Welcome New Readers Stories By Issue The Roving Gamer's Corner E-mail Us
©1998 by Matthew Strumpf and Mark Christopher

This page last updated Tuesday, 06-Sep-2005 12:28:48 EDT.

The Arena

The rules behind the Arena are simple. Competitors enter an Arena. They must survive, alone or in groups and leave the Arena with more flags then any other group. However, the Arena has a little more of a story behind it. There are very strange powers that control the Arena. No one knows for sure what lies inside.

These stories tell the tales of some who have chosen to travel to the Arena. With luck, some may be picked to enter. Will you take that chance? Do you have what it takes to survive the Arena? There is only one way to find out. Will yours be one of the stories?

The Arena, January 1, Some year

You can just start reading or you can jump to the issue number of the story you want to read.

• Volume 2, Number 3: Small Towns
  
• Volume 2, Number 4: Cards
  
• Volume 2, Number 5: Last Round
  

The Arena: Small Towns

It is not that you dislike the town. It is just that you want more out of life. To put it simply, it is boring here. You sigh and turn to join your father.

"You need to start to pay more attention to your work, if you ever want to take over for me in running this place," your father told you. But, the thought of this being your whole life did not appeal to you. Maybe it was fine for your father, but you could reach for more, if only you had a chance.

That afternoon you left work to walk through the town center. The winter dull was being washed away as green filled the commons. Maybe it was not so bad. You might have not been a King, but you've had a decent life. You were educated and even well trained in some areas. You were almost finished apprenticing for your father. Soon you would have to work full-time. Maybe it was not the best job, but it was not the only one on offer. Your father never said you had to work for him.

You started to wander by the shops, not looking at the goods but the people. You thought to yourself, "I could do that," and you were probably right. That was when you felt a tap.

"Not really happy with yourself, are you?" the voice said. You turned and saw a man in a long brown coat. He had obviously been traveling for some time. He continued, "Shopping for something better?"

You replied, "What business is it of yours?"

"Not my business at all. I am only interested in talk. I have no interest in you. Though, you may have some interest in me." With that the stranger turned and started to walk way.

You thought, "What could hurt in talking?" and so you began to follow.

Without even turning to see if you had followed him, he began, "You are interested in something more then just this small town. Want some adventure, don't we? Have you ever heard of the Arena?"

You had not.

"The Arena is a place that challenges everyone who enters. It contains secrets and knowledge beyond what is known in this world. Those that have chosen to enter have come out with riches so unique one could not even begin to tell. There are powers in there that can bestow such gifts, more then just objects, but they can change your life in ways that you could not even imagine. If you want your life to be more then just this small town, the Arena is your opportunity."

The stranger was talking of fairies and ghosts. Such things are not true. "This is all just some tale."

"It is real. I have seen it. I have even been into it."

"So where are all of your riches?"

"It is not that simple. The Arena does not just give. You need challenge the Arena and win. You could win."

"That is just foolish. I am not some type of adventurer. I am just from a simple town. I have no experience and no knowledge in such areas."

"That is where you are wrong, young one. You do have what the Arena is looking for. If you are willing to settle on the life you have, fine, but if you want something better then you need to go to the Arena. Meet me here tomorrow if you wish to try. I'll be leaving early."

With that the stranger disappeared into the crowd. You had much to think about and you were up most of the night.

The Arena: Cards

It was a quiet, friendly affair, not like when the men got together. The four of you would sit, play cards and gossip. This game had been going on long before you had even moved to this town. They would rotate whose house they would play at each week. That was until you hosted a game. You were pleasant company, but your hosting skill left something to be desired.

This week the Mayor's wife, Ruth, began the conversation as she dealt the cards, "You would not believe what my husband brought home from the town meeting the other day. It was this proclamation that had been circulating around town about some Arena thing. I guess the whole town was talking about it. Well, according to this notice, they are building a new Arena near here. Now, I did not even know that there was an old one."

"Oh, I had been to the old one." June interrupted. "All it had was this dreadful monster in it that would destroy just about anyone in it's way. I thought the whole thing was just awful. The brutality of the whole thing. But you know Frank. He just had to go see it. What he sees in that I will never know."

Ruth continued, "Well, apparently they must be some sort of corporation, cause it sounds like there are a whole bunch of these arenas around."

You spoke up, "I thought that it was something a little different." The Arena had interested you since you first heard about it. You had this wish to be an adventurer, but you were a respectable wife of a knight. You could never even learn to fight, and just forget about any sort of Arena.

Ruth asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I thought it was different then the other arenas in that it did not have some monster that was there just to fight. That it was more complicated than that. I never really heard the whole story, but the original Arena was more of a maze you had to get though, and that the prizes were real."

"The prizes were real in the arena Frank took me to, it was just that no one survived to claim them," June explained. "That was how they made their money. That hideous monster would eat anyone that complained. I still can not shake that image. It was dreadful."

"What would people watch if there was no monster?' Ruth asked.

June answered first, "I did not even want to see the monster. I just don't understand why someone would pay for that."

You then answered, "I don't know. I don't even know if there was an audience."

Beth had been sitting quietly, but had a puzzled look on her face, and she was tapping her cards. Ruth asked her, "What are you thinking about, Beth?"

"Well, if there was no audience, how would they make any money?"

Ruth answered, "It would have to be some sort of scam. No one just opens an arena without making money some how. The notices have traveled around so much, I would not be surprised if it did not even exist."

You spoke, "Oh, I think it exists. Though I wonder about who runs it. They are looking for something other then money."

June was not even looking at her cards. "June, it's your turn," Ruth reminded her.

"That beast was disgusting. How it ripped through flesh..."

"I think we understand," Ruth interrupted.

