaison between Souffets and Klackons under extraordinary circumstances (details to be determined by the referee)

Endings and Beginnings: the Solar New Year

Eid of the New Sun (Eid al Shams Gadeed)

It is the middle of winter, and the sun is at its weakest in the northern hemisphere, however vast it is in the heavens; ice and hoarfrost have the northern lands in their dread grip, covering the land and driving all but the hardiest creatures south. Here on the southern coast, winter is certainly less severe, but there are ocean storms to hammer the shores, the air has grown noticeably chill, and rains swell the streams of the Gana River and her tributaries.

Days have been waning in length, and the shortest day, the winter solstice, comes at the end of the year, when the sun seems at its weakest. The day after this, with the lengthening of days again, marks the beginning of a new solar year. So it is on the solstice that the Eid of the New Sun begins, and continues through the next few days to celebrate the coming of the new sun and the new year.

This is a time of high sacrifice of grave importance. This is the time of the king-priests, the Priests minal Muluk, who maintain the last true remnant of Tsurrian royalty, having of old given over their rulership duties in order to focus only on certain proper sacrifices. The former high priest of these, Kayl minal Muluk, died two lunar years ago, and so this will be the first Eid presided over by the new high priest, Kathir minal Muluk.

At the shrine of the king-priests, the Souffets will present seven perfect hmelus, either black or white, at least two donated specifically by the Souffets while other great houses vie to provide the remaining five. The king-priests will then take the victim-animals up the steps to the top of the shrine where they will offer them as kourbaneia to the sun, slitting the victim’s throats and letting the blood flow across the altar and then down runnels on either side of the steps to a channel at the base of the shrine. There, lesser priests will splash the fresh blood over the Souffets and their gathered entourage, while above Kathir minal Muluk will divide the animals, casting the heads down the stairs, taking a third of each animal for the shrine, giving a third of the animals away to the poor, and delivering the remaining third back to the Souffets for a feast in their palace, and burning the entrails for the further strengthening of the sun.

The Souffets return to their own palaces blood-smeared, and have hmelus from their own herds sacrificed in imitation of the rites of the king-priests, the beasts roasted on spits over the fires and a great feast held within their halls. The blood of the hmelus is painted over the great doors of the palace and sprinkled over the guests of the feast, and the poor of the city come to the gates to receive a portion of the meat of the sacrifices.

All around the city, lesser versions of this sacrifice will be taking place, in large public plazas where many families gather together to slaughter hmelus (and many families will have saved up their fals in order to purchase as good a hmelu as they can). Great bonfires in the public spaces are set up for the burning of entrails and fat and bones, all to send the nourishment of the feast to the sun. Meanwhile, the blood of these sacrifices will be painted over the doors of houses, and splashed over hands and faces, and traditionally the meat of all these animals is divided similarly to the king-priests’ kourbaneia, so that everyone in the city will have plenty to eat for the next few days of feasting.

The reason for these sacrifices is threefold. Chiefly, the great fires burn the entrails and send the nourishment of the feasts as smoke to the sun above, to help its renewal on this, the shortest of days. Secondly, the sacrifices also allow everyone in the city to eat during this part of the winter, when the poorest might have the least. But the blood that is spilled--and painted over doorways--is another important reason for the sacrifices. For it is this blood that distracts the demons of the Bayt al Aswad, "the Black House", and most especially the great Devourer, who would otherwise overwhelm the sun, and after that, devour everything. But with all the blood flowing on the earth below, the Devourer will drink it down and become drunk on it, and thus turn away from the sun when it is at its weakest; and having done so, will lose another chance to devour the sun. So the sacrifices are an important ritual in keeping the world safe from the evils of the Devourer.

There is also an ancient memory of human sacrifice that took place during this time--a memory perhaps older than even Old Tsurr. There are perhaps cults or sects elsewhere in other cities that still practice that terrible ritual, but there have never been public rites of human sacrifice Cothon-Gadeed, and so it shall hopefully remain.

