The Grand Stadium carved itself into the landscape like a monument to human aspiration.
Pale stone rose in concentric tiers, each level carved from bedrock and reinforced with ley-line work that had taken decades to implement.
The arena floor stretched three hundred feet across, pristine white marble marked with chalk lines that defined the combat boundaries.
Scrying mirrors hung suspended at the stadium's apex, enchanted conduits broadcasting the tournament to seventeen kingdoms and four hundred trading posts across the Known Lands.
Millions were watching these duels unfold.
The announcer's voice emerged from the ley-line amplifiers embedded in the stadium's structure. His words carried across deserts and over mountains, reaching ears separated by continental distances.
The sound was crisp as if he stood beside every listener simultaneously.
