The Donchaka attempt to stack themselves to reach the handle of the door. Forming a pyramid, they find themselves to be just a couple of Donchaka short.
The Donchaka use Shield Bash! Gently. The shield is tapped against the glass window section of the door.
The noise inside drowns out this tapping.
Volx mentally nudges someone sitting close to the door. They respond, looking at the door, and then the Donchaka; getting up, they walk over to the door and open it to a crowd of cheering tribespeople and additionally a spirit.
The Donchaka party all the way to one of the servers, who notices the Donchaka and squats down to be on their level. "Can I help you?" She asks this with a smile as if the Donchaka were your everyday Seattalan. Seattalite?
Lupapon reads the text to gain an overall fundamental knowledge on Football.
[This includes a lot of detail. The summary is:
Offense gets ball. Offense wants to get ball down to the opposing Endzone to get a Touchdown, because the team with the most touchdowns when time is up is the victor. Also, the Offense has 4 attempts/"Downs" to get the ball at least a Mile down the field from where they are. If they do not manage this in 4 Downs, the ball is given to the other team.
Defense's job is to prevent the Offense from getting Touchdown. They do this by preventing the Offense from progressing at least a Mile in 4 Downs via stopping whoever is carrying the ball on Offense (Tackling), or by knocking the ball out of the ball carriers hands and stealing it (Fumble) or stealing the ball out of the air when it is thrown by the Quartberack (Interception).
Feel free to read the stuff below for more info. Hopefully I made this complex and uniquely strange American game easier to understand.]
Football is played on a field that measures .5 miles wide and 10 miles long. There can only be 11 players from each team on the field at a team, but a team can have up to 92 players total.
The Field is split up into 10 1-mile segments, each of which is a new environment, usually containing situations and obstacles that a team must overcome. Possible Environments include Forests, Tundras, Deserts, Stormy Wetlands, and Swamps, etc. There are a limitless amount of environments that encourage teams to figure out ways to overcome them and use to their advantage.
The objective of Football is to score Touchdowns. A team scores a Touchdown when one of its players enters the Endzone (which is located at the end of the entire length of the football field) of the opposing team while carrying the football. To win, a team must have more touchdown than their opponents when Time is finished. A game of football lasts for 60 minutes, broken into 15 minute quarters. There is a short break between each quarter, and Halftime, which is between quarters 2 & 3, is significantly longer. If the score is tied at the end of the 4th Quarter, the game transitions into Overtime where the first team to score a Touchdown wins.
At the beginning of the game, a coin is flipped, the visiting team is the one that decides to pick heads or tails. The winner of the coin toss decides if they want to start out receiving the ball, or kicking it to the opposing team. (If the winner of the toss selects to kick the ball to the opposing team, they will receive the kick-off after Halftime. Additional information below.) Additionally, the winner selects if they would like to have either the Western or Eastern ends of the field to be their Endzone. Endzone locations are swapped by each team at Halftime.
Once this is all resolved, the kicking team will line up at exactly 3.5 Miles beyond their Endzone where one player, the Punter, will kick the bar as far as he can. One player on the opposing team, the Punt Receiver, will catch the punted ball and run it as far as they can towards the opposing Endzone. While the Punt Receiver makes as much distance as they can, the opposing team will attempt to tackle him as far away from their Endzone as possible, while the Punt Receiver's teammates attempt to Block these would be tacklers from taking down the Punt Receiver. The spot that the Punt Receiver is taken down at marks where the beginning of the regular game will occur.
(The term Tackle will henceforth refer to not just literal tackling, but any time a player's forward progress is completely halted by another player, whether by tackling, takedown, or any other means.)
In the regular game, the football is placed where the last carrier of the football was tackled, forming an imaginary line with the offense behind the ball while the defense stands in front of it. This line is referred to as The Line of Scrimmage, and if it is crossed by a player before the ball is Snapped, that player's team is penalized.
The Snap occurs once a player on the Offensive Line, who's hand is on the football before the play commences, hands/"Snaps" the ball to the Quarterback. (Information on the various positions can be found later.)
The offense's ultimate goal is to reach the opposing team's Endzone to score a Touchdown. Forward progress towards the Endzone is made in two ways:
Throwing/Passing - The Quarterback can throw the football to a receiving teammate who will catch it and then commence running with it as far as they can towards the opposing Endzone.
Running - The Quarterback hands the football off to a player who will run with it as far as they can towards the opposing Endzone. The Quarterback can also decide to run with the ball himself, often referred to as a "QB Scramble".
Blocking - Every player who is not receiving the ball during a play has the duty of Blocking defenders from reaching the ball carrier.
The offense is additionally required to progress the ball at least 1 mile in 4 consecutive plays individually referred to as Downs. They begin on 1st Down, and each attempt to cross this 1 mile threshold leads to another Down. If the Offense does not cross 1 Mile within 4 Downs, the ball is forfeited to the Defense team who will switch roles to become the new Offense and continue from there. If at any team the Offense manages to cross this 1 mile threshold, the spot where the ball carrier was tackled will be where a new 1st Down will start and the team must repeat the Downs process again. If the Offense scores a Touchdown, the Defensive Team will gain possession of the ball starting at the 2 Mile mark out from their own Endzone.
The Defense's goal is to always stifle the progress of the Offense, either by preventing the Offense from crossing the 1 Mile Threshold and forcing them to forfeit the ball, or by stealing the ball. This is accomplished in a variety of ways:
Tackling - The Defense will tackle the ball carrier as quickly as they can, preventing them from picking up distance.
