Five Kings

The Emperor and his five kings.

Five kings is the common name for a board game that is popular across the entire region. The literal translation from the oldest known mention of the game is 'The Emperor and his five kings'. This was found in old texts written in Imperial Naalva a language that hasn't been used in over a thousand years. This leads to even more questions, however, as the Naalva Emperor was always female, and the name is quite specific about it being 'his' kings. The standard game is played on a circular board that is divided into eight wedge-shaped parts, these parts are then further divided into rings and squares. The board itself is modular with several variations of the wedges being available to choose from. the pieces can come in two main variations, static, and mobile. Static pieces are things like towns, cities and fortresses. Mobile pieces include infantry, cavalry, generals, kings and queens. The players agree an initial 'buy-in' at the beginning of the game. half of this they keep and half goes into the 'pot'. They can then use their remaining cash to purchase game pieces during play to build their kingdom.

Each segment of the board is known as a Field. Each square on a field can be one of several 'terrain types'. A standard square is known as a plains square. These are the most common. There are also Mountain, Forest, Desert, and Water squares. The arrangement of these squares varies from field to field, with over 30 different officially named fields available.

Glossary

Active: a 'piece' that may be placed on the 'Game-board'. Active pieces may move around the board from one square to another depending on its 'Movement Restrictions'. Active pieces can group together to form 'Hosts', and may 'Attack' one another.
Attack:
Field: One of the wedge shaped segments of the board divided into twenty-one 'squares'. If and extended for of the game is being played, a single field contains thirty-six squares.
Game-board:
Host:
Movement Restrictions:
Piece: A playing piece that may be placed on the 'Game-board' that may include 'Static' or 'Active' pieces. Most pieces are flat, but some may be carved or shaped depending on the piece.
Square: on location on a 'field' where pieces may be placed.
Static: a 'piece' that may placed on the board, but not moved. These include things like a 'village' or 'Fortress'.