Groggily blinking his eyes as consciousness returned, the elf heard indistinct voices ringing in his ears in an unfamiliar language. A pulsating pain at the back of his head caused him to wince as he tried to bring his arm up to cradle it, but felt a jerk and a loud jingling. Opening his eyes wider, he found that he had been bound to a wall. As he tried to move his head down, his chin met a solid block of wood. Hearing footsteps, he hurriedly looked up only to have his chin and cheeks seized by bony fingers and brought to meet a thin, wrinkled, aquiline face. A permanent sneer seemed to have been sewn to the hand's owner's face as he twisted the bound elf's head this way and that, tilting his head occasionally. "You say you took him a recent raid in the Southlands?" the captive heard in the unfamiliar language. "Yes lanista, a rather frail specimen to be sure, but I'm willing to part with him for a more...modest fee..." said another voice. Looking over to the corner of the room, the elf spotted a bald, corpulent human in a yellowed linen tunic. His features were, in comparison to the other human, thick, low browed and filled with malice. His hooded eyes were filled with venom and the elf found himself trying to recoil.

His attention drawn by the sudden movement, the aquiline human jerked his head back and his golden eyes met with the elf's own cool blue. Their gazes remained locked before the human's intensity forced the elf to look away. It was then that he noticed the row of other figures lined up along the wall beside him. And they were not just elves. Beastmen, dwarves, orcs, even other humans were chained to the wooden wall with a thick wooden yoke around their neck. Another person was inspecting the orc who snapped and raged savagely, trying to break his bonds while a human female sobbed loudly. Then his other senses kicked in. Shouting in various languages, along with the ringing of metal and horse shoes. The incessant smell of sewage and the hot press of bodies. The sensations hit him all at once. Suddenly, his head was tugged back, forcing him to meet the human's gaze again, this time, much closer. "...Can you fight?" he asked in Elvish. Stunned, the elf simply blinked, before shaking his head. He had been a farmer. Nothing more. The aquiline man's gaze darkened before he released him from his claw=like grip. "You're lucky my last elves died yesterday," he heard before the fat blob elicited a cry of glee.

Within 5 minutes, the elf was unchained, moved into a dark wooden horse cart and rechained. With no energy to fight back and no idea where he was, he could only hang his head and follow the steerman's tugs. Next to him sat a broad shouldered dwarf who spat at his feet, before moving away as far as his chains would allow. With a loud, almost definitive crash, the door of the cart was pulled up and locked. He didn't know where he was going...but he already knew what was going to happen. Lanista. A word dreaded by many. He was going to the arena.

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So, the idea here is our characters are recently captured slaves who have been purchased by a lanista and are now expected to fight in an arena. The world will be more fleshed out later (and players are welcome to assist) but suffice to say we are in a fantasy world with all manner of creatures, both sentient and those wanting to ruthlessly rip out your throat and drink your blood. Magic is a thing here but it's rare and expect to be fettered if you want to use it, mostly for the entertainment of the crowd...and the GM. If there's going to be a mage, there can only be one. As detailed in the above post there are going to be different races, each with their own prejudices and views, along with their own fighting style.

If people want, for extra difficulty, I may introduce a time based economy during our break periods between fights, giving the whole group a certain amount of points to spend to either visit the healers, upgrade armour and weapons or attempt to glean information for their next fight. This RP, if it runs long enough, may not end in the arena though. Nations are still at war (providing a steady inflow of slaves and fighters) and as fighters, we may be expected to fight for our pride and nation...or we can rebel.

Anyone interested?