In many ways Pugilia offers the most varied and dramatic scenery of Dynamo Island. The pasture and arable land of the northern part of the province rises dramatically in the south to the Ring Mountains, themselves carved into a spiral by the concentric circles of the River Antinous, that rises high up at the peak of Mount Eoin (3000 feet) and travels in a 200-kilometre loop to the broad estuary leading to the Atlantic. Mount Eoin rises like a clenched fist, one that local mythology ascribes to the local deity of that name, master of boxing, the sport in which, since Roman times, the province has most prided itself in. The rich deciduous forests of the Ring Mountains still harbour wild boar and are famous for the truffles, much prized in Anasi restaurants, found in the beech-woods on the lower slopes. They are also home to the rare crimson-flowered boxglove that is the province’s badge. Owing to their steep climbs and hairpin bends, the mountains are training grounds for cyclists, providing a testing range of biking challenges. The southern coast is particularly dramatic as the Ring Mountains’ walls rise shear from the sea, followed by the main Anasi-Hadrianopolis railway that carves a tortuous route along a narrow coastal ledge, often having to plunge into tunnels blasted from solid rock before crossing the estuary of the River Antinous via a long suspension bridge.

Pugilia’s two main cities, Boxcaster and Hadrianopolis, are of great of historical importance. As its name suggests, Hadrianoplis was founded by the 2^nd-century Roman emperor who had sought shelter in the estuary of the river Hadrian later named the Antinous when blown off course on a trip to Britannia. It was from the bridge-head of the camp established in this protected site that the Romans later began their campaign to invade the island as a whole, their first victory being achieved at Boxcaster, where a violent battle between them and the defending Celtic tribes (the Velociae and the Pugiliae) took place. The valour of the native Celtic tribes and their fighting skills, in unarmed as well as armed combat, was much appreciated by the Romans who, when they had pacified them, engaged their pugilistic skills as instructors in their army or sent them to Rome where they were much in demand as fighters in the Coliseum.