Iron-born Coliseum
It is a building well worthy of its place of fondness amongst the citizens of Geata-Iarainn. Home pitch of their beloved Guardians, a place of plentiful sporting contests and circuses and more, a place of culture and entertainment for fair prices. The Iron-born Coliseum, much like its smaller sister building the Irontip Ampitheatre are in many ways a good measure of the pulse and demeanor of the city's regular folk writ large. When her seats are full event after event, one knows the economy is strong, the working class are comfortable, and the general mood of those in the city is comfortable, stable, and content. Any intelligent official elected to represent the Railside District knows how important the Coliseum is to the city, and knows that a bit of maintenance funding now and again is a worthwhile investment.
Argant Vorinsson, the dwarven owner and proprietor of the Iron-born Coliseum and the Geata Guardians, the city's Caid team, pitching to the newly elected counciler for the district, Duri Ivarsson
Purpose / Function
The primary purpose, which can be seen in the design and layout, as well as the sightlines, is as a home pitch for a professional Caid Team. The wooden walls, the empty floor between the walls of the pitch and the first row of seats, the seats being elevated so as to see over the 3'6" walls of the boards, it all fits with the high contact and high aggression of Caid. However the pitch whilst the primary purpose is not the only show in town. Circuses and large scale performative sporting events are also held here during the lengthy winter off season or the off days, particularly when the Guardians are on a road trip. These can include;
- Chariot Races
- Dogsled races in the winter
- Stone-carver competitions
- Circuses
- All manner of racing events on foot, or even including skiing and snowshoing in the winter. Generally these sorts of races will include obstacles and maybe even a target shooting event for bow or crossbow
- and more
Alterations
Because of these extra purposes, much of the buildings lower works, like the boards and the floor, are modular, that is they are built and designed to come apart and go back together easily and in a variety of configurations. As such the floor is regularly altered, so much so that the Coliseum empolys an entire twenty person team who's sole job, full time, is the maintenance, configuring and transitioning of these setups as needed night or day in. They are divided into two teams of ten, with everyone having two full days off a week.
Architecture
The building is built with an open performance area, to allow snow to naturally accumlate for winter events, but with roofing supported over the stands, to limit the snow buildup amongst the seats. Though it does not stop snow removal within the stands from needing to be a regular maintenance task, it does aid in limiting it however. It is a well laid out coliseum, with sightlines very much a prime consideration, insuring maximum sightlines for the action on the pitch/performance area from every angle. Hanging above the home team's bench, high in the rafters of the first length of ceiling so as to not obstruct anyone's sightline, one can see the Guardians championship banners for the SCL, of which there are 5, more than any other team in the 10 team Suranthi Caid League. This coming year the league is celebrating its 25th anniversary since it offically became the SCL, meaning the Guardians have won 20% of the championship titles since its inception. They are also back to back defending champions, which of course means the building will be sold out to the brim for every home game this coming season.
The Iron-born is built of metal and stone in its exterior, the stonework carved and painted masterfully, depicting folk heros of the past and present form the Caid team, as well as the team's logo, the beautiful golden shield with silver trim and an emblazoned ocean blue capital G in its center in dwarven run-script. The facilities contain an open concession kitchen, one can order all variety of roast meats, candied treats, and various beverages of an alcoholic or non-alcoholic nature during any event. They have a tailer shop of course, where one can get custom fitted for a jersey replica of their favorite player, or simply for a home or away jersey with a number and your own name embroidered upon it. All these facilities are strategically placed at the gates to the stands themselves, of course.
The stands are tiered and well designed, the seating laid out in such a way to provide space and comfort for both those whom wish to sit, and those more rabid fans who wish to stand and cheer. There are two walled off sections close to the center of what would be the pitch on the side opposite the infraction lockups, and these few seats and this whole area, walled off except on the side facing the action, are a bit more lavish and comfortable, oft including cushions, private food and drink delivery to the seat, and other benefits. These luxury booth seats make up about forty of the near five thousand the coliseum can hold at capacity.
The Iron-born is built of metal and stone in its exterior, the stonework carved and painted masterfully, depicting folk heros of the past and present form the Caid team, as well as the team's logo, the beautiful golden shield with silver trim and an emblazoned ocean blue capital G in its center in dwarven run-script. The facilities contain an open concession kitchen, one can order all variety of roast meats, candied treats, and various beverages of an alcoholic or non-alcoholic nature during any event. They have a tailer shop of course, where one can get custom fitted for a jersey replica of their favorite player, or simply for a home or away jersey with a number and your own name embroidered upon it. All these facilities are strategically placed at the gates to the stands themselves, of course.
