The Arena

THE ARENA

Run by Dawid, a shrewd gnomist merchant from Jacobia, the Arena is a place where heroes, slaves, and criminals can test their mettle, win fame, or perhaps, their freedom. Various monsters, as well as other combatants are eager to fight.

Selling Monsters
The Arena pays for monsters. The payout is 100*CR for each LIVE monster brought in. This fee is doubled if the creature is unique to the arena (no one has brought one in before). So a Garuda (CR 9) brought in for the first time would be worth 1800 GP. Subsequent ones would be worth 900.

Fighting for Profit:
Typically the reward for fighting monsters or opponents is fame, though a fair amount of gambling goes on in the arena. Dawid uses various methods, including precognitive magics, to set the odds. As such, and all official bets include a cut for the house. In practice, winning a fight against a challenge of lower challenge rating will get you a profit of only 1% of the money bet, winning an equal challenge rating will get you 5% profit, and winning a battle of a higher challenge rating will get you a 10% profit.

Keeping it Interesting:
The arena has the capacity to use various magical effects to make battles more interesting. These can include controlling local weather effects, nullifying magic, releasing wild predators or summoned monsters into the arena, and so forth.

The Arena as a Downtime Activity:
You can use the arena to gain GOLD or INFLUENCE as a downtime activity, using your Character Level as your skill ranks, and your Base Attack as your ability score modifier. You may not take 10 on this check. You must decide what DC you are shooting for (how much GP or influence you want to make). Failing the check makes you no capital, and gives you a negative level (because you died and had to get resurrected during your downtime). The negative level can be removed normally.

You can also use the arena as a "Catching up XP" downtime activity.

Deepreach NPCs

Mayor Illuminus (Aasimar Male)

Mayor Illuminus is the elected Mayor of the City. He was elected under a platform of cleaning up the city and providing safety, which has been a cesspool of crime since it's "founding".  While some don't recognize his authority, his armed guards called "The Illuminati" are quick to enforce his laws. He is tough, and has no patience for those who would question him. While he brings no actual safety to the Cave itself, he has cut down on burglaries and robberies, and that's a start. He views all adventurers with suspicion until they prove themselves above reproach.

"You" (Male Cat)

Miss Weatherwas (Human Female)

Stay Out!

A shop with a sign labelled "Stay Out!" is actually a magic and curiosity shop owned by the elderly witch known as Miss Weatherwax. She has little patience and believes that her powerful position should earn respect. She tends shop not for the profits, but to "Make sure you bumbling idiots don't find something magical and hurt yourself with it!". She is actually quite a good person, though it is hidden behind a demeanor of weariness and judgment. She respects power in others, especially if they don't go making a show of it or bragging on themselves. Her familiar is a ugly, mean-as-sin cat she calls "You".  

Rogar (Dwarf Male)

Fortune Favors: This is a shop for miscellaneous weapons and equipment. The owner, Rogar, is a friendly and burley smith. He is quick to upsell you into more merchandise, and is quick to quote "Fortune Favors the Prepared!". He encourages people to have plenty of rope, pitons, torches, food, grappling hooks, and other necessary supplies. Keeping in mind that items in deepreach generally sell for 20% more than normal, he is considered good quality. He maintains good standing within the craftsman's guild, and he knows when to keep quiet about certain things. He sells a Master Dungeoneering Kit for 150 gp. (Weighs 99 lb but gives +1 str for carrying capacity due to masterwork backpack).

Churches:

Asmodeus: Of course there couldn't be an area this close to Cheliax and not have a church of Asmodeus. While the nation has made no official claim to the city, the church is trying to exploit a loophole and maintain power over the city itself. It only provides healing services to its members, unless you're willing to pay a premium for services. It does it's best to work with local guilds and such to keep other churches from gaining a strong foothold in the city, and while there are other clerics about, the Cathedral to Asmodeus known as "The Temple of Law" is the only large religious building. 

Erastil: The god of trade has found a small foothold from Andoran in the town of deepreach. One could technically call the "Shrine of Erastil" a church, though it's little more than a small room where religious teachings are held. There are a few clerics, and they will provide healing services to all (for the correct price), they are not capable of some of the higher level magics, such as resurrection. Whether it's the lure of the Cave, the lawlessness of Deepreach, or something more sinister, it seems like higher level clerics don't last long before they disappear. 

While there are certainly faithful of other religions in Deepreach, and people may have shrines set up for personal use, these are the only two religious buildings that operate in Deepreach. Any other divine spellcasters of higher level seem to be here for adventuring or personal purposes rather than serving the people with spellcasting services.