Origin
The event takes its name from the Severan faith but is not affiliated with it. Severan children had been observed training individual tasks from very young ages: climbing, carrying, swimming, sprinting, rigging, hauling loads across distance, and fighting after sustained physical output. The connection was made that these tasks mapped directly to what occurs inside a relay corridor during real operations. Courses were built to test who could perform the full sequence the best, and the event was later standardized with defined objectives, measurable times, and weight classes.
The Severan is not as globally popular as the Hunting Games, but it is extremely popular in Karesh and Kharan's Gulf where live events command astronomical prices for seats close enough to see the course. Most athletes have trained since childhood specifically for this event. This is the only sporting event on Geba that does not automatically force hybrids to compete as Engineered. Hybrid attributes are evaluated during trial levels before competition, and class placement is determined by what the trials reveal.
Weight Classes
Light
Under 150 lbs. Eight events. 20-kilometer runs. The fastest format. The running is the only period without continuous action. Everything between the circuits happens at full speed.
Standard
151 to 220 lbs. Twelve events. 10-kilometer runs. The closest format to an actual operation simulation, with heavier objectives and four additional events inserted into the sequence.
Heavy
221 to 355 lbs. Twelve events. 10-kilometer runs. Where the course starts breaking people. Many Heavy matches end without a duel because one or both athletes cannot complete the full course.
Super Heavy
356 lbs and above. Twelve events. 10-kilometer runs. Originally the
Assault-Class format. Abolished for the Engineered after repeated accidental deaths during the final duel, where athletes at full speed and full strength killed each other trying to win. Retained for natural-born and qualifying hybrid athletes. The swim is replaced by rig puzzles. Climbs are replaced by moving extremely heavy components up structures not designed with handholds. The relay anchor, ammunition, and magnetic cells are real decommissioned hardware.
The Course
· · · · · · · · · · · · ·
· [T5] [T6] ·
· ·
· [T4] TOWER A ════ TOWER B [T1] · ← CIRCULAR ROUTE
· CENTER · keeps audience in
· [T3] ════════════ [T2] · view throughout
· ~water~ ·
· ·
· · · · · · · · · · · · ·
The course is mirrored. Two main towers stand in the center, each 30 levels tall, connected by two bridges. Six smaller activation towers are arranged around them. A circular route for the running events loops around the entire complex, designed to keep the audience in view of the athletes at multiple points rather than sending them out of sight on a straight line. Both athletes are visible to each other and to the crowd for the entire match. Every event is a side-by-side comparison.
Both athletes begin at a shared center point containing cables, which are mandatory, and optional equipment: hooks, extra rope, rigging tools. Athletes cannot attack each other here. Everything beyond the cables is a strategic decision made in the first seconds that defines the rest of the match. Take only the cables and every run and climb is faster, but every objective requiring hauling or rigging is done raw. Take additional equipment and the objectives become easier, but the weight follows for every kilometer and every meter of elevation.
Light Format: Eight Events
Event 1
The Rush
Both athletes scramble to the center. Cables are secured. Optional gear is selected or ignored. The clock starts.
Event 2
The Circuit
20-kilometer run on the circular route. The crowd sees both athletes pass multiple points. Whoever reaches the course first begins tower work with a lead the other must close during the technical events.
Event 3
The Ascent
Each athlete climbs their starting tower. Athlete A ascends Tower A. Athlete B ascends Tower B. 30 levels, straight vertical, maximum output. The audience watches both ascents side by side.
Event 4
The Crossing
Both athletes sprint across their respective bridge toward the opposite tower, moving in opposite directions and passing each other at full speed. On the far side, each secures the ammunition load and carries it back across, crossing paths a second time. At Light class the ammunition is pulled and dragged rather than lifted. Athletes who took extra rope at the center use it here for mechanical advantage.
Event 5
The Drop
Each athlete descends the opposite tower using hand bars under heavy fatigue. At the base, the ammunition is placed at the designated point. Placement triggers the bridge behind the athlete to collapse. The direct path between the two towers no longer exists.
Event 6
The Activation
Both athletes move outward to the six surrounding towers. Each must be climbed and activated. For the first time the athletes converge onto the same structures. One activates a tower. The other can climb behind and deactivate it. The decision becomes whether to push forward and activate the next or go back and defend one that was just deactivated. This is where the match becomes a fight without contact. The athlete who completes all six activations first moves on.
Event 7
The Anchor
The bridges are gone. The athlete swims across to retrieve a heavy object simulating a small relay anchor, hauls it back across the water, up the tower, and places it at the top. The cables from the center are used to simulate relay activation. If the rigging is correct and the tower lights, the objective is complete. If the cables are damaged or the rigging fails, the athlete must correct it at height under fatigue before proceeding.
Event 8
The Return
The athlete descends, collects a pack symbolizing ammunition and medical supplies, and runs the 20-kilometer circuit back to the center. The first athlete to arrive must wait. The second has 350 seconds to arrive after the first. If both are present, they fight an unarmed duel for each other's supply packs. Grappling and throwing are legal. Once one athlete cannot continue, the winner returns to the center point and presses the activation button. If the second athlete does not arrive within 350 seconds, the first wins by completion.
Standard and Above: Four Additional Events
Standard, Heavy, and Super Heavy formats add four events into the sequence, increasing the total from eight to twelve. The run distance is reduced to 10 kilometers. All objectives are heavier. The additional events are inserted between the core eight based on the operational simulation they represent.
Event 9
The Cache
A hidden equipment cache is located in one of several possible positions around the course. A directional pulse signal indicates which direction the cache is in but not how far. The athlete sprints between possible locations at full speed, checking each one. The cache contains components required for the relay activation in Event 7. Without it, the activation sequence cannot be completed.
Event 10
The Chain
Multiple smaller relay points positioned across the course must be activated in sequence before the main anchor placement in Event 7 can proceed. Each requires the athlete to climb a structure, rig a connection, and descend before moving to the next. Simulates establishing signal boosters along a corridor before the main relay can go online.
Event 11
The Rescue
A platform at height operates on a collapse timer visible to the audience. A weighted load simulating an incapacitated operator is on it. The athlete must reach the platform, secure the load, and extract both before the timer runs out. If the timer expires, the load drops and the athlete takes a time penalty that cannot be recovered. The load scales to the weight class.
Event 12
The Breach
A barricaded structure blocks access to the next objective. The athlete must break through or dismantle the barrier using available tools or force. At Standard the barricade requires sustained effort. At Heavy and Super Heavy it is reinforced and requires problem-solving in addition to force.
Notable
Tae Katasung completed the Light format on his first attempt after a few days of training. He entered to confirm the common belief that he was the greatest natural-born athlete on the planet. He held no title because he did not stay to defend his time. The point was that he could do it. Athletes from other sports, particularly the Hunting Games and Thazvaari Ascension, sometimes compete in The Severan to test themselves in a different discipline.
The Veterans' View
Many older Severan practitioners and experienced contractors find the event entertaining but say it is unwise to compare it to real corridor work. The course is symmetrical and real operations are not. The simulated relay is small enough to fit inside a course structure, and a real relay, even a small one, is an entirely different scale. Anyone who has ever fought around or on a mega spine considers the comparison absurd because reaching the top of a mega spine without an airship means the area has already been bombed, and if it has not been bombed, the airship would have been shot down before getting close. Veterans point out that the game does not simulate cover, does not account for extreme cold or sandstorms or high-altitude lightning that can strike without warning. The Severan tests who is the most complete athlete on a controlled course. It does not test who survives a real corridor. The athletes know the difference. The audience does not.