A Tour Through The Amphitheatre With Domingo Evans And King Desir`s Entourage

“Hello, your highness; I am Domingo Evans, foreman of the Sons of Evangelos Construction Company and head of the crew of masons building the Amphitheatre under our architect Beltran White here. We know you have been busy, and we are delighted that you have come to see where your donation is going. I must say, fifty thousand society is quite a blessing in these tough times! We expect up to another year of this terrible weather and poor market conditions. In the meantime, we aim to keep the city's citizens in high spirits! We have such a melting pot of cultures here in the districts, it will be quite a spectacle to see us all come together in one place!”

In the district's forum, King Desir Evans and his entourage of distinguished apes are outside the amphitheater. An impressive party of important Evans craftsmen, known to be fond of weapons and war helmets, had jumped at the opportunity to help out the Amphitheatre in their procurement of the finest equipment for its future events. Domingo met them on their day off to show the apes around the city's newest landmark. The apes chit-chatted a moment longer before heading towards the Amphitheatre’s most noticeable gate with two large stone warhorses rearing up on either side of the entrance.

King Desir and his fellow philanthropists have come to tour the new landmark as it prepares to open its doors to the public. King Desir made a generous $Society donation and donated the services of his house's finest engineers to work on the construction crew under the architect Beltran White. The imposing presence of the modern marvel was felt from ground level.

“The building is made in the shape of a great egg, and the circular structure of the entrances are made to facilitate large amounts of foot traffic. This enables the Amphitheatre to empty and exit quickly.”

The group moved into the plaza and approached the massive construction. Gargoyles looked down from their perches, protectors of the districts. Similarly, across the forum, or ‘Forum de Quartier,’ and along the various building across the city, their peers watched from their vantage points, relaying untold messages and secrets of the ongoings of the busy city below their realm.

“The structure of the Amphitheatre has been built with several different materials. Stone blocks made from the mountains have been cut and transported to the city for the pillars, outer walls, and stairs. The inner walls are waterproofed with orichalcum ore imported specially by the Amato family from a private source. The radial walls are constructed from blocks and bricks of orichalcum stone. To hold it all together, the Evans family uses a special concrete mix of volcanic ash, seawater, and lime.”

We used an arch and vault design that supports the structure solidly. According to our calculations, the amphitheater can accommodate tens of thousands of apes. It has 100 entries and exits, 96 of which are used by the public, while the other four are intended for the nobles, their court, their guests, and the professional fighters that come to do battle.”

Guards will be stationed here at the gates checking tickets. Everyone who enters the Colosseum must have a ticket corresponding to the number above one of the entry gates. The tickets themselves are shards of pottery with the gate and seat numbers engraved on them.”

The tour moved through the entrance with “1” engraved over the arch. They moved through the breezeway and up some stairs to the main walk path around the battle arena. “The structure has four floors; the first three have one hundred arches each; the arches on the second and third floors are decorated with large statues sculpted by Artist class apes around the kingdom.

The public seating, known as the auditorium, is divided into five sectors separated by open corridors, some decorated with display cases of historic equipment and more to be filled by future stars. The box seats closest to the arena are reserved for Royal Advisors, Knights, and Amphitheatre celebrity apes. Military officers, Merchants, and their parties, in general, can fill tickets in the upper stands. The highest sector, also known as ‘la Gabbia’, is the section for the biggest families to sit together. These seats are expected to be where most crowd energy will be generated, as the public will mix it up here!”

Domingo’s excitement and pride were evident and contagious. The energy of the tour was building as he excitedly gestured to the far side of the arena.

“The Amphitheatre is specially designed not only to control the crowds, but also to keep them comfortable. For hot days we have installed countless drinking fountains and two restrooms large enough to accommodate a packed house. Additionally, there is a retractable roof. On hot days a giant awning will be unfurled above the upper deck to shade spectators from the Sun. It is operated by an entire crew of sailors to hoist the weight on the beat of a great drum. They will be stationed around the top of the Amphitheatre. The Arena floor will be covered with wood boards and sand. Lifts operated by pulleys and ropes go directly up to the arena through trap doors. A small catapult will launch wicker balls with prizes written on them in the crowd during the events. Entertainers from the artist class will also be present.”

The battle arena is breathtaking. The image of tens of thousands of spectators was in all in attendance. Domingo continued the tour around two more stairs, and they descended into the depths of the Amphitheatre’s basement.

Below the arena floor are the underground chambers connected to the city’s tunnel and sewer systems. The “Cave” is an extensive grid of assorted tunnels, corridors, and cellars, which you can see here as we finish construction. The cellars will be used as chambers for gladiators and equipment storage. However, we do plan to fill the arena with water for special events, so the armory is kept behind the colosseum in the two towers peeking over the outer walls' edge. The city’s tunnel system is connected to the aqueducts and water towers network.”

King Desir was genuinely impressed. The Evans king had seen a lot of construction in the last generation, but his eyes had never seen such a work of architecture. A flex of the Ape Society empire to be sure!

“I thank you for your time, Foreman; you have been spectacular. I had the utmost confidence in you, my good ape. The magnitude of this landmark will start ripple effects across districts and beyond the borders. Our crowd’s cheers will be heard clear across the land!”

The two apes shook handily, and some champagne glasses made their way into everyone’s hands for a toast