Gorumarrux

While the stone ring known as the Gorumarrux is far from the largest arena in Absalom, it may be able to claim the title of most violent. Here, worshippers of Gorum gather to honor their Lord in Iron in the most visceral way possible—through ritualized combat and sacred bloodsport. Unlike the typical arena, most of the clashes performed in the Gorumarrux are meant to honor Gorum and serve roles more akin to holy rituals or ceremonies than public events intended to bring in money. Anyone may visit the Gorumarrux to observe the violence free of coin charges, yet payments are still required. Those who wish to watch must make a choice between offering a suit of armor or a weapon as a donation to the Gorumarrux’s stores (as the gladiators and contestants in the arena tend to use up the site’s supplies quickly), prayers from actual worshippers of Gorum, or the donation of a contestant for an upcoming match to be performed in no fewer than seven days hence from the visit. Such contestants can be of any nature—from a trained beast to a volunteer (including the person themself). The days of offering enslaved people as contestants as payment for watching a match are technically in the past, but rumors that some of those who fight in the Gorumarrux do so against their will continue to hound the site. Arena Master Jaruke Dalagander is also the local high priest of Gorum, and his increasingly short-tempered and profanity-laced rebuttals to queries about whether or not slaves are still used in matches do no favors to the Gorummarux’s reputation, and it may be but a matter of time before the city is forced to launch an official investigation into the matter.

Type

Arena

Parent Location

Ascendant Court

Owner

Jaruke Dalagander

Ruling/Owning Rank

Arena Master

Owning Organization

Church of Gorum