For Player-Characters:

It would be a simple enough thing for the barbarian-adventurers of Cothon to spend 3 or 4 gold dinars on a fine hmelu and have it sacrificed and butchered, thus to take part in the feasting; but if they wish, those with means may spend quite extravagantly to make their feasting wonderful, and as the feast continues for several days after the sacrifice, there is ample time to spend thusly.

This is also a time of charity for those who have less--the third of the meat given to the poor, for instance--and so charitable giving of other kind, of alms, perhaps, are also looked at favorably in this time.

Therefore, player-characters who wish to partake in this time of sacrifice and feasting may spend up to 100 gold per level, with a short description of what their gold is buying--or where or how it is being donated--and earn that amount of experience. This does not require the use of a downtime roll, as the entire cities are celebrating this great ceremony, and it would be quite easy to join in the feasting.

For example: Najm ibn Marwan will spend 700 dinars to purchase a pair of hmelus for his ship and Confraternity of Saint Iskameen, as well as paying for a good selection of wines, and good flatbreads and a pottage of fish and root vegetables to accompany the roasted hmelu. Blood will be painted on the mast, the bow, and keel, and a third of the hmelu meat will be sent to Fahra's Hole-in-the-Wall to be distributed to the poor from there. In doing this, Najm receives 700 xp.

Please post actions in the comments below, or in the downtime section of our Discord channel.

The Xoldasoteri Games

Trumpets blare and timbrels clash! The Coreguyi Arena is strewn with fresh sand and the fighting societies march from their headquarters, instruments sounding, swords and spears clattering against shields, warsongs boldly shouted. The Xoldasoteri Games are begun.

The Klackon phalanx who will battle in the Arena ...
see below

These, the Xoldasoteri Games, are the last of the trilogy of games that recapitulate the Man-Kzin Wars in gladiator format in the great Coreguyi Arena. The Coreguyi Games mark the early wars; the Tsamri-Hane Games represent a kind of middle period moving toward peace; and these last games mark the end of the Wars and the coming into its own of Cothon-Gadeed and the real beginning of the Ten Cities League.

The recent election of new Souffets symbolically corresponds with this final establishment of power over the traditional Kzin enemies of Gadeed (and Tsurr before). The powers of the Souffets to rule are connected with the New City (Gadeed) finally coming into its own--and the tribulations of new Souffets in the first year of their office are symbolically linked to the early troubles of the city establishing itself and coming into its own.

Like the other games, these Xoldasoteri Games are gladiatorial at core, though also involving other athletic contests and displays. The spectacle of these Games, however, revolves around the otherwise unprecedented involvement of the Xolda Klackons in the arena. In keeping with the traditions of the other Games, this is an historic theme.

Whereas, for instance, the Tsamri-Hane Games commemorate a peace won between Man and Kzin so many years ago, the Xoldasoteri games represent the coming of the Klackons. This last incident was a lynchpin in the history of Cothon, for it was the Klackons who finally built the fortifications that made Cothon (and Gadeed) secure against all the sieges and assaults of the Kzinti. And with Cothon-and-Gadeed secure, the two cities were able to extend their influence to other nearby cities, to offer military aid, and thus to ultimately secure the loyalty of the Ten Cities of the League.

The major event of these games is the pitting of Klackons against various foes (beastly, human, and Kzinti). While this isn't meant to subtract from the combats between established gladiators, it is meant as a glorious reminder of the miraculous arrival of the Klackons in Gadeed's most desperate hour, and of the Accord that was established here between humans and Klackons, to stand against alien aggression.

Player-characters may engage with the games by carousing, per these rules for the Tsamri-Hane Games:

Carousing the Games

Those player-characters who wish may spend downtime this week (ending 7 January) 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

Bookies have gathered at the gates to the Arena, eager to take bets on the various planned gladiatorial combats. Characters may bet without spending any downtime, and may bet even if they do not carouse the games. The bookmakers will not take bets in excess of 1000 dinars--such bets should be done in private clubs or between friends, where anything may be bet upon.

