The crowd went wild, and so did she. She stood up, did the ritual bow to the Sorcerer-King, and then raised her sword high, grinning to acknowledge the crowd's adulation. The chants of "Shanna! Shanna!" were starting up again. "Taaaaake it ooooooff!" screamed someone with an especially loud set of lungs, and she laughed at the outrageously cheeky suggestion even as the royal attendant came to lead her back.<br/><br/>They walked across the sands, then through the<em>ludus</em>, the gladiatorial quarters which served as both barracks and school. Everywhere were the Sorcerer-King's Immortals standing guard, and the gladiators lived in barred, windowless cells: large numbers of armed slaves were always a potential concern. From within their cells the other fighters stared at her with mixed expressions: sullen anger, jealousy, wistfulness, even relief in one man who she recognized had been slated to fight her tomorrow. Word spread fast. Cheers and jeers rang out in a rising tide as Shanna strode through with the royal attendant at her heels, her sheathed sword over one shoulder and grinning the smug, shit-eating grin of a champion.<br/><br/>Shanna recognized a face. Alixana, one of the gladiatrixes she had trained alongside in the early days and who had helped her once in a brawl for which they were both punished. "I heard you won. I guess this is farewell, then. So long," Alixana said, unable to hide the longing and jealousy in her face.<br/><br/>"Fight hard," Shanna said, clasping the other woman's hand through the bars. "Die free." Then the royal attendant urged her on, and her hand slipped away into the crowd following along.<br/><br/>"Shanna," growled a muscle-bound brute with his head shaved bald and missing an eye. "Too bad you're going. I'd love to bend you over and give you what your cunt aches for, slut."<br/><br/>"Too bad your words are much bigger than your cock, Leontes," mocked Shanna. "You want some? Come get some." By way of response Shanna half-turned to present her backside to him, tugged her skirt up just a hint to bare her rounded asscheek, and smacked the naked skin twice, taunting him to come get some. All within earshot cheered wildly at the lewd challenge. Leontes just growled, red-faced, helpless and furious. She knew he would never dare try anything, although she almost<em>wanted </em>him to. It would be so satisfying to kick his ass, rub his face in the mud and thoroughly humiliate him again like she did in their public bout last month. She left, laughing along with the crowd.<br/><br/>They passed through the crowded lower levels, through the common room and the training yard where the fresh meat looked at her in awe. Then they reached the upper levels where her quarters were. As one of the elite, Shanna had some privileges: a cell with actual privacy, the right to take her weapons and armor into her living quarters (to prevent theft or sabotage), hot water prepared for her by the arena slaves.<br/><br/>"When can I leave?" Shanna asked the royal attendant beside her as he unlocked her door.<br/><br/>"At dawn. The city gates are already closed for the evening."<br/><br/>She walked in. She had no light of her own (arson was always a concern, too) but a lantern high above, far out of arm's reach, cast its dim amber glow on her. Her cell was spartan: a wooden rack for her equipment, a bed with a blanket, a chest with her clothing, the promised tub of precious hot water -- water, not sand, for bathing! Shanna tossed her shield and sword on the bed as the door shut behind her and started to undress, beginning with unfastening the clasps of her platemail bra.<br/><br/>Now the question was, if hypothetically someone had been watching her at that very moment, how little clothing would he allow her to strip down to before interrupting her. Hypothetically, of course.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Character Sheet</div><div class="spoiler_body"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">Shanna (https://orcpub2.com/pages/dnd/5e/characters/17592239534284)</span><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">Female Human Fighter 1</span><br/><br/><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">STR</span></td><td>    </td><td><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">DEX</span></td><td>    </td><td><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">CON</span></td><td>    </td><td><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">INT</span></td><td>    </td><td><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">WIS</span></td><td>    </td><td><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">CHA</span></td></tr><tr><td><div align="center">16</div></td><td></td><td><div align="center">14</div></td><td></td><td><div align="center">14</div></td><td></td><td><div align="center">10</div></td><td></td><td><div align="center">11</div></td><td></td><td><div align="center">14</div></td></tr></tbody></table><br/><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Proficiency Bonus</strong></span></div></td><td>        </td><td><div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Armor Class</strong></span></div></td></tr><tr><td><div align="center">+2</div></td><td></td><td><div align="center">18</div></td></tr><tr><td><div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Passive Perception</strong></span></div></td><td>        </td><td><div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Max HP</strong></span></div></td></tr><tr><td><div align="center">12</div></td><td></td><td><div align="center">12</div></td></tr></tbody></table><br/><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Proficiencies</strong></span></td><td></td><td></td><td><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Saving </strong></span></td><td><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Throws</strong></span></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Acrobatics</strong></td><td><strong>  +4</strong></td><td>        </td><td><div align="center"><strong>STR</strong></div></td><td><div align="center"><strong>+5</strong></div></td></tr><tr><td>Animal Handling</td><td>  0</td><td>        </td><td><div align="center">DEX</div></td><td><div align="center">+2</div></td></tr><tr><td>Arcana</td><td>  0</td><td>        </td><td><div align="center"><strong>CON</strong></div></td><td><div align="center"><strong>+4</strong></div></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Athletics</strong></td><td><strong>  +5</strong></td><td>        </td><td><div align="center">INT</div></td><td><div align="center">+0</div></td></tr><tr><td>Deception</td><td>  +2</td><td>        </td><td><div align="center">WIS</div></td><td><div align="center">+0</div></td></tr><tr><td>History</td><td>  0</td><td>        </td><td><div align="center">CHA</div></td><td><div align="center">+2</div></td></tr><tr><td>Insight</td><td>  0</td><td>        </td></tr><tr><td><strong>Intimidation</strong></td><td><strong>  +4</strong></td><td>        </td></tr><tr><td>Investigation</td><td>  0</td><td>        </td></tr><tr><td>Medicine</td><td>  0</td><td>        </td></tr><tr><td>Nature</td><td>  0</td><td>        </td></tr><tr><td><strong>Perception</strong></td><td><strong>  +2</strong></td><td>        </td></tr><tr><td>Performance</td><td>  +2</td><td>        </td></tr><tr><td>Persuasion</td><td>  +2</td><td>        </td></tr><tr><td>Religion</td><td>  0</td><td>        </td></tr><tr><td>Sleight of Hand</td><td>  +2</td><td>        </td></tr><tr><td>Stealth</td><td>  +2</td><td>        </td></tr><tr><td>Survival</td><td>  0</td><td>        </td><td></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>[/quote]