Nido Games

The Nido Games File:Nido Games Logo.png  Flag and logo of the Nido Games. Designed by Dunxter The Nido Games was a sports event that took place during the summer of the year 88 TE. (September 10th to 14th of 2021) in the cities of Nibury and Nidaros. Organised by Delta Aulian and Ralozi Miva and loved by many, it became one of the biggest events ever organised in the history of Eldham.

Origins
In ancient times, The Nido Games were a yearly event run by the Nido tribes. This Rithean culture inhabited the northeastern region of the Drakesland and the south of Valresh. Revolving around the cult of the body and mind, Nido athletes would meet in their ancient dwelling, the settlement of Nibury to compete searching for the champions of the Nido.

Unknown, lost to time, are the exact challenges that these ancient warriors faced to earn the honour and glory of the clan. However, Drakaen and Nidarosean archaeologists would find more and more about the old customs of these people, and, together with descendants of the tribes, the knowledge about the existence of these events would be preserved to modern times.

The Revival of the Games
Many centuries after the last games had been held by the Rithean, the Drakaen peoples of the Kingdom of Nidaros began to gain interest in the native cultures of Drakesland. It was then that the traditions of the Nido folk began to sprout again. A Rithean interested in the rites of the old, Ralozi Miva, and Delta, the Hand of Nidaros, patron of many archaeological sites, would end up meeting and sharing their ideas and motivations.

Delta had an interest in promoting peace and unity in Drakesland through sharing cultural experiences and building up a new shared identity after the fall of the Regnum Drakaes. Both would agree that an event such as the Nido Games would be perfect for the people of Drakesland and the entirety of Eldham. And so, a season after Delta founded The League of Vircon, the project for the revival of the Nido Games began. The new Secretary General of the League herself took care of the planning and financing of the infrastructures. To achieve so, a total redevelopment of the abandoned settlements of Nibury and Sorbia, just south of the city of Nidaros, had to take place. A big stadium began to rise among the decaying buildings of the abandoned towns. Soon, a set of roads and signposts were added, followed by a market, a port and an archery range. Bird-like iconography was all around, in honour of the Nido Tribes that once inhabited the place. And, almost two years after the entirety of the Nidarosean and Amarillian masons had arrived in Nibury, the sports complex was finished. The construction of the stadium became one of the most impressive engineering feats of the Drakaen people after the collapse of the Regnum Drakaes.

While Delta was overseeing the operations in Nibury, Ralozi travelled all across Eldham and met with many embassies of nations from afar. His intention was for everyone to know what would take place in Nidaros. They needed as much participation as possible. Most of the biggest Empires confirmed the assistance of their athletes. Everyone wanted to face their abilities against each other. The Nido spirit travelled across the globe.

The Event
By the summer of the year 87 of the traveller’s era, everyone was in Nibury ready for the event to begin. Many distinguished personalities of the high spheres of Eldham attended. The athletes were ready to begin their contest in the set of sports that the organisers had ready for them.

Sports of the Games
A total of eleven different modalities were designed for the Nido Games. These mainly were in the fields of combat and racing but more were added to make it more dynamic and test other abilities among the Eldhamites.

Fighting Sports
The most basic of them all was the Sword Duel contest. Thrown at the arena of the stadium, the objective was as simple as to defeat the opponent. To achieve it, the athletes were given an Iron sword, a set of iron armour, a bow, fifteen arrows and ten loaves of bread. The matches were played in a best-of-three (Bo3), except the final, which was played in a best-of-five (Bo5). Similarly, the Axe and Shield Duel contest would measure the strength of the athletes. The objective was the same, however, the gear given was an iron axe and shield, as well as a set of iron armour, an iron sword, twenty wooden planks, a bow or crossbow (chosen by the athlete), twenty arrows and twenty loaves of bread. The matches were Bo3 and Bo5 for the final.

Way different was the modality of the Sumo Duel contest, where the athletes would face each other on a raised platform with nothing else than a set of iron armour and their fists. The objective was either defeating the opponent or throwing them off the platform. The matches were played off in sets of Bo5. For the finals, the contestants faced each other in three sets of Bo5.

Hectic was the Deathmatch contest. In a free-for-all fashion, all players had to jump into the arena and fight for five minutes. Whoever got the most kills would win. All defeated contestants could take a new set of gear, which consisted of an iron chest plate, a stone sword and five baked potatoes, jump back at the arena and keep fighting, but only five times. For the last competition of the Fighting category, the Capture the Flag contest, teams of four had to be formed. Both teams had their own three flags on each side of the arena, the objective of each was to cross the arena and get each of the enemy flags before the opponent would do the same. Athletes would wear their teams’ colours above their heads for easy identification. Fighting was allowed, and to do so, athletes were given an iron chest plate, a stone sword and axe, shears, twenty coloured wool blocks and ten baked potatoes. In the middle of the field, a wooden structure was set, dividing each team’s side with a pit that had to be crossed building a bridge. No contestant was allowed to carry more than one enemy flag at the time, limiting the rushing abilities of the teams. All participants were allowed to come back as many times as needed after being defeated. Every team faced each other and the one with the most victories and flags stolen would win the contest.

