Kyrio Tag

By Moe Lane

This is the sport among Kyriotates: a new-fledged Domination will play it constantly, in much the same way that many human children grow up playing baseball or soccer. Few of the Choir ever lose the taste for playing it: it's both fun and excellent practice.

The simple version requires two or more Kyriotates, a target area in which to play and several 'balls' (which can be any item that is both distinctive and not too heavy). The rules are likewise simple: each Kyriotates' 'ball' must be carried from the starting area to a designated home base. The wrinkle is, each player must possess a fixed number of entities (usually 10 to 20) along the way - each of which has to carry the ball for between one to five minutes. The first player to get there with a ball (and without dissonance) wins.

A very dry explanation ... but it doesn't even begin to describe the rush involved. The home base is usually chosen (with malice aforethought) to be difficult to reach normally - and there's usually no time for careful planning. Find a host going part of the way, track down another with the pigeon you're using as a scout, intercept the new host, switch in a quick flurry of resonance, then bug out and look for another ride ... all without making anyone suspicious, or yourself dissonant. When done properly, you can sometimes get a glimpse of what it's like to be an Ofanite; when done improperly, well, you could end up anywhere, quite thoroughly lost.

Still, it's addictive.

The Great Race

Needless to say, little piddling trips around town are fine for the newly fledged, but more experienced Dominations require something a bit more ... challenging. The Great Race does nicely in this regard. Held once a year (on a different continent each time), it is the elite example of Kyrio Tag: every Archangel sponsors at least one team, as does several of the larger Heavenly groups. Betting on the outcome is, of course, strictly forbidden.

Of course.

The rules are somewhat different:

1. Instead of one Kyriotate per ball, there are three. The ball must not advance unless it is in the personal possession of at least one of the Kyriotates.
   
   
2. Hosts may be kept indefinitely, so long as no dissonance is gathered.
   
   
3. The distance of the Race may be no less than three thousand miles, and must have at least one viable land route.
   
   
4. The ball may not be an artifact of any kind.
   
   
5. The ball must be on the corporeal plane at all times. A ball in a Scabbard is not on the corporeal plane, so don't even try.
   
   
6. Flight of any kind (for the players and/or the ball) is strictly forbidden, with one exception (see next paragraph). This includes (but is not limited to) airplanes, helicopters, kites, gliders, circus cannons, being put in a Superior's pocket and carried along, slingshots, siege engines, mass drivers, being drop kicked by a Superior into the next county, any form of transportation that utilizes matter/energy conversion, Tethers, any Song of Motion, Numinous Corpus: Wings, the Space Shuttle or the Archangel of Creation. There will be Seraphim Archangels checking on this, by the way.
   
   Use of naturally flying organic entities is acceptable, provided that the entity would be capable of carrying the ball unaided and will not provoke undue comment while doing so. The use of extinct animals is strictly forbidden.
   
   
7. Each team may call upon help from Servitors of their Word. Such aid may not consist of any action that would break any of the other Rules, or any action designed to hinder another team. Examples of prohibited actions include (but are not limited to) roadblocks, legal proceedings, the appearance of the Inquisition, sudden shifts in the weather, rains/plagues of rats or any other animal, free beer, Superior Invocations, juicy targets, difficult ethical choices, process servers, inquisitive journalists, convenient patsies, large amounts of disturbance or the Archangel of Creation. See Rule 6 for a reminder about the verification methods.
   
   However, the above Rule does not apply to the team itself.
   
   
8. The first member of a team to get to the home base area with its ball wins. Victories may be shared by up to three teams. All team members must be without dissonance, or else suffer disqualification (among other things).
   
   
9. Have fun.

   

   Back to the INC Mainpage.
   Back to the Settings page.
   
   Send mail to the Curator