The announcer throws his hands wide like a circus performer, and Jum waits behind the iron bars as always. He can see images, flashes really. Bits of the crowd. A dress here, a cup of sloshing wine there. Nobles, merchants, even the peasants far, far up the stands. Their feet creak the boards. The murmur of the conversation dies down. There’s the smell of blood in the air.
”Gentle folk!” calls the announcer. ”What you are about to see few have born witness! The summer games cannot proceed without a spectacle, and a spectacle you shall have! From the depths of the seediest, most wretched grit dens of the Inner Sea, comes a man seemingly chiseled by the gods themselves, a man so massive, so physically perfect, that you would do well to steel yourself for the mix emotions you may receive! A unique oddity without peer, the boy that would become the man now gracing you today grew up right here in Oppara. Though our glittering jewel of a city be the very center of civilization and refinement, to my heart’s dismay, I must say it still contains a blemish or two. But fear not! This boy grew from hardship, nay, from impossible circumstances right here in the worst of the Narrows. His mother a grit junky and dealer and disgraced hedge knight of a father that ran away from his duty, it was this boy who dodged knifers and pimps and harlots and grew strong and hale, larger than anyone could’ve ever imagined! Forced into serfdom by his own uncles to pay his mother’s debts, he worked the mines across our fair land until his arms were massive as the World’s Edge Mountains themselves, chest like the bow of a mighty Taldane navy vessel! Sculpted by our great land, pushed to the height of physical perfection, this man, now feared across the Inner Sea for his prowess in the arena, has come to grace you with this performance. Watch closely, you may never see its like again! Now without further ado, delay, remission, or tarrying, allow me to present, Gorgeous Jum!
Gorgeous Jum was born Tellemandius Reinhart Jum from a grit junky and a runaway hedge knight. Most of his story is known throughout the Inner Sea, featured prominently in his introduction, the boy that grew from nothing, fighting his way up through the ranks of the arenas of Oppara and Tymon to become the chiseled gladiator. But there are always more secrets that many are not privy to. In fact Jum is an agent and informant of Lady Martella Lotheed. Servants and serfs and other gladiators like to talk, and Jum overhears things in the wash rooms, the streets, or even in the midst of combat itself. No one pays a dull-witted gladiator any mind. Most nobles assume he is simply decoration. Another secret most don’t know is that Jum still cares for his mother, laundering the majority of his winnings and ill-gotten money from being Lady Martella’s informant through the noble woman’s estate, who then makes sure Jum’s mother is well taken care of. He has no idea what Lady Lotheed’s plans are, nor does he pay them any mind. He simply prefers to live in the moment because he knows any day might be his last, fighting in the arena, and tries to reap as much gold as he can for his mother’s care in the meantime.