The zone has a lot of Centipedes. It has more than
enough.
Tipping over a stone or tearing away a chunk of bark will
reveal some and they can be found pretty much everywhere, trying to eat pretty
much anything. Most zone inhabitants will receive a nip from a frustrated
centipede at some point but the poisons they carry are not strong enough to be
anything but an irritant to a human being.
Though they do not prey on mankind or provide any significant
threat, they are still a vital part of zone culture. Centipede fights, and the
betting upon them, are one of the few leisure activities in the zone and the
only one which unifies all classes and stations, ages and genders, though they
are especially popular with the cohort which is both male and high as fuck.
WHAT HAPPENS IN A BOUT
Only the largest available Centipedes are used to 'duel'.
This particular species can grow to between 8 to 12 inches in length and come
in a range of colours. Centipedes of dramatically different sizes will never be
allowed to fight, this would be unsporting.
The Centipedes are starved for a day or for two, then
placed in an enclosed space together. They fight to the death and the winner
eats the loser
The classic bout takes place on a cut piece of fallen
cloudgrave frond lodged in the ground and flattened off like the trunk of a
carefully-felled tree. Smaller bouts can take place on flat stones or, in a
'blind fight' the two creatures can be thrown together into a bottle or bucket.
MECHANICS OF A DUEL
SIMPLE
This is a good mechanic for a simple fight between two
Centipedes of average status on which the PC's are betting an insignificant
amount of money.
First each trainer decides whether they are starving
their Centipede for one day or two (most will starve to death after three).
One-Day Centipedes roll 2d6.
Two-Day Centipedes roll 1d12.
----To Begin----
First, once Centipede must insult the other. (The trainer
will usually do this for them.)
Second, the other Centipede must demand an apology or
satisfaction.
Third, after a brief pause for drama, the first Centipede
offers satisfaction.
The crowd goes
"ZZZZZZzzzzzzZZZZZZZoooooOOOOO-AH!", slowly raising its hands in the
air and, on the "AH!", dramatically slamming them to the ground.
The Centipedes are thrown into the ring.
The bout begins.
----Each Round-----
Each Centipede rolls its dice.
If the total numbers match for each creature match the
animals are assumed to be grappling. That round is discounted.
Whoever reaches 13 first is the victor.
COMPLEX
If PC's have staked a significant amount of money, or
perhaps an important favour, on the result of a bout, then they may wish to use
these slightly more complex rules.
The PC themselves should model and roll dice for their
favoured combatant, the DM, or perhaps another PC, should roll dice for the opposition.
A Centipede is assumed to have 10 hp, an AC of 10 and to
do d6 damage on a hit.
A 'two day' centipede has +1 to hit and initiative, but
-1 to AC and hp.
These stats count *only* to simulate Centipede duels,
they do not carry over into 'real life'.
Both parties should agree on the size of the ring and map
the rough position of their Centipedes. If a Centipede is driven out of the
ring area, it forfeits the match, and, traditionally, the owner of that
Centipede must then eat it alive in front of the crowd.
----To Begin----
First, insult.
Second, the other demands apology or satisfaction.
Third, pause, then "Satisfaction!"
The crowd goes
"ZZZZZZzzzzzzZZZZZZZoooooOOOOO-AH!", slowly raising its hands in the
air and, on the "AH!", dramatically slamming them to the ground.
The Centipedes are thrown into the ring.
The bout begins.
----Each Round-----
Both parties make attack rolls. If they hit, both make
damage rolls. These are considered to have happened at the same time.
After attack and damage rolls have been made, but before
the results are applied. The parties roll a d6 for initiative. Whoever wins
initiative can declare one of the manuvres below to avoid or enhance the effect
of a blow.
• 'Retreat!'
: If they got hit, the Centipede may avoid the effects of an attack roll by
declaring a retreat. Their opponent can move them a number of inches equal to
the opposing attack roll.
• 'Entangle!'
: If they hit the Centipede can wrap around its opponent. This does no damage
but stops them from declaring a manoeuvre next turn and lowers their AC next
turn by the value shown on the damage die.
• 'Focus'
: Instead of attacking, the Centipede concentrates on their enemies weaknesses.
Their next attack gets a +1 to hit and damage. This bonus stacks. If a
Centipede concentrates every round for 3 rounds and then hits, their attack
gets a +3 to hit and damage.
