Chess

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"Throughout the ages, since before even the Four Brothers themselves, history has been determined by the outcome of various battles: Battles of Magic, for Voidal supremacy or Deific servitude have shaken the very foundations of existance;

Battles of Might, with Brawn and Steel have determined the rise and fall of nations since the earliest renditions of society...

But the most ancient conflict of all? The Battle of Wits."

-Valmir Synalli (in an attempt to coerce his defeated Chess opponent into another game), Haelun'or C. 1570.

The game 'Chess' is of muddy origins with timeless sets found in scholarly buildings, religious temples and political seats amongst all of the intelligent races. Alongside such, naturally, many cultures have come up with their own explanation for where it came from:

Many Tribesman and Shamans of Krugmar for instance share in the belief that Krug himself invented the game with the assistance of Vuka (the spirit of Warfare) shortly after Iblees lay his curse upon he and his descendants, so that those that came after him could learn the value of strategic combat and keeping a level head on the fields of battle, in a failed attempt to counter their savage bloodlust.

Amongst the Brathmordakin of Urguan's descendants there are rumours that Yemekar sculpted the first Chessboard to do battle against Khorvod in an orderly manner, without disrupting the essential balance of his creation. Others suggest it to serve as a measurement of a Golem's mental ability (a Golem able to beat its master at chess is either a marvel of runic technology or a sign of a troublingly unintelligent Golemancer). Image result for fantasy playing chess art

In seats of high nobility in the many tenuous kingdoms of Man, the game is said to have originated as a flexible Battle-Map to plan for the conflicts that brought down the first Holy Empire of Oren. More narcissistic humans on the other hand have explained it to be "a way for houses too poor for bannermen to wage war on eachother".

And amongst the Elves explanations differ, some Druid of the Mother Circle suggesting it to have simply been discovered amidst the ruins of the destructive mage-factions that fell in the Great War which began the first Druidic order. Other suggest Malin to be its inventor, for it to be used as a means of honing the mind lest it dull from the strain of eternal life. Another explanation offered by the scholars of Haelun'or is that one of Larihei's followers introduced the game as a means of testing the cognitive ability of young mali'aheral so that they might be deemed prepared for the shock of a Voidal connection.

Whoever its maker and whatever the initial purpose claimed for the game, amongst all peoples familiar Chess still follows a similar set of rules and pieces. It is played upon an 8x8 check pattern square board and there are two sides, begging each with 16 of the same pieces of two separate colour variants:

8 x Pawns, generally the smallest pieces which occupy the full line furthest from the player they belong to at the start of the game. On the first use of each pawn it may move two spaces forwards, then one space forward at a time. Pawns can take pieces one space diagonally forward left or right of them, though cannot take pieces directly forwards of them.

2 x Rooks, generally shaped akin to watchtowers or small castles, which occupy the furthest rear-left and rear-right spaces to the player they belong to at the start of the game. Rooks can move up to 8 spaces forwards, backwards, left or right (though not diagonally) at a time and take opposing pieces within reach of those restrictions. If a Rook is to advance to the far side of the board from where it began, it can be exchanged for any new piece of the player's choice besides a King (substitute pieces sometimes being necessary for duplicates).

2 x Knights, generally shaped akin to a mount or a humanoid riding one which occupy the second furthest rear-left and rear-right spaces to the player they belong to at the start of the game. Knights can move 3 spaces forwards, backwards, left or right then 1 space either left or right of the original 3 at the end (though no more or less than this) and possess the unique ability to pass over other pieces in their paths.

2 x Bishops, generally shaped akin to a religious leader or the headwear of a religious leader atop a vertical pole which occupy the third furthest rear-left and rear-right spaces to the player they belong to at the start of the game. Bishops can move up to 8 spaces diagonally forwards or backwards left or right at a time and take opposing pieces within the reach of those restrictions.

1 x Queen, generally shaped akin to a political matriarch or the headwear of a political matriarch atop a vertical pole, which occupies the rear central space of the player's side's colour (a player using white pieces, for instance, would place their queen on a white space, assuming the sides to be black or white). A Queen can move up to 8 spaces diagonally or straight, forwards, backwards, left or right at a time and take opposing pieces within the reach of those restrictions.

1 x King, generally shaped akin to a political patriarch or the headwear of a political patriarch atop a vertical pole, which occupies the rear central space of the player's opposite side's colour (a player using white pieces, for instance, would place their King on a black space, assuming the sides to be black or white). A King can move 1 space diagonally or straight, forwards, backwards, left or right at a time and take opposing pieces within the reach of those restrictions.

If a player's own King is ever 1 enemy move away from being taken (pieces being taken by enemies landing on the same square the piece previously resided on in their turn), the enemy must declare 'Check'. Once 'Check' is declared, the player's move in response must be dedicated to taking their King out of 'Check' by either moving it, taking the enemy piece posing the threat or blocking its path if possible. If a player cannot get them self out of 'Check', the pair will declare 'Checkmate' and the enemy (who got their opponent's King cornered) wins. In a scenario where this becomes impossible to be achieved by either party (due to a lack of pieces) the players will declare 'Stalemate' and the game will end in a draw.