✎ the_arena [UMBA]

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====== The Arena =====

> //"The lights! The sounds! The monsters! The weird meat! I love it all!"//
>
> - Dust, spectator

==== The Stadium ====

Huge arrays of seating, sufficient for tens of thousands, surround a massive ichor-stained and sandy-bottomed pit where monsters and others battle for glory and entertainment. The multi-level seating is steep and raised some thirty feet above the central arena, offering exceptional views from its teetering heights. 

Devices scavenged from old-world technology (and kept working mostly by rote and care) flood the amphitheatre with light when needed, and echo the sound (and commentary) of the fight up to the very top of the seating.  Matches are managed from a central assemblage that hangs high above the Arena floor, giving the Umpire and any privileged enough to be allowed in the Central Box an unrivalled view of the Match.

The floor of the arena is seemingly carved into the rock itself, and is freshly refitted for each fight in accordance with the Network Schedule by a team of diligent and expert workers - depending on their requirements, it can go from barren, to flooded, to littered with razor sharp plants within just hours of work.

When the stadium is filled, the roar of thousands of fans cheering at once reverberates and the atmosphere becomes at once blood-pounding and electric. Between fights sellers of food and drink roam through the seating offering their wares, bookmakers take bets for upcoming bouts, and troupes of dancers and other spectacular entertainers hold the crowd's fickle interest. But there is nothing quite like a fight in progress, watching titanic beasts tear into each other and cheering for your favourite.

==== The Supporting Arena ====

This said, it is not entirely accurate to say that the fighting pit is the Arena. Though it is showy and most people who watch fights will never see anything else, the infrastructure of the Arena is greater than the spectacle. For those whose lives revolve around it the Arena sprawls out into a large complex of tunnels, underground caverns, and buildings that are key to keeping the Arena running.

The Arena's monster pens are rarely occupied for long periods of time, except for before fights. Many monsters grow antsy when caged near to others, so typically trainers and fighters will keep their monsters elsewhere and bring them to the pens in preparation for a particular match. The pens are well-outfitted, however, and contain a large variety of devices for pacifying and restraining monsters. Attached to the pens are accommodation blocks for trainers who do not ordinarily live nearby. These spartan living quarters are basic but warm and secure.

The local area around the Arena offers a huge variety of entertainment and at night the place bustles as busily as the daytime. Everything from bars serving terrible spirits to Arena staff who need a break after a long day's work, to vendors on the street hawking questionably-sourced meat to unwary drunks, to bath houses where travellers can relax, to venues hosting troupes of musicians and actors, and more. Here, trainers are treated as celebrities and it is quite common to see a few socialising and soaking up adoration (and free drinks) from fans.

==== Competitors' Village ====

At the heart of the city lies Competitors' Village: housing reserved only for those directly involved in this season's championship. Monster fighters and their teams reside in Network-funded accommodation for the whole season, training for each match in state-of-the-art gyms designed for the purpose. The Village is designed to contain everything an aspiring monster fighter might require: from well-reinforced stables to keep their monsters living in comfort, to libraries of records documenting every fight that has ever taken place within the Arena. 

Here, reporters from the most popular fanzines have the chance to snag an interview with their favourite competitors. Within Competitors’ Village, monster fighters know that every eye in the city is on them – and they relish in the attention. 

The Village runs on its own currency, which is in operation all around the Arena and beyond. In many respects this currency is more valuable than mediums of exchange used elsewhere, since it is easily recognisable, impossible to counterfeit, and extremely stable. All serious entrepreneurs within the city invest in the Battle Arena, and all traders will deal in the Arena currency; the Network is the city’s economic giant, and no other business has ever rivaled it.  

===== Further Reading =====

Be sure to see also:

  * [[Fights]] - for how Monster vs Monster Fights in the Arena are managed
  * [[Championships]] - the titles up for grabs, and the ones to watch this season
  * [[Gladiators]] - for information on the brave fools who challenge Monsters themselves
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