can't draw anything oc related for myself so i'll just dump a bunch of oc related thoughts/things that have been on my mind
settled on the arena name as "Blood Gorge", because it sounds way cooler than anything with "fountain" in it which i used as temporary name
the idea is that not only a lot of blood is spilled daily in it so that it seeps and carves the ground (figuratively and exaggeratedly), but it also all eventually gets collected by the blood mage Eiandra once she emerges from the center of the battleground, using a fancy elevator-like contraption while she bends blood to gather around her as she appears. if i was an engineer i'd sit down to design this
Eiandra is actually the wife of the Lord (who is still nameless and i lowkey like it that way for now) who betrayed Varthar's parents and enslaved him instead of caring for him. she keeps her identity secret to avoid, you know, getting mauled by the gladiators. she and the Lord have built an entertainment around using her as "guiding mother" so that the fighters would fight to the death with the ultimate relief being her flesh magic healing their wounds at the end of it all
Varthar's circumstances are so eerie and unusual that he's both feared on a gut level but also dangerously desired by Eiandra
Varthar is by all means an unfortunate soul that happens to also be blessed by extreme luck. flesh mages are but a handful in the entire world, and in his short lifetime he's known not one (Eiandra) but two of them (Lyseia). ironically, they are direct opposite models of flesh mages: one is wanted for misusing flesh magic to promote violence, the other is a strong and selfless woman using flesh magic to save others. moreover, he's been touched by divinity twice: demigod of Regret saved his life in an abrupt and deformed way, causing his face and eye deformity and slightly messed up metabolism, and demigod of Freedom granted him freedom from physical tortures and stronger powers, though moved him from a small prison to a bigger one for their own gain. if a mortal has three divine touches on their soul, they die. so yeah, varthar is an unlucky lucky bastard
i like to think that Freedom resides in a magical, convoluted cave system, the place where they trapped varthar in "for his own good". word spread that they guard riches beyond comprehension (because freedom = having wealth to most), therefore the place is overrun by bandits and desperate people, sometimes adventurers. the demigod does not like the attention nor care to explain that the source of their power isn't money but something else, so they have Varthar and another vassal (yet to be designed, but it's worth noting Varthar does not get along with him) "clean up" the place periodically as people get deeper into the system and closer to their place of power (their nest, if you will)
a long time ago, Freedom channeled their power into the shape of a crystal they named "Veridium". it looks like dioptase in color, but the appearance is glassy and amorphous, with different shades of phthalo green seemingly moving inside it. something happened though, and they lost control of their magic (ironically, it "broke free" from them) and the energy as a mineral spread into the cave system and eventually granted the magical power to the place, making it so that it can shift and change layout seemingly at random. not only this, but the Veridium has great medical power, as it acts as powerful purifier and disinfectant: the waters of the cave system are the real treasure of that place, granting health, longevity and healing
it is worth noting that Varthar never questioned why his baths left his skin smooth, purified and why he's never grown any fungus or nasty shit despite having a questionable lifestyle. so no, he does not know about this property of the cave system he now lives in, and he also never cared to fact check that freedom indeed doesn't have riches to protect. he defends the place and kills because following orders by captors is all he's ever known
why can't Varthar leave? because ironically enough, again, the veridium, being magical in nature, was used by Freedom in small amounts to inflict a curse on him, where shards of it are lodged in his body and act as restraints as soon as he approaches the exit of the den, summoning phantom daggers going through his body where the shard anchor is and chains projected back, ready to tense and prevent him from moving without quite literally goring himself
ending on a more positive note, Varthar still enjoys his quiet moments alone in this place a lot despite having simply a bigger prison around him. as coincidence enough, one thing keeping him sane throughout his arena days was hearing water droplets fall into puddles and finding rhythm in them. in this cave system, he definitely can hear that a lot more often and he enjoys the sights illuminated by bioluminescence here and there. when he's sure he's alone, he sings and plays a tagelharpa he taught himself to play, which he found at a campsite in the cave system, their occupants long gone or dealt with by either the cave itself or the other vassal. he simply thought the instrument looked like nothing he'd ever seen before and brought it back to his little home
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