Qirsyllvian Games & Sports

There are many games, sports, and contests prevalent on Qirsyllviar. Some are similar to Earth's, others are Qirsyllvian specific.
== Games ==
=== Board Games ===
==== Anagyrizo ====
Anagyrizo is a Qirsyllvian board game of Kelt origin for two-to-four players that requires skill, strategy, and a bit of luck. The board is 20x20 squares and each player has sixteen round tiles, either black, white, red, or blue. There are four different symbols (colored opposite of the color of the tile), two of which are on either face of the sixteen tiles. Four of them have the same symbol on each face, while all the rest have different symbols on each face with twelve different combinations.
===== Rules =====
The objective is to capture all the opponent's pieces. The players take turns moving a single piece between one or three squares horizontal, vertical, or diagonal directions. As the player moves the piece they turn the piece they move over, switching them between one of the two symbols on either side. When a player's piece lands in a square, if an opposing piece is in an adjacent square with the same symbol facing up, the player who's current turn it is captures that piece. A player can only take a piece this way. Assuming an opponent places a tile adjacent to a tile with a different symbol facing up initially, the other player can simply turn a piece over without moving it, capturing the piece that way.
Players need to be careful and memorize which symbols are on which tiles as they move. If they need to, a player can lift a piece up to check what symbol is on the opposite side before moving it, so long as the tile does not lose contact with the board; if it does lose contact, the player must move that piece.
The game can end with neither player having tiles that can take the remaining tiles of the opponent; in that case… the player with the most remaining tiles is the winner, or it can be a draw if the the players are even.
==== Phantasia ====
Phantasia is a strategy board game for two players. It uses a round board with nine rings of thirty black and white cells each and a space in the middle that is empty aside for guiding lines for diagonal movement across the space. Each player has 28 pieces each of ten types arrange in three rows to start. The starting places are marked by a gray outline that has no further purpose in the game as for the Fairy's special ability.
===== General rules =====
The objective is to either capture the opponent's Emperor or stop it from moving.
Occupying the empty middle is prohibited, so moving across it requires the following: moving vertical is straightforward, simply moving to the cell of the opposite color directly across from it. Moving diagonal requires following the guide lines to the cell on either side of the one directly across from the starting cell.
If a piece moving diagonally reaches the outer ring, they cannon turn the corner in a single turn and must wait for the next turn to continue on.
Being on the cusp of taking the opponent's Emperor is called "Mark." Capturing or stopping it from moving is called "Mark-mar." A player may not place their Emperor in "Mark." A player may call "Abdicate" to declare their resignation if they think they can't win.
===== Pieces =====
Piece 	Number apiece	Starting position 	Movement rules 	Other rules or abilities
Front Row 	Front Row 	Front Row 	Front Row 	Front Row
Fairy 	8 	Front row, in front of Dwarves and Elves. 	Can move in any direction up to three spaces at a time. Can only take pieces vertically or horizontally. 	If it reaches the outer ring of opponents "starting camp," the piece moves back to a free space in the owning player's starting camp and may resurrect any piece taken.
Middle Row	Middle Row 	Middle Row 	Middle Row 	Middle Row
Dwarf 	4 	In the middle 	Move diagonal one then forward two or diagonal two and forward one. Cannot move backwards. 	
Elf 	4 	Flanking the dwarves. 	Moves up to seven spaces. First diagonal then horizontal or vertical. Must move at least 4 spaces in a single turn. 	
Crusader 	2 	On the flanks, after the elves 	Moves similar to the elf, but only up to five spaces and in the opposite way. Instead of diagonal, it moves horizontal or vertical first.	Can jump over pieces.
Rear Row 	Rear Row 	Rear Row 	Rear Row 	Rear Row
Emperor 	1 	Center center white cell 	Can move in any direction up to three spaces. 	Game over if lost or blocked from moving.
Empress 	1 	Center center black cell, beside the Emperor	Moves in any direction as many spaces as desired. 	
Mage 	2 	Flanking the Emperor & Empress 	Moves up to seven spaces diagonal only. 	Can teleport, moving to almost any free space on the board. Cannon move again of used, cannon land on top of opposing pieces to take them.
