CGR2 - The Complete Gladiator's Handbook

The hot sun beats down upon the dusty arena floor. The
shimmering heat begins to rise even at this early hour,
before the gates to the auditorium open. Inside the huge
stadium, slaves work hard to make it presentable enough
for the demanding crowd outside. In less than an hour, the
marble tiers are swept clean of debris and sand scattered
through the city by last night’s storm.
At long last, the half-giant guards haul open the doors
to the arena. The crowd pours in like a sandwave over a
cliff. rushing to find the es seats before they are snapped
up. The nobles and templars enter more sedately, through
their special doors. They do not have to scramble for seats;
they are guaranteed the best seats in the house by their
station.
After the majority of the crowd seats itself, the vendors
go into action, selling their wares throughout the stadium.
Some offer kank honey, others roast erdlu. And always,
always there are the water-bearers. For a ceramic piece,
each spectator can be refreshed with a ewer of relatively
cool, mostly fresh water. The vendors, however, are not the
sight which everyone has come to see. They are not here to
see the templars, the nobles and their finery, nor even the
sorcerer-king himself. These 15,000 spectators have come
for the drama to be enacted on the dusty floor of the
arena-the sight of people engaged in mortal combat for
the enjoyment of the crowd.
Less than half an hour later, the games begin in earnest.
They start with the warm-up act of the jaszt, dancing in
the deceptively gay motions of mock-combat. The subdued
clamor of the crowd begins to increase in intensity,
increasing the rhythms of the jaszts’ movements. The
crowd’s roar rises and falls with each strike and parry.
When the crowd has gotten well into the spirit of things,
the sweating jaszt leave the arena to other gladiators.
All through the long day, scores of these warriors enter
the arena to fight for the entertainment and edification of
the crowd. Though the sand on the arena floor absorbs
most of the blood spilled onto it, the darkened patches
begin to run together, and soon outnumber those areas
4
that are free of the blood’s stain. Kes’trekels hover high
overhead, hoping for some of the flesh scattered by every
blow.
The spectators become an extension of the goings-on
in the arena, chanting for their favorite gladiators, their
blood lust running high. They eagerly watch the feints
and parries, their tension rising with each strike and
riposte. The crowd screams with every movement of the
combatants.
When the final titanic battle has been fought, the
crowd files quickly from the stadium. Templars stand
ready to enforce discipline on any stragglers or any who
look like they show even the slightest inclination toward
carrying the violence back into the streets. Towering halfgiant
guards hulk menacingly behind them to drive home
this point.
Inside the arena, slaves rake the sands clean and throw
the bodies into the desert. The carrion birds feast well on
dead heroes tonight.
The Purpose of Gladiators
In a world with civilizations as harsh as those of Athas,
only the most bloodthirsty sports can entertain the crowds
enough to keep their attention from their miserable lot in
life. The arenas provide such sport with the spilling of
blood by mighty gladiators. The killing is a release for the
crowd, symbolic of that which the citizens cannot perform
themselves.
It is therefore no wonder that the best of the gladiators
rise above the crowd, to become the popular heroes of the
age. Their exploits are the stuff of legends. Children follow
their progress avidly, some even going so far as to paint the
walls of the cities with pictures of their favorites in defiance
of the templars. Some gladiators achieve such a measure
of fame that their reputation spreads far from their
city-states, bringing citizens of outlying towns to the arenas
to witness these masters at their craft.
Recognizing the value of the games to the people, they