The Language of Battle Balt

For those rare few Imperials that know nothing about Battle Balt here's a detailed look at the most important words and expressions used.

Balt:

The name given to the spherical projectile used in all Battle-Balt contests. A balt must be manipulated to ultimately enter your opponent’s trem zone, once accomplished the balter scores a tremor. An official balt weighs 2.7 kg, with a width of around half a foot. Its construction must fall within 1% of official standards for the results of a contest to stand.
A balt has a core of viram making it impossible to break. The second layer is a heavily compressed stone to add weight and turn it into a deadly weapon. The third and final layer is a micron thick rubber sheet to allow it to bounce of walls and not to kill but render unconscious those hit directly on the head. The balt’s outer layer often gets damaged and is replaced after every 2 tremors scored.
To allow the weighty projectile to travel at such incredible velocities every balt has a tiny hole in which an injection of the Lords essence is added creating a direct link to the viram core. One drop sets the viram core spinning and the gyroscopic effect allows the ball to hover when left alone. Once contact is made, velocity is added, and the ball becomes a living weapon rendering most competitors unconscious if direct contact to the head occurs.
Point of interest: The original balts were formed of a lighter construction; A small central core of stone, followed by a thick layer of viram and covered with the same rubber layer. However, in keeping with Battle Balts warrior age the balls were amended to include a thicker rock layer making them twice as heavy. There are a multitude of different Imperial meanings for using balt. Read Language of Lendor for more details.

Balter:

Name given to a Lendorian who is a professional combatant in Battle Balt. Balter's are often classified as athletes, warriors or Snipers.
Athletes use their speed and agility to win by scoring 5 tremors.
Warriors use their body as a weapon to land a K.O. before their opponent can score 5 tremors.
Snipers hit the balt to either: 1.) score tremors or 2.) smash an opponent in the head for a KO.
Read Intisar the Invincible for more details.
When a balter is facing a shot from their opponent. They are called the defender and must prepare their power glove or blade to receive the approaching balt attack. The attacker is a balter with control of the balt ready to shoot.

Balters Garb:

A balter is allowed to wear some or all of the below items (Read Balter Clothing for more information):
Kiltoth: Covers a balter's waist area and must not extend beyond the knees. (Leather bandage wraps can be worn instead of a kiltoth)
Saviour: A small hardened box placed under the Kiltoth to protect a balter's private area.
Strasos: A few bands of decorative leather material placed over the chest and used to hold a balter's motif.
Pesos: The tight-fitting sandals used by balters with the more expensive options including bands that wrap around the calves.
In the early days of Battle Balt a combatant could choose to fight naked. Known as natural balting but with the increased weight and speed of the balt this naked practice lost appeal over a century ago.

Blade:

The weapon used in Battle Balt for one of 3 tasks. 1.) Propel the Balt towards your opponent's trem zone (or towards them, if using balt as a weapon).
2.) Defend your trem zone or protect your body from the balt.
3.) Defend yourself when a warrior opponent enters his half to attempt a KO.
There are many unique types of available blades with each one offering advantages and disadvantages according to the class of balter competing.

K.O:

When a balter is knocked unconscious due to a Balt collision or a physical attack (not using their blade) by their opponent.

Power Gloves:

Used to help slow down the balt or summon the balt into your hand (if within range). Gloves also provide non-Aurae gifted individuals access to these abilities (like calling shields, curving the balt, more powerful blow strength or enhanced agility) but if a balter abuses these gifts the beam of taint will stun the balter into paralysis. (Read Balter Clothing)
Control hand: The control hand is the balters hand that doesn’t hold the blade. This is the hand that wears the power glove.

Rab:

The popular name given to a person who supports a balter or simply loves watching Battle Balt contests.

Tremena:

The common name for the arena where all Battle Balt contests are played. Consisting of:

• Trem posts (Aka trem goal)
• Trem zone
• Tacticians box
• Beam of Taint
• Launchers and Retrievers
• Target zones
• 4 Straight Walls and Angled ceilings
• White Lord's Statue
• Pillars of Filloch

Read our Tremena article to learn more about these features.

