Grey Hills

South of Sherwynn forest sits the city of Grey Hills. Known for the Coliseum, a great arena in its centre and the prize fighting that goes on there. The economy of the city revolves around these non-lethal yet bloody fights. The rules are complex but the basics are that magical effects or weapons are not permitted, it is a bout of skill against skill; with medics on hand to ensure all combatants are treated quickly so that death and serious injury (to anything other than pride) is extremely rare. In addition to the sanctioned fights there are always rumours of secret illegal fight clubs in the city where wealthy individuals meet in small groups to pay incredible sums of money to see true battles to the death. There is also a collectors trade, and associated black market, in equipment and clothing used in the fights.

- The Fighters' Guild of Grey Hills: The organisers of the fighting. They are basically the rulers of the city though their control of the main activity in the city as well as the largest economic force. They employ the town guard. Within the city there are multiple schools of fighting, known as Ludus, and each one acts under license from the Guild. Without a license you don't get booked to the Coliseum bouts.

**The Colosseum**

The famed venue for the prize fighting in the city. It is a huge stone structure with tiered seating around a large sand-floor in the centre.

**Colosseum District**

Most of the area around the Coliseum is given over to bars and cafes from which the fights can be watched via scrying devices set up by the mages in the employ of the Fighter's Guild. There are also numerous shops and carts selling souvenirs such as dolls of the fighters, duplicate costume pieces, artwork, fan-fiction/factual books of the fighters, and wooden toy weapons and armour. some of these are sanctioned by the Fighter's Guild, some are not.

The Growling Bear. The largest tavern in the area. House specials include the Headlock Hooch, a citrus mead, and Pint of Pain a chocolate-milk based malted drink.

- Druck "Fist-Smash" Green. A male half-orc in his later years and a former champion, technically the manager of the bar though actually he spends his time chatting with customers and swapping stories, his daughter actually runs the place.

- Druscilla Green. A female half-orc with a good head for numbers and public relations. She doesn't begrudge her father the work she has to put in on his behalf because she knows how valuable he is to the business doing what he does.

**The Sword Spire**

Home of the mages in the city. Entirely funded and in the employ of the Fighters' Guild. They focus on illusions mostly to support the fights with lights, sounds, and music to amp up the theatre and spectacle of the thing. They also train numerous clerics in the arts of healing, both mundane and magical, and provide these services to the Guild or to an individual ludus.

**The Luduses**

Set in the outskirts of the city, each one is like a tiny village unto itself. They recruit and train a stable of fighters and keep permanent staff such as fight masters, smiths, promotions people, talent scouts, and healers/mages drawn from the Sword Spire. The mages often join the fighters at the the arena to perform bespoke magic displays to accompany the fighters. The owners, fighters, and support-staff all live in the ludus in most cases. Any maltreatment of staff, or forcing anyone to fight against their will or by trickery, is taken extremely seriously by the Guild and punished savagely. Rumours abound that powerful entities such as fey or djinn have taken certain schools under their wings to bring them fortune and favour. Officially this would be considered cheating but schools often allow the rumours in order to give mystique and power to their fighters. Each ludus has its own staff, and by tradition each one has a champion, declared by decisions within the ludus. These champions are chosen by the ludus' own rules and sometimes they will hold private parties for high paying customers to watch internal fights and championship bouts. The largest five are Bitter Dominion, Trusted Dark, Macabre Vanguard, Fearless Forrest, and Hellmight.

**The Smithies**

This district is formed from numerous establishments and it turns out weapons of unique styles. Often made to order. As well as making exact replicas of the arms of famous fighters.

When Raze was last in Grey Hills, he suffered a humiliating defeat in the coliseum while fighting under the name ‘The Terrasque’ and was advised by his Ludus manager to get his head back in the game before returning to the arena. Hiding in his shell while being pummelled destroyed his confidence, his fearsome reputation, and his fanbase.