Dark Citadel Times/Reports/Sports

Special Report, Novemember 02, 2008

Sports of the Colonies

Dakrus Somra

This a compiled report of the sports found in the colonies, sorted by location of origin, and with credit given to source, when possible.

Hulaferd

• Pig Wrestling: A slew of contenders enter a ring- usually just a pit dug in the ground- and attempt to catch one or more pigs before their opponents. The trick is, everyone, the pig included, is heavily oiled down. Only young, fast pigs are used for this sport.

• Warthog Fighting: A sport brought out of obscurity by one of Hulaferd's many attempts at self-government, this sport typically involves one man attempting to subdue two large, angry warthogs. The warthogs' tusks have been specially shortened and rounded off to limit injuries, though players of this sport will often leave it with cracked or broken ribs, and a plentiful supply of bruises. A common variation of this sport involves a team sport of two teams of two players attempting to subdue three warthogs. This variation is even more brutal than the original, if for no other reason than the addition of the players beating on each other.

Outer Tilog City

• Skullball: This game involves specially packed skulls being kicked around a circular field into goals made of interlocked ribcages. The sport is known for it's brutality, and the special rules that allow for the death and consumption of opponents. A more mainstream version was picked up by the surrounding nations in which the balls are made of hollow wooden balls tightly wrapped in cloth. The goals are made of intricately honeycomb-cut wood.

The game, in either variation, is played so that certain goal targets gain points, where other targets lose points. However, if the ball is touched by an enemy team member first, the points are the positive version of that hole. As the lowest point value for a goal is -10 and the highest is +5, there are many attempts at trick shots into the -10 hole. This is in addition to the scoring bonus of 2 points per ricochet off of a person, and bonus point per ricochet off anything else. The Outer Tilogian original version of the game has additional point scoring rules, but the brutality of them has seen to their removal in the common variant.

Unknown Origin

• Hitball: This game involves large teams of players throwing wrapped wooden balls- as from Skullball- at the other teams. Contact with a ball causes a player to be "out", while catching an opponent's ball causes a player to come "in". This game has numerous variations, some of which include terrain obstacles. It is commonly believed that Hitball has it's origins in Outer Tilog, perhaps as a remnant of their war-tactics or dinner decisions, though some others claim the game as Lukonian in origin.