Rules

Goal

Checkmate the enemy King, move your King onto the enemy throne, or touch both enemy shrines with your King.

Ivory's King wins on E8 (Obsidian's throne), or by touching both C6 and F6 (Northern shrines).
Obsidian's King wins on E1 (Ivory's throne), or by touching both C3 and F3 (Southern shrines).
A touched shrine stays touched after the King moves on.

Setup

Exactly like chess.

Row 1, A–H: T R S Q K S R T. Row 2: eight Scouts. Ivory's King starts on its throne, E1.
Row 8, A–H: t r s q k s r t. Row 7: eight Scouts. Obsidian's King starts on its throne, E8.
Ivory moves first.

Your turn

Make exactly one legal move; you cannot pass. Captures, promotion and victory happen as a result of the move.

Pieces

All pieces except the Scout capture the same way they move.

K King: 1 square, any direction. Never onto an attacked square.
Q Queen: any distance along a row, column or diagonal. Blocked by pieces.
T Tower: any distance along a row or column. Blocked by pieces.
R Rider: L-shape. Jumps over pieces.
S Seer: any distance diagonally. Blocked by pieces.
C Scout: 1 forward (2 from its starting row) into empty squares. Captures 1 diagonally forward. Promotes on the far row to Q, T, R or S.

Special moves

Castling, as in chess: move the King two squares toward an unmoved Tower (E1-G1 or E1-C1); the Tower jumps to the King's other side. Not out of, through or into check.
En passant, as in chess: right after an enemy Scout moves two squares to land beside yours, your Scout may capture it as if it had moved one.

Safety

Never leave your own King attacked.
In check: move the King, capture the attacker, or block. Only long-range Queen, Tower and Seer attacks can be blocked.
Kings never stand next to each other.
A King can enter a goal square only if it is safe there.

Draws and resigning

Stalemate (no legal move and not in check), the same full position three times (touched shrines, castling rights and en passant included), or agreement.
Resign to concede. There is no move limit and no clock.

The goal

You command an army led by a King. There are three ways to win:

Throne victory. Move your King onto the enemy throne: the square where the enemy King started.
Twin-shrine victory. Touch both shrines in the enemy half of the board with your King.
Checkmate. Attack the enemy King so that your opponent has no legal move to escape.
Kings are never captured. Instead, a King may never be left where an enemy piece attacks it.
Apart from the throne and shrines, every rule is the chess rule, castling and en passant included.

The board

Columns are lettered A to H, left to right as Ivory sees them. Rows are numbered 1 to 8, from Ivory's side to Obsidian's side.
Every square has a fixed name, such as D4, which doesn't change whichever side you sit on. A1 is dark.
Rows 1 to 4 are Ivory's half (the south); rows 5 to 8 are Obsidian's half (the north).
Thrones: E1 (Ivory's) and E8 (Obsidian's) — a framed square with a small crown, gold for Ivory and silver for Obsidian.
Southern shrines: C3 and F3 — a ring with a downward triangle, labelled SOUTH.
Northern shrines: C6 and F6 — a diamond with an upward triangle, labelled NORTH.
Thrones and shrines are ordinary squares in every other way: any piece may stand on them or pass over them. There is no impassable terrain.

Setting up

Each side fills two rows completely, exactly like chess.

Ivory, row 1: A Tower, B Rider, C Seer, D Queen, E King (on Ivory's throne), F Seer, G Rider, H Tower. Row 2: eight Scouts.
Obsidian, row 8: A Tower, B Rider, C Seer, D Queen, E King (on Obsidian's throne), F Seer, G Rider, H Tower. Row 7: eight Scouts.
Obsidian's army mirrors Ivory's file for file. Each Queen starts on its own colour. Ivory moves first.

Taking a turn

On your turn you must make exactly one legal move with one piece. Passing is not allowed. A move is only legal if, after it, your own King is not attacked.

After each move, in order: remove any captured piece; promote, if a Scout reached the far row; if your King landed on an enemy shrine, mark it as touched, then check for a throne or twin-shrine victory; then check for checkmate, stalemate and repetition.

How the pieces move

Pieces that slide move square by square and are stopped by the first piece in their way. Pieces that jump ignore anything in between.

King (chess king): one square in any direction. It may never move onto an attacked square.
Queen (chess queen): any number of squares along a row, a column or a diagonal. It slides.
Tower (chess rook): any number of squares along a row or column. It slides.
Rider (chess knight): an L — two squares in one straight direction, then one at a right angle. It jumps.
Seer (chess bishop): any number of squares diagonally. It slides, and so stays on one square colour all game.
Scout (chess pawn): one square straight forward into an empty square; two from its starting row if both are empty. It captures one square diagonally forward only.
Promotion: a Scout that reaches the far row immediately becomes a Queen, Tower, Rider or Seer of your choice.
Castling: if neither your King nor a Tower has moved, the squares between them are empty, and your King isn't in check and won't cross or land on an attacked square, move the King two squares toward that Tower (E1-G1 or E1-C1). The Tower jumps to the square the King crossed.
En passant: when an enemy Scout moves two squares and lands beside one of your Scouts, your Scout may capture it on your very next move, moving diagonally onto the square the enemy Scout passed over.

Capturing

Move onto a square holding an enemy piece (not the King) to capture it. Every piece except the Scout captures exactly the way it moves. The King may capture only if it would be safe on that square.

Attacks, check and king safety

A piece attacks every square it could capture on. A Scout attacks only its two forward-diagonal squares. A sliding attack stops at the first occupied square.
A piece also attacks squares holding its own pieces — it protects them. So a King cannot capture a protected piece.
Kings attack the eight squares around them, so the two Kings can never stand next to each other.
When your King is attacked it is in check. You must move the King, capture the attacker, or block. Only Queen, Tower and Seer attacks from two or more squares away can be blocked.
You may never make a move that leaves your own King in check.

Winning

Ivory's goal squares: E8 (Obsidian's throne), C6 and F6 (the Northern shrines). Obsidian's: E1 (Ivory's throne), C3 and F3 (the Southern shrines).
Throne victory: you win immediately when your King legally moves onto the enemy throne. The King must be safe there.
Twin-shrine victory: your King touches a shrine by legally moving onto it, and the touch is remembered for the rest of the game. You win immediately when it touches the second of its two shrines, in either order. One shrine, or the same shrine twice, wins nothing.
Only Kings win this way. Your own half's shrines and your own throne are ordinary squares for your King.
Your King may capture an enemy piece on a goal square; that counts as reaching or touching it. An enemy King on its own throne closes that throne until it leaves.
Checkmate: you also win if, after your move, the enemy King is in check and your opponent has no legal move that removes the check.
A player may resign at any time.

Draws

Stalemate: the player to move has no legal move and is not in check.
Threefold repetition: the same complete position occurs three times — pieces, whose turn it is, which shrines each King has touched, castling rights, and whether an en passant capture is available. The starting position counts as the first occurrence.
Mutual agreement.
There is no draw for too few pieces: a lone King can still win by reaching the throne or touching both shrines. There is no move limit and no clock.

Recording moves

E2-E4 is an ordinary move; B1xC3 a capture; C7-C8=Q a Scout promoting to a Queen; E1-G1 castling; E5xD6 an en passant capture.
+ means the move gives check, # checkmate. Throne or Shrine marks the winning move; Shrine goes on the move that touches the second shrine.