The stands are tiered and well designed, the seating laid out in such a way to provide space and comfort for both those whom wish to sit, and those more rabid fans who wish to stand and cheer. There are two walled off sections close to the center of what would be the pitch on the side opposite the infraction lockups, and these few seats and this whole area, walled off except on the side facing the action, are a bit more lavish and comfortable, oft including cushions, private food and drink delivery to the seat, and other benefits. These luxury booth seats make up about forty of the near five thousand the coliseum can hold at capacity.
History
The Iron-born Coliseum has a storied history of both joy and sorrow, and in recent memory no one snapshot of time best encapsulates that than the final of the 1575-76 season. That best of seven game series between the Geata Guardians and the Bruachthoir Battalion was a contest for the ages. The Guardians who had finished first in the eastern division, had walked through the first two rounds of the playoffs, vanquishing the An Point Thoir Freighters and the Moss Bay Maulers in five games each. They looked unbeatable. Meanwhile in the west division, the Battalion had a much harder road, coming out as a third seed, vanquishing the Drondok Calafiort Mariners in 6 games before going the distance, including requiring a sudden death third frame to break a stalemate in game seven, against the top seeded Suaithenatas Shield to advance to the final. Everyone wrote the Battalion off, and game one in Geata Iarainn as sold out, standing room only. However what they paid to see was not what they got, as the Guardians got thrashed by a score of 7-1 in that opening game. They came out the next night with a better effort, but managed to lose game two in the sudden death third frame 3-2.
Game three in Bruachthoir three days later, fresh off the trains, yielded what many would have believed was a death blow to the Guardians hopes. Their captain and superstar scoring forward, Drazin Cordinvars didn't make the trip with the team, after game two he'd been diagnosed with a broken knee, and though he would recieve magick healing, the break and damage was severe enough he simply wasn't ready in time to travel with the team. It was believed he'd miss games three and four and that the Guardians were dead. Game three they fought hard, but lost a tight one again 2-1 in Sudden death.
But then, game four the next night, well the Guardians found a spark. Whether it be the loss of their captain, the fact that he'd sent word which they'd just recieved that day via Magnegraph telegram to them, a small letter who's contents one can see below, whatever it was, they dug deep on the brink of elimination. They found a way, on the hostile pitch known as the Battlefield and they stole game four without their best offensive player, winning 2-0 on the back of human goal guard Meriel Ames, who's inspired goaltending effort, the young pyromancer overclocking her own body again and again, taking the role of the single permissiable magick user on the Guardians roster, save them. The young woman is said to have shed 10-15 pounds that night in mere sweat, playing out of her mind and locking out the dangerous two headed attacking forward core of the Battalion entirely, making over seventy stops in the fifty minute game.
The supposed short magnegraph message the Guardians recieved the day of game four from their captain.
Drazin was good as his word. The Guardians came home to a full house for game five, though most if asked would say they still lacked belief. It was nice to eke out the win in Bruachthoir to be sure, and the captain's return would likely spark a good push in game five. But no team ever in SCL history had overcome a 3-0 series deficet to climb all the way back and win the best of seven. No team had ever even forced a game seven from such a position and only one other team ever had forced a game six. That was this same Battalion team in previous year's final against the Guardians. So hope and moral were not high. The Battalion jumped out early, quickly scoring once and then a second time on Ames. The crowd turned on the young woman quickly, yet she held her ground. It seemed the adversarial attitude helped her, stoked her flames, and for the next fifteen odd minutes of that first frame, she was the sole reason the Guardians found the score as tight as they did, standing fast and stopping over thirty chances. Near the end of that first half, who else but the captain collected the ball in his stick and broke free of two defenders, brutalizing one of them in the process, near knocking the man unconscious in the physical match along the boards. With a clear lane he broke in unopposed, and with typical dwarven ferocity that had made his name as the team (and league's) leading scorer that year he didn't try to do anything fancy to fool the Battalion keeper. He simply sprinted right down center pitch, a quick flick of the wrists to slightly change the stick angle and then a full swing snap of the torso and arms, ripping a hell of a shot clean by the keeper with less than 15 seconds left in the first frame. The arena erupted, the place shook with the noise as the Guardian faithful exploded, that moment turning fear and doubt into belief and joy. Drazin played his part as a leader well, celebrating, trying to rev up the crowd, but when his teammates mobbed him he's reported of being all business, yelling at them "That's one, now lets fucking finish it!!!"