Angel 	2 	Flanking the Mages 	Moves up to eight spaces in any direction. Can also change direction, but not go backwards, after three spaces of movement 	Can fly over pieces.
Castle 	2 	Flanking the Angels 	Can move as may spaces as pleased, either vertically or horizontally only. 	
Dragon 	2 	On flanks after the Castles 	Moves horizontal and vertical only, first up to four spaces then up to three spaces at a right angle. 	Can fly over pieces.
=== Dice Games ===
==== Nature Eight ====
Common names include:
Culture:	Name:
Wan 	Ziran Ba自然八
Genjin 	Shizen Hachi自然八
Sinjok 	Jayeon Yeodeolb자연여덟
Arslan 	Baigal Naimᠪᠠᠶᠢᠭᠠᠯ ᠨᠠᠶᠢᠮᠠ
Mưa Nhân	Thiên nhiên tám天然𠔭
Nature Eight is a dice game played in Marlakcor and Fuso.
It is played with three eight-sided dice with the bagua trigrams (☲, ☴, ☵, ☷, ☰, ☱, ☳ & ☶) on them. To prevent confusion between the value of the rolls, since there are two sets of symbols that look similar to each other, the line of the trigram closest to the tip of the die is regarded as the top line of the trigram.
==== Twelve Spirits ==== 
Other names include:
Culture:	Name:
Wan 	Shi'er Ling十二靈
Genjin 	Juni Rei十二霊
Sinjok 	Yeoldul Jeongsin열둘 정신
Arslan 	Arvankhoyor Sünsᠠᠷᠪᠠᠨᠬᠣᠶᠠᠷ ᠰᠦᠨᠡᠰᠦ
Mưa Nhân	Mười hai linh hồn𨑮𠄩灵浑
Twelve Spirits is a gambling dice game played in Marlakcor and Fuso.
It is played with two twelve-sided dice. One is numbered 1 through 12 and the other has the name of the twelve animals of the Wanzu Zodiac on each side.
The game relies heavily on luck but it's possible to cheat with modified dice (i.e. loaded dice), as players either share dice or use their own.
Money is usually gambled, but the game can be played without money, and there are versions without stakes where points are counted using the dice results instead of having money gambled.
The player's held value is referred to as a pouch.
===== Rules: =====
The game starts with a pot contributed to by all players, and players take turns rolling the dice counterclockwise from each other.
When the dice are rolled, the result of the numbered die is subtracted from the result zodiac animal die's place in the zodiac order. Positive results are wins and the player takes the indicated result from the pot, negative results are losses and the player adds the indicated result to the pot.
Assuming money is gambled, the value of the coin pieces in the pot don't matter and have no impact on the game, but players will often grab higher value coins for profit reasons if they think they can win or they don't plan on seeing the game through to the end.
The game ends if the pot is emptied or there is only one player left:
If a player loses his entire pouch, he's out of the game in one of two ways: if his last loss was equal to what he had left, he has one last chance to make a comeback or he's out of the game. If his last loss was more than what he had left, he's out of the game and left with a debt. Of course, players don't have to be eliminated, they can quit the game at any time, taking whatever they have left in their pouch.
If the last roll was positive and equal to what was left in the pot, the game ends if next player rolls another positive outcome, yet continues if the result was negative. If the positive last roll was more than what was left in the pot, the game ends there. If the game ends with the pot being emptied, the player with the most left is the official winner.
If there are no players left before the pot is emptied, the last player standing is the winner and keeps the remaining pot. Eliminated losers are often left with debts.
The game can be called to an end before the pot is emptied or there is a final player standing. If the game is called, the remaining pot is split between the remaining players.
==== Kaiyirk Telyar ====
A dice game played in Talmyrnia. The game and rules are similar to Twelve Spirits, the only difference is that six five-sided dice are used, three for the numbers, and three for the twenty-five Gnogtist zodiac animals.
=== Playing Cards ===
Qirsyllvians have playing cards just like Earth, but there is a big difference: the suits are different, there are five suits in five different colors, and there are more face cards and Jesters.
