The Fleshing Arena

The Fleshing Arena is a gladiatorial structure in Noxus, a brutal proving ground where warriors fight to demonstrate their strength and earn glory. It hosts the Fleshing, a Noxian tradition in which combatants are set against a succession of increasingly deadly opponents, each bout more lethal than the one before. To fight through them is to prove the single quality that Noxus prizes above all else. That quality is strength, and the arena embodies the core Noxian ideal that strength is the ultimate measure of a person's worth. Because the Fleshing rewards prowess in battle rather than birth or pedigree, its rewards are open to anyone bold enough to claim them. A victory in the arena can raise even the lowest-born citizen to prominence, granting a road to glory and social advancement that station would otherwise close off. In this the Fleshing Arena is at once a testing ground for Noxian warriors and a rare path upward for those born without advantage. Two events mark the arena's recorded history. The first is the establishment of the Fleshing tradition, which fixed the contest as a lasting Noxian custom. The second is the rise to fame of Draven, who built his renown within its brutal bouts. The Fleshing Arena remains inhabited and in use, a notable fixture of Noxus where the empire's conviction that strength decides all worth is answered with every match.