Hellshow

The Hellshow is a weekly event held at Hellgate prison and run by the Dime Lions. It is a gladiatorial arena featuring prisoners from Hellgate who fight deadly animals for the enjoyment of the audience, who attend dressed as members of the Komedie Brute. Pekka Rollins created and established the Hellshow with the approval of the Kerch Merchant Council.

Description

Prisoners at Hellgate can volunteer to participate. They spin a large wooden wheel marked with drawings of various animals, which determines their opponent. Possible animals on the wheel are snakes, tigers, bears, boars, wolves, and a desert lizard called rinca moten. If the prisoner kills their animal opponent(s) and wins the fight, they can earn better food, private cells, liquor, jurda, and visits with girls from the brothels of West Stave.

The Hellshow is located in the old Hellgate prison tower, which was gutted to create the arena and an amphitheater. There are jutting, terraced, stone ledges where the audience can watch. The roof has long since fallen in or was destroyed, allowing the night sky to be visible high above. The walls around the fighting pit are lit by torchlight and the arena floor is covered in sand, red and damp with blood. There is a rope ladder from the pit floor up to the ledges to allow the prison guard to leave.