The Setavetra Syndicate

Setavetra was started by a group of merchant-bandits who got their initial funds from holding up merchant trains passing along the mountain trails for tribute money. As the group increased in power and number, they moved into bribery, kidnapping, and bets. After a series of risky bets however, their leaders realized that there was huge potential to be had in gaining people’s money through somewhat legal means - enough to ensure their own protection from any real higher consequences, especially with lining a few key pockets.
With this, they began the first pit fights in Virager. Holding simple matches between their fighters and any challengers that dared to face them, the fights drew crowds of people and soon it evolved into the organized Borivetar that Virager knows today. Known as Tar Fighters, the people who participate in Borivetar are exceptionally hardy, incredibly strong, and skilled enough to avoid major injury. While Borivetar maintains a staff of healers, they are not known for being kind to their patients and often take on a perspective akin to a combat medic. In addition, no magic is allowed to be performed during a match - until the ending bell sounds, the only people permitted within the pit boundaries are the two fighters. Serious injury and death is not uncommon, and a veteran Tar Fighter will always sport an array of scars amassed both in and out of the pits, for with the acclaim that being a top fighter brings are also challengers and assassins sent from envious rivals.
The house hosts betting, and regardless of who wins or loses they make a profit. The sums of money involved are often staggering, which has led to much pressure on one or the other to win or lose not from the house, but from the people banking perhaps their entire savings on a single match. It is common for Tar Fighters to be sponsored by a particular patron once they reach enough visibility, or at least approached with the idea. Only a fool would refuse a wealthy patron their sponsorship, for it is incredibly offensive and could result in even more drastic consequences.

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Rivals - The Tyvejengi Family

Starting as the extended family of a local lord, the Tyvejengi quickly grew into a powerhouse of their own, garnering protection racket money and specializing moreso in threats than bets. Seeing the early success of the Borivetar however, they started raising their own champions up and hosting battles themselves. The family had always had a penchant for the dramatic however, and these fights quickly took on more and more pomp and ceremony, until watching the spectacle they had become was almost more the point than the results of the fight itself.