The Game of Werheg

[garentoft 8353]

 

 

WERHEG

Written by

Lauritz Henrik Christiansen

and

Sofiya Aleksandra Baruch

 

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Origin and History of the Game

The game of Werheg, meaning “to roll” in the New Marian language, is an ancient Haeseni game invented by the peasants of old. Originally called Werheg Herzenz, meaning “to roll lords”, by its peasant inventors, it started out as a way for them to vent their frustrations with their liege lords. The original game featured a wooden ball being rolled towards several candle-shaped Herzenz with the amount ranging between 6 and 28 in older versions. The Herzenz were usually simple and made out of wood, though some peasants who could afford the time or money had depictions of local nobles carved into their Herzenz. While the game was incredibly popular among the peasantry, it failed to attract the attention of the nobles primarily because of the game's origin. However, a rebranding of the game in the modern age has seen its popularity soar among the nobility, who simply refer to the game as Werheg, though the tradition of having depictions of nobles on the Herzenz has stuck, with the nobility opting to have painted caricatures of their rivals or foreign nobles. The quality of the depictions on one’s Herzenz are therefore often seen as a show of wealth. The game’s first official rules were released in 323 ES (1770 AHS) and penned by the hand of Grand Lady Sofiya Baruch.

 

Rules of the Game

The game, in its essence, is quite simple. It is played with 10 Herzenz lined up with one in front, two behind it, then three, and lastly four. Each round a player has two balls that are rolled towards the Herzenz with the purpose of knocking over as many as possible. If a player knocks over 10 Herzenz with their first ball, this is known as a Trazk. If a player knocks over all 10 Herzenz in the same round, this is known as a Lauldtrazk.

 

When a player scores a Trazk they are awarded the 10 points for all 10 Herzenz, plus the points from their Herzenz in the next round. That means, if a player scores a Trazk in the first round and then knocks over 7 Herzenz in the next, they will be awarded 17 points in the first round plus 7 points in the second round. 

Ex. 

Round 1, Ball 1: 10

Round 2, Ball 1: 3
Round 2, Ball 2: 4

Round 1: 10 + (3 + 4) = 17
Round 2: 3 + 4 = 7

 

When a player scores a Lauldtrazk they are awarded the 10 points for all 10 Herzenz, plus the points for their first ball in the next round. That means if a player scores a Lauldtrazk in the first round and then knocks over 6 and 2 in their next round, they will be awarded 16 points in the first round plus 8 in the second round.

Ex.

Round 1, Ball 1: 8

Round 1, Ball 2: 2

Round 2, Ball 1: 6

Round 2, Ball 2: 2

Round 1: (8 + 2) + 6 = 16

Round 2: 6 + 2 = 8

The game is played for twelve rounds (or any multiple of twelve), and the winner of the game is simply the one with the highest score at the end of the game. Scores are recorded on a scoresheet throughout the game. On the scoresheet, a Trazk is marked by an X and a Lauldtrazk by a /.

 

[Juli 1340]

Sofiya Baruch frantically ordered her own Werheg set, the Herzenz personalized with the face of her husband, Petyr Baruch. “I can’t wait to finally take out my frustrations with my new Werheg set!”

[yopplwasupxxx 5665]

“What a remarkable game.” says the Tarcharman as he watched townsfolk bowl in the alleys of Reza.