Ebavisseto Ecūniē Narrûiē-to Fūria

Questions or discussions about Almea or Verduria-- also the Incatena. Also good for postings in Almean languages.
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Pedant
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Ebavisseto Ecūniē Narrûiē-to Fūria

Post by Pedant »

I really hope my Cuêzi's not as bad as I think...
Anyway, to anybody who remembers the few mentions of this game (called ecuni in Verdurian, I believe), could someone explain the rules? Or is it left open to the imagination? If so, is it free for an attempt?

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So Haleza Grise
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Re: Ebavisseto Ecūniē Narrûiē-to Fūria

Post by So Haleza Grise »

I don't think the rules have ever been recorded.
Duxirti petivevoumu tinaya to tiei šuniš muruvax ulivatimi naya to šizeni.

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Re: Ebavisseto Ecūniē Narrûiē-to Fūria

Post by Pedant »

What, never? It's just left open? Hmm...well, all I can recall is that a) it's probably played on a flat board, whether square or circular, b) it involves at least two types of piece, knights and kings, and c) it appears to be the Almean equivalent of chess: an ancient and intellectual game that tends to be played by folk who don't get out enough (personally I really like the game, but this is what I got from the Verdurian Culture Test).

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Re: Ebavisseto Ecūniē Narrûiē-to Fūria

Post by zompist »

I haven't worked out rules because, well, designing a good classic board game of the level of chess or go is not easy.

But I think I'll try to work out a JavaScript mockup.

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Re: Ebavisseto Ecūniē Narrûiē-to Fūria

Post by Pedant »

With your permission, I may have a possible variation that I should like to post. (Again, please excuse any and/or all of my mistakes in Cuêzi.)

There are two sides, the city-dwellers (sindilō) and the conquerors (enaxêti). Neither has to be the actual winner (ebrinas) of the game.
The board is set up for 10X10 squares, slightly more detailed than an average chess board. The majority are “land” tiles, but an 8x2 section on the side of the board is composed of “water” tiles, and are entirely the domain of the ships.
There are five types of piece: the king (narrûos), the hero/warrior (ecūnas), the rider (enalādas), the archer (eguendas), and the ship (coādo; this last from Meťaiun).
The aim of the game is to take out at least one of the narrûi of the opposite side (called checkmate or brinias); without one, the other can fight on, declaring Second Hour (sêrrâ brosa), but often the game is brought to a close.
The ecūni, for the most part, move one square at a time, and capture diagonally forward, like our pawns. Unlike our pawns, however, they are capable of what is known as an asāna or phalanx form (from Meťaiun aťana “army”), where two ecūni, lined up vertically, can jump over one another in order to retain formation throughout the game. If they reach the end of the board, then they simply turn around again, which can prove advantageous at times. Both sides have fifteen.
The narrûi, without a doubt, are the most important pieces in the game; they can be captured at any time, but they also have the largest range (five squares) of any piece, and can move in all directions. Unlike the eguendi and enalādae, the narrûos cannot jump over other pieces. They do, however, have their own version of the asāna called the asāna go narrûco or “king’s formation”, where the king can move either one or two ecūni standing beside him along with him for three squares, creating a better defended formation. There are always two narrûi a side.
The game could just as easily be called enalādae eguendi-to, or “archers and riders”, to emphasize the main difference in both sides. The difference seems minimal at first; both can move in any direction, four spaces, and can jump over other pieces to reach the spot they wish. The difference lies in the way they maneuver. Enalādae can change direction while they jump, but can only move four spaces, no more, no less. Eguendi can alter the number of spaces they jump, be it one, two, three, or four, but they cannot change direction as they move. The enaxêti have four enalādae; the sindilō, four eguendi.
The coāda is unique among the pieces in Knights-and-Kings, not only because it is the only piece that can move on the water tiles unaided, but also because it cannot be captured. The coāda has an asāna of its own, carrying one piece at a time along the board. The two ships can circle one another, but they cannot fight; any piece “carried” by a ship is considered out-of-range as well (on the water, of course; if the ship pulls in the enemy lines, they risk being captured.. Effectively, the coāda is a transport, and when played properly can be used to great effect. Each side has only one.
The sindilō position is simple: the two narrûi are at the rear and center, within the “city walls” made by the other pieces. To their right and left are two eguendi a side; in front of all of these are two rows of ecūni, five heads strong. There is a second phalanx on the far left beyond the leftmost eguendas, but it is shunted one row back to cover the Kings’ Row. On the right, next to the rightmost eguendas, is the coāda, for now with a single, solitary ecūnas on board, in a similar formation.
The enaxêti position is best described as switched; unlike the white-black formation in chess, however, the pieces are also positioned differently. The narrûi are in a formation called a sodīllas or clan, effectively surrounding the narrûos on all sides but the centre front with pieces. The coāda formation is the same, but is now on the left; the four enalādae are arranged in a square formation on the far right.

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Re: Ebavisseto Ecūniē Narrûiē-to Fūria

Post by Pedant »

Some possible alterations and additions:
1. The coāda is simply a flat tile with an ecūni on top.
2. The enaxêti move first.
3. The asāna go narrûco can take four pieces instead of three: the king and three heroes.

A lot of the details came from reading the Count of Years, but also the footnotes in the Silver Age play from the Book of Cuzei, whose name I don't quite recall. This is where, for example, the bit about the ships being on the left came from. I'm not actually sure why I'm writing this; just a tidbit or two in case anyone's interested.

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