Racing Sports
The first of the races was the Horse Race contest, where in groups of four, the athletes had to complete three laps around an obstacle course while riding a horse. In a different facility from the Main stadium, the course consisted of an elliptical-like racing track with logs and stakes on the ground to make the race more dynamic. Each racer would wear a banner over their head with a distinctive colour. All participants received horses of the same breed to make sure the result was only dependent on the rider’s skill. The winners of each group would face a final race where the winner would be decided.

Athletes would test their rowing skills in the Boat Race contest, where, by boat, groups of four contestants would need to follow a long and curvy way through the coastline and rivers of the surrounding areas of the sports complex of Nibury. Like the horse race, each participant member would carry a banner with a distinctive colour and the best of each round would face each other in the following one until only a winner would stand. Obstacles of different natures would be on the way to interfere in the athlete’s way. On foot, the athletes had to run across obstacles to complete the Parkour Race contest. Back to the main stadium, a complex set of wooden structures was risen. In three different sections, platforms and obstacles were placed. Between sections, checkpoints were placed, in case the athletes would fall off the race. In the same way as the previous, the best of the groups of four of the race would pass to the following rounds to the final.

The Triathlon contest would test the expertise in the three of the disciplines above. Beginning by horse, a group of four contestants would go around the horse racing track and leave for the stadium. There, they would need to leave their mount and begin the parkour section, very similar in structure to the Parkour race contest, but shorter. Then, the athletes would have to run towards the coasts of the Segrespent River, get in a boat and row to the harbour of Nibury. As usual, the best of each group would advance to the following round.

Others
The Range Archery contest tested the accuracy of the athletes. It was divided into two phases. For the first one, an archery range was built. In it, eight targets were placed. The eight targets were 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40 and 50 meters away from the shooting line, respectively. The further the target, the larger the number of points the archer would receive. The contestants would have ninety seconds to shoot sixteen times at any of the eight targets. The four athletes with the highest score after the sixteen arrows were shot would pass to another stage. This final stage took place in the main stadium, which had been adapted and filled with targets. The four contestants would have a set of targets to hit in a limited time. The one who in the end had hit the most would be the champion. The points each target gave in the first phase are as follows: 5m, 1p. 10m, 2p. 15b, 3p. 20m, 4p. 25m, 5p. 30m, 6p. 40m, 9p. 50m, 12p. The other modality that wouldn’t fit in the fighting or racing category was the Build Battle Duel contest. Here, the athletes had access to a full set of iron tools as well as scaffolding and several double chests full of building materials. They would be given a theme, such as “Tower” or “Haven”. Then, they would have eight minutes to build, with the resources given, a structure as close as possible to their vision of the chosen theme. The winner, decided by the organisers of the event acting as judges, would pass to another round. Following the same structure, there were matches until only the champion stood.

Athlete Fees and Prizes
Anyone interested in becoming an athlete and participating in a discipline of the Nido Games had to sign in and pay an entry fee of $3000. Additionally, they had to pay $500 per discipline they would take part in. For the ones who wanted to just enjoy watching the games, a Nido Pass was distributed, with a price of $1000. This pass granted access to all facilities during the entire event. All the money raised with these fees, added to contributions from the organisers, was spent on prizes for the winners.

In total, $285.000 would be awarded to the champions as prizes. As well as the money, the winning athletes would receive a diploma certifying their victory and a Champion’s Feather, a symbol of mastery in the disciplines of the Nido.

Without having to pay any kind of fee, all nations could send an envoy to the games who would work as national representatives during the different ceremonies and games.

Participation and Winners
By the first day of the games, 73 athletes had signed in as athletes for the different categories and 15 nations had sent representatives. Several people from Drakesland and Valresh signed in as staff and contributed to the building process of the facilities or helped during the Event.

List of Nations and Athletes
The nations of the athletes (IGNs) who submitted for the competition and the total participation the nations had in the modalities are as detailed in the following table. Not everyone participated since some athletes were missing by the time of the different events.

Hall of Fame
A list of the champions of each modality.

National Medal table
A table showing the results of each nation in the different modalities * Nº of Medals without counting the Capture the Flag contest, where teams of mixed nationalities were formed.

Legacy
A brief time after the conclusion of the event, The Nido Games were portrayed in the satirical newspapers from the CoG, Nuts & Bolts.