Waterian Games

## Larbalan Games

### General

An abstract strategy board game in High Shana that is two player, uses 4 piece types, 18 pieces per player, 36 total pieces, and played on a 13 by 8 board. It is played by the middle and upper strata. It has been played for about a thousand years, dating back to a similar game played in Seegorga which was assimilated and changed to have more pieces and a larger board when introduced to the Lan culture during the Age of Kings. The game uses the 4 pieces to remove the enemy general from the field in order to win. Each piece has different attack and movement rules. There are 7 Spearmen, 4 Cavalry, 6 archers, and 1 General. Spearmen move one space and attack neighboring enemies. Cavalry move up to two spaces and attack neighboring enemies. Cavalry cannot move over another piece. Archers move one space and only attack enemies two spaces away. Generals move up to 2 spaces but unable to attack. Every turn a player may move a piece and also may attack with a piece if able. Pieces may not move into an occupied space. The board is set up with all pieces lined up in the center of the length of the board and one away from the back. The Spearmen are in the front row with one cavalry on each side. Archers take the back and the general takes the center position in the back, cavalry takes the sides here as well. Once a piece is attacked it is removed from the board. If the general reaches the other half of the board then for every move it makes there a piece may be put back on the board at the back of the allied side.

### Milatuga, Gold

A collectible card game in High Shana that simulates battle tactics and is based off Silver Milatuga. It uses a collection of cards collected from a larger collection sold by the Scribes Guild of Motoria, as well as some dice. It is popular among many people of the middle strata. It uses mechanics such as morale offense and defense, manpower, and damage offense and defense for both shock and pierce phases. Cards can have special effects where some cards are only these special effects. It is an expensive game to play and some of said that the better the deck the player has the more wealth they have, thus in the circles of their players these better able players are well-renowned. Each guild has their own decks which meet the ruleset. The guilds often work together to make the game playable and balanced. The rules have details about how many total pips a card may distribute to each feature according to card rarity. Guilds put features on the cards to prevent forgeries. Sometimes these cards are used as a non-standard currency, being exchanged for commodities other than different Milatuga cards. The rules state that there are different combat lines, always having a front line, and depending on the terrain card in play the line can only be of a certain width in cards. There are two phases to combat, a pierce and a shock phase, which use the appropriate unit ability. There is a deck for each player for their units and deck for either for the terrains. There is a defender and an attacker which does not affect the phases other than applying penalties to the attacker. The defender is the player who drew the last terrain. Each player rolls a 12-sided die which is added to each of the units attack and defense attributes during each phase. All units attack, if they have an opponent in flanking range, during a phase. Each card has their “manpower” tracked with 6-sided dice. Tournaments and game types often place points on the number of pips on a card and limit the total number of pips of a deck for a game. Some game types have points earned during a game which can be spent on playing a card with a total pip count.

### Milatuga, Silver

A card game in High Shana that simulates battle tactics. The game can uses collected cards with each player not exceeding a pip sum, a standard deck for each player, or a random deck dealt to each player. It is popular among both middle and lower strata. It has simpler cards than Gold Milatuga, having only one quantity of pips and four suits of Spears, Bows, Horses, and Catapults. The game plays with each player drawing a certain number of cards from their own deck, playing those cards in up to two rows, then picking what cards from the enemy rows they will attack. A number of beans equal to each played card’s pips is added to a bowl of the player, which symbolizes army morale. When in combat, each card’s pips is added to a dice roll and the lower roll results in the losing player to remove their card to a discard pile and remove the winner’s card pips amount of beans from the loser’s bowl. The player that runs out of beans or cards on the field then loses. Each card suit determines what positions they may attack from the enemy rows. Spears may only attack card right in the 3 spaces in front of them. Bows may attack 3 spaces in front up to 2 rows away, including their own front row. Horses may attack 5 spaces in front or if they flank may attack the back row sides. Catapults may attack 1 space in front of them of the enemy front or back, no matter what row they are in. If less than half of your cards in play are Spears then when you attack or defend you get the lower of two rolls.

### Blosha

An ancient and still practiced dice game common all nations of Koraktos that ranks combinations of rolls for each player with the highest rank roll winning. It is a gambling game common among the lower strata. There are several variations, but all use six-sided dice. The most common variant is Feblosha (Féblosha) which uses five dice, with the six being the “royal” face which is used to form many of the combination ranks, as well as played with two to six players. Feblosha is common among Shanos nations. Lower strata children often grow up playing Teblosha (Téblosha) which is a three-dice variant with far fewer ranks and played with two people, it is often played as a quick game for decision making between two parties. Feblosha has ranks, in from lowest rank to highest, of Empty, Pair, Two Pair, Royal Pair, Triple, Royal Two Pair, Straight, Royal Triple, Pair-Triple Low, Royal Straight, Pair-Triple High, Royal Pair-Triple Low, Quadruple, Royal Pair-Triple High, Quintuple, Royal Quadruple, Royal Quintuple. Before dice are rolled a first bet is placed, all players must met a bet or those that do not surrender. Players then shack up dice in cups and land them on their open end without rolling them far to keep them together. Players place their bets in any amount and then may reroll as many dice as they want. Dice can only be rolled twice and the second roll is final, with the highest ranking roll winning. Ties are settled with rolling one dice to see who gets higher. The game is said to be highly addictive and playing can go on for hours until one player gives up or only one player is left playing.