These bets are expressed fractionally: consider odds of 2/3 for Drago and against Theriax. A bet of 100 dinars for Drago and he wins will earn the bettor back 66 dinars for the bettor. A winning bet for Theriax would earn back for the bettor 150 dinars. &c.

Alora

All bets must be placed by 7 January. As with the Tsamri-Hane Games, the referee will work out the results of the contests and post them with some additional description, hopefully by 14 January (I know last time it took forever, I'm hoping to be better this year).

The Roster of Contests

• 

  Khaled

  Drago of the Heroic Companions of Hrrl-Ra vs. Theriax the Peltast
  odds 2/3 favoring Drago
• Barshan the Strong vs. Charna of Arnhe
  odds 4/5 favoring Barshan
  
• Alora of Tsipa vs. Khaled al Dekkeri
  odds 5/4 favoring Khaled
  
• Korbassh the Sakkra vs. Ayob the Shen
  odds 3/4 in favor of Korbassh
• Mortu the Black vs. Idrig the Denyan
  odds 1/2 favoring Mortu

  

  Ayob

• Elam al Kir vs. Shalla the Aridani
  odds 6/5 favoring Shalla

Unlike earlier Games, these Games will involve quite a few Klackons. First, a single combat between one Klackon and a Kzin warrior; then later and somewhat unusually, a mass melee of a phalanx of Klackons and human auxiliaries against a pack of Kzinti Heroes.

Korbassh

• Aklaw the Klackon vs. Hlri-Manhunter the Kzin
  odds 3/2 in favor of Hlri-Manhunter
• a phalanx of Klackons and humans vs. a group of Kzin warriors
  odds 4/5 in favor of the phalanx

As always, the Confraternity of 'Issa will be out during these games, protesting, proselytizing, claiming that blood sport and use of slaves in such games is an evil that society would be better without. And, as always, they will be laughed at as strange radicals with bizarre views, and only a few will actively engage with their arguments or concerns.

The Long March

 With the beginning of a new lunar year, the ritual saga of Gadeed advances toward its final act. Mirroring the other two years with the Long Wake and the Long Peace, this month's lead-up to the next set of Games begins with another time of fasting and quiet penitence, the Long March. This last time of fasting is sometimes also called "The Dread of Gadeed", for it is in memoriam of a time when the fate of Gadeed seemed surely to be razed by Kzinti as Old Tsurr was before, its walls thrown down, its towers cast into ruin, its lands run with blood, and its people enslaved.

It is a time to look back on the last set of Man-Kzin Wars, wherein Gadeed found itself encircled by her Kzin enemies, and was almost finally destroyed.

Yet why is it a "march"? Because this time is also a time of anticipation for the arrival of the Klackons, whose march from the Toxic Jungles far to the east was long indeed, and whose arrival and integration with the growing city of Cothon finally ensured the defense of the united Dual-Cities against the Kzinti. With the arrival of the Klackons--the Xolda and their Attine cousins--the waves of the ocean of warrior cats were finally broken and cast back.

It is traditional during this time to fast throughout the day, and to abstain from meat in general as a way of honoring and remembering the privations of the Klackons on their march across the plains, as well as a way to remember the suffering of the populace of Gadeed at that time. There is no authority enforcing fasting or abstention, and many a barbarian pays no heed to these traditions, but for those who wish to fit in with the society of Cothon-Gadeed, it is considered ill-mannered to flout this custom.

This is also another season in which the mourning-societies are widely employed, by wealthy citizens especially, to process ritually through the cities and along the circuit of the walls with Klackon effigies, recreating the Long March itself.

Other than fasting and abstaining, this is also a time when citizens who would otherwise have little to do with Klackons now make their way into the western neighborhoods of the city to make public donations to the Klackons' shrines in an act of public thanks for their coming and their devotion to the cities. The Dual-Cities will make a public sacrifice to celebrate the Xolda at the end of the four weeks of the Long March, as part of the celebration of the games at that time, but many feel that it is only just to make their own private offerings at this time.

