Game is Life

In an alley just off the District Anbar's recently infamous Sixth Street, Rufus the Player holds court. Until quite recently, he was Rufus the Vagrant. Or Rufus the Drunkard. Or Rufus the Unwashed. You get the idea. I have always known Rufus as a Player, though lamentably few share that cognizance. At the En'Kara Fair of 10,148, Rufus of Ar played a masterful Game against Karl of Kassau. It was not a Game on the main stage, of course, for neither Rufus nor Karl are of the prestige of a Scormus of Ar or even a Centius of Cos. It was, however, a memorable match. I do not know how Rufus became disillusioned and vagrant, a social outcast in a city that once sang his praises, but I hope a new board with finely tooled pieces will remind him that not all of us have forgotten him. I have a standing appointment with him once at the end of each hand to play. I am certainly no master of the Game, I merely know the movement of the pieces. I tend to rely far too much on the Scribe piece which, in northern Kaissa is called the Skald or the Singer. The reason for my preference for stratagem involving that piece seems self-evident. Still, Rufus insists I play with him. So I will play.

Some say life is Kaissa, and I do not dispute the notion. Every person is a piece on the board, each with his own attributes and his own purpose. The best Kaissa is nuanced; several factors, several components, several stories unfolding on a single plane that, in the hands of masters, manage to come together at the end. There are games within games. Some are distractions. Some are seemingly incidental but evolve into the main thrust of the advance. There are times you stare puzzled at a match, at the motives involved with the moves. 'Why did he do that?' 'He has left himself vulnerable!' Many times, the witness is perfectly astute in his observation, but from time to time he is witness to something unexpected. Perhaps the Player pairs unlikely pieces to achieve his desired end. That can be dangerous Kaissa, riddled with pitfalls. It can, however, against all the odds, change the Game forever.