The Wheel of Fortune

            Every year at the fortress the king would host a game for the people of the kingdom.  The game was called ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ and involved a very large wheel which stood vertically and was spun around by contestants who would win whichever prize was painted on the wheel when it stopped at a wooden hand with an index finger pointing out.  Many of the prizes changed each year, and the villagers did not know what the exact prizes would be until the wheel, covered in a tapestry featuring a map of the kingdom, was hauled out onto the fortress platform and the tapestry was pulled down by the king on game day.  The prizes ranged in value, and the more valuable prizes were more difficult to win since they comprised smaller arc lengths on the wheel’s circumference.  The most valuable prize, for instance, was but a sliver on the wheel.  Only one member of each family was allowed to spin the wheel, and in order to do so the contestant had to hand in a special gold coin they were issued when they registered earlier that day.  Like the prizes on the wheel, the unique coins were only revealed on the day of the game and could not be used a subsequent year.  The contestants had the option of keeping the coin if they wished, but in the ten years of Wheel of Fortune no one had ever been known to do this because even the least valuable prize on the wheel was worth more than a gold coin.

            On the day of the game, thousands of people descended on the fortress from all reaches of the kingdom.  The game was open to all families, rich and poor, and none turned down this opportunity to participate in a potentially life-changing event.  For many, Wheel of Fortune was the highlight of their lives, and they spent the entire year waiting for the day they could have a chance to spin the wheel.  Due to the high value of some of the prizes, the event was known as the great equalizer, for every year a handful of peasants were lifted from immiseration to wealth exceeding that of bishops and knights.  Therefore, there was a huge incentive to play the game.  In fact, the only people who did not take advantage of a chance to spin the wheel were those that the king had explicitly prohibited from doing so in order to prevent suspicion of corruption within the kingdom.  This included the king himself and his entire extended family, as well as all those who lived in and frequented the castle.  What would it look like if an advisor to the king spun the wheel and won an all-expenses paid trip to Rouen?  Allegations of corruption would swirl and potentially tear the kingdom apart.  There could be revolt.  The rule to prohibit anyone who frequented the castle from playing the game was enacted after the court jester took to the stage one year and spun the wheel.  Although the prize he had won was simply a luxurious weekend stay for him and his family in the castle guest chambers, which amused the crowd, as the wheel was spinning the king suddenly realized the backlash that would ensue if the jester, a man he saw nearly every day, were to win one of the better prizes.  The reasons for the rule prohibiting the king’s family from playing were obvious and in place since the first year of the game, but not so obvious were the ramifications the game would produce on those in service to the king. Shortly after the first game, the king’s nephew and several castle guards renounced or resigned their positions in order to live amongst the villagers.  When they reappeared the following year to play Wheel of Fortune, the king made the decision to ban all extended family and anyone who had ever worked in the castle from playing.  Additionally, realizing the impact the game could have on retaining and attracting loyal and high-quality members of his castle staff and inner circle, the king remedied the problem of potentially losing defectors and new applicants who would otherwise be incentivized to quit or not join his ranks in order to play Wheel of Fortune by increasing tenfold their compensation, as well as boosting the already generous allowances he provided to his family and dependents, thereby assuring his confidants and staff that their annual salaries would always be greater than nearly every prize they stood a chance of winning. 

There were others prohibited from playing Wheel of Fortune as well.  Anyone caught cheating was forbidden along with their entire family and bloodline.  In the early years of the game some would lie about their family units (claiming, for instance, that they were two or more separate families living apart when in fact they were one living under the same roof), while others spun the wheel with lackluster force or vigor so as to calculate its landing point.  The king outlawed the construction of replicas of the wheel after a group of men had built one to practice their spinning techniques.  He made it clear that such petty attempts by the villagers to take advantage of the game and thus undermine the integrity of the kingdom would result in permanent disqualification.  A list of ‘Wheel Laws’ was drawn up in effort to clarify the game rules and regulations.  The more egregious crimes, such as unauthorized viewing of the wheel prior to the game or forging and distributing counterfeit game coins resulted in execution, a gruesome custom with which, if there were any offenders, the games occasionally began.  Those caught cheating were invariably well-to-do vassals, whereas the serfs seemed happy to simply spin the wheel and were content with whatever prizes they won.  Nowadays, very few attempted to cheat the game or circumvent the laws for fear of lifelong and generational disqualification or death, thereby jeopardizing an opportunity to attain fabulous riches.  Yet every so often the avarice and arrogance of a villager would prevail and the consequences were put on full display as a warning by the king and his executioner at the beginning of game day. 

