Polish your buckets or spit in your hands. This Sunday, Toulouse welcomes, on the sidelines of the first edition of its medieval, the not at all official “world championship of Owl Ass”. Without a parade of birds, rest assured. Because it is a dice game. A genre of 421 inns, in more complicated, than the followers of Kaamelott will be recognized from the innkeeper, Perceval and Karadoc indulge in it from time to time in flowery jousts.

“When we watch the series, we laugh, but we have the impression that it’s big nonsense. Think again, the game really holds together, there is a logic, ”assures Philippe Léon. The president of the Federation of Associations of Tradesmen and Craftsmen of Toulouse, organizer of this first historical festival, was convinced of this playful farce, open to all, by the medievalists who participate in the development of the reconstructions. Because there are exegetes of the Cul de chouette, who have laid down the official rules of this great nonsense on vellum and engage in wild games. Without counting tutorials in line. Not at all superfluous, given the number of combinations that earn points and the method of calculation.

“Not soft, the pebble”

So, here, we only give you the basics (and we attach all the rules). Owl Ass is played with three dice and the winner is the one who has reached 343 points. The first two are launched first, then a third. An owl is two identical dice. It yields “the square of its value”. Two 4 rapporteurs therefore 16 points. So far, so good.

An owl’s ass is three disidenticals. It brings in a maximum of points: 10 times the value of the dice, to which is added 40 points. An owl ass of 3 therefore gives 70 points [(10X3) + 40]. Room for variations. If you only have one owl, you can choose to “sip”, i.e. reroll your 3rd die to force fate and obtain an owl’s ass, at the risk of losing the points of the pair already on track. And there, the other players can bet. They yell “seagull” if they think a 4 is going to come up, and other bird names for other values. And that’s when they don’t yell “Pas mou, le pebble”, clapping their hands, we let you find out in what configuration. Suffice to say that you must not have played Kinito or have sluice of fermented medieval hops before the tournament.

“But don’t panic, no one will really know how to play,” reassures Philippe Léon. Aware of the degree of difficulty of games, even of absurdity, he recruited seasoned players from Toulouse bars as referees “And from Friday, everyone will be able to train under a big tent”, announces-t- he . With wooden dice to keep with the theme.