Finish it they would in the second frame, led by the keeping of Ames on the back end, the Guardians found their attacking confidence, trusting the young woman to keep the score, and keep it she did. Led by Drazin, who would score once more and add two beautiful assists, the Guardians buried 3 in the second frame and won game five 4-2. Suddenly, there was tentative hope, against all logic, in the fanbase. However that hope was tempered for game six was back in Bruachthoir and would be four days away, with game seven if needed another four days away back in the Barracks.
However game six was no contest, Drazin taking his team on his back, scoring 4 goals and adding 2 helpers, as the Guardians thrashed the Battalion 6-0. All of a sudden the entire nation was following this story, every paper in every city had it on front page news. Headlines like 'Are we about to witness the impossible?', and 'Conquering Impossible' dominated all across Suranth. In Geata-Iarainn, belief, hope and excitement were at an all time high.
Game 7 in the Barracks was something for the ages. Early in the first frame the Battalion scored, taking all wind out of the building, however less than thirty seconds later the Guardians got it right back! Tied at 1 all, the game became a goal-keeper duel, with both teams forgoing defense in favor of trying to get that next score, trying to find a way to win it all. Ames and her counterpart the elven keeper Ten'aris made stunning stop after stop. The first frame came and went, as did the second, as did the first sudden death frame. nearly 1 and a quarter hours, and over 100 scoring chances between them since the last score, and neither keeper was willing to blink. The tension, the anxiety, the hope in the building was palpable, you could cut it with a knife. As the ball was dropped in the ruck for the second sudden death frame, the Battalion's most dangerous sniper got free and clear, all alone with no one on her....aiming high she had Meriel beat, but the pyromancer pushed herself further, overclocking herself more moving with the speed of flames and somehow stretched out and snared the chance. Here however she made a bold and savvy play. Rather than hold the ball and force another ruck, she realized Drazin was alone halfway up the pitch. With all the ferocity of a firestorm with energy and strength she shouldn't have possibly had left, she sent a bullet of a pass over everyone's head, that Drazin caught cleanly.
The dwarf broke in on a sprint, alone with no one within twenty feet of him. He shimmied his stick again, making like he was gonna shoot high, but then showing atypical finesse, he faked high to the right, getting Ten'aris to bite, before diving to the left and laying a low rolling shot past the sprawling keeper and into the goal! The building erupted in elation, likely waking all of Railside in a fervored pitch, the cheers and screams of joy echoing the entirety of Sky-Side! Drazin ran half a lap somehow finding the strength, celebrating with fans who were leaping the boards, storming the field. They'd done it, they'd done the impossible!! They'd climbed the mountain and reached the summit! The party spilled out into the street. The entire city shut down under official council order for two full days to celebrate. It was pandemonium. It was a historic moment built on anxiety, excitement, fear, happiness, sorrow and joy, and now its tied to the Barracks forever.
Game three in Bruachthoir three days later, fresh off the trains, yielded what many would have believed was a death blow to the Guardians hopes. Their captain and superstar scoring forward, Drazin Cordinvars didn't make the trip with the team, after game two he'd been diagnosed with a broken knee, and though he would recieve magick healing, the break and damage was severe enough he simply wasn't ready in time to travel with the team. It was believed he'd miss games three and four and that the Guardians were dead. Game three they fought hard, but lost a tight one again 2-1 in Sudden death.
But then, game four the next night, well the Guardians found a spark. Whether it be the loss of their captain, the fact that he'd sent word which they'd just recieved that day via Magnegraph telegram to them, a small letter who's contents one can see below, whatever it was, they dug deep on the brink of elimination. They found a way, on the hostile pitch known as the Battlefield and they stole game four without their best offensive player, winning 2-0 on the back of human goal guard Meriel Ames, who's inspired goaltending effort, the young pyromancer overclocking her own body again and again, taking the role of the single permissiable magick user on the Guardians roster, save them. The young woman is said to have shed 10-15 pounds that night in mere sweat, playing out of her mind and locking out the dangerous two headed attacking forward core of the Battalion entirely, making over seventy stops in the fifty minute game.
"I won't mince words me friends, me teammates. It'll be tough. But I'm fit as a fiddle and ready. Get it back home. Get it back to the Barracks, and I promise ye, we're winning this thing. Just get it home, get one win in that shithole of a pitch they call the Battlefield, and we're winning the championship, I promise ye that. I know its a tall ask, but I believe in each and every one of you fuckers and bastards. Now get it done.
Drazin
The supposed short magnegraph message the Guardians recieved the day of game four from their captain.
