Grand Senatorial Chariot Racing

Execution

Pre Season

While this is not an official part of the raising, any team hoping to win will need to partake in pre season preparations. During the winter months - Glimmering Light through Frost's Depths - teams will focus on chariot design and construction while drivers concentrate on training. Designing a senatorial racer is not only an expensive endeavor but also a time consuming one. These teams spend thousands of hours altering parts to make the chariot race faster, turn quicker, and have more offensive power and defensive protections. The top teams will generally divide the work into six areas: offensive, defensive, wheels, main body, mount attachment, and steering. Each team has its strengths and weaknesses. For example, the current Design Champion Team Dusqo focuses heavily on defensive messers, even to the detriment of their offense. It is highly common for teams to employ spies, saboteurs, and other illicit agents to disrupt the other teams. While this is technically illegal and not sanctioned by the Brass Clan or Master of Ceremonies the penalties are mere fines so most teams will do it anyways. In recent years teams have gotten very

Dusqo has been a force in the Senatioral Chariot races for decades but now... Now they are the force. It has been over ten years since they have lost the Chariot Championship and eight years since they have lost the Design Championship. Whatever is happening in that mountain design base of theirs has changed the world of racing forever.

— Quimb Great Ancestor of Ddimm and member of the Brass Clan and Fulcrum annoucning news to the City of East on the 29th of Turning Leaves in the Year 1492 ce

skilled at not getting caught when conducting this sabotage to the point where no fines have been given in the past two years, despite three exploded chariot test facilities.
While the team focuses on construction the drivers will train. Drivers must be able to keep control of their chariot even while being cast at, attacked, or otherwise sabotaged. Many of these drivers come from or go to adventuring, the military, magecraft, or other physically dangerous lines of work. Each driver has their own way of preparing and no two are the same. The same level of sabotage does not exist between drivers. While in the past some teams have kidnaped or harmed drivers the Brass Clan quickly put a stop to it by expelling teams for three years upon discovery. Due to that no team has dared harm a driver outside the races.
Once Armies March comes the game changes. The Master of Ceremonies and Brass Clan allow each team to test any race track they wish. Most teams will move together from track to track. This allows them to test their chariots while also seeing how everyone else is doing. While most teams go to every track on the calendar some will stay at one or two, these are normally the teams with smaller budgets that cannot afford all the traveling required.

Raicing Season

In Flower's Bloom, the first race takes place. While the location of the race moves each year the crowds it attracts never disappoint. Thousands of people from around the Republic and some from nearby nations descend onto the city. While each race is equal in the points it gives, winning the first race is always a massive honor.
There are normally 30-44 racers each season and 9 races. While some of the race locations will change there are some that are so popular it is unthinkable that they would be skipped. The fan and driver favorites are the North Star Grand in the City of North, Holy Circle in Mayim's Gate, Shimmering Tower in the Glimmering Mountain, and Water Run in Old Port. Other common locations are the Golden Track in Goldenfield, the Bridge in Bridgepoint, and Ent in Greenwood. Some tracks like the North Star Grand and Shimmering Tower are held within the actual cities. The Glimmering Mountain and the City of North will block off large portions of the common street to allow the chariots to use them. The City of North has permanently constructed sky bridges and tunnels to allow citizens access to both sides of the track while it is in use. When not in use these bridges and tunnels are popular locations for the youth of the city to relax. Other cities like Mayim's Gate and Bridgepoint construct tracks outside the city. Mayim's Gate is well known for reconstructing the track each year while Bridgepoint keeps the same one.
Each chariot that finishes a race is given a set number of points towards the Chariot Championship and Design Championship. The Chariot Championship is a single driver who was the best that year while the Design Championship is between whole teams. A team must have three drivers for it to be eligible to win the Design Championship.

The Race

The teams will normally get to each race city about 5-7 days early. This allows them to set up, unpack their chariots, and take some practice on the track. Anyone competing may take a total of ten laps around a track prior to qualifying. This can happen anytime within ten days of the race. The day before the race all teams will take at most three laps around the track. Each of these laps is timed by the race officials, known as Race Masters, and the fastest lap will be assigned as that driver's time. Once everyone has a time the racers will be ordered from fastest time to slowest time. The racers are then allowed to select what position they wish to start in. There are three rows so positions one, two, and three have no one in front of them while positions four, five, and six each have a single chariot in front. Some drivers prefer to start in the front row while others prefer the safety of the back. Once all drivers have their starting positions their chariots are taken by the Race Masters and stored safely until race day.
On the day of the race, the chariots are taken out in the same order that the drivers picked their positions, fastest to slowest. Once all the chariots are on the track the teams have a few moments to review it to make any last minute changes and ensure there is nothing wrong. Once that is done the Race Masters will call the race to order and give the go to start.
The first lap is always the most dangerous. With all the attack focused teams at full strength spells, missiles, and rams go off in every direction. Generally, the first row is able to get away clean unless they fight among themselves. The back row is also quite safe, they almost never start moving once the go is given but instead wait two or three seconds to allow all the fighting to go. Once the race focus has moved away from the start the Race Masters will quickly clean up the area as best they can while the drivers are on other parts of the track. This does not always work so many times there are still large parts of chariots laying about.
Once the action of the first lap is over the skills of the drivers really take center stage. The exact number of laps varies from track to track but regardless the drivers will need to stop for a new horse and possible repairs at least once per track.

