The Burning Unicorn: A rather expensive tavern owned by a team, or at least by a manager. A dinner here may cost as much as a silver shield (see Money of Lirith Kai). A drink is likely to cost at least a silver ring, but the quality is good.

Haro's Place: A hole in the wall bar-and-grill which serves as a front for the Beggars' Guild. (There are others.) This is a very small place that serves greasy fried fish and noodles and wine rejected by the paint-thinner factory. One-Eyed Haro runs it, and he will take messages to be relayed to the Beggars' Guild, suggest the names of a couple of pawnbrokers "who won't ask questions," and so forth. He will NOT admit to any illegal knowledge or activity on his own part, but he is a semi-retired assassin of considerable ability. Two or three copper rings for a meal, a copper bit for a drink, and you get what you pay for.

Haro's Place is classed as an poor bar & grill, grade D.

Jemar's Place: A basic, honest bar near the arena. Jemar's is frequented by the arena staff (the orderlies who carry out the injured, for instance), minor employees of some of the teams (gofers, trainers' assistants, etc.), the arena standby fighters, and a few of the less skilled, unambitious gladiators. This is a decent place for a cheap meal and a beer and a chance to talk about the fights without your manager or some hotshot top gladiator breathing down your neck. A meal here would cost a silver ring at most; a simple drink would probably be about a copper ring in price. Jemar's is not a big bar--the room is maybe twenty feet wide by about forty or fifty deep. (It's squeezed in between Dergol's Leathershop, which repairs leather armor, and Arvanir's Apothecary and Healer's Shop, minor injuries only.) There are five stools at the far end of the bar (farthest from the street), plenty of standing room along the rest of the bar, seven booths along the facing wall, and a half dozen small tables out in the middle of the room. There's no room here for a fight, which is the idea--Jemar doesn't want to have to replace the furnishings regularly; anyone who wants to fight will be politely but firmly escorted outside.

Jemar tends the bar himself; he is a big, stocky man, probably not pure Adantri, with scarred hands and gray hair--though his hair is gray, he is no pushover and is fully capable of bouncing most customers himself. He's always friendly to his customers, ready and willing to listen to their troubles, and the only thing that seems to upset him is the chance of a fight in his bar. He will talk knowledgeably about gladiatorial combat (could he have been a gladiator at one time?--he won't say) and the current cycle of fights in Dal Shang, yet he never seems to leave his bar to watch them...

Jemar has two waitresses, both moderately pretty. Sigi is a northern woman, a tall, buxom blonde, who came to Dal Shang with one of the teams that fought in the inaugural games. That team has long since left, but Sigi liked the town, found herself a job, and stayed. She speaks Adantri with a terrible accent but is so friendly and generous that no one minds, although sometimes the local people will tease her about the way she talks. She likes gladiators but is not promiscuous--she is looking for someone who will "go steady" with her.

Dillia is a local girl, the daughter of a cousin of Jemar's; her mother is the cook here. She's younger than Sigi, friendly but rather shy--only the fact that she knows half the people who come into the bar makes it bearable for her to wait the tables. When the place fills with new faces, such as right after the fights when stray gladiators wander in, she finds work in the kitchen or behind the bar. It embarrasses her when strange men make passes at her; the regulars like her and are fairly protective, though they will tease her too.

As a regular thing, Jemar offers a night of free drinking to any warrior who has just "died" in the Dark Arena.

Jemar's Place is classed as a "good" bar & grill, grade B.

Neshan's Goblet: A fairly decent bar, middle class customers mostly, which has criminal connections which are not apparent to the casual visitor. The bartender, Skelan ten Mako, will pass along messages and serve as a go-between for thieves and assassins. Skelan's discretion has never been questioned and is considered to be absolute. A copper ring for the basic drink (ale), that much again for a sandwich.

Neshan's is classed as "fair," grade C.

The Oaken Barrel: A very low dive in the harbor area. It draws a lot of its customers from gyms and sparring parlors (Dolla the Elephant's Gym, Krenshar's Sparring Parlor of dubious repute, Zenagar's Gym which is also known as "the butcher shop," etc.) in the immediate vicinity, and it is frequented by the rude, crude, and socially unappealing brawlers of the city; some are honest and some aren't. The Barrel is not a criminal hangout, although criminals have been known to hang out there. The ale is actually pretty good, but the ouskey (an imported distilled liquor of high potency) is terrible--it tastes like kerosene. It was originally stocked with the idea that some gladiators might wander in and want something stronger than ale, but some of the locals have actually developed a taste for the stuff. The bouncers are VERY big and muscular and possibly not the brightest specimens you ever met...if you mean human specimens--there's one by the name of Horgarl that would make a pretty fair warthog. The bartender is Degel, a big, hairy, short-tempered man who doesn't seem to like anyone or anything but money--he may be the owner, but he isn't telling; HE doesn't know any criminals, but if he likes you (hard to picture him LIKING anyone--so maybe it should be, if you tip him enough, he can tell you where to go next in search of criminals. No meals are available here, and a drink is going to cost, maybe, a copper bit or two--a copper ring for the best in the house (the best ale, that is); the ouskey is twice that, but then, it isn't the best drink in the house.

The Barrel is classed as "poor," grade D.