Tremena

Most of the professional balters have moved to metal composite Blades, but some prefer to pay homage to the ancient ways and practice with the old wooden blades and leather ball variety The ancient name for the arena where all Battle Balt matches are contested. In the early days, known as the Tremor Arena, when a tremor was scored, hand-picked men and women of substantial girth were placed behind the goal to jump up and down to create a tremor effect to shake the arena. The effect was always underwhelming, so during the reign of the previous king, modern technology allowed the tremor effect to be automated, creating a far more powerful shake in the arena, leading to the new name, Tremarena. However, the name never took off, so the king rolled out a new concept for Battle balt with the help of Wizards to create even more powerful automated tremors. The result was a success, and a new name was born: The Tremena.

The Tremena (The arena of light):

(Thanks to Imperias Artist, Seline Klass, for providing us with her life-like clay model creations showing the inner workings of the Tremena - you can purchase her work from my shop - Tornading Rhino on Balter Avenue).

The face-off:

For the significant contests, before the bout begins, the two contestants must face each other in a show of wills. This is a balter's chance to intimidate his opponent and look for signs of weakness. Any advantage that can be gleaned will help in the initial stages of the battle after the face-off comes the Lord's Strike.

It is always an intimidating experience for an Imperial balter to face off against the Riktus giants

The Lord's Strike:

Tradition dictates that before each fight, the competitors hit the White Lord statue as hard as possible to prove the balters are ready to compete at their best. Legend claims the most brutal hits are heard by the Lord himself, who will endow great fortitude to those deserving. Before they strike, combatants must utter the challenge: “My light is pure to refuse the dark, blood for blood from soul to soul, to victor by tremor in love of the White, I swing for the Lord with all my might.” The Riktus version is far snappier: “Glory in blood, victor by tremor.” Perfectly encapsulating their no-nonsense attitude.

Kyle Rask practising hitting a dummy of the White Lord Statue. It's essential for every aspiring balter to condition your hands to the extreme pain of hitting a solid stone object with maximum effort!
Blade shown is a wooden replica of the Original

Preparing for battle:

Before every balt match, frosted arena walls increase the fans' suspense. Once the balters arrive, the frosting fades away to reveal the tremena in all its glory and the bloody menace hovering over the centre circle waiting to greet the balters. Once the contestants have been allowed entry into the arena, they take their positions by their respective trem zone and wait for the balt's launch. This is a balter's final chance to intimidate his opponent before the contest begins.

Trem goal (Aka trem zone):

The size of a goal varies according to the size of a Tremena, but a full-size version follows an elongated hexagonal design around 24 feet wide by 9 feet tall. If a combatant sends a balt through the Trem zone, they score a tremor.
A rectangular box located outside the arena, directly behind a balters trem zone, is known as the tactician's box.

Fans have yet to arrive at the match

Balters can bring one tactician to help them in the contest to provide strategic advice during the battle.

Beam of Taint:

Power gloves are used to make it fairer for non-Aurae Lendorians to compete with their blessed competitors. However, Aurae users have a finite use of this ability, which is consumed during an intense battle. The beam of taint is used to stop the abilities of a Power glove from being exploited. (Read Balter Clothing for more details)

by Seline Klass (A World in Clay)

Every time a user activates its powers, a black light called the beam of taint approaches the balter. Abusing the glove causes the individual to be struck by this taint, stunning him for several seconds. Their opponent can take advantage of this time and score one or more tremors. This risk vs reward system of using the glove makes the spectacle of Battle Balt so popular to watch.

Launchers and retrievers:

The most advanced arenas have three launchers that fire the balt into the arena from one of three locations at varying speeds, making it impossible to predict precisely where the balt will come from. The launchers also function as retriever units with the ability to suck an extinguished balt (one whose gyro has exploded) from the arena, ready for a new one to enter. Picture shows a top-down view of the Arena launch area.

by Seline Klass (A World in Clay)

Target zones:

Two targets exist on the back wall behind a balter. If a combatant can hit one of these targets with a balt, they will gain a defensive advantage (e.g. slowing down the beam of taint or granting shields) or an attacking advantage (e.g. increased balt curving or more powerful blade strikes.)
A Tremena consists of four walls and an angled ceiling that allows a balter to attack an opponent's goal or target zones using unpredictable rebound shots.

The bloody menace:

An officially sanctioned balt has a core of viram, making it impossible to break. The second layer is a heavily compressed stone material that adds ballast. The third and final layer is a micron-thick rubber layer to allow it to bounce and not kill with head blows. If the balt’s outer layer gets damaged, a new balt gets launched into the arena whilst the old one gets repaired for the next contest. To allow the 2.7kg projectile to travel at such incredible velocities, every balt has a tiny hole that allows an injection of the Lord's essence that creates a direct link to the viram core. One drop sets the viram core spinning, causing a gyroscopic effect that attempts to keep the balt hovering at a height of 4 feet. Once contact is made, velocity is added, and the ball becomes a living weapon able to render most competitors unconscious with a clean strike to the head. Justifying its more common name - The bloody menace. Once combatants take control of the balt, they must act fast before it unleashes an electric blast, paralysing anyone within a twelve feet radius. The amount of time a balter gets before the electric discharge depends on the type of contest - Title matches only allow six seconds to react before exploding.

Balts used in the ARL or IBL Leagues contain an indestructible Viram core.

Balts used in lesser leagues are replaced after every battle and one-tier Balters get low-quality stone balls, replaced mid-game as they crumble.

Pillars of Filloch:

5 immense stone Pillars are housed under the arena directly in front of a combatant's trem zone and can be called upon when a balter bleeds from a balt blow. The balt with its Essence core, purifies the horrific wounds it causes and allows the injured balter to drip his cleansed blood onto a pillar, shooting it up to protect a part of his goal.
Only one can be called per match, and sometimes they function as a hindrance since they obstruct a balters view. For the wounded combatant, however, this inconvenience is more than worth it to allow them a chance to recover from a nasty blow.