The Convicted

Convicted vs Lion

Becoming a gladiator is a true challenge. Weapons provided to the Convicted are of inferior quality and often so worn and used there is always the chance they will break while in use!
Bows and other missile type weapons are pathetically weak after having been deliberately weakened so they cannot shoot into the crowd.
Training and healing is never wasted on them unless they have proven themselves, in which case they become gladiators.

by jean52Photosstock

How They Came To Be

Being convicted of a crime in the Basquay Sea region rarely leads to execution. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean the convicted will live until the end of their sentence. Every major town and city has its prison overseen by a warden. These wardens make very good money by selling their prisoners to serve aboard ships until their sentence time has been served. Captains are always looking for new bodies to work aboard their ships and are willing to pay to get the sailors they need when they need them.
Sailing ships are not the only place the convicted can be sent to serve. Gladiator arenas are all the rage throughout the Basquay Sea. They are always in need of new blood to serve as opponents in grand melees and such. If the convicted are lucky enough to survive, they are put into the gladiator ranks where they can earn fortune, and glory until they have served their time.

Being convicted comes with a certain stigma. They are considered unsavory by the law-abiding sort, and inept by the more criminal elements. This has led to the convicted who have served their sentences to form their own neighborhoods and villages. Ironically, these are the most cosmopolitan places where anyone is accepted without question.
The demands from the ships and arenas have led to a new problem where people can find themselves falsely accused and wrongfully convicted. With so many wrongfully convicted, people can find themselves going from happily living their lives to becoming outcasts all because they happened to leave their homes for some business or errand. The Convicted have even formed their own guild and a trading company. The innocent and guilty work together, often on the edges of legalities, to not only survive but to thrive in some semblance of

normalcy. The only exception to this is the Stormbreakers and the Amons. Crimes are punished differently there and neither has arenas though for vastly different reasons.

by Vilkasss