Festival of the Arena

This event may be ignored or contradicted by later stories.

Early story warning This event may be ignored or contradicted by later stories. Stories prior to Mirage were written by authors outside of Wizards of the Coast. “We often bury our pasts, and then someone comes along and digs them up.”

Festival of the Arena
Information
Era	The Thaw until at least War with Phyrexia
Date	First festival in 3071 AR, lasting until at least 4179 AR
Location	Estark, Kush, Aerona, Dominaria
Result	Election of one winner per year
Timeline
The Gathering Festival of the Arena Wizards' War

The Festival of the Arena, also called the Festival of the Western Realms, was famous in Estark, the city located in Kush in the Domains, during which wizards from the five Houses fought many magical duels. This yearly event attracted a million tourists from across the Domains and beyond.

Description

The Festival of the Arena allowed the Houses of Kush to test each other to gain prestige and contracts for the forthcoming year. The Grand Master used the increasing violence of the Festival to cull the Houses' fighters, stopping any one House from gaining too much power. The Grand Master was also the only legal source of bets, from which he took a 10% fee on every wager. Merchants and princes could evaluate fighters they might wish to hire, the citizens of Kush were entertained, tourism flourished, and the winner got to travel with the Walker. In reality, the Walker killed the winner, removing a potential threat to himself and the Grand Master.

The Festival took place over three days in autumn. No fighter could be arrested during the Festival. Gangs were known to take advantage of the fact that nearly the entire city had traveled to the Arena to witness the fighting, looting the empty city in their absence. On the first day of the new moon preceding Festival, a ceasefire period known as the Peace of the Land prevented Kush and its neighboring powers from fighting until the last day of the month. A season of wars followed in the time between Festival and the beginning of winter.

The first day consisted of three rounds of fights for spell prizes unless both fighters agreed to a grudge match to the death. When blood was spilled, the Grand Master took a one spell fee from the loser's purse. A fighter who lost control of their spell would be disqualified and lose the spell as punishment. The second day began with three rounds of elimination, followed by a noon recess, and then two more rounds of eliminations. In the latter of these, house restrictions were removed so that fighters of the same house could fight one another. In the 998th Festival, Grand Master Zarel Ewine declared that fighters in this and subsequent rounds could unilaterally declare their fight a deathmatch. Those who survived the fourth and fifth elimination rounds received laurels for reaching the final day of the Festival.

History

Originally, the Festival of the Arena was a ritual conducted privately by magic fighters wishing to test their skill. The first festival likely took place in 3071 AR. In the long history of Kush, the games in the Arena gradually grew increasingly violent. Under Kuthuman, an arena was constructed, and the Festival became a public sporting event. Fighting was governed by sessan, a code of chivalry among magic fighters, and was used for gaining power, honor, and face. Fights outside the Arena were banned, although this was generally only enforced against fights to the death during the time of the Festival.

The last evening of the 978th Festival, the Night of Fire occurred, on which Zarel Ewine led a massacre of the House Oor-tael, joined by the other four houses. Kuthuman immediately capitalized on the massacre to ascend. Oor-tael's treasury was used to construct the Grand Master's palace and the four remaining houses' palaces. Zarel became the new Grand Master, turning the games into a blood sport and slowly accruing a mana hoard of his own. The ultimate winner of each Festival was promised the opportunity to serve Kuthuman, though he secretly euthanized each one to prevent them from becoming a threat to his survival.

During the 998th Festival, Garth One-eye returned to the city to take his revenge for the Night of Fire. His actions later became known as the Time of Troubles. Afterward, the games returned to their original form, a peaceful contest of magical skills.

It is unknown how long the Festival continued after the Time of Troubles. However, it is known to have still been active as late as 4179 AR.

Winners

In the 19 years between the 978th and 996th Festivals, Kesthan fighters won nine times, cementing their reputation and respect among the houses. In the 997th Festival, an Ingkara fighter won, with Fentesk placing second, and Bolk in third. In the 998th Festival, Garth One-Eye was the victor, with Varena of Fentesk in second.