Bloodbound of THE RED RING
“Some are sold to it, some are sworn to it, some are born to it...
but the only way to escape this life is to bathe in gallons of blood. Once you’re in the Ring, you come out victorious or not at all.”
—Kel Giantsbane, gladiator
The greatest gladiators of the Red Ring are the bloodbound, the warriors who slake Stormreach’s thirst for blood sport in brutal battle. They are not casual fighters.
Those who wish to dabble in arena combat are invited to do so at the Annual Games held at the Red Ring. The bloodbound are gladiators who pledge their very souls to the Red Ring and serve a stable master until the day of their death. Some do it for glory, others because they have no choice.
The Red Ring is unrivaled in its brutality. To satisfy the desperate and demanding masses of Stormreach, a population living on the fringe of a savage continent, the Ring offers sport gruesome enough to satisfy even the most bloodthirsty tastes. Khorvaire’s champions come across the Thunder Sea to prove themselves and instead often get sent home in pieces.
Bloodbound are not average gladiators. They face the fiercest horrors Xen’drik’s untamed jungles have to offer. The lawlessness of Stormreach allows, and even encourages, grisly contests of strength, sweat, and blood.
All this considered, bloodbound don’t survive long without a code and the strictures of the Red Ring’s Blood Council. Obedience, faith in the stablemasters, and a rigorous regimen of training dominate every bloodbound’s life.
The most important distinction made among these gladiators is that between slaves and free bloodbound.
Free bloodbound are fewer and fewer every year. Those who have other choices are rarely drawn to a life of constant bloodshed and agony, and the sacrifice made to become a bloodbound is extreme.
These days, most stablemasters rely on slaves or recruit condemned criminals from the tribunals.
Slave Trade
Stormreach is a city founded by pirates, a city that exists outside the Code of Galifar. It is one of the few foreign markets for the slavers of Darguun. Most people find the concept of slavery distasteful, and few of the regular inhabitants of Stormreach own slaves.
The majority of Stormreach’s inhabitants are willing to set aside their distaste for slavery when it comes to the Red Ring. Few people worry whether the gladiators are fighting of their own free will; they come to the ring to be entertained.
Slave Auctions
Every month, slave ships arrive in Stormreach from Darguun, laden with living cargo packed like beasts in 4-foot-square pens, underfed and dirty. The slaves are marched to the Red Ring to be bought by interested stablemasters. These auctions are a gathering of the elite of the ring. Handlers, stablemasters, slaver kingpins, and other interested parties attend and vie for the hardiest among the new stock.
After the auction is concluded, the unwanted who are not purchased are not returned to the ships. Instead, they become the stars of a special event called the Slaughter. This event is simple in format and can be viewed by invitation only. The unwanted slaves are left in the ring while a few seasoned bloodbound are released into the arena to butcher them. Anyone suspected of lacking fealty to his stable and the blood sport in general might be forced to take part in the Slaughter to prove his devotion.
RULES OF THE RING
The ring has only two rules: No poison can be used by the bloodbound, and no enchantment magic can be employed. The competing bloodbound’s stables decide the rules for each specific match in advance under the purview of the Blood Council.
Many fights are one-on-one matches, but some are team matches. A bloodbound is allowed any weapons and armor his stable can provide. Sometimes a bloodbound is restricted to nonmagical or even substandard equipment for the sake of the viewers’ entertainment. (The crowd loves it when the bloodbound are released into the ring unarmed and must snatch up random weapons strewn about the ground and walls.)
Matches are fought until one bloodbound can’t continue. Mercy is rarely exercised, but permitted.
SPECIALTY MATCHES
Standard one-on-one and team battles are popular, but to keep the crowds coming week after week, the Blood Council creates all manner of exotic specialty matches.
Beast Match
A real crowd pleaser. One bloodbound enters the ring to face some horrible monstrosity that is usually at least Huge in size. Slayers and Crimson Champions are expected to do so unarmored, and on occasion, unarmed. In a new, popular variant, two bloodbound battle each other while various monsters are released into the ring to savage them.
Last Man Standing Match
These meatgrinders always sell out, even though the admission fees are tripled to cover the massive losses the stables take. Most stables contribute several bloodbound to these free-for-all melees in which over twenty gladiators enter the ring, one walks out, and the rest get carried out.
Death Vat Battle
Bloodbound battle over tremendous vats of alchemical acid or brackish polluted brine with tentacled monsters lurking within (chuuls, giant squids, and such creatures). They must navigate a matrix of metal poles, shaky gangplanks, and hanging chains as they fight. A foe can shake a chain or stomp on a plank to dislodge his enemy. Opponents can sunder a plank, pole, or chain as well, forcing a foe standing on or clinging to it to plummet into the huge vat below.
Chain Match
In this one-on-one match, both bloodbound wear spiked rusty gauntlets on their left hands tied together by a 10-foot length of chain. The ring floor is scattered with pits of poison-coated spikes, walls of fire, and other hazards. No rules prevent a bloodbound from sundering the chain.
Hail of Death Match
Hail of death was the first new format developed by Malketh since ascending to his father’s position. It is currently wildly popular. Spectators in the front rows of the arena can purchase overpriced crossbows and ammunition from the ring vendors. (No one can bring his own weapons to these bouts.) Spectators use these purchased crossbows to fire upon the bloodbound combatants as they fi ght. These matches are huge moneymakers, both because of the crossbow fees and the sellout crowds, who love being involved in the matches.
Razor Chariot Match
In this match, pairs of dire tigers pull huge chariots about the arena. The chariots are covered in blades, and huge razored saws extend from each wheel’s hub. Deneith mercenaries who are armed to the teeth ride the chariots, attacking all bloodbound in the arena. The tigers occasionally savage spectators who get too close, as well.
