“Of all the races I know of who still used combat as entertainment, the dwarves are probably the ones who had turned it into an art in itself. The events at the famed dwarven colosseums followed a clever schedule, with lighter, more relaxed matches first to entertain and whet the crowd’s appetite for action.

These events, while relatively inconsequential, helped rile up the crown and excite them for the main event that usually came at the end. Some dwarves even made whole careers from arranging these events. These event organizers either rose to fame or crashed and burned, with the best ones recruited to organize events for the royal family themselves.” - From a paper on dwarven history of combat entertainment, by Leigh Wainwrought.

The first group that marched into the arena to the applause and cheers of the crowd was no combatant of any sort. They carried musical instruments, large horns and hide-bound drums, while others dressed in tight, colorful clothing,

Orloff introduced them as a troupe of performers famous in the Kingdom Down Under, one that specializes in traditional dwarven music and dances. Cal was quite intrigued, as she had not recalled seeing such a performance before, and kept an eye on the performers who set themselves up in the arena.

Almost as one, the drummers began the tune with light, rhythmic beats of their drums, which they beat with the palms of their hands, though at times they used their fists or fingers to make different noises. Those who held large horns in their hands waited until the appropriate moment, before they joined in, raised the horns to the lips and blew. A loud, almost haunting noise emanated from their horns and mixed in with the melody.

As the beat rose and fell, the performers in colorful thighs lined up in a wide line in front of the musicians. They began their dance, all moving simultaneously, as they were clearly an experienced, practiced troupe.

Their movements were odd, somewhat jerky, yet done powerfully as they waved their arms and stomped their feet, struck the ground with their fists in unison to add to the beat, and at times raised others high above, supporting them with their brawny arms.

The group performance gave way to a more individualistic one after a while, as a single dwarf moved forward, leapt and rolled in the air, only to land on their arms with their legs crossed beneath their body. From that odd position the dwarf rose to the full height allowed by their long arms, turned their body upside-down with their legs still crossed, and began to alternatingly raise their arm up high as they walked on their fists to the crowd’s cheers.

Another followed their lead and threw themselves into cartwheels, keeping their legs tucked in and using only their arms to keep the momentum going. Yet others arranged themselves into formations that showcased their strength and balance, as they rapidly alternated and formed ever-larger shapes as more of the performers joined in.

In the end, all the performers formed one formation together, in the shape of a steep triangle, anchored by two upside-down dwarves on each leg, with another supporting themselves on their crossed legs. Above these, the dwarves arrayed themselves in an angle, with one hand holding onto the one below them and the other hand supporting the one above, angling their legs outward, with the last one at the top - the first one who danced on their hands, Cal noted - holding themselves upside-down as well.

The crowd broke into cheers as the formation disassembled and the dwarves somehow fell together to form a neat line as they bowed to the applause of the audience. Cal and her group couldn’t help but offer their ovation as well.

Events that involved actual combat began right after. First up were a group of pugilists, all dressed merely in shorts and tunics with their hands and feet bound with bandages. The first few fights were simple, honest slugfests, where the more resilient fighter eventually beat their opponent into submission, but the last one was something different altogether.

Unlike the other fights that pitted dwarves against each other, the last fight pitted a tall, lanky elf against a particularly burly dwarf. Despite the elven woman’s lanky build, Cal noticed the way cord-like muscles ran the length of her slender arms and legs, and how she moved very lightly on the balls of her feet.

WIth her agility, the elf danced around her opponent, as she avoided the powerful strikes of the dwarf by narrow margins, and struck back with punches and kicks aimed at typical weak points of the body in return. Several times the dwarf tried to grapple her, but the elf seemed to have expected that and deftly avoided his tackles and grabs.

Unlike the straightforward slugfests, this fight took longer, long enough that the two combatants labored for breath by the end of it. The elven woman was bruised all over, from close shaves or the few direct hits she took, and her left arm dangled powerlessly. Her opponent was down for the count, however.

The elf had sacrificed her left arm - she took a direct punch to the shoulder that likely broke the joint - in order to land a low kick to the back of the dwarf’s left shin, a target she had pursued since early on. Her kick was the final straw, and must have torn the damaged muscles, as the dwarf tilted over and had to catch himself with his left arm to prevent himself from falling.

She had then taken the opening to grab the back of the dwarf’s head with her other arm and then viciously kneed him on the chin, over and over, until the dwarf toppled over backward, unconscious and bleeding from the mouth.

The crowd cheered wildly when the dwarven referee lifted the elf’s arm - her uninjured one - and declared her victory. Apparently she was an old face in the arena for the past few decades, and had worked up some fame by now.