Drazin was good as his word. The Guardians came home to a full house for game five, though most if asked would say they still lacked belief. It was nice to eke out the win in Bruachthoir to be sure, and the captain's return would likely spark a good push in game five. But no team ever in SCL history had overcome a 3-0 series deficet to climb all the way back and win the best of seven. No team had ever even forced a game seven from such a position and only one other team ever had forced a game six. That was this same Battalion team in previous year's final against the Guardians. So hope and moral were not high. The Battalion jumped out early, quickly scoring once and then a second time on Ames. The crowd turned on the young woman quickly, yet she held her ground. It seemed the adversarial attitude helped her, stoked her flames, and for the next fifteen odd minutes of that first frame, she was the sole reason the Guardians found the score as tight as they did, standing fast and stopping over thirty chances. Near the end of that first half, who else but the captain collected the ball in his stick and broke free of two defenders, brutalizing one of them in the process, near knocking the man unconscious in the physical match along the boards. With a clear lane he broke in unopposed, and with typical dwarven ferocity that had made his name as the team (and league's) leading scorer that year he didn't try to do anything fancy to fool the Battalion keeper. He simply sprinted right down center pitch, a quick flick of the wrists to slightly change the stick angle and then a full swing snap of the torso and arms, ripping a hell of a shot clean by the keeper with less than 15 seconds left in the first frame. The arena erupted, the place shook with the noise as the Guardian faithful exploded, that moment turning fear and doubt into belief and joy. Drazin played his part as a leader well, celebrating, trying to rev up the crowd, but when his teammates mobbed him he's reported of being all business, yelling at them "That's one, now lets fucking finish it!!!"
Finish it they would in the second frame, led by the keeping of Ames on the back end, the Guardians found their attacking confidence, trusting the young woman to keep the score, and keep it she did. Led by Drazin, who would score once more and add two beautiful assists, the Guardians buried 3 in the second frame and won game five 4-2. Suddenly, there was tentative hope, against all logic, in the fanbase. However that hope was tempered for game six was back in Bruachthoir and would be four days away, with game seven if needed another four days away back in the Barracks.
However game six was no contest, Drazin taking his team on his back, scoring 4 goals and adding 2 helpers, as the Guardians thrashed the Battalion 6-0. All of a sudden the entire nation was following this story, every paper in every city had it on front page news. Headlines like 'Are we about to witness the impossible?', and 'Conquering Impossible' dominated all across Suranth. In Geata-Iarainn, belief, hope and excitement were at an all time high.
The Impossible Moment
Game 7 in the Barracks was something for the ages. Early in the first frame the Battalion scored, taking all wind out of the building, however less than thirty seconds later the Guardians got it right back! Tied at 1 all, the game became a goal-keeper duel, with both teams forgoing defense in favor of trying to get that next score, trying to find a way to win it all. Ames and her counterpart the elven keeper Ten'aris made stunning stop after stop. The first frame came and went, as did the second, as did the first sudden death frame. nearly 1 and a quarter hours, and over 100 scoring chances between them since the last score, and neither keeper was willing to blink. The tension, the anxiety, the hope in the building was palpable, you could cut it with a knife. As the ball was dropped in the ruck for the second sudden death frame, the Battalion's most dangerous sniper got free and clear, all alone with no one on her....aiming high she had Meriel beat, but the pyromancer pushed herself further, overclocking herself more moving with the speed of flames and somehow stretched out and snared the chance. Here however she made a bold and savvy play. Rather than hold the ball and force another ruck, she realized Drazin was alone halfway up the pitch. With all the ferocity of a firestorm with energy and strength she shouldn't have possibly had left, she sent a bullet of a pass over everyone's head, that Drazin caught cleanly.
The dwarf broke in on a sprint, alone with no one within twenty feet of him. He shimmied his stick again, making like he was gonna shoot high, but then showing atypical finesse, he faked high to the right, getting Ten'aris to bite, before diving to the left and laying a low rolling shot past the sprawling keeper and into the goal! The building erupted in elation, likely waking all of Railside in a fervored pitch, the cheers and screams of joy echoing the entirety of Sky-Side! Drazin ran half a lap somehow finding the strength, celebrating with fans who were leaping the boards, storming the field. They'd done it, they'd done the impossible!! They'd climbed the mountain and reached the summit! The party spilled out into the street. The entire city shut down under official council order for two full days to celebrate. It was pandemonium. It was a historic moment built on anxiety, excitement, fear, happiness, sorrow and joy, and now its tied to the Barracks forever.
Tourism
Caid fans are the most common sort of tourist of course, but the building is a key landmark and heritage site in the Sky-Side Quarters and thusly is a target destination for any exploring the city eventually.
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