Games Outside the Cities (CGH)

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The big cities do not have a monopoly on gladiatorial arenas. Just because a village lies beyond the reach of the city does not mean that the villagers are ignorant of the entertainment the games afford city-bred folk. Those who have traveled to the cities often return with stories of decadence and grandeur, the likes of which the others have never dreamed. In an attempt to recreate the spectacle of the games, traveled villagers build arenas in their home towns so that the less-experienced peasants may witness the glory of man pitted against man or beast.
Of course, these games hold little of the splendor that the city's games do. They are generally poorly managed, inept performances, with crude walls and cells defining the arena. The makeshift arena can still seat over 500 people; not exactly brimming by the city s standards, but certainly a sizeable crowd given the nature of the towns.
Despite the shoddy surroundings, individual performers can often show great promise. Indeed, city-bred talent scouts employed by templars or nobles regularly visit the outlying towns in hopes of catching some bright young star and nurturing her to greater glory than she could have ever received in the small villages.
When they capture one of these gullible fools with their tales of fighting in the big city, they act as minor slavers. Taking the confidence of the naïve young gladiators, they send the gladiators to their employers, who start them training among the slaves. Although the good ones become stars, they are never allowed to speak with their former townsfolk, for they might reveal that their life has become a living agony, that the price of their fame is their freedom.
Some evade the slavers and make their way to the city anyway. Since they do not have the patrons or the sponsorship necessary for an effective debut, they fail most of the time. Only the truly skilled among them shine brightly enough that they are picked up by independent sponsors who care nothing for enslaving them, or at least care more for their profits than owning the gladiator outright. The "Patrons" section deals more with this sort of benefactor.
Most of the games in the villages are not fought to the death; there is too much work in the outlying towns for them to waste valuable life on entertainment. Unless the one of the combatants is a criminal or a beast from the wastelands, or if the two fighters wish to settle a deadly dispute, the games end when one of the parties surrenders or is knocked unconscious. Most villagers agree that these games are not nearly as satisfying as the games of the city, but they do provide an entertaining diversion from the brutal labor forced upon them by the harsh climate of Athas.
Neither do these games have the variety offered by the city. Because of their demanding schedules simply surviving the rigors of Athas, they have neither time nor the inclination to plan the nuances of the battle or to trap the ferocious beasts.
Once a year or longer, depending on the village, most villages hire professional gladiators or purchase slaves to die for them in the makeshift arena. Most of these can feign their deaths with loud cries and blood bags; they are usually worth more alive to their true owners, who lease them out for dramatic death scenes.
A few of these traveling circuses do hire out gladiators who fight to the death; any gladiator who signs on with a traveling arena would be best advised to check before committing herself to anything.
Money and other barter exchange hands regularly in wagers on the outcome of all these fights. Like the nobles and templars of the cities, feuding peasants try to drive each other into debt by placing huge bets against their opponents'. Most of the villagers eschew such practices, placing more simple bets that they can afford to lose. The decadents and the fools drive each other under; most villagers know they must cooperate with each other in order to survive the harsh climates of Athas. This ethic does not necessarily extend to those who are not members of their community.