*to sell out my party member or to be a suck-up...*

The thugs wave you on and lead you down stairs, there are a few people drinking and eating. Then they show you to a door at the back of the tavern. There is a long stairway with two turns going down, dimly lit with torches and ending at another another door. Making sure the top door is closed, they open the bottom.

Your ears are assaulted by roars and cheers. The center of the room has a railing and is well lit. The surroundings of the large octagonal room are full of men and women looking down and cheering for what you presume is a fight. A few serving men carry food and drinks or other items of entertainment. At the far wall you see a man sitting with a pair of obvious bodyguards taking bets. 

"Alright. Looks neat. When's my turn?"

The Wiz bends down to whisper in Ember's ear. "Think anyone will care about the dead dude in our room? Or maybe housekeeping will take the hint and leave us those pillow mints next time." He stands back up and cheers, not really knowing who is worth cheering for, but swept away by the energy of the room. He tries his best to repair the admittedly small hole in his hat by massaging the fabric back and forth, wanting to make himself presentable to the man taking bets, then places the hat back on his head. 

He then takes his stuffed Art Elemental Mascot toy and places it on his shoulder, where it magically fastens itself to him. Any streetwise person knows not to mess with a grown man walking around town carrying a stuffed toy. Surely, it will make people take him quite seriously. 

Alexia sees Ember looking overwhelmed by the arena. "Here. Hold the egg." After giving him the robotic vessel, she walks up to the people taking bets. "Hey, how do I apply for a round in the arena?"

*PS: do we get a short rest at least before the thugs wake us up?*

OOC: Short Rest go

GAME RULES

Singles or Doubles

NO Armor

3 choices - One Weapon, No Weapons, or Wall Weapons (random what you pull from the wall)

The current match between two men in loincloths versus a minotaur ends with the minotaur tossing the last standing man into the crowd followed by rounds of cheering, grumbling and the passing of coins or papers between hands.

The man with the body guards looks you over and smirks. He obviously doesn't think much of you. "You sure you want to step into the pit lady?" When you stare back he shrugs.

"How do you want to fight lady? We go a Singles match coming up and you can jump into that if you want."

The arena is about 50 feet across with a rock and packed earth floor.  There is a fence in front of the stands to demarcate boundaries of the fight space. Leave the boundaries and you are disqualified. The fence has handles sticking out of it but you cannot tell what kind of weapons they are.

Alexia takes her sword from her side. "Singles, one weapon. Is magic allowed?"

"Oh you have magics?"

A circle of silence forms around you as people stop talking about the previous fight and try not to look like they're listening.

"That...will be no problem. Pardon my manners, I'm Rocky, this is Mikey" he gestures to a halfling by his side. He whispers something to one of the serving men, and the man vanishes into the crowd.

"Go down there, your opponent will come out shortly. Welcome to the Pit." he smiles.

As you make your way to the Pit, a squirrelly man trots by your side, "Hey hey, No poisons 'kay?, No potions neither 'kay?, None of that invisibility or smoky stuff - no fun havin a fight if ya can't see it am I right?"

Alexia ignores the man. Honorable combat isn't anything new to her. 

*this is where the fun begins*