Asyangritan→ or "9-lines" is a strategy game played on the islands of Irtongalan.
The game is played on a 9x9 board, on the intersections of the lines (similar to go). The goal of the game is to create a connected line of your pieces from one side of the board to the opposite side. The purple line marked with green circles above is a winning line. Pieces are considered to be connected when they are orthogonally adjacent.→
As in go, you place your pieces onto an empty intersection. This is the only move of the game. The goal is directly countered by the capture rule.
Capture in Asyangritan is custodial, which means that a straight line of enemy pieces can be captured by flanking its ends with your own pieces. It is worth noting that if purple were to play into the small gap created by orange's pieces, this would not cause a capture of purple's piece.
While these are the complete rules, you may get the impression from them that this is a battle of wits. The culture around the game is quite opposite to this view, at least in courtly settings. In this context, it is expected that both players converse and discuss each other's moves, making suggestions all the while. The winning of the game is not the point, it is the creation of a beautiful game. This is seen as a high art, requiring collaboration from your opponent and your own wit. Game records are thought to tell dramatic stories, or at least the good ones do. Certain victory shifting to gradual defeat, setup and payoff, entrapment, schemes, and all good dramatic elements can be found in the play of Asyangritan.
Among commoners, it is played competitively. In this context, poor play is seen as indulgent, as if one is too used to the courtly style or can afford to lose. Many can't, as in these contexts betting can be involved.
Thanks to Yaz — whom I love → — for inspiring and sticking with me. This is the first written record of these rules. I wouldn't have thought to do any of this without her creativity and passion for worlds beyond this one. It is for her that this exists.