The five Qirsyllvian card suits are: Moons, Shields, Goblets, Blossoms, and Swords. Like the real world, there are ten number cards for each suit, from 1 (still called ace like in the real world) to 10. Meanwhile the face cards from highest to lowest value, are:
* Emperor/Empress
* King/Queen
* Saint/Saintess
* Prince/Princess
* Knight/Dame
The images of the face cards on the Moon, Shield and Sword suits are male, but the images on the Goblet and Blossom suits are female. The female face cards are considered equal value to the male counterparts, not inferior. There are also five Jesters which act as wild cards.
The face cards and jesters may look differently depending on where they're made, and these images often change with the times. Often the image depicted on the face cards is a famous historical person relevant to the country or culture that manufactured a deck, but more often another famous figure is adopted.
With five suits and fifteen cards per suit, plus five Jesters, the total number of cards in a Qirsyllvian playing card deck is eighty.
==== Card Games ====
===== Qirsyllvian poker =====
Save for the difference in decks, Qirsyllvian poker rules are basically identical to real-world poker. The main difference is that the rules allow for six-card hands. There is also the additional "six of a kind" hand, but is only possible with a Jester like real-world "five of a kind."
Since a Qirsyllvian deck has twenty-eight more cards than real-world decks (which have fifty-two), Qirsyllvian poker has even more possible hand combinations and relies even more on skill and luck.
== Sports ==
=== Jousting ===
Outside of cavalry warfare, jousting is a horse-ridden sport that involves two contestants riding down two sides of a fence trying to knock each other off with a long lance. 
==== General rules: ====
In a typical jousting match, competitors compete to win best 3 out of 5 rounds. Each round is won by being the first to score seven points by landing clean hits on one of two locations or knocking the opponent off their horse. Jousters exchange blows until someone scores 7 points or knocks their opponent of their horse. Hitting the opponent's helmet is dangerous and therefore prohibited.
Points are scored thus:
* 0 points if neither competitor lands a hit at the collision point or both lances break on impact with each other.
* 2 points for landing a hit on the leg or arm.
* 3 points for landing a hit on the abdomen (stomach or chest).
==== Centaur Jousting ====
Centaur jousting typically follows the same rules as regular jousting, with some modifications to accommodate the centaur's anatomy. Points awarded for hitting the arm or abdomen remain the same, but knocking the opponent down is prohibited as this can be dangerous to the centaur.
=== Shiryu Chowa ===
Shiryu Chowa (四流調和/Four-Style Harmony) is a sport of Genjin origin that utilizes Soshijutsu. Players, called Shiryu Chowa-sha (四流調和者), are split into two teams of four-a-side, each assigned to use one of the four elements, water, earth, fire or wind.
Shiryu Chowa takes place on a stage, typically a platform made of wood or stone raised above a pool of water and octagonal in shape with the sides longer than the ends, split in half with each side being painted different colors (traditionally red or blue, but most regions use different colors, or varying shades, for their stages). Each side is split into five zones, each providing usable water and large disks made of earth. The general objective is to score by knocking opponents into further back zones or off the platform entirely. The sides of the platform are lines with ropes, typically to prevent players from falling off the sides.
==== General Rules: ====
* Matches consist of seven rounds. Rounds last for ten minutes apiece with five minute breaks in-between.
* Players can only knock opponents off the back of the ring, not over the sides.
* If one team achieves a knockout – all players of one team are knocked off the platform in the same round – it's an automatic win for the whole match.
* A point is scored each time one of the teams is knocks their opponents into another zone further form the center. 
** Additionally, if a zone in front of them is cleared out, the opposing team is allowed to advance forward to next empty zone, and vice versa of the losing team can knock their opponents back.
* If both teams achieve an equal number of points by the time the round ends, a tiebreaker is made between two players with the same element. The element is chosen by the team that wins a die throw.
* A player who is knocked out of the ring cannot return to the round, but they can return for the next round if their is one.
** Also, even if there is only one player remaining on a side, they can still win the round or match if they manage to score enough on the other team.
* Players knocked into another zone can not advance back into the zone they were knocked out of and crossing the zone line is a foul that sees them sent back a zone.
* Each soshijin is assigned an element and can not use another one in the match, even if they're capable of using another.
===== Mizujutsu rules: =====
* Mizujin may draw water from the grates that divide the zones either in front or behind them in their currently-occupied zone, but not from a zone away. They may also not draw water from outside the boundaries of the platform.
