The twelfth-floor divine contest in which sponsored gods, their retainers, and powerful players compete through intrigue and violence for political prestige.
The Ascendency Game is staged on the twelfth floor and involves roughly one hundred sponsored gods. A new rule lets each sponsored deity recruit one unsponsored god as a retainer, adding another layer of alliances; Eileithyia has recruited Yemaya.
Mordecai describes the contest as a mixture of strategy, politics, and lethal conflict rather than a safe ceremonial game. Celestial Attendants wait on the floor until it begins and remain vulnerable to its participants.
The winner earns a council seat lasting ten seasons. Serving thirty cycles on a subcommittee can qualify a winner for a pension, but Mordecai says most competitors care more about glory and the bookies. Huanxin Jinx is a longtime player who has yet to win.
A vast divine game board populated by gods, attendants, elite combatants, political chambers, and roaring betting galleries.
The Ascendency Game is the dangerous celestial endgame behind Huanxin's plan for Katia, Yemaya, and Eileithyia.