The bar felt less like a place of gathering and more like a den of predators forced to share the same cage. The air was thick—choking with smoke from torches that burned green and blue, reeking of oil and sulfur. A sour tang of blood lingered beneath it, mingling with the musk of unwashed bodies and the metallic bite of demon ale.
Tables were carved from black basalt, their surfaces pitted with scratches deep enough to hold pools of spilled drink that glistened like tar. Bones—animal, human, and unrecognizable—littered the corners, gnawed down to splinters. The walls were alive with faint glyphs that crawled like insects across the stone, vanishing when looked at directly.
The patrons were no less unsettling. Low-ranked demons slouched in corners, their bodies grotesque, eyes glowing fai