Beth asked, "So what would they be looking for?"

You answered, "I have no idea."

Ruth continued, "If you ask me, I really doubt that it exists. No Monster, no audience, real prizes. It is just to good to be true, and so I doubt it."

Beth said, "All you need is no competitors and at least you would not be losing money."

Ruth corrected Beth, "But they are building a place. Some whole complex, according to the notice."

"Where is it suppose to be?" you asked.

"It would dig it's claws into a living man..." June went on.

"Why not just use the amphitheater, or even that arena June when to?" asked Beth.

Ruth answered, "I don't know. It does not make any sense."

"Unless they are building something different," you stated. "If they really are building something new."

"... and then blood would fly everywhere..."

"Well, my husband will not even bother with it. It would be beneath him to deal with such a scam," Ruth said.

Beth stated, "I know what you mean. No serious fighter would bother with an arena, especially one that is so mysterious as this one."

You knew that your husband would also think the same way, and that maybe this could be your chance to sneak out for a while and see if you really could make it as an adventurer. That was if they accepted women.

"...And then the monster would start to tare off limbs..."

Beth asked, "But how would they make money?"

Ruth also asked, "And what do they want? Why are they building something new?"

Beth finished the questions, "Yes, what is their game?"

You started to think, and you realized that there was only one way to answer these questions.

The card game had come to an end, and the four of you were starting to go home.

"I suppose that there is only one way to find these answers," you said. "Someone would have to go to the Arena." and you thought you knew who it could be.

As everybody left June ended the conversation, "It was just so horrifying. How could they let men in with that creature? I just can't take it."

The Arena: Last Round

"Everyone gather around. Do we have some tales to tell you."

It was another bunch of Jonny-come-latelies. You've seen plenty in your day. You listened to their supposed tale.

"We finally did it. We made it into the cave. It was amazing. We started down the tunnel like many others before, and then, without warning the floor gave way. Luckily we were spread out enough not to have all fallen in. We tossed a rope down the others and pulled them back up."

"Is that all, just a pit. Child's play. I could do that in my sleep," you barked out as the crowd continued to grow.

The adventurers continued their tale, ignoring your heckling, "We then had the trouble of crossing the pit. It must have been at least fifty feet to the far side. We had no rope long enough and nothing to attach to on the other side. At the time we could not even see what was on the other side. We talked about what to do.

"Then John had a thought of finding out what was on the other side. He threw a stone across the pit and it landed on the far side. That was when the pit closed. We had thought we found the solution but when we tested the trap, it caved in again. When we removed the weight from the floor again, it snapped back up. We were back to where we started."

"Such a simple trap hardly requires that much thought," You said as you laughed heartily.

"Maybe you would care to tell the rest of our story, old man?"

"I would hardly want to take your moment of fame from you. Please, go on."

"Well, we ended up throwing a few more rocks across and found that the floor now could support more weight. Eventually, we could cross one at a time. The other side balanced the weight like a lever. There were some large boulders near by that we moved into the hall, so that later we could cross with ease."

You had been enjoying the tale, though more for it's simplicity then for the courage of the adventures. Others in the bar listened more intently then you, and seemed to hang on ever word of the party.

"After a few more difficulties we could see the goal of our quest. The treasure room was just ahead of us. We moved cautiously. That was when we noticed the armor on the floor. At first we thought that it had spilled out from the treasure room. Brian went to grab a piece of it.

"That was when all the pieces of armor began to move. They swirled around until they formed a guardian, standing in front of the door to the treasure room."

The room was silent. You began to laugh loudly and almost fell off your stool. A cold look from the teller of this tale got you to quiet yourself a bit.

"We approached the guard, and with a mighty blow of his broad sword he hit both myself and John. Brian stood up to face him. The creature was made of only the armor and contained no flesh. Brian was our greatest fighter, but he had difficulty. He would look into the eyes of his foe, but this guard had no eyes to treason against his mind. The battle was long and every time Brian would swing a crushing blow, whatever he hit would rise off the floor again and continue to fight like before. It began to look hopeless.

"Finally, we had enough strength to join Brian in the fight. We would all attack, but every hit was useless. Even if we hit well, the guardian would just reassemble himself. Then with luck, we saw a piece of armor lying on the floor. It had been hit but unlike the other pieces this one was dented, almost bent in half. This was the guardians weakness. I put away my sword and took out a club. The next time Brian swung a great blow, I bashed the pieces that landed on the floor. This seemed to work and after many more blows the guard was destroyed, and we could take our rewards"

"Very jolly good! Is there anymore to this little tale?" you laughed, treating their death struggle like a child's game. It was at this point that the adventurers grew tired of your jokes.

"So, old man, you think that this is all a joke?"

"In my lifetime I have seen much better then you, and some of them could even tell true tales of daring."

"You doubt me? I don't see you exploring the depths. What do you know of daring?"

You straightened yourself out and prepared to tell them of the wonders that you have seen. "I know plenty. Why, I could tell you of giants and sea creatures and monsters that would make your skin crawl."

"I doubt it, old man. Such things are created in the minds of has-beens."

A `has-been' was pushing things just a little to far. You could still take on whatever they could throw at you. "George!" you yelled. "Have you heard of any adventures that need to be dealt with? I want to show these nothings a bit about adventuring."

George did not want to get in the middle of all of this.

One of the adventurers spoke, "Come on, what could this old man handle, George? We would not want him to get hurt."

"Well, the only thing that I have heard about is some sort of arena thing, but I don't know if you are up to it."

"I'll be fine. I'll show you. I'll show all of you." With that you grabbed the letter George had about the arena and you left. "I'll come back, and I will have some real stories to tell you."

In a staggered walk you left and were on your way to the arena.