Zenith like any other city has its bright side and darker side. And in Zenith, th playground is absolutely not a bright place. As a district the playground is a place where you can find or get anything. Whatever your pleasure whether mainstream or not. Someone in the playground can make it a reality.
And for as much as there are things that are kept secret. There is also the “good clean entertainment,” of watching fights. The joys of seeing two people in a cage, fighting until submission. Most cage fighting is illegal in Zenith, but the Bloody Knuckle has such a heritage and is paid up with the right people to operate in the “mostly” open.
Located down a back alley with a dark entrance that has no windows, the Bloody Knuckle is only marked by a splatter pained red fist on the stone brick wall.
The door is guarded by a dwarf and a half orc. The dwarf is a shorter figure with a tight military haircut and a long braided black beard. He has dark brown eyes and a scar running down his left cheek. His name is Warren Flintstone, and he’s worked that door for probably about 25 years. He’s seen it all and dolled out his fair share of violence.
With him is a larger half orc woman named Riesa Stromjaw. She is very tall, even for a half orc, with hair that is shaved on one side and long on the other but braided into dreadlocks. She has a star tattoo under her right eye, and her eye teeth stick out slightly from her bottom lift. She walks with a slight limp as her right leg was replaced with a construct after a bad fight. She was a prize fighter for management, but after that night was put on the door. She is learning from Warren, and tough as nails.
The Bloody Knuckle is owned by a man known only as “the Concierge.” There will be a full block post on him later. But for this, he is a smaller man, about five-feet-tall, with a very slender build. He has white eyes with grey irises. His skin is tone grey and his teeth are jagged. No one knows his race, and he is always seen in a fine suit with a bowler hat, carrying a black obsidian cane and wearing dark circular sunglasses. He is known for being extremely dangerous, and never goes anywhere without his bodyguard, a slender human with a darker complexion and wearing a long coat, known as Max, and a smaller tiefling woman with yellow skin, and white hair named Ezmirelda.
When you enter the bloody knuckle, you enter a hallway that goes downstairs. As you get downstairs, you will find a large area, about the size of a football field. And scattered across the space, are smaller domed cages that are sunken about 30 feet into the floor. Each of these cages holds a fight most nights.
For spectators, they can move from one cage match to another and bet on fights, there is always a bookie at each cage taking bets. The place has black stone floors and ceilings with most of the lighting being from lights embedded in the walls. The floor is usually darker in between cages with there being bright lights over each cage.
Each cage also has waitresses walking around with drinks or those old-time style cigarette cases with finger foods.
What are the rules?
While you are a spectator, the rules are fairly simple:
- Always pay your bill.
- Treat our staff with respect.
- Keep the fights in the ring.
- Honor your bets.
Should someone break those rules, then the staff there will remove you, and they tend to do so “aggressively.” The Concierge is known for having a zero tolerance policy on these rules being broken.
What are the rules?
When you are in the ring, there are different types of fights that can happen. Regardless of the fight happening, the cage actually serves as a magic barrier that blocks any magic from entering the ring. This is done to prevent meddling in the fight.
The types of fights are:
- Bare Knuckle – These fights have no weapons and no magic. It is meant to be a normal fist fight. To compete in this event, has an entrance fee of 50GP and pays out 50 + 8d12 GP.
- Iron Knuckle – A fight where combatants around allowed to bring in weapons. These fights tend to be more vicious. To compete in this event costs 200 GP, but pays out 500 + 12d12 GP.
- Full Knuckle – A fight like this takes place at the main cage which is larger than most, and allows for the use of magic in the fight. Each combatant is allowed on 3 magic items. To compete in this event costs 500 GP, but pays out 1000 GP + 16d12 GP.
- No holds barred – A fight takes place in the main cage and there are no limits. These are custom negotiated with the concierge.
The Concierge employs clerics who perform healing on combatants and even resurrections. Should you need to be resurrected, there is a 1000 GP charge from the house. Healing requires a cost of 200 GP per every 15 HP.