Tremor:

When a balter propels his Balt into his opponents trem zone he scores a tremor.

Trem zone:

There are 2 trem zones in every game of Battle-Balt: one for each side and coloured according to the combatant's preference. A balter hopes to send his balt into his opponents trem zone whilst protecting his own area. If they succeed a tremor is scored.

Advanced balting terms and expressions

Batallion (Noun and Verb):

A charge or physical attack that doesn't use your blade. Often used when entering an opponent's half and smashing into them with your shoulder.

“End It!” (Phrase):

A common phrase screamed by rabs when the crowd sense an opponent is weakened and ready to be KO’ed. Or when a warrior holds the Balt over a KO’ed opponent, and the crowd are waiting for him to score the winning tremor.

The Lord's Strike (noun):

The quote Fein and Imperial balters say before the Lord’s Strike: “My light is pure to refuse the dark, Blood for Blood from soul to soul, to victor by tremor in love of the White, I swing for the Lord with all my might.” The Riktus (not known for speaking more than 10 words at a time) have shortened it to “Glory in blood, victor by tremor!” It is tradition that before each fight the competitors hit the white Lord statue as hard as possible. The belief that the hardest hits are heard by the Lord himself who will endow great fortitude to those deserving. Legend also adds, whoever can cause an imperfection to the statue (no matter how small) will summon the White Lord and can ask for any wish they desire. This however has never happened in Lendor’s history, the statue remaining as scratch and blemish free as the first day the Guardians introduced them to Lendor.

One-Tier Balter (noun):

An unpopular balter who doesn't have enough rabs to fill one-tier in an arena stadium. Each tier consists of 4 rows of fans (Approximately 500 - 1000 people in total depending on the size of the arena's stadium).

Rabble (noun):

A group of rabs are referred to as a rabble. A rabble gets together, normally after several Greggles and will sing songs and chant humorous lyrics in support of their favourite balter and often to annoy opposing rabbles.

Riot (verb and noun):

When two opposing rabble groups (who are both likely grabbled) challenge each other the result is a chaotic fist fight also known as a riot. For some reason. Imperial females generally do not participate in such endeavours leaving it to the males to have all the fun.

Shot of Purity (Aka Pure Shot):

If a balter commits an offence, it is punished by allowing his opponent to take a Shot of Purity: A single throw from the pure spot against your opponent.

“Shoot the balt!” (Phrase):

What the crowd often scream to start a contest just before the balt is launched into the arena.

Sniper (noun) / Snipe (verb):

A sniper is a balter that often uses the recent, Fein-released, Snipe-Driver blade in contests. They prefer to keep their distance from an opponent using the long-range precision accuracy of this blade to score tremors or land KO’s.
Point of interest: The value of the name snipers is important in Lendorian history. Snipers were the famed Fein archers who using the legendary sniper bow. A combination of their skill, aurae power and the bows incredible precision meant they could use arrows to hit targets that other warriors couldn’t even see. Exact details are not clear, but it is rumoured the Fein sniper elite rebelled against the Fein king and scythed through his army until eventually being stopped by his elite Royal Guard.
The few snipers that survived the rebellion escaped and now live in hiding within the impregnable walls of Imperias City calling themselves Sniper balters in a further attempt to infuriate the forest king. Instead of chastising the defeated warriors the Fein king's general honoured them by creating the Snipe-driver which strikes the balt with incredible precision allowing for long range shots on an opponent’s trem zone. If rumours can be believed, the Fein king was furious at his second-in-command and has led to increased tensions within the Fein ranks.

Squawker (noun):

An annoying rab who doesn’t know anything about Battle Balt but follows his favourite combatant around screaming obscenities to the other competitors and occasionally getting into fights with other rabs. In Imperial society it is also a derogatory word to mean someone who blindly follows someone without thinking about why they follow. E.g.: Don’t be a squawker do what you think is right. Squawk (verb): to scream at someone when you don’t know exactly what you are talking about. E.g. “Stop squawking at me, you're speaking out your rectum area.”

Written by Gertrus Rosine‌

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