The trainer nodded at her even as she was only clothed in strips of cloth now, showing professionalism and only running his gaze over her to get a sense of her well toned muscles. He led her out to the sand where the warriors practiced and cracked his whip so hard the sound echoed off the nearby walls. The gladiators stopped their exercise and fell in line, standing at attention, not unlike soldiers during their training when an officer comes to inspect them.<br/><br/>The rugged, muscular men were covered in glistening sweat, their muscles solid as rock from months if not years of fighting and labor. They were wearing their loincloths each as well, and Evelyn caught herself too late wondering about the package some of them packed.<br/><br/>Doctore informed the men that Evelyn would train with them and sent most of them off to train, leaving the circular ring where the wrestlers were empty save for another seasoned warrior with a tight-fitting wrap around his loins. The man was bald with a large beard and hairy chest, with an average build at least for a gladiator, meaning he was as fit as any athlete. The two exchanged some words and Doctore called the paladin over.<br/><br/>"Vedran will be your partner. First you'll go through the basics of falling and rolling and some of the holds. Shouldn't be too difficult for you. Once I'm convinced you won't break your neck trying to shove him out of the ring, you'll practice freely and learn what you can. I warn you though, I won't treat you any differently than any of these sons of bitches. If I see you slacking off or distracting the others, you'll get a taste." he raised the rolled up whip in his hand to punctuate the last sentence after his explanation.<br/><br/>Doctore walked back to the house and cracked his whip again. "Begin!" he yelled, his voice booming and commanding, making Evelyn wonder if the man used to be military before fate brought him here.<br/><br/>As she turned to face her practice partner, the man was already checking her out.<br/>"Been a while since we had a woman training with us." he remarked, not going into the details before motioning to her to take position.<br/><br/>Indeed the initial part went rather quickly, being already proficient in athletics Evelyn had a good sense on how to move her body under the unrestrained conditions. Not half an hour later they were given the go to start the actual training.<br/>"One of your options are striking attacks. As far as unarmed combat goes it takes a well-placed punch to have your opponent lie flat on the ground, though you probably need to tire them out first." the bearded man explained with arms raised, as they exchanged punches. "Another tactic is to grapple them and lock them in a hold where their movement is limited. Pinning them like that or forcing them to yield is one of the more common ways these matches end." they went through a few maneuvers, holds and grappling positions along with escapes that were useful in those situations. "The more unusual your approach the harder it can be for your opponent to reverse the situation. A sure way to win is to force you opponent to fight on your terms where you have the advantage. Or if you trust brute strength enough, you can push or throw them out of the ring, in some cases that will also earn you a victory."<br/><br/>"Remember that you're not only fighting but also performing. Do something the crowd likes and they will take your side. Demoralize your opponent by turning the crowd against them and you can gain the upper hand." Doctore added "Of course you'll have to put on a spectacular fight, or know what the crowd want to please them."<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Combat Rules</div><div class="spoiler_body">When wrestling without weapons in front of an audience, the rules of the match permit several victory conditions.<br/>1. Reduce the opponent's hit points to 0 via attacks to knock them out.<br/>2. In a grapple, maintain a hold for 3 turns to pin them or make them submit.<br/>3. Clever use of skills may allow you to substitute grapple checks with a skill, such as intimidation, deception or sleight of hand to overwhelm, dirty trick or grab your opponent by their clothes/armor. Such rolls will be contested by the opponent using the appropriate skill or ability check as well.<br/>4. Using shove or clever maneuvering push the enemy out of the designated fighting area. Based on the rules, ringouts may work differently, ranging from giving you a moment to catch your breath to earning a win.<br/>5. Using insight to assess the crowd and taking the appropriate action on the next turn, or making a successful performance check before an attack, grapple or skill check will grant advantage on that roll. Performance will always be contested by the opponent and only one of the fighters can benefit from it at a time. During gladiator combat (with weapons) using insight or performance in such a way adds an extra die of damage on the weapon attack instead of the normal advantage on the to hit roll.</div></div><br/>After a few hours of practice and a couple of wardrobe malfunctions, Evelyn was getting a grasp of what she was doing. As the trainer predicted, she was learning fast, but understanding and applying this knowledge was slightly different.<br/><br/>"How about we have a match to see how well you do." Doctore stated more than asked.<br/>"Might not be as one-sided as I'd like." Vedran admitted, complimenting the warrior woman's talent.<br/>"Oh, maybe we should let Markus fight her? He's our best man at the moment." the trainer considered aloud, to which said man, almost a giant with wild, dirty blonde hair stepped out of the crowd, pushing the others out of his way, nowhere as winded as some were.<br/>"Hadn't fought a girl since Wyldfire, could be interesting if she's brave enough. Do I get to fuck her if I win though, Doctore?" he asked smugly.<br/><br/>The trainer didn't answer but glanced briefly towards Evelyn, not speaking on her behalf. He walked up to her.<br/>"There might be a lesson here as well. You can play safe and wrestle Vedran, no one will think less of you, other than a few dirty shitheads. Or you can fight our champion Markus with blunt weapons or in the wrestling ring, your choice. Not sure what the Master said on the matter but Markus seems to fancy you. If you accept his challenge, I won't interfere. Whichever opponent you pick,  the others will look on as the audience so you get a feel for what it's like to influence a crowd. Losing here won't have any consequences... unless you make that gamble with Markus. If you do and win, you can get these dogs to fall in line behind you, they respect nothing more than boldness and strength." he explained, clearing up the situation.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Training for the big fight</div><div class="spoiler_body">Evelyn can try out fighting before an audience to prepare for Wyldfire.<br/>She can fight her practice opponent whom she is pretty used to by now, having a good sense of his abilities (Str bonus +3, Athletics check +5) using the unarmed combat, grapple and contested skill checks along with the crowd rule above.<br/><br/>Alternatively she can face the champion of these fighters either in weapon combat or the same wrestling rules. In either case the crowd rule still stands. This will likely be a considerably more challenging duel, closer to what she can expect from Wyldfire. However the champion will only fight her if she agrees to the stipulation of becoming his prize should he win. On the other hand, if she defeats him, she's guaranteed to have allies and supporters from the gladiators.<br/><br/>Should she pick weapon combat with Markus, she gets a shield and a melee weapon of her choice that is blunted and is unable to inflict wounds besides bruises (it still has its proficiency bonus and damage die however). Markus in this case will arm himself with a training spear and a shield.<br/></div></div><br/>Whichever she chose, Doctore nodded and set the courtyard up, with the onlooking gladiators standing in a circle around the fighting grounds. Her opponent taunted her to make the first move as Doctore declared the start of the match.