Diamondskin's Arena Saturday, July 7, 2012 content , map , wwr 0 Comments

The lizardman Vascar Diamondskin runs an arena out of a large cavern in the contested borderlands between two countries. The cavern is set within an old crumbling limestone hill and the floor is covered in smooth soft sand. A number of large, natural skylights, keep the cavern well lit, but the crumbling ceiling can occasionally drop rocks and dirt 50' onto unsuspecting arena patrons. Despite the occasional crumbles, the ceiling is in no danger of fully collapsing, and anything that does fall is quickly cleaned up by Vascar's crew.



Fight nights draw large crowds that range from passing adventurers, mercenary bands, gangs of outlaws, off duty soldiers looking for fun, and the occasional wanted man looking to make quick coin before trying to disappear. Since most of the spectators are relatively local, the arena clears out pretty rapidly once the fight is done, and nights with no fights can be quite peaceful in this large cavern. There is a small sleeping area for travelers and, since any thievery is punished by immediate death, it tends to be a pretty safe place to stay, no matter who you are. Food and drink are provided by vendors, but the vendors and the prices change with the winds. The patrons are ever changing as well, there are regulars of course but the majority.







TO RECREATE THIS MAP · http://donjon.bin.sh/d20/dungeon/ · Random Seed: 1340961763 · Layout: Cavernous · Size: Fine · Egress: Yes

BASIC INFO · One square is 5'x5' · Ceilings 50

1 - ENTRANCE The entrance to Diamondskin's Arena can be found in a cliff side along an old riverbed. The opening appears to be a natural cave entrance 20' wide and 10' tall. The floor of the cavern is smooth and sandy, and it slopes downward as it moves west. The sand shows signs of heavy foot traffic, and piles of large stones lie along the cave's walls in this area. 2 - POST BOARD AND ENTRY FEE A solid chunk of earth and stone connects the floor and ceiling in this area, and a post board, covered in poorly spelled fight lists and crudely drawn portraits of victors, is planted firmly in the ground. A small wooden table sits to the right of the board, and a closed oak water barrel is on the left. A tin cup on a 3' hemp rope dangles on the side of the barrel. Visitors can drink freely from the barrel

Two hardened looking human warriors in chainmail (Oscar and Useph) will almost always be found in this area to charge an entry fee of 1 silver.

3 - VENDORS Dirty stalls filled with pushy vendors selling all manner of questionable things can be found in this area. Stalls selling mundane things like food, drink, weapons and armor sit next to stalls that openly sell poisons, exotic drugs, and stolen art. Slave traders and contract killers have also been known to set up shop here from time to time. Numerous types of incense burn in a poor attempt to cover the smell of blood and sweat. Torches light this area as the natural skylights in the main cavern do not reach these corners.

4 - "THE ROCKS" Mismatched benches, chairs, stools and barrels line the walls of this area in crude rows. A circle, 30' in diameter, of large and medium rocks marks out the fighting area, of this arena. During a fight, the rocks can hardly be seen due to the crush of spectators cheering, and cursing and shouting their bets.

Rashar the lizardman acts as referee for the Rock Arena. Due to the nature of these fights he doesn't referee much, but he does look for blades during bare-knuckle fights and is excellent at determining if poison or possession was used to swing a fight. Should blood, or worse, end up on any of the rocks, Rashar can be found cleaning or replacing them the next day.

5 - "THE POSTS" Like The Rocks, the cavern walls around The Posts Arena are filled with an assortment of mismatched benches, chairs, and stools. Due to the nature of the fights that occur here, the spectators seating is further back (8') from the fighting area of this arena when compared to The Rocks.

Wooden posts, 2' tall and 1' in diameter make up the ring of this arena (20' in diameter), with a few (1d8) 6' tall posts mixed in. The 6' posts are often used to "liven up" the fights. They are occasionally lit on fire, or equipped with dart or spear traps. Every fight that occurs in this arena is between armored opponents, unrefereed, and always to the death.

During fights, Vishi works the crowd to keep an eye on things.

6 - VASCAR'S TENT Chests, crates, stools, and burlap sacks lie scattered around a small fire pit outside of Vascar's 10' circular, canvas, tent. Vascar and the twins live here with their minimal belongings. 1d6+1 hired hands may be found sleeping outside the tent, but the Lizardmen have little need for permanent employees other than Oscar and Useph who both live in a nearby farmhouse. 7 - HEALER'S TENT Angol Harbor the Healer (cleric) has a 10' wide 20' deep tent set up here to house injured warriors that require long term care. At most long term care means waiting a week for a limb regeneration or resurrection. Numerous wooden stools sit outside the tent, and Angol can often be found napping on one when he tent is full of people being healed. Since his services are needed often, and because he is well liked, small crowds will often congregate around his tent.

Small oranges studded with cloves are kept throughout this area to combat the smells of blood and sweat, and three water barrels to be used by the injured only sit outside the tent. If anyone attempts to drink freely from them Angol will politely ask them not to. This usually works, even the wicked don’t want to offend the only healer in a cave full of killers, but some frogs get jumpy. Being a pacifist, Angol will never attack anyone, though he will be persistent in trying to take the cup from your hands.

