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With the ever growing understanding of how critical a role sports, in- and of- themselves, play within society; I wanted to throw out a quick question regarding what athletic sports are commonly entertained within the city of Korvosa?
I could hypothesis that some sort of swimming event, and possibly a variation of rugby, might be popular amongst the trainees at the Endrin Military Acadamy. The Great Tower might be the focal point of an aerial sport amongst the hippogriff riding marines of the Sable Company. And finally, a popular sport, entertaining the noble houses, the nouveau riche, and many common folk, might be horse racing.
Although all of these could be well seeded ideas, I don’t see any specific references to support their logistical feasibility, either in the text, or the map of the Guide to Korvosa. (i.e. Sporting grounds or fields.)
Does anyone have any ideas toward this concept? And, in lieu of the subject matter, I’d like to openly ask what thoughts people have about possible sports that would be entertained by the population of Korvosa? (NB: In specific regard/relevance to the general population’s urban lifestyles and political affiliations with Cheliax – if these factors even do indeed play any consideration!)
With the ever growing understanding of how critical a role sports, in- and of- themselves, play within society; I wanted to throw out a quick question regarding what athletic sports are commonly entertained within the city of Korvosa?
I could hypothesis that some sort of swimming event, and possibly a variation of rugby, might be popular amongst the trainees at the Endrin Military Acadamy. The Great Tower might be the focal point of an aerial sport amongst the hippogriff riding marines of the Sable Company. And finally, a popular sport, entertaining the noble houses, the nouveau riche, and many common folk, might be horse racing.
Although all of these could be well seeded ideas, I don’t see any specific references to support their logistical feasibility, either in the text, or the map of the Guide to Korvosa. (i.e. Sporting grounds or fields.)Does anyone have any ideas toward this concept? And, in lieu of the subject matter, I’d like to openly ask what thoughts people have about possible sports that would be entertained by the population of Korvosa? (NB: In specific regard/relevance to the general population’s urban lifestyles and political affiliations with Cheliax – if these factors even do indeed play any consideration!)
Swimming? Hmm...jigsaw sharks, devilfish, reefclaws...nope, no swimming for me if I'm a Korvosan. ;-)
Seriously though, the others sound like fine ideas. I'll let them simmer awhile and see what I come up with.
Oh, another one might be a summoning battle between students of the Acadamae, using items that extend the summoning time to ensure a good fight.
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I believe there's an arena of some sorts in the southwest portion of Korvosa... might wanna check that out in the Guide (I can't recall if any sports were mentioned there...). But certainly, in the third adventure, there's a pretty warped sporting event that the PCs get to take part in. I don't want to say much more, so to avoid spoilers, but the rules for this game were certainly based on a real-world game that could just have easily be a popular game in Korvosa.
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MY view of Korvosa is that it is very similar to the city of Venice, and that it has features similar to not just to that city but also its dual heritages in northern Italy and Byzantium. Therefore, for sports I see Korvosa having an annual athletic contest similar to the Palio di Siena. That Palio is a horse race, but there is no reason an equivalent one could be privately owned hippogriffs for an aerial race as opposed to a land one. Other contests could include archery, jousting, crossbow shooting, charioteering, bullfighting (or substitute monster of your choice) or anything else you'd like.
As for opposing factions, you could either divide the city into wards, or use the city's nobles as the competitors. You may want to add some minor noble families to go along with the noble ones.
At the same time as the Palio happens, there could be rival pageants, parades, or parties hosted by each competitive faction. Each neighborhood would root for their own team, and there'd be team colors and flags with all the typical sports boosterism.
There would probably be one main colleseum or hippodrome where these contests occur, and I would suggest a nice central location convenient for the city's elite, but which would allow access by the commoners ina way where they wouldn't enter the good neighborhoods. I would place it between Castle Korvosa and the Acadamae along the seashore.
The Great Tower might be the focal point of an aerial sport amongst the hippogriff riding marines of the Sable Company.
Hmm...maybe a combination of aerial race with perception testing and weapons practice. Metal rings could be hung on buildings in various parts of the city. The Sable Company's best are sent out through the city. They have to sight the rings, then use lances to collect them. First one back to the castle with the most rings wins.