The Games of Fortune are a tournament called by the Regent of the Seasons in accordance with The Charter of the Land. They can be called at any time according to the Charter, but the games are rare due to the potential for damage to Imperial Citizens and to London herself. Only two games have been called in the Third Empire- one in the 1960's called by Emperor Alexander to fill his seat as King of Summer and one in 2010 called by Queen Edane to celebrate her birthday.
Basic Rules[]
See also The Charter of the Land#Games of Fortune
- Part One: The Call- The games can be called only by either the seasonal regent or the imperator of roses.
- Part Twp: The Bid- Before the tournament begins, each court must "bid" a prize to honor the caller of the tournament, starting with the season that has most recently fallen heading to the season currently in power. After all courts have bid, the caller of the tournament makes the final bid. It is traditional to bid items or services of some status, but not so much as to overbid the court that will follow you. Each bid must outdo the one previously, by tradition.
- Part Three: Judging- 7 Judges must be appointed. The Judges are in charge of making the games go smoothly and are sworn not to actively influence any part of the games for or against any participants.
- Part Four: Joining- The games can be open to either all Citizens of The Empire or to members of a single court. Likewise, an entry can be a single individual (common in summer tournaments) a motley (common in spring tournaments) or even an entire court or freehold acting as a single unit.
- Members of the nobility do not enter the tournament. It is unclear if they cannot enter or simply do not enter.
- Part Five: Setting the Rules The games are traditionally run as a single-elimination tournament, with the "challenge" of each round being decided upon by the caller of the tournament.
1960's Games[]
The 1960's games are remembered today due to the bloodshed involved. All contests were Combat-Oriented and many ended in deaths. Due to the prize (Alexander's recently abdicated throne) cheating and sabotage were rampant during the games.
2010 Games[]
Queen Edane called the games on the heels of near catastrophe for the Empire, obstinately as a distraction from the chaos that was going on.
Rules[]
The games themselves called for 6 motleys (or groups of contestants) in each court to compete against each other for the title of "Seasonal Champion". The seasons of opposition would then face off (Autumn vs Spring and Winter vs Summer). The final two teams standing would face off for the eventual prize.
Bidding[]
There was only one round of bidding, as is traditional. The bids went as follows-
- Winter
- Bid made by Mr. Black
- 24 hours of impenetrable protection.
- Autumn
- Bid made by Lord Vallum
- One song from the Armonica, warping the emotions of one mortal permanently.
- Summer
- Bid made by Sir Beryl Whitehall
- Jack Ketch service, the ability to kill any Fetch in the empire without reprisals
- Spring
- Bid made by Wes Price
- The Very First Edition of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelly
- Queen Edane
- One hour in The Black Treasury
Competitors[]
2010 Brackets for the Games of Fortune
- Spring
- The Lovers
- The Modern
- The POSH*- Made it to court ending round
- Artisans
- The Temple of the Pound*
- Trouble Ahead- Victors of Spring
- Summer
- Blackstreet Manor- Made it to court ending round
- Household Cavalry*- Victors of Summer, Victors of the Games
- Royal Regiment Red
- The City of London Police
- Third Regiment*
- Water's Edge
- Autumn
- Caliphate
- College of Nightmares*- Made it to court ending round
- Conclave of the Wyrd*- Victors of Autumn
- The Darkloved
- The List
- The Warren of Jade
- Winter
- ?- Made it to court ending round
- ?
- ?
- Sun Banishers- Victors of Winter
- ?
- ?
* denotes a team that received a royal "bye" in the first round