Water walking

You want to make some real money in this place, you need to bet on water walking. I am telling you, water walking is the key to becoming rich.

— A merchant, before losing all his wealth betting

Water walking is the most beloved sport to watch in any civilized human realm. There are different sets of rules, varying a lot even from city to city, but the sport itself is organised into two different disciplines. Both of them require you to walk on the frozen areas of the water. In the former, you must go as far as you can and in the latter, you must walk a certain distance as fast as possible.

History

Those humans are crazy! The most detailed ancient event in their history is... about how their national sport was born. Would you believe that?

— Dwarf merchant

The water walking first appeared soon after the humans crossed river Krisna. It was year 7 AE. The river was feared so much that one of the young wizard apprentices named Troyes decided to prove his courage and magic by freezing a part of the river and walking on it. He slipped and fell in the water, having to be rescued by watching peasants, but next month Troyes returned to try it again, and he failed again. One day, another disciple of Troyes's master attempted to tame the river as well, and he, too, failed.
In a matter of months, these two and their friends, a few apprentices to another master and even Troyes's teacher took up the sport. The idea soon began to spread, past on by its participants, many of whom were now graduated wizards themselves, and the peasants that would come from nearby villages to watch the game. In less than fifty years, water walking became human's national sport, played now by both mages and common folk.

Execution

The first to make it there and back wins a cask of wine, the rest get a swim back to the shore. Now, ready, steady, go!

— Referee

There are, as stated before, two disciplines in water walking: distance or speed competition. Yet, the games within one discipline can take very different forms.
First of all, the game can be played either by common people or the mages themselves. The latter is especially beloved by the peasants because most of the mages come from wealthier families. People enjoy watching the ones of high standing to take a deep and cold fall.
The second difference is whether the participant has to swim back to the shore on his own or whether they would be pulled in with a rope. Walking far without a rope may be dangerous in some places and rarely a year passes without someone drowning in Krisna during the game, but it still is quite a popular thing to watch and, hence, held regardless.
The third difference is the plethora of local rules and circumstances. How fast and cold the water is, how close the ice pieces are, do they form a straight line or not, the distance for the timed competition and whether you only need to walk to the goal or go back as well. That all set the difficulty level of the game, but the biggest competition called Troyes's Challenge is held on the shore of Krisna every year and has had the same ruleset for almost a thousand years.

Observance

The game itself can be played at any time of the year, usually the last day of the week. The most popular day, when all the big games are held, is the last day of any month. The colder the weather is, the more popular and prestigious the game is.
The games usually also act as folk festivals, attracting people from the surrounding area. Many merchants and artisans bring their goods to the towns where the games are held, tents and stand with food spring near river and alcohol flow freely. The last point is precisely why, in most places, it is forbidden to drink before participating in the games, as there have been numerous people drowning in the water due to being drunk.
The enforcement of that rule and the regulations of the overall trade in places of the games has been tightened to its highest as of recently. The cause for that concern was the resonance caused by the rising popularity of the Blue Parties among the young nobles. The key feature of those lavish parties is a game of waterwalking in a pool full of blue-coloured alcohol, a practice unsurprisingly leading to many deaths and thus causing their parents much anxiety.

Primary Related Location

Krisna

Related Ethnicities

• Civilised humans