Chapter Fifty One: The Pilum, Poison Bomb, and the Twin Poles

It is now an important juncture of this narration to introduce the official weapons that are allowed inside the  battleground arena for the Prudence Wars, with each race (both Potioneers and Dark Masters) registering the official dimensions and physical manifestations of their solemn "tools of the trade," which is also a crucial time to behold the skillful disolay of the weaponry in a ceremonious event once the appointed time for the commencement of the Group Stage of the Games has been properly determined by the Brokerage Firm.

This segment of the Games is more impoortant to the gamblers (especially the high rollers that have attended the event purely to Gamble), because this particular event on the bona fide registration of the weaponry to be used provides the perfect opportunity for the ultrarich to witness the abilities of those talents to be potentially selected as worthy Combs, while all the motivated contestants are in a courageous mode to prove ahead of the Games what they are actually capable of, which is a clever way to gauge first impressions once they are inside the arena to ferociously fight and win.

The supplemental Bicameral Treaty for the Games has explicitly provided for a general description of the weapons to be entertained for the official registry. On the side of the Potioneers, all potential Combs must bear an ancient weapon attributed mainly to the defense of potion making called Pilum, a form of javelin very similar to those used by the Legionaries during the Roman Empire. The Pilum (or Pila, in plural form) is drenched with a carefully brewed poisonous sting (the ingredients for the potion remains unchanged and is kept in secret up to this day), aside from providing a permanent source of light once the Pilum is wielded while the combat was taking place; the Potioneers are also allowed to carry with them a limited number of Poison Bombs, with its potency and range of damage (measured in radius by the Commissioner of Games) to be duly certified by the Brokerage Firm.

On the part of the Dark Masters, they are allowed to wield their Twin Poles (later on to be known as Sticky Poles once possessed by the Astrologers in a future event), and to call down through the use of their sticks an attack to be called the proto-Fireflies, the damage of which is also calibrated by the fair representatives of the Commissioner of Games, and duly certified by the same Brokerage Firm.

There are no other specific description of the power of the Twin Poles other than its innate ability to make things fly through the obligatory current provided by the nature of a certain form of "magic." (This term is no longer being used in any of the official correspondence relating to the conduct of the Prudence Wars, after the Magicians were banished from the sacred lands.)

Today is the first day of the registration of potential Combatants, and the gamblers are in full business trying to assess the most talented Combs like a hawk, making some important preliminary judgments as to their skills and expertise, as well as their character, personality, and moral standing (this bit of the criteria is very open to manipulation, though, because how can someone possibly know this information if only through the subjective appreciation of the scheduled combatant exhibitions?).

There is always an informal, traditional ritual regarding an unofficial panel who grades each registrant's performance in the exhibition phase of the Combs selection, and this same panel is also present in this particular edition of the Games. Although nobody is compelled to follow their assessments, this elite group of experts commands respect from the high rollers and affluent bettors who are thrilled to be entertained by the customary fight to earn every right to wear that elusive crown.

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This Chapter is sponsored by Fendi.