While the Wheel Laws discouraged cheating, they did not prevent the occasional crime that followed when someone had won a valuable prize and induced envy and animosity in another who had not, even if the offended party was already well off.  There was the time when a knight had spun the wheel and won a horse, something that he already had.  He stepped off the platform and watched as a peasant spun the wheel which landed on one of the more improbable prizes of one hundred gold coins.  Seized by jealousy, several days later the knight murdered the peasant.  Every year without fail domestic disputes took place as a result of the game.  One year a farmer, despite the objections from his wife, concocted a plan to claim that his son had recently met and married a woman, which therefore qualified them as a separate family eligible to spin the wheel.  An investigation was launched and it was discovered that the alleged bride was actually the farmer’s daughter and brother to his son.  This crime carried the punishment of disqualifying the family and their posterity from playing Wheel of Fortune.  Soon after the verdict, the farmer’s wife strangled her husband to death.  Not all game-related disputes resulted in homicide, though they sometimes profoundly affected family dynamics and household tensions.  There was a nobleman who couldn’t catch a break with the wheel, and for four years in a row won the least valuable prizes, such as five bushels of ducklings or one hundred piglets.  The man was practically ostracized by his family who watched, year after year, peasants and serfs win fortunes with a spin of the wheel while they went home with mere barn animals.  If divorce were permitted in the kingdom, manifold women would have undoubtedly left their husbands and families in order to pursue men who had won some of the top prizes.  Indeed, many women endeavored illicit affairs with the high rollers, and in this way the game was also capable of tearing families apart.  Even for those who had won big, life could transform into a temporary hell in which they lived in constant fear of being assaulted for their riches until they hired proper security, procured sufficient weapons and guard dogs, and relocated if necessary. 

In addition to contending with problems presented and endured by his own people, the king realized that opportunistic outsiders from other realms would seek to capitalize on the games.  Therefore, anyone who did not reside within the borders of the kingdom and had not sworn allegiance to the king was prohibited from playing, though they were permitted as spectators.  Gradually, word of the game had spread, and merchants, soldiers, and barbarians alike entered the kingdom with their families or clans claiming that they lived within the borders, were loyal to the king, and demanded to spin the wheel.  It was obvious that they were lying, but instead of excommunicating them the king gave them a chance prove their loyalty by swearing allegiance to the kingdom and being branded in the forearm with a hot iron depicting the royal coat of arms, acts which were required of anyone who wanted to spin the wheel, even the lifelong villagers.  Not only that, despite being branded, the newcomers were prohibited from spinning the wheel that year, or the following year, but on third year they could return, present their scar, and play so long as they had not missed a consecutive year of games (in which case they had to start over), had not been convicted of any crimes, and had not committed census fraud.  All game participants were required to disclose their addresses and family details to the king whose horsemen would conduct random house calls and audits to confirm that these families did in fact live at their stated residences.  By requiring those who wanted to spin the wheel to swear allegiance, be branded with the coat of arms, and live honestly within the boundaries of the kingdom for at least two years, the king ensured that men of all walks of life did not travel from the ends of the Earth to play Wheel of Fortune for a day and then abscond with their prizes.  