There are several ways for player-characters to interact with this ritual time:

Action	Result
fast and abstain from meat for the month	adventure with -1 to saves through the month; at the end of December receive a permanent +1 to hp
hire a procession of professional mourners to march the circuit of the walls	spend up to 100 xp per level; gain an equal amount of xp
make an offering at the Shrine of Xanna-Haxanna or some other Klackon hero	gain a +1 on reactions with Xolda Klackons for one month for every 100 dinars you spend on the offering; if you spend at least 250 dinars, you may also roll a free relationship cultivation check with any Xolda Klackon you know

Good Luck to the Lunar New Year

Another lunar year has ended--Khusra-Fadlan 3--and the new year begins with the investiture of the new Souffets, after whom the next lunar years will be named (their ascension explained in a separate post). Meanwhile, the end of the solar year is fast approaching, as this hemisphere of Ardha falls ever deeper into winter (however mild)--and the changeover of the solar year will be no less a time for celebration than this beginning of the new lunar year!

As to this beginning, however, it is a time of feasting and celebration. While in mother-city Gadeed, the grand Feast of Investiture is held, all throughout the Dual-Cities lesser feasts are held for citizens and denizens of less grandiose means. Guilds gather to recapitulate their founding myths and reinvest their members with their offices and obligations; households gather to remind each other of familial responsibilities; all celebrated by feasts mirroring the grand change of office held throughout the cosmos at this time of year.

These feasts customarily include a dish of slow-cooked field pease with hmelu-bacon, mixed with a pottage of greens simmered in savory broth, all washed down by sparkling young wine, corked early to maintain its effervescence. To these traditional foods, those with money add further dishes and delicacies according to their means--shishu fruits and sherbets, roasted mowaj haunches, fine cheeses, &c.--but every household makes sure to include at least a pot of the traditional pease, for its taste brings luck to the new year.

For Player-Characters
Just as last year, this is a chance for player-characters of means to spend conspicuously in order to earn a little extra experience. Any character may throw a banquet for their friends, acquaintances, employees, or servants (or attend a banquet in style) by spending up to 100 dinars (gp) per level and thus earn an equivalent amount of xp.

Those who wish to add a little flair and describe their expenditures and feast, either in the comments below or on our Discord channel, will earn an additional 10% xp for their lavishments.

 

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.

The Feasts of Investiture

[the Scribes note that this post was supposed to go up at the end of November, which was the actual end of the lunar year in Cothon-Gadeed. Unfortunately, life got in the way; but the changing of the year is an important time and shouldn't go unnoted, as it is a time of feasting and important symbolic bindings ...]

The Lunar Year is over! Good luck to the new Lunar Year!

As the old year comes to a close, and the new year is sounded in by the clash of timbrels and the winding of horns, it is a time for feasting and celebrations, and for the renewal of the symbolic bonds that hold society together.

A great feast is to be held in Gadeed--the Feast of Investiture--whereat the Souffets will ceremonially reinvest the high officers of the state with their authority.

(technically, at this time they could also rescind offices from disfavored servitors, and invest the authority in new officers; and though that may have been done historically, it is not now the custom--rather, the current custom is to rescind offices at the time of a serious breach of trust or major failure, rather than to wait for this feast at the end of the year)

This is also the time for the selection of citizens to perform various offices for the city-state through the next year; many of these officers are selected from all citizens by lot, which ensures that though the Souffets are the executives of the city, they do not control all the levers of power, and must at times compromise with those selected for them by the will of fate. This too will be done at the great feasts.

Fortunately for Sesel, newly minted citizen of Gadeed, his status is too new for his name to have been entered into the lots, and so he will not be assigned any additional office beyond his iqta'; but, barring assignation before then, at the feasts of investiture next year his name may yet be drawn for the assumption of some city- or league-office. And who knows? Perhaps by then others among the barbarians will have attained citizenship for themselves.

