Game of the Fayett

The game of the fayett is a children's game for the Ceree.

The game has been around for as long as anyone could remember and all Ceree children stubbornly try to play it. It has a high entertainment value for not only the children but for elders who watch the children that play bicker over anything that happens.

It has been deemed impossible to win in the Game of the Fayett.

History
The Game of the Fayett is rumored to have begun with the very first groups of astronomers amongst the Ceree. It was said to be a defective star-chart made by one of the members that eventually went insane. Someone found it a good joke to put some wooden discs and invent a game. After that, it caught on. It began as a form of entertainment for the Avalhein Council. Pretty soon though, the elders got tired of it since no one seemed to be able to finish a single game.

Soonafter, Sah'manhik, leader of the so-called Pthelaron Guild, The guild of astronomers that invented the game, played the game with her daughter who in turn played it with her friends. Back then, the Ceree were a single unified body under Malkknrre and the popularity of the game surged. It began to spread like wildfire, both among mature Ceree and children alike.

Everyone laughed in frustration as every time it seemed the game was nearing a close, the rules of the game would make it begin all over again. It was a wonderful distraction for troubled times and pretty soon, whole trades were abandoned by those who completely immersed themselves in the game. Eventually, the game lost popularity and was seen as a waste of time by the adults, the children, though still loved playing the game. The continually confounded themselves on how the game seemed to be impossible to beat.

Gameplay
The Game of the Fayett has a fairly straightforward system at the beginning, but it gets more convoluted as the game progresses. The rules are plenty and the mechanics of the game are highly complex. The only reason that elders allow children to play the game is that they claim that it helps develop analytical and tactical skills.

Materials
Like any other game, the Game of the Fayett has materials that are necessary for the function of the game.

The Board
The board is either a square of lightly colored hardwood or of age-darkened ivory. Any other material is considered as gross negligence of custom and regarded as near-blasphemy. The lines and the shapes on it are chiseled in and set with a special ink that does not come off. After that, the board is covered in sap from a tree that is imbued with magic to settle transparently.

The Pieces
There are a total of twenty seven game pieces in the game of the Fayett. Five pieces with feathers carved for the Highwind, Four with scales for the Bright Scales, Three for both the Swift Tail and Agile talon, with a tuft of fur and a talon carved respectively, Four for the Fayett and eight pieces with a glyph for eternity placed. There are 31 pieces if one considers the sa'mit a part of the number.

How to Start
The game begins by reciting the rhyme:

"Wind to Sear, Magic to Rescind...

Gold to Bewitch...

Power to Blind...

All these will break all oaths that bind...

He comes and alliance bends

''Oaths will fall to fires that rend..."

No one knows what the rhyme means or where it came from. One of the popular rumors is that it was scribbled on the defective starchart and to make a mockery of the one who made it, the astronomers said it at the beginning of the game.

After the first line, the pieces of the Highwind are placed around the middle circle. After the second, the Brightscales are placed near the upper left, after the third, the Swift Tail at the upper right and the Agile Talon just above the zone of the Fayett, in three nodes that are not adjacent to any of the diamonds. While saying the last few lines, the Fayett are placed in the diamonds and one is placed in the box. After the Rhyme is said, the eight blank discs are placed randomly on the board.

How to Win
The only way to win is to get the Fayett into the four corners of the diamond inside the smallest circle in the middle of the board. The Fayett are not special discs and they are affected by the other discs in the same way as they would another disc.

The Rules

 * To move, all the Sa'mit must show their carved sides.
 * The discs of the Fayett can only move one node at a time, just like the Agile Talon, Swift Tail and Bright Scales discs.
 * The Highwind discs can move two nodes at a time.
 * A touched disc is a disc that is adjacent to another disc.
 * Any disc touched by an Agile Talon disc is put into the triangles and must wait a full three turns before leaving.
 * Any disc touched by the Swift Tail disc is placed into the middle of the board and cannor be removed unless touched by an Agile Talon disc.
 * Any disc touched the Bright Scales disc must be turned upside down and is considered out of the game until touched by a Swift Tail disc.
 * Any disc touched by a Highwind disc is turned into any of four things determined by a toss of the Sa'mit
 * A blank disc if all the Sa'mit show their blank faces.
 * A Swift Tail disc if one Sa'mit shows the carved face.
 * An Agile Talon disc if two Sa'mit show the carved faces.
 * A Bright Scales disc if three Sa'mit show the carved faces.
 * Nothing changes if all four show carved faces.
 * Any blank disc touched by the Fayett discs is turned face up and the sa'mit are tossed to determine what they become. Any disc that is not blank will not be affected.
 * A Swift Tail disc if one Sa'mit shows the carved face.
 * An Agile Talon disc if two Sa'mit show the carved faces.
 * A Bright Scales disc if three Sa'mit show the carved faces.
 * A Highwind Disc if all show Carved Faces
 * They are put into the Three Triangles if none of the Sa'mit show carved faces.
 * The Fayett discs can only be placed on the Diamond when four blank discs are in the three triangles and four other blank discs are in the upper left.
 * All the nodes in the circle in the middle are considered adjacent.
 * One of the Highwind pieces, must, at all times remain in the outer circle of the middle of the board.
 * All four of the Fayett discs must be placed in the diamond's four corners within a turn of each other. That means, four turns must be devoted to placing the Fayett discs in the diamond. If rule is violated, the game is reset.
 * If a Fayett disc is turned into something else, the game is reset, with the exception of being 'touched' by a Bright scales disc.
 * If the circles in the middle are vacant or all the Highwind discs are blank or all the Highwind discs are in the Triangles or in the top right corner, the game is reset.
 * If there are more than twelve blank discs, the game is reset.
 * If a disc enters the three diamonds and square at the bottom other than a Fayett disc, the game is reset.
 * If a Fayett disc enters any of the three diamonds and square at the bottom other than the one it started out in, the game is reset.
 * If a Fayett disc enters the Three Triangles, the game is reset.
 * If a Fayett disc enters the Top Left, the game is reset.
 * If the Sa'mit show the same configuration thirteen times in a row, the game is reset.

