You know me as The Stranger.
Citizens of Egypt, today we turn our attention to a discipline that I hold particularly dearly... that of Conflict.
Of all the disciplines, Conflict was the one that troubled your ancestors the most; the discipline that came closest to thwarting their bid for immortality. Will your society fare any better?
"Why should we bother? What can we achieve through conflict that we can't achieve more easily through cooperation? A perfect society will be devoid of conflict!" Conflict is everywhere. You cannot be blind to it. I see people arguing about who builds where, who mines what, who leads projects. We have some here who would even fight over a pile of silt! There will always be conflict, for we shall never agree on anything. The true test is whether your are able to channel and embrace the energies of conflict, without letting it tear society apart.
Conflict breeds competition. Competition, in turn, breeds innovation and strategy - a sharpness of decision, and a drive to survive.
It is true that there were a few great visionaries amongst your ancestors, great oracles who understood the worth of conflict and rallied others to their cause. They raised a colossal statue between the tributaries of the Nile. But most of your ancestors were weaklings; lesser men who conspired their way to a false victory... those who saw the goal to be more important than the journey. They saw only games within games.
Egypt, your society is also weak. Already I see people who only conspire to advance the standing of their friends - those who corrupt the value of my Tests... and I know that as further challenges are unveiled, the resolve of others will falter... You may not be as lucky as your ancestors. Will your failure to master the discipline of conflict will be the final undoing of this society? Let us see.
The Universities carry records of an ancient game played by our ancestors, a game involving both strategy and forethought. Perhaps you have already noticed the game courts near the city centres? Citizens of Egypt, my latest challenge is set... Let the Test of Heket's Rake begin!
-- Gharib
Heket's Rake is based on the game "Philosopher's Football" or "phutball". The skill showing your advancement is named "Heket's Rank," and has no known practical benefit.
The game is played on a 15x9 board. There are two types of piece on the board: the rake, and mushrooms. The goal is to move the rake to your side of the board. The first person to sign up for a game at a rake court will play west, and the second player will play east. Play alternates with west moving first; to compensate for the first-move advantage, the rake starts offset one square in east's direction.
This is no longer true. It was changed when Teppy made the first player random. Directions are also random, and the first player might start off going east or west. A better way to determine what direction you are going is to look at the offset rake. First player always has a longer distance to travel.
On each turn, a player may either place a mushroom or move the rake. Mushrooms may be placed in any open square on the board. The rake moves by jumping over one or more mushrooms vertically, horizontally, or diagonally to an empty space. The jumped mushrooms are removed from play. It is possible to chain multiple jumps together.
For example, consider the following board ('R' indicates the rake, 'M' a mushroom):
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M M R M . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
West may jump the two mushrooms to the left of the rake, followed by a jump over the lower-left mushroom, resulting in this board:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
It is not possible to jump off the north or south edges of the board. It is possible to jump off the east or west edges, resulting in a win for that side, unless that move would also take it off the north or south edges. (Note that it is sufficient for the rake to reach the final east or west row for that side to claim a win.)
Akhet wrote a fantastic program for recording and studying rake games. It is available here. It is extremely useful for planning ahead. Most good rake players will plan at least 4 or 5 moves ahead.
(See also: Tests, Conflict, Hekets Rake Ranking)