And, as the highest officers of the land have their great feast, so all of society down to individual houses have their own, and perform their own smaller feasts of investiture. The Guilds call their members to their halls to perform again the mysteries that tell their myths and stories to themselves, so that everyone is again invested with the import of their Guild duties; and masters call their households together, and feast their servants and slaves, and reestablish the order that must exist within by again handing out the duties and "offices" of the household.

So this is a time of great feasting and celebration, from the top levels of society, all the way to the bottom rungs of the great ladder; even the Heroes and Demons above must too be feasting, in the halls of the Fortress Moon and beyond!

A traditional dish prepared in many households of the Dual-Cities is a dish of field pease slow cooked with morsels of hmelu-bacon, served alongside greens simmered in savory broth, all washed down by draughts of young wine, corked early to keep its effervescence. Though in the palaces of the mighty and the halls of the great guilds are to be found great hma roasted whole, and pickled ninenyelu, and shishu-fruits and sherbets, and all manner of delicacies, still nearly every kitchen will also provide at least a pot of humble field pease and savory greens--for good luck to the new year.

For Player-Characters

I had intended to supply another carousing table or something to go along with this feast, but I fear the moment has passed, as the new lunar year in Cothon-Gadeed began 4 December (with the sighting of the new moon, the Fortress Moon dimmed in its otherwise greenish glory).

Instead, I offer a simple way to have had your player-characters participate in the feasts:

Characters may spend up to 100 dinars (gp) per level in attending or throwing a feast, and earn an amount of experience equal to the amount of gold spent. No need to roll saving throws,  complications, or the use of any downtime action--it would be unseemly to party so hard during this auspicious time, and surely it would incur bad luck when thus entering into the new year.

Additionally, if a player describes the nature of their character's contribution, or how they went about throwing their feast--in the comments below, or in the downtime thread on our Discord channel--then that character earns additional xp equal to 10% of what was spent. For example:

Najm ibn Marwan, owner of the small sailing dhow the Saint Iskameen, will throw a small feast of investiture for his own crew, which constitutes the (very) minor Confraternity of St. Iskameen. It will be held aboard ship, of course, and while it includes the customary field pease and greens, Najm spends 500 dinars (he is of 5th level) to put on a lavish spread that includes a variety of smoked fishes, fine cheeses, olives, and dark breads, all washed down with the aforementioned sparkling wine.

As part of the feast (and his expenditure), he will ceremonially install Fa Mei as his first mate and second-in-command, providing her with a fine cloak of dark blue hmelu-wool, pinned with a silver fishhook; and then ceremonially install Alianor Drake as his bosun and third-in-command, with a similarly fine cloak of grey hmelu-wool, pinned with a red-brass fishhook. And naturally, he gives his crew the next day off for liberty in the city and its taverns.

With that (overly long) description of Najm's involvement in the feasts, he thus earns 550 xp (500 from the gold, +10% from the account)

Alas for poor Kzin-Friend (the Referee's unlucky first character), he has but 2 dinars to his name, and cannot spend them. But he is content to remain outside the city in this case, eschewing the symbolic renewal of civilization for the living tradition in the tales he is sharing with the Fremen shaman Kynes.

A Final Note on the Solar Year

Though the Lunar Year has ended, and a new one begun (it is now year Khusra-Fadhlan 3, the last year of the office of Khusra and of Fadhlan as Souffets), the Solar Year has approximately 370 more days before it ends, and the next Solar Year begins. The feasts at that time will be of quite a different character--grander even than these!--for that is the time of the selection of two new Souffets to lead the Gadeed, Mother of Cities, and the Ten Cities League.

But that is something that can surely wait. Let us enjoy this Lunar Year as it begins, and whatever fate it holds for us unfolds in the coming months.

