Bucket of Blood

Character"Want a taste of the Abyss, blood? Well, Broken Reach can offer you a safe haven. Graz'zt trade with many other planes. But none of these has the sheer appeal (and dangers) like the Bucket of Blood!" Advertisement leaflet in the walls of the Styx Oarsman by H.H.

RulerRoy, the goristro (Pl/male tanar'ri/CE) serves drinks tirelessly. While not very bright, he mixes drinks like no one else. And he's been mixing drinks for ten millennia now. He is a little smarter than the average goristro, even if only to better understand the orders. But no mistake, he squashes all who tried to seize the bar from him. He's one of those bigger goristroi.

Behind the throneSeems like Roy is not as stupid as he looks. Many speak of the secret patron of the Bucket of Blood, but no one can pinpoint whom. Some speculate that the mysterious yugoloth Musician is the wandering master of the bar, others that the habitué balor Grezzas'yut that uses to come here to celebrate victories in the Waste. Yet, some speculate that he is either under the service of the Abyssal Lords or the Oracle of the Lower Planes, the dreaded ultroloth Cipher that is rumored to be in harmony with the cadence of the Lower Planes. What no one dares (but many fear) suspect is that Roy has no master.

DescriptionThere is no door, just a massive hole huge enough for two goristroi to try to enter at the same time. The structure, more like a fortress, spirals deep into the ground and to the sky, with red spines over petrified baatezu and hanging buckets of ever-flowing blood adding to the external decor, overshadowing even the Civic Festhall. It is a simple place, but the drinks are something to die for. Inside, the mobs rage and scream among sounds of shattering and wheels spinning. There are game tables, from human roulettes to planar cards worth souls, jink and slaves. Women galore and vrocks in cages.

The seats are arranged in a spiral hollow staircase around Roy's tools. Anyone sitting there can be challenged by those without seats and are taken to a small arena over one of the beer tanks. The loser gets to be made into beer. Other places can be found around all over the walls and other tables.

It is a historical place. Few tanar'ri dare question its tradition. Many times the baatezu tried to storm the place. They hoped that attacking the bar would draw attention and make the tanar'ri risk much to protect it. But those enterprises did not work out as easily as planned and the place still stands.

Although big, it is the abyssal view of a homely place. Being in the Plain of Infinite Portals makes it a good place to discuss all kind of matters and many rooms and noises help protect the privacy of the clients.

It is a common thing among tanar'ri to take newly promoted babau to a special assignment at the Bucket of Blood. His fellow babau order him to go to the bar and get out of there with at least ten lesser to greater recruits for the Blood War and they give him some time. If he fails he is branded and demoted, if he makes it he is accepted as a babau. Of course, that is easier said than done. Many a babau had to enter the bar twenty times before the clientele stopped throwing him out.

MilitiaThere's no militia. Roy kicks any trouble-maker (tanar'ri perspective) out or dead-books him. If he is wounded, all present will likely urge to defend him and reduce the offender to shreds before turning on one another.

ServicesThe drinks are the best on the Plane, without question. Graz'zt found himself offering large amounts of riches, souls or power in exchange for either Roy's services or, at least, his recipes. But he'll have none of it. There are many other kinds of services available by dealing with the house's more illustrious figures.

Bub Face (Pl/male green slaad/CN) is a Blood War oracle. Different from the many others available, he has a knack for foreseeing the baatezu plans. His services aren't very expensive, just difficult to get. He only asks for drinks, lots of them. He can't or won't make declarations before being rendered drunk, which can take days when dealing with a slaad.

The Musician (Pl/female nycaloth/NE) comes to play twice or thrice a year. She has a strange organ made of tortured petitioners tied to strings and made into tubes. Her company is a choir of canoloths trained from birth for this purpose. She wears a white mask and a large cloak, never speaking or accepting job offers. She plays where it strikes her too and the only place she visits regularly is this bar.

For those with interests in the Blood War, Grezzas'yut (Pl/male balor/CE) is the one to meet. He serves under Marduk, fighting the Waste and taking care of abyssal politics.

One of the best recruiters of the Plain, Romeo (Pl/male babau/CE) is an old friend of Roy and is watched closely by the true tanar'ri. His lover, Vanessa (Pl/female succubus/CE) is the house's main attraction, with a voice capable of silencing the mobs.

Local NewsAll news from the Abyss may be found here. From things happening in a Prime a cabal of glabrezu are trying to corrupt to what the wastriliths are currently discussing in the gaping Maw. The bar itself seems eternal, though. A symbol of the abyssal way of life.