Xorvintaal Xorvintaal , sometimes referred to as " The Great Game " or just " The Game " , was a game dragon s used as a proxy for open warfare . Rules . Dragons who played " xorvintaal " were called " taaldarax " . A dragon ' s head servant was known as his or her " lovac " , and his or her other servants were known as " dokaal " . " Xorvintaal " was like a chess game , as players had to defeat their opponents with strategy instead of combat . There were hundreds of rules , called Precepts . Brimstone said that to read the entire codex of rules would take a few years , and even Alasklerbanbastos admitted he didn ' t fully understand all the rules . The most important rule was that " to gain , first you must lose " ; thus all " taaldarax " lost what magic they had in order to play the game . Another rule forbade players from acting against each other directly ; instead they must use their servants against their opponents . The rules did not forbid combat in all circumstances , however ; if a challenge for combat was issued and both players agreed , the " taaldarax " could battle one another , and their servants were bound to fight as well . Points were scored based on conquest or by killing key opponents , although players also scored points by showing great skills of subterfuge , daring or renown . Points scored in the game were used to determine the pecking order of dragons . History . During the Time of Dragons , wyrms of the age feared that if dragons continued battling each other , as they had since their race was born , they would eventually face extinction . In time , they came up with a solution : Instead of battling each other , dominance among them would be established by status . To determine this , they developed the " xorvintaal " . After the first Rage of Dragons , however , dragons lost knowledge of the game . The vampiric smoke drake Brimstone rediscovered the game ' s rules in the ruins where Sammaster was killed after the last Rage of Dragons , in 1373 DR . He brought them to Dracowyr in Murghôm in 1479 DR , convincing many chromatic dragon s and a few gem and metallic dragons to participate . Brimstone set himself up as the referee and scorekeeper . Brimstone ' s " xorvintaal " was dedicated to the goddess Tiamat . To ensure the dragons would play , Brimstone bound them with a powerful spell , although the participants were unaware of this . The ultimate goals of Brimstone ' s " xorvintaal " were to determine who became the emperor of dragonkind and to dominate all the nations in the Alamber Sea vicinity . If they succeeded , the dragons would use the game to conquer all Faerûn and usher in a new Time of Dragons . Tymanther , due to its hatred of dragons , was considered the most dangerous nation in the game , and many players aimed to either subjugate or destroy it in order to quickly rack up massive amounts of points . After the Battle of Luthcheq , Tchazzar ' s death and Alasklerbanbastos ' destruction , the leaders of the Brotherhood of the Griffon , as well as several dragons and dragonborn knights from Tymanther , traveled to Dracowyr to confront Brimstone and forced him to cancel the magic that bound wyrms to the game . Brimstone claimed that the game was just a ruse to allow him to eliminate the most powerful dragons around the Sea of Fallen Stars .