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Message: <blockquote data-quote="airwalkrr" data-source="post: 4453859" data-attributes="member: 12460">That's not half bad. If anything, it gives us something to work with until we can come up with something better. I like the way this is shaping up. How about a sister city?[sblock=Dardessis]City of the Gladiators, the majestic burg of Dardessis stands as a testament to the thirst of sentient races for conflict and spectacle. Everything about Dardessis revolves around an annual competitive event known as the Great Challenge. To enter, teams of gladiators must first qualify by surviving a series of gauntlets and then battling a number of successively more powerful beasts before advancing to the final stage of the competition, known as the Tournament. During the Tournament, the best teams compete in brackets until the top two teams face each other in what is known as the Bloodfeast.What is unique about the entire process is that none of the events are intended to be lethal (although occasional accidents do happen) until the final round, when anything is allowed. Up until the Bloodfeast, contestants are forced to use nonlethal blows, nonlethal weapons, or nonlethal spells, even when facing the monsters (so that the monsters may continue to fight in other events of course). The day before the Bloodfeast, the entire city celebrates the top two teams by throwing a massive feast in their honor. Every home and business declares their support for one team or another by flying their respective colors and the entire city is engulfed in a festival atmosphere. The day of the match is an incredible affair, with nearly the entire city watching, as scrying walls in various places throughout the city broadcast the event.The winning team is granted the privilege of ruling the city for one year however they see fit, and any members of the team who died during the battle are raised or resurrected, free of charge (the losing team gains no such boon, though they may of course pay for such spells themselves). Though this method of government tends to lead itself to the occasional stiff swing in city policy, one positive effect is that few rulers are allowed to consolidate their rule to the point of dictatorship. In fact, most simply delegate the tasks of running the city to well-known administrators-for-hire and spend the rest of their time training to defend their title. The people of Dardessis have unwavering faith in their system of government, for they know that an unpopular ruler inspires far more talented gladiators to risk themselves in the Great Challenge than a popular one, thus ensuring unpopular rulers shall not rule long.The current title-holders and rulers of the city are a team known as the Excoriators, led by the wizard, Alfanaster. It is unusual for teams featuring spellcasters (other than those who can cast healing spells) to make it so far in the Great Challenge, but Alfanaster's knack for beneficial transmutation spells has given his team an edge that has helped them preserve power three years running. It is even said that Alfanaster's potent magic allows him to spy on other teams and learn their strategy by taking the form of individual opponents while they are away from their teams and insinuating himself among them. Though these rumors unsettle a few people, there is nothing in the city's charter that prohibits such activity. It is unknown whether such tactics will catch on within the competition at large.[/sblock]</blockquote>

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