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THE WORLD OF ZARN & BLOODBALL

Zarn is world ruled by evil Slave Lords. Specifically, Mortis Maximus is based around Zarn's second most popular form of entertaintment (second only to 'eating your friends'... a parlour game played by Ogres which did not seem fit for turning into a play by mail game...!) the game of Bloodball!

Bloodball is a simple sport. Two teams of eleven players face off over a pitch of hard gravelly earth (particularly nasty groundkeepers often scatter broken glass on the area too). A fresh severed (usually human) head is placed in the middle of the ground, a whistle blows and the game is on! Each team defends one end of the playing field, where there is a black smoking pit. The aim of the game is simple, your team must get to the head (affectionately called the 'ball' for reasons unknown), grab it, and throw it into the opposing teams smoking pit. Players (who are known as 'Slammers') must stay within the field of play and flying creatures are *not* allowed to fly (although very high jumps are allowed). That's it! The rest of the rules are interpreted by the players. (Which means they can use any means at their disposal to win.)

Violence, pain and even death are common on the Bloodball field. Lots of different races and creatures can be found playing the game, since Zarn is a world where many different races live or travel to. One thing they all have in common is that all players are slaves. You buy and sell your players through the 'Slave Pit' to maximise your team.

So... get ready to enter the fiercely competitive game of Bloodball. You may find glory or defeat. You may reach the pinnacle of success... or fall to the black pits of despair. It's all up to you. So get out there! Your players are waiting (and a motley bunch they are too.) Mortis Maximus has arrived, and *you* are a part of it.

How The League Works

Bloodball is not a "fair" game, particularly. The Slave Lords of Zarn who run the game don't give a flying fandango about fairness. The fans of the game care only about how much blood they can see on any given day. Deliberately tongue-in-cheek, the Mortis Maximus league system is chaos itself, and rightly so. Anybody thinking they are in a soccer simulation is in for a nasty shock!

There are twelve turns in a "season" and each turn every team plays a completely random opponent. The Slave Lords achieve the 'draw' for who plays who using the old-fashioned method of pulling names out of a hat. (Actually, it's eyeballs in a bucket, but I digress.) It is entirely possible to draw the same opponent twice on the run, or to fail to draw an opponent for a long time, since it is entirely random. This heightens the fans excitement, since they anticipate the random draw eagerly!

It is also entirely random whether the match is played at home or away, which can be a source or frustration for managers eager to get the extra income from a home match if they have invested a lot in seating. The Slave Lords response to this, in their usual pleasant manner, is "if you question us we will have you killed." Nice guys.

A full league of Mortis Maximus has 80 teams. Each team is controlled by a different player. Inactive teams are controlled by the computer (which plays in an intelligent, if uninspired fashion.

Players can join the game on any week of the season. Consequently, it is possible for a team name to suddenly change to reflect new ownership. We will usually try to announce this when it happens to prevent confusion.

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