FREELANDS- A new form of entertainment has emerged in the Freelands: organized monster battles, conducted by members of the druidic community using dominate to pit creatures against one another in a fighting ring. Audience members take bets on which monster will come out on top, with earnings of up to 30 coin being spoken of. No ordinance currently prohibits the practice in any area that we have found.
Participants include druid Fiddy Coin, who has dedicated considerable effort to breeding a competitive line of Yeb. His entry: a Varganien regional variant distinguished by a dramatic natural mane that reminded several attendees of Illifrith’s hair. A Bloomgrub of unknown origin has also been observed in the ring.
Not everyone is comfortable with the arrangement. Monster scholar Imbiri, the only one so far to formally object, was very vocal: “If a creature is attacking the townsfolk then I have no problem with putting it down, but pitting them against each other by subjugation to fight to the death for nothing more than the amusement of a crowd is sick, and this whole town [ed: Maplewood] is sick for supporting it.”
Bloomgrubs, by documented behavior, are not naturally aggressive toward other creatures except in competition for food. Their primary drive is locating and consuming rare alchemical plants. Forcing one into organized combat via dominate does not simply redirect existing aggression; it imposes an entirely foreign experience on a creature with no natural framework for it.
When presented with the argument that a controlled environment might offer valuable observational data, Imbiri was unconvinced. “I want to observe them in a natural environment, and there was nothing natural about that. Why would a bloomgrub even fight in that kind of setting anyway, I’ve studied them before and this was all wrong.”
The practice is not without precedent in other cultures. Gladiatorial matches have long been a fixture of Civenite entertainment, in which combatants (historically both willing participants and those with less choice in the matter) fight for the amusement of crowds and the profit of organizers. The ethical questions raised by Maplewood’s monster battles are not new ones; they have simply found a new arena.
The Constables of Maplewood were unavailable for comment.