"Loopholes are creative and effective," Sara notes as she sets about readying her horse for departure with a careful efficiency that speaks both to familiarity with the procedure and with the procedure and with the potential hurdles of equine temperament. "And sometimes dramatic. It sounds like what they're looking for is a bloodbath."

Which makes sense. The more confrontations between teams, the more violence any of them show willing to inflict on each other in order to win these little games and earn a few more creature comforts, the harder it is to build any trust. It's an effective means of keeping their prisoners from banding together.

"Do you know anyone who's tried? To tie a match without triggering either side's losing condition, I mean."