who will you save? who will you serve?

This is a game where two players recreate the folkloric story of Shamhat and Enkidu. It is a game of power, consent, knowledge, loyalty, and love. It uses a deck of cards to help narration.

In the old story, Enkidu is a wild man who has been freeing animals from traps set by hunters, destroying cattle pens, and leading wild animals close to civilization. He must be tamed in order to protect the people living in the valley. King Gilgamesh, a warlord, hearing these things, sends Shamhat, the sacred prostitute to tame the wild man. Shamhat and Enkidu spend two weeks together in the wilderness. When Shamhat returns, she relates to Gilgamesh that the wild man Enkidu has been tamed, and then returns to him, forsaking her life at the temple and living with Enkidu as a wife. 

In the game one person will play Shamhat - the sacred prostitute, and the other will play Enkidu, the wildling. The game takes place over a series of interactions where Shmahat attempts to seduce Enkidu to lie with them. In doing so, politics and power will be revealed, and both characters will have to consent and understand what will happen if they do lie together. Underneath all this lies the simple fact: Shamhat and Enkidu are attracted to each other, in a way that neither of them can fully explain.

Cover Art: Rebecca Yanoskavya