Saki, also called "Seyell" in Nermeran or "Troll and Paladin" is one of the most favourite games in all taverns throughout Santharia. It is played by common people, but especially by soldiers.

History. The origin of the game is unknown. Of course there always were various kinds of gambling, especially among soldiers and tavern visitors, so it is most likely that Saki developed from these games which most likely were be played with bones or stones which only have two, three or four sides.

The today's version of Saki is supposed to have been invented by soldiers of Kyrania who are said that they hunted a band of trolls and drove them into the Paeleon woods and encircled them. Instead of driving them out of their hidings the leader decided to "besiege" this part of forest. So the soldiers waited outside and as this siege was quite boring they invited this kind of game.

Well, this story seems very doubtful as there are only few trolls living that far south and it seems very unlikely that someone would besiege a forest. The story seems more like a way for the people of Erpheronia and Centorauria to complain about the behaviour of the ancient kingdom of Kyrania, where people more likely sit down and wait for a conflict to solve on its own instead of pushing forward to gain victory by decisive battles.
Still, propably, the game was invented by bored soldiers during a very uneventful campaign and that way spread among whole Santharia with many variations and additional rules.

Diagram. Not necessary.

Equipment.  3 six-sided dices, two normal differing in color and one which is two-colored (any color-combination possible, but red-blue or green-yellow are the most common). Furthermore you need anything you might use for betting.

Game Set-Up. Normally two people look for a private spot, using any kind of suitable equipment as table (you should know that gambling is officially prohibited in barracks and castles) and start dicing. Often also one bottle of ale or wine is involved as well.

Rules. There are lots of variations of the rules, but following are the general ones. In certain regions other rules are common - you should check the rules before losing all your money due to a "special case" you hadn't known so far...

Typical Saki-Rules:

• You agree which of the normal dices is the "Troll" and which is the "Paladin". The two-colored one is always "Seyella" (Goddess of Destiny) but it has to be decided which color stands for which player.

• You agree on the size of each bet and how much money will be have to be put into the pot when you start over.

• You roll the dices. If the "Troll" counts higher you've to pay the difference between both values into the pot if the "Paladin" is higher you win the difference out of the pot.

• If both values are equal, "Seyella" decides. If "Seyella" shows your own color you win the whole pot. If it shows the opponent's color you have to pay the value of both dices into the pot.

• Weapons are not allowed!

• The game generally ends when one player runs out of money or calls "Saki" meaning he doesn't want to challenge Seyella any further. The opponent wins the rest of the pot then.

Modified (Tar-Saki):

• With every roll you have to pay or win from the pot. When the "Troll" is higher the player who just rolled has to pay and the other one wins. When the "Paladin" wins it is the other way round.

• The same occurs when you throw a "Seyella's Gift". You or your opponent wins the whole pot while the loser has to fill the new pot.

• You can only leave the game when a 'Seyella's Gift" is thrown.

There are also variants that can be played with more than two players or with whole parties but the rules are often altered that way that they have nothing or only little to do with the original game.