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t o r y merchant o Baghdad placed five coins in his servants hands

nd sent him to the market or provisions. But shortly theervant returned, gasping and ashen-aced.

Te merchant steadied him by the shoulders, asking,What troubles you, my son?

At the market a woman jostled me I turnednd it was Death. Te servant shuddered. She looked at

me, making a threatening gesture! I beg you, Master, lendme your horse that I may ride rom this city. I will flee toamarra, and Death shall not find me there!

Te merchant granted him his horse, and the servantmounted it, digging his heels into its flanks and riding rom

aghdad as ast as the horse could go.Te merchant pondered awhile, then took up his walking

tick and went to the marketplace. He saw Death among therowd, and approached her.

Why did you make a threatening gesture at my servant?e asked.

Tat was not a gesture o threat, but surprise, she repliedofly. I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, or I have anppointment with him tonight in Samarra.

an ancient Middle Eastern tale

e t u pOne player plays rom Baghdad (black), the other rom

amarra (white). Each player has three tents to match theirity, and one Merchant, Servant, and Death marker. Telayers secretly place their Merchant ace-up and title-outward

n one tent, their Servant similarly in another, and their Deathn the third, in any order they choose. Te board may beeld vertically as a screen between the players during thislacement. Ten, without revealing these choices, theylace their tents into their three city spaces (in any order)

with the symbols on their tents acing their opponent. Play

hen begins.

Beginning Playlayers decide who goes first. Te first player only takes one

move or his first turn.For all turns thereafer, players takewo moves per turn.Tis rule is to counter the first-turndvantage.

Movespiece is a character marker, whether or not still housed

n its tent. Each o the ollowing counts as one move:

Moving a piece.A player may move one o his piecesne space orthogonally (i.e., orward, backward, lef, or right).

A piece may not move diagonally, jump other pieces, oroccupy spaces with another piece. Merchant only: revealing a piece.A player may revealthe identity o an opponents piece orthogonally adjacentto his Merchant. Te player points to the opponents pieceand says, Reveal. Te opponent must remove the tent othe indicated piece rom the board, and replace the markerin the space it occupied, title acing himsel. Te playermust do the same with his Merchant piece, since taking thisaction has revealed it as a Merchant.A player may take thismove only once per game. Death only: killing a piece.A player may kill anopponents piece orthogonally adjacent to his Death. Te

player points to the opponents piece and says, Kill. Teopponent must remove the indicated piece rom the board,even i that piece is his Death, and without revealing it (iit is still housed in its tent). Te player himsel must thenremove the tent rom his Death piece and replace the markerin the space it occupied, title acing himsel, since takingthis action has revealed it as Death.A player may take thismove only once per game.

W i n n i n gA player may win by: Reaching safety.I a players Servant enters his opponentscity while the opponents Death is not inside,that playerimmediately wins. Killing the Servant.I a players Death kills his opponentsServant, that player immediately wins.

A d d i t i o n a l R u l e s Automatic kill.I a player moves any o his pieces intohis opponents city while the opponents Death is inside,the players piece is instantly killed (see above), unless the

opponents Death has already killed a piece. Tis does notcost the opponent a move, but he may not kill again. Passing.A player may chose to pass one or bothmoves or a turn. However, i a player passes both moves,his opponent passes both moves, then the player passesboth moves again, that player loses immediately. Repeating.Except by passing, a player may not enda turn with the board in the same state as when the turnbegan, e.g. move a piece orward, then back. Multi-turnrepetitive patterns are also illegal. I play has reached astalemate where neither player is able to move his Servant

into his opponents city, the player whose Servant is closestto his opponents city is declared winner.

D e a t h a t S a m a r r a A two-player game of hidden strategy

Components: one print-and-play file o two pages, including game rules, a 5x5 board, three black tents, threewhite tents, and Merchant, Servant, and Death markers (two o each). Recommended or ages 10 and up.

Playing time: 310 minutes.

Death at Samarra, First Edition. By Strangelander, September 02, 2008.Tis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

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Samarra

B a g h d a d

death

merchant

Servant

death

merchant

Servant

1. Score along dashed lines.

2. Apply white glue to tabs.

3. Fold, affixing tabs. Let dry.

Print this page on paper,glue it to thin cardboard(cereal box, notepad back)and let dry. Cut each pieceout, and follow guide belowfor assembling tents.

For best results, use 3MSuper 77 spray adhesivewith cardboard, and anX-Acto knife or scalpelfor cutting.