Siekakovothin

A siekakovothin, plural siekakovothis, meaning "title-challenge" in Murese, was a type of   that was fought between Black Sith Force users for a prominent political appointment in the Murese Empire. It was most commonly fought between a reigning monarch (grafas,, or daritha) and a claimant to the throne, overseen by a unbiased audience to prevent cheating and officiated by members of the clergy. However, multiple contestant free-for-all versions were not uncommon, and generally occurred immediately following a reigning monarch's voluntary abdication in the absence of a defending monarch.

As part of the Black Sith cultural concept of Teznchwayat ("just rule" in Murese), presiding rulers were expected to honor the challenges of upstart claimants in defense of their thrones, as such challenges were deemed necessary tests of each ruler's fitness to rule over the Sith. Those who sought to shrug off or avoid such conflicts were quickly run out of town by their own citizens and the religious authorities alike for failing to fulfill their cultural responsibilities. As these conflicts defined in large part the manner in which a Black Sith community was run, they evolved into spectacles for the entertainment of the general populace during the late Murese Premodernity period, hosted in vast arenas before thousands and covered in the press for weeks in advance.

Originally, during the Murese Premodernity and early Modernity periods, such fights were fought to the death of one of the participants, as death was seen as an appropriate punishment for those shown to be unworthy of leading the Black Sith through their inability to support a claim or failure to protect a throne. However, as such duels often resulted in the loss of talented commanders and prominent leaders of the populace from failed duels, the punishment was mitigated in many cases to temporary exile, public humiliation, or in more severe cases, permanent banishment from Mure. Death was rarely administered as a punishment during the Murese Postmodernity period due to the need to preserve talented Black Sith as a measure protecting against outside threats.