The Sand Arena has the following properties.

It is a repositories for souls that die upon it. If you bleed upon the sand, a connection is made between you and the sand. Make a Fortitude save or permanently lose a point of constitution.

People who have not bled on the sand find their footing very unstable. The sand seems to shift and a -2 to hit penalty is experienced. Once the blood connection is established, the footing seems normal. Moreover anyone who is blooded can feel a connection with everyone else on the sand at the time. This connection gives an innate sense of the health of the other person, and their location. The blooded individual will always be aware of the sand, even from the farthest reaches of the Empire. The sand will always be calling. Only the very strong of will will be able to live any kind of untormented life away from the arena. Fighting upon the sands once a month will alleviate the call.

The Sand can also be used for a pact. If blood is pooled upon the sand by a person who then speaks a phrase such as "kill Kagnoi", any blooded persons which add to the pool of blood will be under a geas to complete the quest. There will be felt an instant connection to the target or targets.

If the recipients of the geas remain stationary for 3 days they start to feel a strong compulsion to move. If they stray beyond a quarter of a mile either side of the straight line that mentally connects the sand arena with the target, they start to feel a compulsion to move closer to that line. Fighting the compulsion requires a will save DC15. Failure results in unconciousness. Upon awakening, the body will no longer be under the blooded's control for 8 hours. During this time the body will begin moving in the appropriate direction heedless of hunger, bathroom breaks, etc. The survival benefits of a pact involving more than one person is that members of the pact who are fighting together against the same opponent receive a +2 flanking bonus. This will stack with the normal flanking bonus so that if they actually flank their opponent they will receive a +4 bonus.

The reward of completing the geas is 1 year free of the sand's compulsions, although the awareness will remain.

Upon death, the soul will join the others in the sand. Not even a shadowmage can stop it. Although who can say what divine powers may be able to achieve.