### Akusna (Äkusna)

An abstract strategy game in High Shana that simulates the growth of civilizations, overpopulation, war, grand strategy, and diplomacy. It is commonly played for leisure among the upper strata. The game consists of a board with a grid and terrain drawn on it symbolizing water, plains, and hills as well as a pile of beads with each player having a different color, and two dice for each player for combat. Although most games are between two players, more than two can play at a time. Pieces cannot be put on water. Hills give a defensive bonus but are difficult to cross. Each player takes their first turn placing their first piece on any grid intersection. They may skip turns to store pieces for use in combat or travel, but otherwise place a piece next to their current one. They can then move one of their pieces up to three grid intersections or use some saved up pieces to move further. War can be declared between players and they may then attack each other’s pieces when they touch. Combat is done with dice, adding any saved up pieces as extra points to their roll. The highest roller wins and the loser’s piece is removed from play, with draws as a win for the defender. When four or more pieces, irrespective to player, line up, all the pieces in that line are removed. Players may call alliances where they cannot attack each other, sharing their saved pieces. The game can end at any point with all players agreeing to be done or when only one player or alliance is left with pieces on the board. The player or alliance with a higher score wins, with score being total alive pieces with saved pieces minus killed pieces, excluding pieces removed from overpopulation. Games can last over several sessions across a few days until one player or team is left standing.

### Shanos Pit Fighting

A sport common amongst all cultures of Shanos, including High Shana, Middle Shana, and Low Shana whether in their past or still occurring. It features teams or solo players who either fight to the death or fight until a certain score has been made. Many cultures of Low Shana practice death fits where Mid and High Shana practice a point-based system. Fights occur in a stadium with a pit where fighters are separated from spectators for safety and visibility. Point-based fights are called Tamilsha and use non-lethal weapons that are shaped like real weapons. Points are given to hits on different parts of the body. The person who was hit with a certain total of points is out of play, symbolizing that they have died, and cannot attack any further. The last person or team standing is the winner. These games grant a high level of prestige to the winners and often a person who has won more often than lost gets a high amount of payment from sponsors.

### Ledian Roleplay Games.

A game type found mostly in Ledentil where players control the actions of a character under the jurisdiction of a ruleset. Players attempt to reenact a story or make their own stories from the course of the game. Dice are used during play with actions of the characters requiring a minimum roll to be able to succeed in that action. At least one player tells what happens next in the story for the players to react to, and this player is called the “Teller”. The Teller is chosen at the beginning by the group, by taking turns, or momentarily by a player spending coins into a pot to tell a part of the story and getting the whole pot when the other players have a majority agreement that that Teller did a good job at making a setting with one player unable to contradict a part of the story already told. One coin or point gives one sentence with up to one conjunction. Playing a session takes a while and sessions often go across multiple days to even weeks or months. Players often meet where there is quiet so each player can be heard. It is an ancient game that came about when telling stories in a play with multiple people and the game can be observed by a crowd of people who can even add a part to the story and receive coins to play further. It can be played as a gambling game with the intent to make a story worth the wager. The game has spread to other parts of High Shana and Middle Shana as a game of idle entertainment to even a job for some people. People who play for the money become great Tellers who convince other players that they can bet the can add a part as well.

### Ledian Kite Battles

A sport found mostly in Ledentil as well as Mashkatil where players fly kites with the goal of knocking other players’ kites out of the air. They do this by having razors and spikes attached to their kites to render other kites unable to fly. Conducting this sport requires the ability to control the flight of the kite both to damage other kites and to prevent one’s kite from being damaged. Teams can be made and the last team standing is the winner.

### Middle Shana Glider Racing

A sport found mostly in Middle Shana where players sail gliders from the top of a hill to try and get the furthest distance out of all the players.

## Berbanian Games

Berbanian Land Sail Racing. A sport found mostly in the regions of the Great Sand Sea and also the Shana Badlands and has also been adopted in Ikeka where players race land vehicles propelled by sails across the landscape. The first person to reach a destination is the winner, sometimes giving recognition to the second and third place winners. The sport requires a vast landscape with few obstacles, preferred to be flat but that is quite rare.