Why winning is all but possible
The incredible restrictions placed by the rules conflict in no manner whatsoever. The manner with which the discs interacts, is the problem. No disc can come within another without one or another effect kicking off. The placing of the Agile Talon discs actually makes it possible to have the game reset on the very first turn.

Playing with Companions
A recent innovation in playing the Game of the Fayett, playing with companions added a whole new level of difficulty. The discs of the Fayett are given to the person who recites the rhyme while the discs of the tribes are divided among the players. The youngest player takes control of the blank discs.

Speculations
The Game of the Fayett, although far from the most popular game amongst Ceree is the one game that is almost irresistable to children. Some say that this is because of some sort of magical weave created by the lines on the boardgame that casts some sort of compulsion on the ones playing. Some even go so far as to say that even simply looking at the board one would be enticed to play.

This much has been disproven since adults are impervious to the assumed 'compulsion' caused by the web of lines and placement of shapes.

A Map
Others say that the board of the Game of the Fayett was some sort of a guide around Sylfe. It is said that the symbols and lines on the board are, in some ways, representations of the world that the Ceree move in. This has been the subject of wild debate and often, the discussions do not even finish with consensus. There just has been no way to test whether this speculation is true.
 * The Circles in the Middle: Some say that this represents the heartland or where creation began.
 * The Black Circles: Speculation is that these are small islands in the ocean.
 * The White Circles: Some say that these could be shrines to the Great Ancestors. There are thirteen shrines, just like legend has and only Kaldreiia has but a single shrine to herself.
 * The Triangles: They say that these represent the eastlands which are made of three continents. Alriiea, Malleithen, and Galaria in order of size from the largest to the smallest.
 * The Symbol in the Upper Left: The hills of memory that is the destination for all souls that die. This is a mythical place, but some claim it does exist, some even point to the Game of the Fayett as evidence.
 * The Home of the Fayett: The Fayett are a Ceree myth and were said to be guardians of the planes, immense beings capable of extreme compassion and savagery. It was said that not even the great ancestors were able to match them in strength.
 * The Lines: Said to either be routes around obstacles or lines of energy running between the landmasses of Sylfe. This, is more speculative than theoretical in the views of both those that support the theory of the game being a map and those against it.

A Chart
There are two standing theories about the game being a chart. One is that it is a chart to the many different planes of Shah'Haien. The other is that it is a chart to where the Wayward road travels.

The Planes of Shah'Haien
It is said that the Game of the Fayett is a chart to the many other planes. A few of which are Aznala and Ehvin. It was a theory started by the scholar Tem'haros in the golden era. The scholars behind this banner say that the fact that the astronomer making the defective starchart that started the game went insane is that he saw something and gained knowledge beyond reckoning. The knowledge, they say, backfired on him and made him go mad.

They say that the lines represent bridges between the planes. The center is the heart of Shah'Haien or "The Many Worlds" in a language that no one knows. It was just directly translated as that on a stone in Malleithen that the Ceree discovered in the times of the Avalhein Council. The nodes are smaller planes that are empty and the larger circles are planes that have worlds in them.

The symbol at the top left is said to be the Hall of the Eternals, or the Astrailun as the Ceree have come to know them. The three triangles at the right are said to be The Festering Darkness or a plane dark beyond the blackest black. The symbols at the bottom are said to represent the plane of the Fayett and their respective domains.

Map of the Wayward Roads
This is one of the more vague theories surrounding the Game of the Fayett. The one who started this theory is shrouded in mystery, rumor has it that a day after claiming this, he died. His name doesn't even appear in any of the histories.

It is said that the board represents the openings and destinations of the Wayward roads. This theory is little more than vague speculation as no sort of formal claim has been put forth. The sheer minuteness of those who even believe this theory contributes to its low popularity.