The Wedding Feast of Sesel and Zaida al Rashid

[rules for participation are in bold immediately following the bullet-list of gifts]

The procession begins in the harbor of Cothon, at the great tavern Cothon-Under-Star which is housed under the immense shell of a mother whelk. Drums are beaten, and tamburs clashed, and men with two-handed longswords held aloft and flaming with pitch cry out, "Sesel, Voice of the Survivors! Come forth as one dead to your life before, but alive to the new life ahead of you!"

Sesel, Voice of the Survivors, comes forth from the tavern door, accompanied by his closest companions, and submits to the procession of men wearing the sign of the Banu al Rashid, who come bearing flaming swords and clashing timbrels. And the men announce to city, in the failing light of the evening, "This one is promised to Zaida al Rashid--and as was promised, so shall be done, and we take him now to Bayt al Rashid! All those who wish well to the bride and groom may join!"

And with a cry, and another clash, the procession sets out into the night, making a great tumult through the streets of Cothon. Such things are heard now and again--carousing for this reason, or that--but tonight holds an especial place for the barbarian-adventurers who have come to Cothon-Gadeed seeking riches in the underworld of the Tel al Safina, for Sesel is one of them, and many have adventured with him, and know of his recent accession to citizenship in Gadeed, Mother of Cities. And now this wedding to one of the great tribes of that very city, mistress of the Ten-Cities League! Is this not the very apotheosis of the barbarian's dreams of wealth and glory, a shining testament to the success-that-can-be?

As this is a public wedding, all those who hear are welcome to join the procession--which is to say, all those to whom Sesel is known have reason enough to join the festivities of the wedding-feast, to offer the bride and groom a fine gift for the start of their new life, and to feast and make merry. By nature of the public procession, the Processional Way between the Long Walls that connect Cothon to Gadeed are open to those who march alongside (where otherwise the gates are blocked to those who are not citizens, or who have no proper invitation by a citizen).

All of which is a long way of saying--readers of these chronicles, whose player-characters are active in the city, feel free to join in the celebrations!

The procession takes Sesel and his companions to the manor-complex of the al Rashids, a veritable palace built around a central courtyard in the midst of Gadeed, with rooftop gardens especially festooned for the nighttime celebrations with multicolored lamps of various shades, all hung with flowers of effervescent or delightfully-spiced bouquets (More traditionally, Zaida might have had a procession to Sesel's tribe-house; but the circumstances being what they are, and Sesel marrying into the Banu al Rashid, this is the nature of the night). Tables are set out with all manner of food--cheeses, skewers of the slow-roasted or fire-grilled meats of hma, hmela, or dejaja; whole fish baked in pastry, or fried in oil; grilled, smoked, or pickled ninenyelu and other fodder of the ocean; iced and cut fruits of all varieties; and wine, and beer, and palm-wine, and skooma, and liquors of all varieties!

A dais stands in the central court, upon which are set Sesel, groom and honor-guest, and his bride Zaida al Rashid, painted with henna even more extravagant and elegant than what she usually wears, dressed in the finest Klackon silks. These two preside, as "emir wa emira" for the night, lofty even above their highest ranked guests out of courtesy for the occasion.

Musicians play according to the whim of the emir wa emira, and dancers of the traditional dabke perform alternately with skillful belly-dancing by women and girls. A sword-dance is an indispensable tradition, in which two lines of dancers face off, with a belly-dancer between, and then exchange challenges of high- or folk-poetry for her affections, all of which ultimately coalesces into a mock dance-battle of men wielding walking sticks like swords. When sent aside by bride and groom, these musicians or dancers perform more privately throughout the gardens to delight guests here and there in the perfumed night.

All who come--great or small--must, of course, pay homage to the emir wa emira at least once during the night, and present to them a gift according to their means. From the lowly, a wreath of flowers is acceptable, or promise of first choice from next week's catch (from a fisherman, say). But for those of means, it is dishonorable to stint with a mean gift, especially for a wedding of such a tribe as al Rashid.

