The Freebooters

The term “freebooter” does not distinguish a single organization so much as it describes a way of life. Even in malleable Argos, codes and laws hold the civilized world together. Freebooters reject these codes, ignore these laws, and take to the sea, from which they take what they want. Still, it would be a mistake to think they have no code; only, it is of their own making and often shifts with the winds of fortune.

A man or woman who has sailed with a group of freebooters may well consider them friends. Hospitality and safe passage is expected among all this subculture’s adherents. However, when it comes to booty, even these loose codes go the way of bodies to the sea. Gold, reflected in the eye
of avarice, sparkles especially bright to the freebooter. One may call another friend and still stab them in the back for the right treasure. Argos has a curious relationship with freebooters. While they disrupt trade, kill, and steal, most Argosseans have some affinity with them. Their way of life is, perhaps, the extreme extension of the Argossean nature of free seas, full sails, and a life blown by the winds of fate.

Gladiators

Argos is famed for its gladiatorial games. Slaves and prisoners are forced to serve as gladiators and fight other slaves or animals. Condemned men do not even get the opportunity to fight – they are simply fed to savage animals in the arena. The site of countless atrocities, exhibitions in the arena serve as rituals to express man’s otherwise repressed savagery. Landowners, lords and barons use gladiatorial bouts to settle land disputes; instead of going to war with a neighbouring lord for land, they host a game between them to settle the dispute. While this saves the peasants from the ravages of war it does require a steady stream of slaves.

Whether an outland barbarian, a slave of exceptional skill, a criminal sent to the arena as punishment, or a captured soldier in an enemy army, the gladiator knows only captivity and combat. Training daily, the gladiator learns how to fight, and how to kill. Though all are kin within the pits, on the blood-soaked floor of the arena each stands alone. Simultaneously a skilled professional and mere token to be gambled away, the gladiator seeks success, as well as attention from the audience, in hopes of being granted liberty. Once set free, the gladiator must learn how to live.

Gladiator Owners

Gladiators are owned by certain lords who have a gladiator ‘fief’ granted to them by the king. Private citizens are not allowed to own and train gladiators, as that would give a citizen the power to have his own private army of fearless warriors. Thus, only those approved by the king have the sanction to run gladiator ‘schools’. This right comes at a cost. The owner is not allowed to own other property and he is seen by others as a butcher and a pimp, among the lowest of the low on the social scale because his income is derived wholly from treating humans as little more than cattle.

Money is made by renting or selling gladiators or troupes of gladiators. The owners often become quite wealthy although they never become respected. They are never allowed to join a guild or Merchant House or own a ship or any other fief.

Treatment of the Gladiators

The conditions Argossean gladiators live in are not all that bad compared to those of other slaves and even of poor serfs, peasants and urban free men. Gladiators are an investment by their handlers and owners and are treated as valuable property. In addition to the investment aspect, there is the fear that unhappy gladiators, men who know how to fight and are not afraid to die, might revolt.

Gladiators receive three high-protein and high-fat meals per day, medical care on par with the wealthy and the opportunity to win purses in competitions. They can form relationships with women and have children. In addition, any children they have can become citizens even if they cannot. If the gladiator survives to freedom, they can have legally recognised marriages. They usually only have to fight in a handful of matches per year. After a certain number of matches (depending on the time and place), the gladiator can win a wooden sword along with the purse, which grants their freedom.

Gladiators have excellent social prestige considering their status as slaves. Young Argosseans enjoy hanging out at the gladiator schools and many take lessons there, although their parents usually dislike this. They are celebrities of the day and are treated as such. Argossean women pay to share their beds or take them home for a night or two.

Free Citizens as Gladiators

Many free citizens are attracted to the life of the gladiator. The guarantee of square meals, adequate medical care and the opportunity to win money attracts those who are down on their financial luck, often seen as a fair trade off of their citizenship. Others see the adoration other Argosseans bestow upon the gladiators (especially young women) and want that for themselves. Gladiators often become the lovers of noblewomen. More than one man has thrown away his freedom for women and sex. Free citizens may enter the gladiatorial arena by taking a gladiator oath renouncing their freedoms and their citizenship.

Women as Gladiators

Women can and do fight as gladiators in Argos. Skill in killing and dying transcends gender – and since barbarian women often fight as warriors, they also make less than desirable household slaves, so they are trained as gladiators instead. Female gladiators are often pitted against dwarves or midgets when comical games are desired. They are also pitted against other female gladiators in more brutal games. Occasionally two females might be pitted against a single male or a female is permitted to fight from the back of a horse against a male.