* Mizujin may not blast water at their opponents for more than 1 second.
* Water must remain in its liquid state; ice and fog are prohibited.
===== Tsuchijutsu rules: =====
* Tsuchijin may levitate up to three earth disks at once – but not full stacks – but may only shoot one at a time.
* They may only take disks provided from one of two dispensers on either side of their currently occupied zone.
* Breaking the disks into rocks or sand is prohibited.
* Head-shots are prohibited for this element.
===== Kajijutsu rules: =====
* Fire blasts may not last longer than 1 second.
* Head-shots are prohibited for this element.
===== Kazejutsu rules: =====
* Wind blasts may not last longer than 1 second.
*Creation of vortexes is prohibited.
*Using kazejutsu to jump above the platform is prohibited.
* Sucking air out of their opponent's body is prohibited.
==== Other rules: ====
* Player may not compete on multiple teams, but this is only applied in tournament settings.
== Tournaments ==
Some games and sports are so popular that large tournaments are held periodically. Either for special occasions or established to be held between set times. Some are either domestic only wile others are international.
=== World Jousting Championship ===
The World Jousting Championship is a global tournament that takes place every five years. Held primarily in Soligaia, contestants are mostly Geminian in origin but the tournament has no restrictions on race or country of origin. Hence, jousters come from from all over, some as far as Fuso.
All normal rules apply.
=== Septimagus Tournament ===
The Septimagus Tournament is a magical competition held every seven years, bringing together seven magic schools from around the world for a series of magical contests, taking place over the course of the academic year.
The tournament was first conceived a thousand years before modern day as a friendly magical competition between three schools – Theowulf's, Rioclyier & Chamatkar – but was expanded as more schools elected to join until there were seven in all. Other schools were invited to compete but declined either due to commitments involved or simply seeing the competition as beneath them.
From each school a single student is selected to complete, each school designating their representative by their own means. Each contestant is awarded points according to performance by judges over the course of seven extremely dangerous tasks. The contents of said tasks are decided upon by the schools in the year prior to each tournament. Some tasks are reused due to popularity, while others are invented specifically to suit the environment they take place in. Each school takes turn hosting the tournament in a rotation decided upon during the tournament's inception.
The participating schools, in order of host rotation, are:
# Tianchao Meipai (天朝魅派), from Tianchao, Marlakcor
# Saint Fleur's Academy of Magic, from Soleil, Aquilonis
# Theowulf's School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, from Albion, Soligaia;
# Kirigaya Majutsu Gakuen (桐ヶ谷魔術学園), from Yamatai, Fuso
# Rioclyier Academy of Magic, from Czi'kolgyar, Aquilonis
# Chamatkar Academy of Magic (चमत्कार जादू की विद्यापीठ), from Kendrakar, Tarak
# Quildrion's School of Magic, from Talmyrnia, Aquilonis
=== Shiryu Chowa National Championship of Yamatai ===
The Shiryu Chowa National Championship of Yamatai (四流調和の全国選手権弥曲体/Shiryu Chowa no Zenkoku Senshuken Yamatai) is a national tournament held in Yamatai every four years, during the Years of the Rat, Dragon and Monkey.
The competition was originally established in 4017PCZ (2300TR) – during the reign of Harufuyu-daijo-tenno (春冬太上天皇) (2298 – 2305TR), amidst the Goku Bakufu's ongoing wars in western Marlakcor – with the first qualifying tournaments being played the following year and the first proper national tournament being played in 4019PCZ (2302TR), the Year of the Rat. The qualifying tournaments are played between Kadzuki and Karigetsu, while the national tournament itself is played between Kadzuki and Iwaitsuki. These are the traditional periods of the competition but any number of factors can cause the either the qualifying or national tournaments to be rescheduled or cancelled entirely; either way, tournament regulations and imperial edict prohibit matches from being played on days of worship during the month of Amatsuki.
