Free City Arena

  The arena began as a joint effort between Grey College and Lord Mayor Zagig, to be used for college assemblies and events as well as entertainments for the citizens of the city.  It proved somewhat of a bust as the latter - apparently the citizens of Greyhawk had plenty of ways tp entertain themselves without the grandiose spectacles hosted by Zagig.  And indeed, the arena can seat but 18,000 souls, if they squeeze together, so the bulk of the city's population had to miss each event.
  As a college focal point, however, the arena has been a grand success.  It serves as neutral ground for representatives of all schools in Clerkburg, as well as self-proclaimed fraternities of students using individual tutors, to gather and face off in the endless series of games and contests these students use to amuse themselves.
  In addition to the contests, the arena is still used by the city for those occasions when a grand celebration is required.  many holidays are commemorated with a service here.  Illusionist shows, offered once or twice a year, are extremely popular.  And every few years a traveling circus comes to the Free City, remaining for two or three weeks.  These festive occasions are cause for nightly crowds in Clerkberg, even though they occur over Midsummer when the colleges are not in session.
  Also, the men of the City Watch hold drills and mock battles here.  Only twice a year are the mock battles performed before an audience, once in spring and once in autumn, but the troops often practice here during the day , or even under the light of a bright moon.
  The grand stone edifice was once a gleaming white circle  of limestone.  The colour fade first to grey, and then one day nearly 20 years ago, suffered the indignity of a practical joke by the students of the Bardschool: the citizens of the Free City awakened one morning to find that their coliseum had been painted all over a throbbing, vibrant shade of pink.
  Of course, it has mostly faded by now, but in places an observer can see a streak of pink running through a seam in the limestone.  And from a distance, the entire edifice seems to take on a rosy hue when the sun hits it just right.  The arena is capable of hosting all sorts of functions.  Its field is large  and normally covered with hard packed sand.  However, it has been covered with lush turf or  filled with enough water to float small boats - both transformations accomplished with the aid of powerful priests - on more than one occasion.
  Spectators can enter the stadium by any one of a dozen gates spaced around its outside wall.  Seating occurs in 12 banks of 1,500 seats each.  All the seats offer splendid views of the field, as they are not very far away.
  Below the seats is a complex labyrinth of dressing rooms, cages for wild animals or prisoners and storage halls for the equipment that is sometimes employed in the events of the arena.  The short, narrow skiffs used by the various college teams for the rowing races and mock sea battles fought in the flooded stadium, for example, are locked up under a section of the stands.
  The arena floor itself has only two entrances, one at the east end ad the other at the west end.  Each of these is 20 feet wide by 16 feet high and can be secured with massive wooden doors.  These doors fit so snugly that water barely trickles under them when the arena is awash.
  Above the western entrance rests the Grand Box of the Lord Mayor.  The luxurious accommodation can seat 100 personal guests of the lord mayor.  During college events the box is used by the student and faculty leaders of the college that last triumphed in the event.
  The arena floor is surrounded by a wall 15 feet high on each side and 20 feet high in the east and west ends.  The front rank of spectator seating reaches almost to the edge of the wall.  In fact, an observer in this row who leans out too far forward may find them-self flat on their face in the arena.
  The arena is used once nearly every week, except during the heart of winter, for some function or another.  Usually these are small college competitions, with attendance of under 1,000.  About once a month a major college competition such as the "Sea Wars" or a major city function such as the welcoming of a new ambassador, draws enough people to fill the arena to capacity.  All Clerkburg bustles on these occasions, as graduates return to cheer for their school or the influential folk of the High Quarter journey here in their carriages and coaches.

Clerkburg