The king had started Wheel of Fortune to simply provide some fun for the locals.  He had come up with the idea in the castle library whilst perusing a thousand-year-old scroll describing Zenobia of Palmyra who had orchestrated a series of games for Syrian commoners in Petra in 300 A.D.  He could have never anticipated the tremendous impact the games would have in strengthening his kingdom.  The games were like a magnet which served to retain the existing population as well as to draw in foreigners who were eager to become citizens.  Furthermore, because every new family unit was eligible to play, couples began to rapidly procreate and expeditiously marry off their sons and daughters who could then spin the wheel as well.  (Since only one family member could spin the wheel and had to be branded, after a son or daughter was married, thereby creating a new family unit, they were eligible to be branded and play.  The brandings took place on game day, and there were few moments in a father’s life that made him more proud than to watch his son be branded in the arm with a searing hot iron so he could play Wheel of Fortune.)  Therefore, the game had the effect of attracting emigrants as well as creating a sort of baby boom within the kingdom.  The influx of new residents and sporadic violence that stemmed from unscrupulous actors attempting to abuse the game were minor inconveniences compared to the immense benefits the kingdom reaped by hosting Wheel of Fortune.   The positive psychological effects that the game had on the population were innumerable.  People across the feudal board were more orderly and in higher spirits throughout the year.  They work diligently for their own personal good and for the good of the kingdom.  Commerce expanded and agricultural output increased as families were inspired to produce and consume more so they could live longer.  Often established by disqualified contestants, shops emerged which centered solely on business pertaining to the prizes people won, which meant that people were redistributing their prize money back into the local economy.  The king’s army grew and the soldiers fought harder in battle in order to defend their lives and chances of getting to spin the wheel again.  Because each registered contestant was required to provide their family details and address in order to play, the king was able to keep precise records on the demographics of his kingdom.  The king’s popularity soared amongst his subjects, and several sedition and assassination plots were thwarted by men whom desired to keep the peace for the sake of the game.  When other kings learnt of the success of the game they created their own versions of Wheel of Fortune, but were left behind the curve.  

            The games came with an enormous expense to the treasury.  The king learned early on that he must calculate beforehand the probability of each prize being won so he could have an estimation of how much treasure would be awarded.  Due to the strict entry rules the exact number of participants eligible to spin the wheel was known.  Although he could not control which prizes were won, he could try to determine their probability, and therefore budget accordingly.  In the weeks preceding the game the king ordered the wheel hauled into the great hall of the castle.  There, his advisors would update the prizes, tune up the wheel, and spin it for days on end.  Since they were officially excluded from participating in Wheel of Fortune, the advisors delighted in testing the wheel and tallying the results in a ledger. They knew that this year they should expect about five hundred participants, and repeatedly performed mock games in which the wheel was spun five hundred times.  After consulting the court mathematician, the advisors presented the ledger to the king and treasurer to inform them of the probability of each prize being won and thus an estimated quantity of prizes they should expect to give away.  They reviewed the ledger and saw that chances of winning a suit of armor was roughly one in fifty.   There was a one in three chance of winning a sword from the armory, one-hundred chickens, or a flock of a dozen sheep.  The chances of winning an ox were one in five.  The chances of winning an all-expenses paid trip to Rothenberg or Prague were one in fifty, to Siena was one in seventy, a cruise down the Danube was one in three-hundred.  You stood a one in twenty chance of winning the usual castle tour and weekend in the guest chambers.  There was also a one in five chance of winning two gold coins.  There was a one in twenty chance of winning five gold coins.  There was a one in one-hundred chance of winning fifty gold coins.  There was a one in five-hundred chance of winning five-hundred gold coins.  And there was a one in one-thousand chance of winning five-thousand gold coins, which was the most valuable prize.  Every year the treasurer attempted to persuade the king to reduce the value of the prizes lest an inordinate number of contestants got unusually lucky and bankrupted the treasury.  The king never wavered and always insisted that the prizes remain unchanged.  In addition to the money spent on the prizes and the increased salaries paid to his castle staff and family since the inauguration of Wheel of Fortune, the king allocated an exorbitant percentage of the royal budget to cover the operating expenses associated with hosting the game.