Two levels of qualifying tournaments are held across the empire in the year preceding the main tournament (during the Years of the Rabbit, Sheep and Boar), the Gun Kyoso (郡競争/Provincial Tournaments), followed by the Ryoiki Kyoso (領域競争/Regional Tournaments). Each gun holds its own tournament to decide which team will represent them at the Ryoiki level, and the Ryoiki tournaments decide which team will represent the ryoiki at the national tournament held in the imperial capital, Teikyo (帝京). To hasten the choosing of each team for the final competition (as at least a thousand teams sign up for the gun-level qualifiers every year), matches at the gun-level are reduced from seven rounds to three and time is reduced to five minutes per round, and playing fields are reduced from five zones to three. The ryoiki-level has five rounds of five minutes each with normal-sized fields. Aside from that, all normal rules apply.
A special single tournament is held to decide which team will represent Teikyo – which, as the capital, exists outside the normal political structure – with all normal rules and seven-round matches, and Imperial Family members are not excluded from participating. The same is true for Gugyo Archipelago, a semi-incorporated territory which also exists outside Yamatai's normal political structure. For an even number of teams in the national tournament, two teams, first and second place, are selected from Teikyo.
All matches at every level are single-elimination, with matchups decided by random draw before the tournament begins.
With one team per ryoiki (there are forty-five), plus the two teams from the capital and one from the Gugyo archipelago, 48 teams compete in the national tournament with all normal Shiryu Chowa rules applying. The 48 teams are divided up into six shudan (集団/groups) of eight teams apiece by random draw, competing in a single round-robin tournament of 3 points a win, 0 points a draw, and -1 point a loss. Once each shudan is down to two teams (first and second place of each shudan), the sixteen remaining teams proceed to the double elimination knockout round, with two losses eliminating each team from the tournament.
The semifinal winners of the upper and lower brackets moves on to the finals. If the finals end with the champion of the lower bracket defeating the winner of the upper bracket, another round is held between the two finalists to break the tie. Third place is the loser of the lower bracket semifinals.
==== Other rules: ====
* Foreign teams are not excluded from entry, but they must register in a gun to compete at least four weeks before the Gun Kyoso qualifiers begin in order to participate.
== Banned and Outlawed Games & Sports ==
Over the course of history, many pastimes have come under heavy scrutiny due to moral and/or ethical concerns, often from religious authorities. This has led to many being banned or outlawed.
=== Games ===
=== Sports ===
==== Dragon Hunting ====
Dragon Hunting was an ancient "sport". It was originally believed that slaying a dragon was a glorious achievement, and made one legendary for being able to conquer one of the most powerful beasts in the world, since at the time they were believed to be nothing more than ferocious mindless monsters. Even back then, dragon meat was considered a rare luxury, as the meat is supposedly better than the best venison. Dragon skin is also a highly coveted material, as it's supposed to be better than leather. However, this all changed at an uncertain point in history, following the spread of the legend of Adalinda & Drachen.
Dragon Hunting in general is now outlawed in many parts of the world, but there are still poachers hunting, killing and selling dragons, as not all parts of Qirsyllviar have outlawed the practice.
Since slaying of wild dragons is now illegal in many parts of the world, some species of dragons are bred as livestock for slaughter for their meat and skin, much like farm animals. Even today, dragon meat is considered a luxury, and dragon skin is still used for many purposes as a superior to leather.
== Trivia ==
* Anagyrizo (αναγυριζω) is a Greek word that means "turn over," which describes the main way players move their pieces.
** Anagyrizo is the Greek word for "turn over," as separate words. As one word, "turnover," the word would be tziros (τζιρος).
* Anagyrizo tiles are sometimes used for coin tosses.
* Aside for the differing rules, pieces and board shape, Arctox resembles real-world chess as well as a variation of Three-Man Chess.
* Like real world playing cards, the Ace is still the highest value card in the deck.
* Jousting was introduced to Fuso via Soleil's alliance with Yamatai following the Second Arslan Invasion.
*Shiryu Chowa is inspired by Pro-bending from the Avatar universe.
*The most recent Shiryu Chowa National Championship of Yamatai took place in 4539PCZ (2822TR), the Year of the Dragon. The next one will take place in 4543PCZ (2826TR), the Year of the Monkey.
**While the tournament is rarely cancelled, one of the most famous examples of its cancellation was due to the sudden cancellation of the qualifiers in 2513TR (the Year of the Sheep), due to the outbreak of the Fukko War in Kodzuki of that year.
Games & Sports
Games & Sports