The End

At the last race, the Chariot Championship and Design Championship winners will be announced. It is not uncommon that the Chariot Champion is from the team that wins the Design Championship but this is not always the case. The winning team is given a large prize of coins and their chariot is normally auctioned off for even more.

Components and tools

Chariot

Largely seen as the most important, and definitely the most expensive, part of senatorial racing. Chariots were once simple everyday vehicles but since the creation of Senatorial Racing, the complexity and cost have increased exponentially. Everything from the wheels to the spears has to be perfect, aerodynamic, and above all protected from attack. The cost of keeping these things hidden and secret is also a major factor in the overall cost. All told a Senatorial Racing Chariot generally costs between 10 and 25 thousand golden crowns. With a whole new chariot being needed every one to three races normally. Sometimes teams can keep theirs longer if they avoid many of the damaging attacks.

Team

It's almost impossible to create and maintain a chariot alone. Teams generally have between 10-12 people per driver. If a team has the maximum of three drivers then they will normally travel with a full team of thirty six people. The pay, housing, transportation, and board of this staff is also not cheap.

Track

While the drivers are the heroes the tracks are the villains we all root for. These tracks have been specially designed to be dangerous, difficult, and all around entertaining. The star track of the City of North has some of the hardest corners not only because of how sharp they are but also the oil that is put on some. Bridgepoint has false bridges on its track that will land drivers in the Scented Stream if they are not paying attention. While the cost to race is exorbitantly expensive so too is the cost to build these tracks. Each year the City of North spends about 30-40 thousand golden crowns to convert its streets into a race track. Mayim's Gate spends over 250 thousand golden crowns to build a whole new track each year. Regardless of the tracks being replaced each year or using the same one for decades fans travel to these locations to see and sometimes reenact, their favorite races of the season.

Participants

Drivers

The heroes of Senatorial Chariot Racing. These people are the ones who risk their lives in order to prove they are the best and fastest racers in the world. They spend countless hours training to even get a chance at racing at the Senatorial level. Many of them come from different Provental Chariot Racing cups and some even started in the Youth Races. While not every driver makes it out of the Senatorial season unharmed those who see it through are showered with glory and prestige.

Race Master

Each city will employ its own Race Masters, normally to a total of twenty with one additional High Race Master being sent by the Brass Clan. The High Race Master, or High Racer, is put in charge of all offical race functions and has complete control over the race. In general it is the job of the Race Masters to keep the track as clean as possible during the race and to remove any uninteded dangers from the path. The Race Masters will also oversee the changing of any parts and hourses to insure they are allowed. The High Racers is the one to determin if anyone has broken any rules when racing, repairing, or constructing their chariots.

Observance

Fans from all over will travel to see races. Some of the most loyal fans will actually follow their team from race to race during the season. About twelve days before a race the city will start to prepare. Food, alcohol, bards, and other goods and services are brought from nearby cities and farms so that nothing is lacking during the race. Taverns and inns are known to charge heightened prices during these times as well. While the actual race only lasts a day the lead up and cool of from it takes about fifteen. The city is consumed with drinking and celebrations for at least three days after the race, any less and it is seen as a failure on the cities part. Should a city have a failure the Brass Clan is unlikely to have the race at that city the next year.

The North Star Race

The City of North is known for its celebration of the Senatorial Race. The track there forms a star if you look down on it. Anywhere within the star has entertainers, wine vendors, and food vendors traveling around. The city sponsors some of the wine and food so anything within the star is cheaper than elsewhere in the city. This allows the city to focus its efforts on pleasing people and ensuring a good time. The most notable attraction is held by the Scholastic Academy. The academy will host a great reception and viewing party within the Kaufman School of Philosophy and Governance. The viewing party takes place on a large stone terrace that mages from the Aztook School of Magecraft will levitate out over the track. The terrace will slowly follow the track allowing for the best views anywhere in the city. Getting an invitation to this party, however, normally requires one to be very well connected.

Table of Contents

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Current Date -

The Yet Unnamed Year of 1494 ce

Important Locations

• Bridgepoint
• City of North
• Mayim's Gate

Related Organizations

• Federal Council of Clans
• Federal Republic of the Glimmering Lake

Related Ethnicities

• Republican