CENTIPEDE LORE
The unusual aspect of Centipede duelling in the Zone is
not that the animals are forced to fight, (games of a similar kind can be found
in many cultures) But the sophisticated lore that surrounds the assumed
character of the Centipedes.
In the Zone, duelling Centipedes are considered personalities
in a complex, evolving drama.
Any duelling Centipede must be given a name and a title.
The title must be a noble one. "Sir" or "Lady" at a
minimum. (Note: the actual gender of the Centipede has no effect on its name or
title). Usually, but not always, a centipede will start at relatively low rank,
however sometimes a centipede will be given a relatively high-status name
straight away if it seems obviously appropriate to the creature.
Exactly what makes the name appropriate is not always
clear. Some might have a distinctive feature or particular quality of
behaviour, i.e. a wounded Centipede might be called "General" or a
torpid one "Bishop", a beautiful one "Queen" or a
dramatically-limbed one "Emperor", but the exact relation of title to
creature is never exact, though the crowd will certainly know if a centipede is
poorly named and will mock its pretension.
As well as a name, each Centipede has an assumed
character, back-story, personality and, if it survives long enough, a dramatic
and labyrinthine personal history.
The Centipedes are imagined in the public mind as Nobles
vying against each other in some dramatic, continuous, ever-expanding tale.
Some Centipedes are assumed to be 'good' or heroic creatures, and some are
assumed to be 'bad' or villainous. This has no effect on their popularity with
the crowd, though bouts between one 'good' and one 'bad' creature always draw
the biggest crowd and largest bets.
Zonal Centipedes come in a range of colours, from dim
blue-black, to pale white, red, green, purple and some 'colourless' Centipedes.
Centipedes of the same colour will be assumed to be of
the same Noble family, organisation or house, though this does not mean that
they will not fight against each other
Like a street-name or an in-joke, no one person can
assign a Centipede its 'character'. The exact details of the imagined history,
personal background, and the invented slight that brought two centipedes to
battle are an emergent property of the audience. These histories might flex and
shift their form a little for a few bouts, but if a centipede keeps surviving
then its history becomes legend, to be preserved and transmitted rather than
argued over or invented.
Some of the more famous have a notoriety that passes
through the generations. Old zonals will often happily sit and talk of the
great centipede duels of the past, and will often remember the imagined
personal histories of their favourite centipedes.
Though a losing centipede always dies, the character they
play can return. Sometimes, if a Centipede is found which seems similar enough
to a previously defeated one, and if it seems appropriate, the 'character' may
return to the ring, perhaps to avenge their previous defeat. Such a creature
might be painted black to signify that it is 'incognito' then, should it win,
the ink will be washed off and its true name and nature revealed.
(If it matches its evolving story, a Centipede might even
be painted a different colour to signify that it has betrayed its house and
gone over to an opposing house.)
Of course if a famous character returns to the ring and
dies in the first bout, the crowd will simply say that they were a Pretender or
'false' centipede and that the 'real' personality is still out there,
somewhere, awaiting their return.
Players should always name their own Centipedes, but here
is a selection of possibilities.
Title
1. Sir
2. Dame
3. Lord/Lady
4. Baron/Baroness
5. Prince/Princess
6. King/Queen
7. Cardinal
8. Bishop
9. Sultan
10. Seneschal
11. Caliph
12. Shogun
Name
1. Snips-it-all
2. Cephalophant-seen
3. Debt-off
4. Gargantua
5. Rock-rider
6. Acidic
7. Click-and-close
8. Knees-Please
9. Toefucker
10. All-Poisoning
11. Mole-Fear
12. Infinite Twist
Insult
1. For the honour of a lady
2. Suggested cuckold
3. Accusation of cowardice
4. Inferring false parentage/false colours
5. "A snake with legs", "long bee" or
other claims of false species
6. Physical weakness, Too long and thin "like a
marked string", Too short and fat "like an accordion", weak
poison "water in your forpicules.
7. Contemptible house "Effete Blues",
"Savage Greens" etc.
8. Too wealthy and therefore lacking knightly virtue
"no more than a usurer/banker" etc.
9. Too poor and therefore not true nobility ("Poor
Knight" Centipedes usually considered 'good guys' by the crowd
10. Ancient enmity i.e. Blues must always challenge
Blacks, all must challenge the Colourless house etc.
11. Claims of false colouration ie "painted",
"no true green" etc.
12. Desire to challenge the most noble and potent (common
challenge for 'good guy' centipedes)