            Apart when they were under attack, the only other time the castle and fortress deployed maximum security and defenses was during Wheel of Fortune.  In the days leading up to the game, the fortress, village, and to a lesser extent the peripheral meadows and woodland turned into a madhouse.  Despite the fact that there were only five hundred people eligible to spin the wheel this year, around five thousand converged on the fortress.  In addition to the contestants and their family members were those returning for their second year as observers but still ineligible to play.  But the largest group of people by far were always those who had arrived for their first year.  An area of land between the farms and forest was cleared to accommodate the thousands of visitors.  A contingent of the king’s spies and horsemen would operate around the clock within the camps to surveil the visitors and prevent them from harassing the farmers and villagers.  Sentinels manned watchtowers and scouts patrolled the forests and coasts.  The king believed that no external force would be crazy enough to attack him during Wheel of Fortune since that would be expected, but he took no chances for if an attack or insurrection did occur, regardless of its success, the stability game would be called into question.  If the stability of the game were questioned, so too would the stability of the kingdom.  Alas, for all the advantages the game had bestowed, the inescapable truth was that it had summoned the angels of death.  The king knew that one day he would have to terminate the game before it brought about the downfall of his kingdom.  What troubled him was not the fact that he too was seized by the power of the game, but that he did not know if he possessed the willpower and wisdom to bring an end to Wheel of Fortune and walk away before it was too late.  

There were four lines for those wishing to enter the fortress on the morning of game day.  The first line was the shortest line reserved for previous contestants and their families.  The second line was for those that had observed the previous two games and would now be playing for the first time.  The third line was for those who had observed last year and would have to observe again this year before they could play next year.  And the fourth line, which was the largest and most chaotic, was for those who were attending for the first time.  Guards on horseback rode around maintaining order and reminding everyone that weapons were prohibited.  Before crossing over the bridge to the fortress, all were required to check in with one of the dozens of scribes that would interview each contestant and their family, cross reference their names in the record books, and confirm that the delegated family member had been branded with the coat of arms.  If everything checked out with a contestant in the first or second line, a scribe would inform one of the king’s advisors who then reached into a satchel and handed the contestant a special gold coin which they were to give the king in order to spin the wheel.  After registering with the scribes, those in the third line were admitted but would have to wait until next year to receive their gold coin.  Those in the fourth line required the most attention from the king’s guards, advisors, translators, and scribes who enrolled the new participants.  The scribes wrote down the names, family size, and residence details of the aspiring contestants and had them sign loyalty contracts to the crown.  They made sure these people understood that they would be branded that day, were expected to reside within the kingdom, and return next year as observers.  Once those in the fourth line had agreed to these terms, the family member who was elected to spin the wheel in the future and thus be branded was given a special silver coin and they were permitted to enter the fortress.

On the morning of the games the fortress was packed and bustling with food vendors, costume performances, puppet shows, and games, including one that featured a miniature version of Wheel of Fortune which people could spin to win toy prizes.  The real wheel had yet to be hauled out onto the massive platform, which was bare save the executioner’s block, but already contestants were lining up beside it and families gathered in front.  Beyond the platform was the castle from which the king gazed down and watched the people pouring into the fortress and screaming from the branding area.  In the past, the brandings were conducted on stage before the game, but because the number of new participants had swelled in recent years the brandings now took place before the game and continued throughout the day.  A crowd of people were gathered around the branding site, where men turned in their silver coins and guards lifted burning irons from the fires and shoved the red hot coat of arms in the forearms of the new participants, at which the crowd erupted in cheers.  In addition to new participants, a branding could also occur if a family decided to transfer the responsibility of spinning the wheel to a different family member.  In this case, the family member who was already branded would be branded again with an X over the coat of arms, and the other family member would receive their first brand.

By the time the game was ready to begin thousands of spectators faced the platform and hundreds of contestants had lined up beside it.  Any disqualifications or executions of men convicted of violating the Wheel Laws would kick off the game and would be overseen by the king who derived no pleasure from these punishments, especially execution.  He had modified the execution scheduled several times.  During the first years of Wheel of Fortune, executions were carried out prior to the main event, but the king realized that the audience was so pumped up for the game that he could have executed a thousand men without getting his point across.  So the king pushed the executions to the end of the day in hopes of concluding the game on serious note.  After realizing that not only had half the people already left by the time the last contestants were spinning the wheel, but that even a beheading failed to bring down the spirits of the largely intoxicated crowd, the king revised for executions to take place as an intermission.  The midday executions proved to be an even worse idea due to the time and effort wasted trying to calm and focus the crowd who were distracted by the wheel, were moderately intoxicated, and unfazed by any execution.  So the king returned to morning executions on the rationalization that at least he had everyone’s attention.

