Ferrum Grid is a brutal game, whose name is derived from the way in which the contestants are contained. Many generations of people have watched Ferrum Grid and all enjoy it, from the youngest human to Vergessions many hundreds of years old, as the game touches at the most basic of desires in any species: a lust for bloodshed. Ferrum Grid started in the Zanabarian Empire shortly after the Blud Kersad, in which prisons were filled to the brim with prisoners of war, as well a deserters, and many planets had to be turned over simply to facilitate all these new convicts. They were a drain on already empty coffers, and the sheer number of prisoners meant that fights would break out all the time over outrageous shortages of even the most basic of necessities. Some of the prison worlds even revolted, as the sheer number of prisoners won over the guards, who were often outnumbered ten-thousand to one. The Emperical Army had to be called in to help deal with these riots, but they were still cleaning up Trols from over a thousand different worlds, and were already stretched to the breaking point.
Then, some people from the newly discovered Binary Star Senate went to the Empire on a diplomatic mission, and were baffled by the large numbers of prisoners. They had also noted that all of the prisoners were still in fighting condition, but did not want to fight for the Empire. Eventually, they went to Zanabar himself, and proposed a solution for all the prisoners. They proposed that prisoners should be allowed to be bought by people called "coaches" who would then have them fight to the death in an arena, where those who survived a certain number of matches were granted their freedom. Zanabar at first refused to allow such a sport to exist, but, at the urging of his military and civil advisers, he reluctantly gave in.
The first coaches were the social elite of the Empire (mainly the advisers) and the games were brutal free-for-all affairs, with death rates almost triple that of current games. Men were thrown into the Grid almost as fast as the bodies from the matches were carried off. In fact, during the first two hundred years only one man ever survived twenty matches. But the crowds loved the game almost as much as the prisons did, as almost all of the prison worlds were shut down due to lack of inmates. After the Analog Rebellion, the rules for Ferrum Grid were changed to restrict teams to only allow five contestants to be in the gird at a time and they also produced an official list which restricted what races and equipment could be taken.
Rather then ruining Ferrum Grid like many experts expected, the fact that their was now objectives for contestants to complete, and also allowing body armor, meant that teams lasted longer and more people actually finished their twenty matches then ever, creating team and contestant loyalty and making Ferrum Grid the single most popular thing in the galaxy since oxygen. The sheer scale of the galaxy means that team loyalty is often contained to a single floor of a city, but the recent advent of image-stream-display-arrays, means that matches can be broadcast around an entire sub-sector, and some teams often have followings on whole star systems. During times of unrest, governments often sponsor tournaments, and on more then one occasion, a revolt has been averted due to a well timed match between well known teams. However, one should not judge how thrilling Ferrum Grid is simply by reading about it in a book: they should go and experience it by watching a local match. Or, if you want the best experience, you can become a Coach, and direct the Grid instead.
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