GLoGtober 6: Playing War (hypogeum)

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As previously stated, Folk play a game called War. Well, game is a light term for it, but it certainly isn't actual war. They treat it a bit like it is, though. Each Folk village has a sort of platform or rostrum near its center. Sometimes it is used for orating (ambitious humans be warned, get in the Folk's graces before trying to get up on there, or you will be heavily accosted). But when Folk formally declare War, it is used as a Goal area. The goal of the game is to get some items, called gazae, from the opponents rostrum to yours, while protecting your own items. Opponents will negotiate the gazae to be warred over, but most often it is some treasures. The game will either last a predetermined amount of time, or until a certain number of the opponent's gazae have been scored. The gazae can be scored back by retrieving them from your opponent's rostrum. Human readers will notice some similarities between this and Capture the Flag.

There aren't any rules regarding capturing opponents, aside from "do whatever you can to incapacitate them" and "try not to kill them". Part of the terms of negotiations is whether players can use their treasures, whether the gazae or items outside the game. Most of the time, players can use gazae but not items outside the game, because to use the gazae they must be taken into the opponent's territory, and opponents might then use those gazae themselves. 

Sometimes the gazae is more symbolically important, such as the force of their shrine or symbolic items, like a beloved statue. Sometimes the gazae are mere tokens. Sometimes those tokens signify important things, like rights to use a piece of land, or vassalage. Villages get to keep the gazae they capture, and these are either kept communally or given to the participants who did the most to get them.

The practice of War is very important. Refusing a war outright is a shame on a village, while cheating at War shows other villages that they are not to be trusted. War shows off the accomplishments of a village, while providing the opportunity for less powerful villages to get needed assets. It also, obviously, provides a way to settle conflict, as well as test defenses and strategy. Any race can participate in War, often in specialized roles.

Also its pretty fun.