When the trumpets blared, the thousands of the people within the fortress settled down and watched the king and his men walk onto the platform.  The men stood back and the king stepped forward to greet the crowd who roared in ovation.  The king said that although Wheel of Fortune took place but one day a year and was still in its infancy, it was undeniable that the identity of the kingdom was now inextricably tied to the game.  As such, it had become increasingly crucial to interpret any violations of the Wheel Laws as an affront to the kingdom itself, and to fully prosecute any transgressions.  The king instructed his guards to introduce the convicted.  The crowd watched as the guards brought a dozen disheveled men onto the platform.  An advisor to the king announced the name of each prisoner, their crime, and their punishment.  Eleven of the men were being disqualified for offenses pertaining to falsifying census data, committing branding fraud, or attempting to exchange prizes (exchanging prizes such as tickets to amphitheater performances and trips aboard were prohibited due to the headache and complications created, but these provisions did not apply to those who had won barterable items such as farm animals or gold coins which contestants were free to use as they wished).  These eleven offenders were told to present their branded forearms, and one by one a guard carrying a hot iron burned an X over their coat of arms.  The king looked down with a broken heart as his advisor announced the crimes of the twelfth man, who was to be executed, as this man was the king’s nephew who had trespassed into the great hall of the castle and attempted to set fire to the wheel.  The nephew was brought to the chopping block and his neck was tied to the stump.  The executioner stepped forward with a large axe and lopped off his head which rolled on the platform.  The guards escorted the eleven former contestants off the platform and servants cleaned up the mess from execution and carried the body and block away.  

Having solemnly watched the brandings and execution, the crowd remained still.  The king took to the stage once more and announced that the game would now begin.  He summoned the Wheel of Fortune.  The crowd went wild as drums beat and soldiers pulled and pushed the great wheel up a ramp and onto the platform.  Covered in the tapestry of the map of the kingdom which was updated each year to reflect the growing borders and settlements, the wheel was rolled to the center of the platform.  The king walked to the side of the wheel, grabbed the tapestry with both hands, and dragged it down.  The crowd cheered again and pressed toward the platform to better see the prizes painted on the face of the wheel.  The game began and the first contestant stepped forward.  After greeting and thanking the king, the man was asked by the king’s advisor to present his scar and state his name so as to verify for a final time his eligibility and dock him from the game manifest.  The man, whom the king had remembered from previous years, handed his gold coin to the king who held out his arm, inviting him to spin the wheel.  Above all the contestants, the man who loved the game most of all was the king himself.  He had never once touched the wheel, but was genuinely happy to afford his people something in return for the hard lives they lived within the kingdom.  The king knew that most of his subjects would sacrifice their lives to save his, but often wondered if they would hold him in such high regard or even remain in the kingdom at all if it were not for the game.  Once the wheel had stopped and the first contestant had won his prize, the advisor recorded the prize in the manifest and the man walked off the platform to the applause of the crowd.  Another man stepped forward and the process was repeated over and over again throughout the day.  The contestants gave their gold coins to the king, who gave them to his advisor, who then placed them in a chest which was later brought to the treasury where the coins would be melted down and minted again as game tokens for next year.

That day, as with every other year, the king presided over the entirety of Wheel of Fortune.  By the time the last contestant had stepped off the platform the sun had disappeared behind the fortress walls.  The king told his advisor that next year they might have to split the game into two days.  He turned to the crowd, which was substantial despite many families having already departed with their prizes.  As the soldiers rolled the wheel down the platform ramp the king bid farewell to his subjects and they hailed his name in exaltation.  The king retired to the castle and walked up the long staircase to his chamber, and through the window he could still hear them chanting his name.  He looked down from the window and saw the merrymakers celebrating in the fortress and the people collecting their prizes in the bailey.  He looked to the empty platform and saw the bloodstained wood.  The sun was setting beyond the mountains, and from the fortress streamed lines of families and their animals walking home beneath the sunset.  For a long time the king sat at his window watching over these people, then twilight came, the stars appeared, and he could see them no more.

                                                                             THE END

The Magpie on the Gallows, Pieter Bruegel the Elder