Pyxis Fighting Rings

The Pyxis Fighting Rings, as the name implies, is a set of illegal fighting arenas in Pyxis, specifically in the Grid suburb. The Grid is called such due to the specific grid-like layout of its streets and buildings; from above, it looks like someone doodled a city on grid paper. Much of the Grid is the poorest of the poor in the Dome — these are mostly Unregistered citizens whose registration fee is too high, and they cannot hope to afford even to feed themselves, let alone register and make a better life for themselves. The Rings are somewhat of a response to this intense level of poverty.


Origins

When the Registration System was first implemented, most didn't see much of a difference. Over time, however, the Registration system was wildly successful in further separating rich and poor. Those that were moneyed had a very solid shot at becoming even more wealthy, while those that were already below the poverty line merely spiralled further below it.

Generating income was extremely difficult for people that had no job experience, no education, no skills, and mostly, were entirely incapable of even reading and writing. Some were fortunate enough to catch something of a break, learning a useful, marketable skill that became their stepping stone into a better life. Some became mercenaries and assassins, others attempted to grow crop to make their income, selling their spare food to any passerby that might be interested. The Black Market eventually arose, and gave more options to those that already had few.

For many, however, there were no real options. It's unknown now, who exactly first conceptualised the fighting rings, but, eventually, someone did. It became a wildly popular spectator sport, the high stakes and the thrill of such an intense battle attracted many across the Dome that were willing to spend quite a huge sum of money to watch the battles. It was lucrative, if extremely dangerous, and the fighting rings became the single-most deadly anything in the Dome, and perhaps even in Tyrrhenia at all.

The rings' structure and management have changed over the years, here and there, but for the most part, it remains true to its original foundation.


Operations

The Pyxis Rings offer several kinds of battles.

The first, and most common, is the single match. It is a 1v1 fight to the death. While most opponents one will face will be around their own skill level, some may find they're fighting against someone much stronger and more experienced than they are. Even if you happen to survive a single match, if the crowd deems you've not performed well, they may advocate for your death anyway.

The second is the double match. This is a 2v2 match, and while it is recommended you and your partner work together, this is actually a somewhat rare occurrence in practise. Most double match partners will simply agree to stay out of each other's way, and ignore one another. Double matches can be even more dangerous than a single, as if your partner makes stupid decisions, he or she may turn it into a 3v1, but it rewards a lot more money, and surviving a double match is unlikely to end in your death, even if the crowd wasn't terribly pleased with you.

The third is the triple match. This is a 3v3, and follows similar trends to the double.

The last match type is a FFA, or free for all. A random number of fighters are set against one another — alliances may be formed, at least temporarily, but eventually, those alliances will have to turn on one another, as only one fighter may win. These are the most chaotic and dangerous, but it affords a massive amount of money — so massive, that the cost of seeing one is so high FFAs only occur once every few months.

Technically speaking, the rings are illegal; but the Republic enjoys the matches as much as everyone else, and hasn't seen fit to do anything about it. Furthermore, as 99% of the fighters in the rings are Unregistered, Psionic, Demon, or Demonica, and thereby not technically people, it does not constitute a violation of rights in their minds.


Sponsorship

Some time after the advent of the Fighting Rings, the role of a sponsor was developed. Sponsors are individuals that are not fighters, and usually Registered and quite wealthy, who decide to take a specific fighter, sometimes several, under their wing, so to say. Sponsors are responsible for equipping their fighter(s) well enough their chances of survival are higher, training them, housing them, and feeding them. Most sponsors take a portion of the fighter's match winnings to pay for taking care of them — and most charge a grossly high amount of money, leaving the fighter themselves with often very little left over.

Fighters that have the same sponsor usually will not be paired against one another — it is normally up to the sponsor to sign their fighters up for matches, and usually they wouldn't want to pit an asset against another asset. The most well-known sponsor is Suyis Lucain, the owner of Suyis Corps in the Grid; he is known to sponsor over 300 fighters, but he charges drastically less than other sponsors, at just over 15%. The usual range is anywhere from 45-80%.

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