8 - FIGHTER'S REST AREA Ten small tents speckle this area. Fighters and their crews use this area to relax before and after fights. Vascar is most frequently found here, watching the warriors and ensuring nothing unprofessional occurs. Brawls break out frequently here between the fighter's support crews, but they're broken up rapidly. If they're not, and Vascar gets involved, brawls turn into bloodbaths, courtesy of Vascar's dagger.

The tents belong to Vascar and are always up. As soon as someone leaves he will clean them, and get them ready to be used again. Most fighters only stay a single night, but well known fighters that really pack the crowds may stay as long as a week. Two rows of benches line the north wall and are used for staging immediately before a fight.











VASCAR DIAMONDSKIN

Physical Description: Light green scales broken by black scales in a diamond shapes. He is covered in numerous scars, and is missing part of his tail





Vascar was born to the greatest warrior of his clan. His father was as great a teacher as he was warrior. Vascar showed himself to be the strongest and smartest of his generation, but like his father he was a warrior and being a warrior prevented him from being chieftain. Though warriors were valued and vital they were not trusted to lead, that was left to the shamans and medicine men. Eventually, a civil war was about to erupt and rather than watch his clan tear itself apart he chose to change the game. Vascar slayed the chieftain and claimed the title himself. His skill as a warrior and willingness to use others in settling disputes united his clan and left few challengers.





The clan had enemies though, and Vascar acted just in time. Months after he became Chief of the Smoothwater clan, their namesake lake became vital to their enemies. Dams of the humans had been torn asunder and the lands of the neighboring clans forever changed. Vascar was able to keep the lake for three long, bloody years filled with defeat and death. The fight was abandoned when there remained only a dozen warriors left, everyone else had fled the war or been killed and there was little point to continue fighting. Vascar and his men abandoned their home and began a campaign of assassination. It took two years, but the head of every clan that moved against them was slain. Vascar had lost all but two of his men by the time it was over and he was seeking a new purpose.





In his years as a child he had navigated the civilized lands often as a challenge to not be seen and one of his favorite spots had been a cavern that’s entry was hidden under a river. Within the cavern there was a shallow pool lit by numerous natural holes in the ceiling. Once the dams were destroyed the pools and river quickly disappeared to leave a large open cavern with a soft sandy floor that very few people knew of. Vascar and his men began making a name for themselves as mercenaries to get enough coin together to outfit the cavern with tents and supplies. Then with the small amount of contacts they had made, they put out word of an arena where men could test their skills and fill their pockets. Before the year was up there was a steady enough stream of visitors that Vascar was able to set up two solid fight nights a week. Being tucked just outside of two nations borders Vascar has never had trouble with any so called authorities, however bounty hunters will often frequent the place just to browse the crowd.





THE TWINS - RASHAR AND VISHI

Physical Description: Rashar has dark green scales with yellow spots and Vishi has yellow scales with dark green spots.





Other than Vascar, these two brothers are the last of the Smoothwater clan. They grew up with Vascar, though never as smart, they were each almost as deadly. The loss of their clan pains them deeply, but not as much as the sorrow they know their Chief feels. Their loyalty is without question and either would gladly put themselves in front of the spear for Vascar. They are experts with any melee weapon and vicious when tasked to combat.









Angol Harbor

Angol is a man nearing his fifties and looking every day of it. Though tired and aged, the gray haired man does look very happy. It's clear that he enjoys being able to help people while working with Vascar. Angol met Vascar and the twins working with the now disbanded Black Root Raiding Company. Vascar was interesting to Angol because Angol never liked the people he worked with. However the best way to do the most good as a healer is to follow around warriors. If it were his world more warriors would not be ruthless killers. Instead, noble warriors would spend their time in courts and castles leaving the hungry, mean and desperate to fight amongst themselves. In this reality, Angol's fondness for the lizardmen was despite their brutal nature. Their leader had a deep sadness in him that intrigued the cleric. And the twins undying loyalty to Vascar was stronger than any bond he had ever witnessed, even with his own god. When he heard that Vascar had opened a fighters arena, he left the road immediately and sought the old Lizard.



Angol, sometimes, keeps the fighters alive even when he should not. Some fights are "to the death" and Angol has once or twice nearly lost his own after raising a dead warrior out of pity. Vascar and the twins let no one hurt the pacifist cleric out of a feeling of debt because the healer had saved their lives in the past. Just about everyone who has ever fought here has been healed, fed or cared for by Angol and few tolerate any disrespect of him. Angol has collected a large amount of gold from donations, but he saves that for the fighters who have lost and been abandoned penniless by their party or manager. Outside his tent there is always an open stool, even if just one, and if not busy repairing flesh Angol will gladly engage in conversation on whatever topic is raised. He is very well informed, quite smart and capable of approaching situations from many perspectives.



