Ennead

A traditional Rovian duel involving nine different disciplines. The nine disciplines are divided into three categories: Sports (horse racing, running, and swimming), Combat (duel, archery, and jousting) and (gods') Favor (dice, cards, and omens). The ennead is very expensive to arrange and is usually reserved for determining "the favor of the gods", a special term pertaining to the right to the throne or other important offices. Any challenger may call for an ennead if he can foot the bill, but the current office holder may choose to ignore him. Depending on the political circumstances and the validity of the challenger's claim, prolonged refusal to accept the challenge may be untenable. Once accepted, the ennead must always start with the two contestants participating in one of the major Rovian horse races. These horse races are city-wide events in which the horses race through the streets of the city, usually hindered or helped by the crowd. They traditionally take place in May, July (in Rovian) or September (in Pellos). "Royal" enneads are always done in the city of Rovian. Whoever comes first or aborts the race last is declared the winner of the two for the first round. After the first round of the ennead, the loser may choose the next discipline from the remaining list. He may not choose omens, as this serves as a "tie-breaker" and is only used a last resort. "Omens" basically means asking the Selene priesthood who should win. The next contest is conducted roughly a week later, and regardless of the outcome, the other contestant now chooses from the list. This continues until one contestant has won five times or one of the contestants dies or gives up.