Editing Rat pits (section)

==Description==
Rat pits serve as an unsavory form of recreation, where [[rat]]s in a pit are made to fight each other for the entertainment of the audience. Often [[dog]]s are set on the rats, and compete to see who can kill the most rats first.{{Ref|ADWD|52}} Bull-baiting is also sometimes held in rat pits,{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Overthrown}} as are dogfights and [[bear]]-baiting.{{ref|SSM|1400}} Sometimes the competitors may be humans fighting each other, allegedly even children with filed teeth.{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - The Blacks and the Greens}}{{ref|SSM|1400}}{{ref|SSM|1401}}

Spectators pay to watch the fights, and also take bets on the participants.{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - The Hooded Hand}} The attendees are usually the [[smallfolk]] inhabitants of the cities,{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Overthrown}} although the [[Nobility|highborn]] have been known to frequent the rat pits as well.{{Ref|FAB|The Long Reign - Jaehaerys and Alysanne: Policy, Progeny, and Pain}}{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - The Blacks and the Greens}}{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - A Son for a Son}}{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - The Hooded Hand}}

Rat pits are relatively small and illicit [[Customs#Games|games]], held in alleys or basements. They do not compare to the large and official [[Fighting pits|fighting pits]] in [[Slaver's Bay]], which apart from combat between [[Pit fighters|human gladiators]], also regularly feature fights between large [[Bestiary|animals]] such as [[lion]]s, [[tiger]]s, [[bear]]s, etc, or fights between gladiators and these large animals.