Thump! Thump! Thump! The coliseum shook with the ferocity of 10,000 adrenaline filled fans anticipating bloodshed. A few pebbles of dirt fell from the ceiling of the musty cavern the prisoners were being held in. Though they could hardly be called prisoners, for they had committed no real crime. The elf, who kept mostly to himself, was only passing through Vertigo's kingdom when 20 men on horseback came thundering toward him just as he was leaving. They accused him of murder, tied him up, and hauled him like an animal to a dank cell under the pounding coliseum. Apparently they were one man, or elf as it were, short of a full cast for tonight's event. In an adjacent cell sat a man. He was covered from head to foot with a thick cloak that was clearly intended to hide his face. From what? The guards did not know, nor care. The elf heard a low voice whisper, "Odin". He glanced to the dimly lit cell of the cloaked stranger and saw no movement. His ears had not deceived him, he was aware the voice's source had come from this stranger's cell. The figure turned his head toward the elf now, "I figure if I'm going to fight with you, we should at least know each others names. They call me Odin." The elf hoarsely choked out the word, "Strider" as he struggled to make out Odin's face, which now was more veiled by the darkness than by his cloak. Odin became aware of Strider's searching eyes and quickly turned away. "And you little one, what name do you go by?" Odin called across the room to another figure sitting in his own cell on the other side of the room. "The name is Patty, Patty O'Neil, and don't go thinking I'm so small I couldn't put you in your place." The voice was muffled by the overwhelming sound of the crowd overhead, but it was apparent the owner was youthful and filled with pride. Odin smiled to himself, "Don't waste your energy on me, I meant nothing by it." Standing up now, Odin moved toward the border of his cell. He began to stretch one arm toward a small moldy table set in the corner. "Now that I'm feeling a bit more rested, how about we get out of here hmm?" Strider noticed the master key set that had been left on the table began to shake, slightly at first, then more and more until it was moving toward Odin's outstretched hand.
Whack! Blinding light poured into the room as a rotund guard smashed the main door open. Only the three prisoners heard the jingle of the keys as they fell a few inches short of Odin's cell. The guard began, "If you attack each other, you'll be killed. If you attack the crowd, you'll be killed. If you taunt the king, you'll be killed..." As he ran over the rules of battle for the coliseum more guards came in and began to unlock the cells and remove the prisoners from their cages. The three strangers were marched into the preparation room where they would be equipped for the upcoming slaughter.