Urik’s Arena – Pit of Black Death – Dark Sun v1 (WIP)

Board

This is a somewhat unfinished (minimal props/decors) board for the Urik arena, Pit of Black Death. My concept is taken from the 2e art found in the complete gladiators handbook. 

Enjoy. 

“The pit is the only irregularly-shaped combat field in the Tablelands. The pit remains in the same distorted oval shape as when it was abandoned from quarrying. ….”
“The arena itself is almost as deadly as the gladiators. The black obsidian heats in the midday sun, causing temperatures in the pit to rise to over 170 degrees. Gladiators loathe fighting in Urik’s arena for still another reason. The bright Athasian sun can reflect off the mirrorlike obsidian surface and temporarily blind a fighter, giving the opposing combatant the chance to strike a killing blow.
To make matters worse, the walls are covered with thousands of razor-sharp ridges. The fractured obsidian sticks out from the pit’s walls, each point a potential instrument of death. Scattered indiscriminately throughout the arena are the Staves of Hamanu. The staves are, in reality, large black pillars with thousands and thousands of sharp obsidian points chipped from the stone, named for the sorcerer-king of Urik. The staves are moved periodically to new positions within the arena. They are removed if damaged, or, in some cases, to be sharpened.” – From the Complete Gladiator’s Handbook 2e

For purists, you may notice that I used a traditional seated ‘stair’ arena rather than a standing room only one. The 2e description indicates that the crowd stands in tiered areas rather than seated arrangements. In truth I had read over this detail and then later couldn’t mesh in with my head cannon. I may consider a revised purist version some time later…… but it’s not like the 2e books got all the details logically placed in any case. Room for interpretation, etc. etc. 

Update: 12/23/22: Fixed an issue with residual props under the game map.