Circus Carnifex
In a settlement the size and security of the Dominus Columbia there is little need that a citizen protect themselves from the dangers of the wastes, and the brutality of frontier justice has steadily given way to a measured system of courts and codes. While there are few who would argue this isn’t a more civilized existence, few would deny there remains a certain longing for the charnel simplicity of the old ways. The Circus Carnifex exists to slake that desire, permitting the region’s denizens an extra-legal form of redress and providing the vicarious violence of blood sport. Participants who agree to enter the arena may settle a score through trial by combat, potentially collecting a small purse for their trouble along the way. Other contests pit seasoned fighters against specimens specially procured from the savage corners of the outer wasteland.
In the case of the grudge match a bout need not be to the death, though the audience and promoters will demand blood be spilled. In the case of the exhibition it is rare that a death does not occur one way or the other, as the creatures obtained for such sport neither give nor receive quarter. Recently however there have been a growing number of fights which combine aspects of these two forms, pitting two professional combatants against one another rather than against a symbolic hazard of the world beyond the walls. This last form of battle has begun to attract the interest of wealthy patrons and enthusiastic fans, which in turn has brought more amateur fighters to settle their grievances just in the hope of being favored by the crowd. This popularity brings with it new risks though, as the potential for scrutiny from the laws of the Dominus increases and the money exchanging hands on fights becomes of real consequence to those who would prefer strongly not to lose their investment.
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