The Great Pit of Daznak is the biggest and most extravagant in the city, while others include the Pit of Ghrazz, the Golden Pit, and many smaller ones.[2]

The combats are considered to be profoundly religious in nature, a blood sacrifice to the gods of Ghis. To the Meereenese the mortal art of Ghis is not mere butchery but a display of courage, skill, and strength most pleasing to the gods.[1]

Victorious fighters are pampered and acclaimed and the slain are honored and remembered - their names are graven on the Gates of Fate amongst the other fallen.[3] For a criminal condemned to die upon the sands the pits represent judgement by battle, a last chance to prove their innocence.

The pits draw trade to the city and fill its coffers with coin from the ends of the earth. It is said that all men share a taste for blood, a taste the pits help slake. In that way, it is argued, they make Meereen more tranquil.[1]

Meereen customarily claims one-tenth of the pits' profits as a tax.[1] Foreign sailors visit the pits to amuse themselves while they wait for their ships holds to be filled.