For instance, here are the gifts offered by several of the representatives of the other great tribes of Gadeed:

• the merchant tribe Banu al Luz (not forgetting their debt) offer the first fruits of their harvest of tree-nuts and other fruit, to the total value of some 2500 gold; but the giver also points out that the botanists of his tribe would be happy to assist the couple in "reinvesting" some of that value into the soil itself, to produce new orchards ...
• human servitor al Ghazali of the Bulrathi Banu Barraqi (of recent court fame) presents a pair of fine kyni-falcons, trained at the rookery in distant Nous--"Descendants of Aeon the Dread, a prince of the kyni race. May they serve you well in any hunt or venture."
• Qiyrdun the Shipwright of Banu Munqidh gifts the happy couple a fine riverboat from the tribe's holdings, the Silver Qaqtla
• Banu Urdos provides a promissory note of twenty head of hma and five of chlen-beasts
• another merchant tribe, Banu Hanbal, gifts the couple with one silver key representing the metaphorical shackles of a majordomo slave, as well as five iron keys representing same for five laborers
• Ishna of Banu al Dawr presents a fine wardrobe of Klackon silks and true-dyed textiles for the new Lady Zaida, valued at some 2000 dinars; a clever eye might notice that one of the wraps appears to be quite similar to a Klackon khipu
• Adolin ibn Dalinar, accompanied by Teleb the Bowman, both of Banu al Khalid presents the arms, armor, and accoutrements to equip 10 men-at-arms, all of superior make from the well-known armorers of their own clan
• Meridas of Banu al Saddiyas gives eighty-one head of fine hmela ("Seeing that the groom has no land or real wealth for mahr"), less the one that he brought to be sacrificed and roasted this very evening in celebration
• Txach'achit of the Fifth House of the Attine Klackons of the Great Spire arrives in the later evening leading a pomp of pale-carapaced dores and their dark-carapaced escorts bearing  black dklakolel-chitin shields; these Klackons bring greetings on behalf of the entire Spire, and offer a boon of the service of a dore-architect--"Your human assistance with the cleansing of the Sixth House was unlooked for, but appreciated. Perhaps this can lay the groundwork for a new--a separate--Accord."

As to any gifts from player-characters--those who provide gifts at the feast will receive xp equal to the gp amount spent on such a gift, up to twice the level of the player-character. Such gifts as are commissioned, but require time to produce, will provide the xp assuming that the "receipt" is provided as the "gift" now, and the bride and groom receive it in full due when it is finished; also, though it is considered gauche in our society to declare volubly the "monetary value" of a gift, in this society of Cothon-Gadeed, the greater a gift's price/value, the greater the honor of the giver (and also, how else are the scribes to value it for xp??), so only be secretive with the value if you desire neither honor, nor xp.

But there is one gift that supersedes all others, and it is granted around midnight, after most gifts have already been given. Khusra al Arasqiy, the second Souffet herself is a guest (her counterpart, unfortunately, was detained elsewhere by City-business), and as the night draws on she approaches to offer both bride and groom horns of wine. But before they drink, she forestalls them, and says, "These cups hold not merely wine, but also obligation. I gift them to you, but you are free to take them up, and drink of both--OR pour them out, and let the wine and the land lie fallow, and I will furnish as gift the rest of the barrel of wine, and other such fruits. But if you drink and accept, the Iqta' of the North Cliffs is yours, with all its wants, and all its provisions. It is a gift; take it up, or not, as you will."

There is a great hurrah from the crowd. The mothers, cousins, &c. of al Rashid look on expectantly, seeing their hard bargaining with the Souffets so close to fruition. And the celebrations will continue into the next day, regardless of the couple's choice. It is assumed the outcome ... Zaida herself touches horn to lips, ready to drink, looking deeply into her groom's eyes ... but it is not the place the of scribes to ascribe choices to what is chronicled here, only to record, and so we will let Sesel respond as he will, while the festivities continue joyously around him. In either case, truly, great wealth is coming to him; and in both also, great cares and responsibilities!

But enough of such worries! Drink now, and be merry!