Sacking - The Defense can also attempt to tackle the Quarterback before he hands the ball to a runner or throws it to a receiver. This is particularly effective since the Quarterback is usually far behind the line of scrimmage, and if he is tackled behind the line his team loses distance. (Ex. The Offense is on 1st Down with a 1 Mile Threshold, and the Defense Sacks the Quarterback .2 Miles behind the line of scrimmage. Thus, the Offense's next play will be on 2nd Down with a 1.2 Mile Threshold.) However, Sacking the Quarterback is more difficult since he is well protected by numerous Offensive Players.
Fumble - A Defensive player can tackle the ball carrier with enough force that they drop the ball, resulting in a Fumble. During the Fumble, any player can recover the ball, if a Defensive player manages to do it they gain possession of the football.
Incomplete Pass - A Defensive Player can cover a player they predict will receive the ball in a Pass from the Quarterback, and can prevent them from catching the ball by tackling them or knocking the ball out of the air and into the ground, referred to as a "Swat". If a Pass is incomplete, the two teams line up at the same Line of Scrimmage again and the Offense moves onto their next Down.
Interception - One of the most difficult and dramatic maneuvers in football, the Interception occurs when the Quarterback Passes the ball and it is caught by a Defensive player, who can then run the ball as far as they can before being tackled. Interceptions can also be referred to as "Picks".
Football Positions:
(Note that a single player can play various positions depending on the situation, i.e., a player could a Running Back when his team is on the Offense and Linebacker on Defense, maybe even also a Punter when the situation calls for this! The downside of having a multi-role player is that if they are injured, it means his team is down not short on manpower in one area, but multiple, and the longer he is out on the field playing multiple roles, the likelihood of injury increases.)
Offense:
Quarterback - The most important player on the Offense, the Quarterback is both the lead strategist on the field and the one who makes plays happen. Before the Snap, he can adjust the formation of the rest of the players by calling out a coded message known as an "Audible" which conveys secret information to his team that will be untranslatable to the Defense. This is why Quarterbacks yell things like, "42! Blue! Omaha!" Once the Snap Commences, the Quarterback hands the ball off to a runner, passes it to a receiver, or runs down the field with it himself.
Offensive Line - These guys do not carry the ball, instead they are positioned in front of the Quarterback and Running Back right at the Line of Scrimmage to keep Defending players at bay. Think of them like the Quarterback's personal guards. One player on the Offensive Line is given the duty of snapping the ball back at the Quarterback to start the play, this particular player is called the "Snapper."
Running Back - The Running Back's role is simple, grab the ball from the Quarterback and run forward with it past defenders. If he is not receiving the ball, the Running Back duty is to protect the QB from defenders. Running backs need to be both fast enough to carry the ball a good distance and strong enough to withstand being tackled.
Wide Receiver - The Wide Receivers stay the farthest from their team and work towards the edges of the field. Their goal is to slip past the Defensive Line and elude Cornerbacks so that they can catch a Quarterback Pass. Their goal is to outmanuever defenders instead of powering through them like a Running Back or Tight End, so they are the most agile players on the Offense, and must be Dexterous enough to catch passes.
Tight End - The Jack of All Trades on the Offense. He typically lines up towards one end of the Offensive Line, hence his name. The Tight End, on any given play, can run the ball like a Running Back, catch a pass like a Wide Receiver, or if he is not the ball carrier, acts as an extension of the Offensive Line as a blocker. Because of this, he must combine the Speed, Agility and Power of these multiple roles, though he usually does not excel in all of them.
Defense:
Defensive Line - Lines up directly opposite of Offensive Line on the Line of Scrimmage. Their goal is to break past the Offensive Line, and tackle either the Quarterback, Running Back or Tight End before they can cross the Line of Scrimmage and gain progress.
Center - Referred to as the "Quarterback of the Defense", and given his title because he lines up at the center of the Defensive Line. Like the Quarterback, he can call Audibles to change Defensive Formation and try to throw the Offense off-balance. They must be strong enough to break through the Offensive Line.
Linebacker - These guys line up behind the Defensive Line as a secondary line of Defense with the goal of stopping a runner who has managed to get through the Defensive Line, or to try to catch and stop a Wide Receiver or Tight End on a pass. Linebackers mix the Strength of a Defensive Lineman with the Agility of a Cornerback.
Cornerback - These guys stay away from the lines and towards the corners of the field, where Wide Receivers are most likely to run towards. The Cornerbacks job is to cover the Wide Receivers and prevent them from making catches. If a Runner has managed to break through both the Defensive Line and the Linebackers, the Cornerbacks are a tertiary line of defense. They must be as agile and dexterous as the wide receivers they seek to stop.
Safety - The safeties are the last line of defense between the Offense and the Endzone. Their job is to cover the Wide Receivers that have made it past the Cornerbacks, or to stop a runner that has somehow managed to get through everyone else.
Special Roles:
Punter - The Punter is the player who kicks the ball away during the Kickoffs. Additionally, on 4th Downs it is a common tactic to Punt the ball rather than run or pass it, since it causes the Receiving Team to have to catch the ball as far back as possible. Punters must be good at kicking.
Punt Receiver - The player who receives the kickoff and any punts. They must be fast to gain ground for their team and also be able to catch a punt.
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