If you have read "System" you will know that a chess game plays a prominent role. It's not just any old chess game however, but the version which emerged from the complex culture of the novel. Here are the rules of "hexapod chess" as played in the...
There are two players, who each have eleven pieces:
The Chief (or King)
The Matriarch (or Queen)
Two Scouts (or Bishops)
Two Hunters (or Rooks/Castles)
Five Sentries (or Pawns)
In true Grach-Bal, there are three players (see three player variant).
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The creatures known as hexapods, lived in highly complex social groups of between six and twelve. These 'clans' are in constant competition with those around them for the limited resources of their dry and baron environment.
Each clan has a unique culture and language which distinguishes it from those around it, although their are many common words and features. As clans merge or conquer each other, their language and culture develops and changes.
As 'stone age' creatures, their small family groups are centred on a chief and a matriarch - who is usually an older female rather than the mate of the chief. Most of the clan is female and individuals take on specific roles like hunting, scouting or tending the young. The chief and the matriarch generally assign roles and issue instructions.
