Games

Ball and Quiva: Tuchuk children play with a cork ball. One throws the ball, while the other attempts to strike it with a quiva. Bat and Ball: There are two men on each side, and the object is to keep the ball out of the hands of the other team. No one man may hold the ball for more than the referees count of twenty. He may throw it into the air, over his head, and catch it a ain himself. The ball may be thrown to a partner or struck to him with the bat. The bat drives the ball with incredible force. This is somethin like a ame of !keep away! with two men in the middle. The first !knock off! is when the ball is served to the enemy. " man can be hit by a ball driven from the opponents bat. This is a common trick. #t is very difficult to intercept or protect oneself from a ball struck with reat speed from a short distance. There is a variation similar to ice hockey usin paddles and played on ice. Ball Toss: There is a cloth ball, stuffed with ra s, that is thrown about. Bean Race: $everal slaves are lined up on hands and knees. %ach must push a bean with her nose across a finish line yards away. &en commonly place bets on the race. Bones: %ach player, in turn, drops a bone, one of several in his supply. %ach of the bones is carved to resemble an animal, such as an arctic ant, a northern bosk, a lart, a tabuk or sleen, and so on. The bone which remains upri ht is the winner. #f both bones do not remain upri ht there is no winner on that throw. #f both bones should remain upri ht, they are dropped a ain. " bone which does not remain upri ht, if its opposin bone does remain upri ht, is placed in the stock of the one whose bone remained upri ht. The ame is finished when one of the two players is cleaned out of bones. Cat's Cradle: This is similar to the %arth fin er strin ame. 'irls face one another while kneelin . (ith strin arran ed around their fin ers, they create intricate desi ns. Northern irls are very skilled at this ame. Cups and Pebbles: $imilar to %arth)s !shell ame,! this ame involves uessin . $mall, inverted metal cups are used. " coin, pebble, or small object is supposedly placed beneath one of the cups. They are then moved about, rapidly. The odds are with the *house,+ so to speak, especially when the coin or pebble is not placed under one of the cups. This is a ame that lends itself well to sli ht,of,hand manipulations. Dice: There are numerous forms of dice ames played on 'or. &any ames are commonly played with from one to five dice. The knucklebones of a verr are usually used to create dice. They then have

their marks painted on them. This is done to try to make sure that they are fair. $coopin out numbers on the side may not be fair, since the amounts scooped out may not be equal, meanin the dice will not roll fairly. $ome do try to scoop out equal amounts. $ome cities make these type of dice and sell them in sealed bo-es. The dice have supposedly been cast .// times and their results were close to mathematical probability. 0oaded dice are used by some unscrupulous people. %ach number on a die is called by the name of an animal thou h not all of these names were iven in the books. !0arl! is the ma-imum hi h on the die rolled, basically a si-. "n !urt! is the lowest value, a one. " !verr! would equal a roll of a four. " !sleen! e-ists but it is not stated what value it represents. There are two unknown animal desi nations as well. Girl Catch: This is a popular ame played in a variety of ways on 'or. #t can be informal or very formal. #n the basic ame, a slave irl is hooded and belled. $he is then let loose for hooded men to seek and capture. #t is forbidden for the irl to stand still for a certain interval, commonly a few #hn. $he is under the control of a referee who uses a switch to encoura e her to move and to mark her position. $laves try to hone their evasive skills in this ame and some irls et quite skilled at it. #n another form of the ame, it requires one hundred men and one hundred women. The object is to capture as many women as possible and place them into your 'irl 1it while protectin your own women. #n these lar e ames, free women often play. Kaissa: This is probably the favorite board ame on 'or. The word !kaissa! is the eneral 'orean word for ! ame.! 2ut, when used without qualification, it means only one ame, 'orean chess. #t is played similar to %arth chess, the object bein to capture one)s opponent)s Home $tone. "lmost all civili3ed 'oreans, of whatever caste, play 4aissa. There are many clubs and competitions. &ost libraries have many scrolls on strate y and techniques. Meat Catch: $lave irls are knelt in a line, hands bound at their backs. %ach slave, one at a time, is thrown a piece of meat. #f the irl catches it, her &aster scores two points. #f the meat is missed, all irls scramble on their bellies for it, the winner scorin one point for her &aster. &en commonly bet upon the ame. Soccer Game o the Red !unters5 The ame is similar to soccer. " leather ball is used with oals established, either drawn, set or a reed upon. 'roups of people play the ball to the opposition)s oal in order to score. Spear Thro": This seems to be a martial skill ame involvin the distance a spear is thrown. Sta Contest: " contest where men spar with staffs. Stones: This is also known as uess stones. #t is a uessin ame where a certain number of stones are held in the hand, usually two to five, and you must uess the number. 6ou et a point for a correct uess and you can then try a ain. #f you uess wron , your opponent ets a turn. The ame ends when one person reaches a set number of points, usually fifty. There are many variations of this ame. #t

may also be done by uessin even or odd number of stones. "ny small objects may be used such as stones, beads or even ems. There are even intricately carved and painted ame bo-es containin carefully wrou ht !stones! for the affluent enthusiast. The ame is not simply an idle past time. There are numerous psycholo ical subtleties and strate ies involved. Tournaments are held and certain people are known as champions at the ame. %ntire estates have been known to chan e hands over a ame. Ta#: &uch like the %arth ame. (ineskin 2alance5 " wineskin is filled with wine and reased. &en try to stand, balanced, on it for an ehn. The winner, who accomplishes this, ets the wine. $ometimes, the winner may have a choice of pri3es. There is a small fee to play, usually a tarsk bit. $ar: This is a board ame common in the Tahari. #t bears some similarities to the %arth ame of checkers. 7ar uses a 4aissa board but the pieces are placed only on the intersections of the lines. %ach player has nine pieces, of equal value, which are ori inally placed on the intersections of the board)s ed e closest to the player. The corners are not used in placement. The pieces are commonly pebbles, sticks or bits of verr dun . 1ieces move one intersection at a time unless jumpin . One may jump an opponent)s pieces or one)s own. " jump must be made to an unoccupied point. &ultiple jumps are permitted. The object of the ame is to effect a complete e-chan e of the ori inal placements. The first person to do so wins.