A History Through Blood

The Student of Mesopotamia was a large tavern on the south-side of London that spanned several houses and rumours claimed existed during the age of William of Normandy's rule. The truth was that it was far older than that and had merely adopted the tavern around the sixth or seventh century. Most who saw the establishment assumed that it was a simple well-kept inn, maintained to sufficient standard that it was frequented by people from all classes. Each section was segregated by wealth with a designated shared section where people could freely interact. The attentive staff managed the business with utmost care, rejecting undesirable patrons to other nearby affiliated taverns.

The true face of the establishment was both an information guild as well a supernatural meeting place maintained by the true demon Asmodeus*. Due to the persuasive powers of his countless followers, comprised entirely of both Incubi and Succubi, the business was immensely successful. The lust demons would often take the small fragments life force from humans, under the guise of customer service. While underhanded, having the flirtatious demons serve the humans did encourage them to overspend to impress their “unworldly attractive” wait staff.

The tavern also offered a discrete information service to those aware of their existence, selling information sold to them or gathered using various paranormal methods. In addition to extracting information from the drunken lips of their patrons, the Student of Mesopotamia would send out small near-invisible imps to spy on anything they deemed note worthy. This worked well for mortals demanding information, however supernatural entities knew of the presence of the minor demons and were effectively useless in that regard. Particularly the Catholic church had taken notice one too many times, due to their heightened supernatural sense, and their buildings were deemed to dangerous to low level demons.

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It was early afternoon, with the tavern experiencing the relatively quiet period between lunch and dinner. The few patrons were spread-out amongst the many tables or using private rooms for their meetings, which the demons respected above all else and ensured that there would be no recording and no one outside the room would hear about the contents of their discussions. Several succubi were hanging around one particular merchant, keeping the wine and mead flowing as he loudly bragged about his latest successful venture. His unrestrained exuberance seemed not to affect the surrounding patrons, specifically some lower courtesans who were openly flirting with one of the incubi bartenders only a few tables away.

'Joan' kept watch over the various tables from behind the bar, acting as lookout and receptionist for all incoming guests. Only a select few knew of her real name and form, instead presenting as an exceptionally curvy woman with ample assets that often attracted the usual perverted gaze of their male clients. Most of her appearance, from her long and curly ginger pony-tail to her pale white skin were all an illusion as to hide her true appearance. Only in the privacy of their demonic dimension would she reveal her dark blue skin, long scarlet hair and the various demonic appendages that were typical of her kind.

The tinkle of a bell rang as a lone plague doctor walked in, garnering a brief glance from the onlookers before they returned to their drinks. Her dark aura was instantly noticed by the various demons around the lively space, keeping an eye on her as they performed their duties around the space. The acting manager Walter, a powerful incubus of his own right, gazed at her from behind a parchment. “Go see her, I will cover the bar.” He said, taking a half-cleaned tankard from her hands. “See what you can get from her.”

The doctor, removing her mask as to not affect the mood of the place, slowly walked to the counter. “Welcome to the Student of Mesopotamia,” Joan warmly greeted the vampress, lacing her words with her hypnotic magic. “What can I get for you? Ale, Wine or Mead?” The girl retrieved a small bag of powder from her satchels, inhaling the strange contents before proceeding to respond: “I will take a glass of Temptation.” The unknown powder seemed to be tailor made to quickly dispel the alluring aroma given off by the lust demons, she apparently had come well prepared for their dealings. “Understood, follow me and I will take you to your table.” With the code word spoken, the guest was personally guided to the supernatural section of the tavern, via the discrete portal behind a curtained door, taking them to a different plane of existence.

The true space was far larger than one expected, with artisan crafted tables and platforms floating transfixed in mid-air on a backdrop of twilight. The realm was illuminated by a mixture of candle lit features and purple glowing crystals, complimenting the dark tranquil aesthetic. The floors were made of darkly coloured polished stone finished with magic that maintained the pristine shine. Each platform had its own patterning and stones accoutrements, made of some foreign crystal not so different to sapphires and rubies. Shadowy arcane stairs linked the numerous stages, hosting all manner of creatures from every magical spectrum imaginable. Everyone understood that this was a place to relax and there were consequences to those who broke the relative peace, with some allowances for minor brawls.

The vampire was brought to the main bar, taking a stool away from other patrons. A few Male Selkies** made eyes and lurid gestures in her direction, only to be ignored for the business at hand. “Welcome to the Temptation of Asmodeus, what is your actual order? Lady...” Placing some English coin on the counter, “Lady Worm. I will take some blood, preferably human. After that I wish to purchase some information.” With a bow, Joan pointed to a booth marked XLVII “I will meet you up on the table with your drink.”

Joan had little experience dealing with vampires, with few good ones and many bad experiences communicated by other staff, however this one was reminiscent of Lord Redford who occasionally visited the bar and helped supply some of their stock. At the very least, this one was reserved and polite, not demanding and creepy like many of her kin. Her instincts, honed by decades of interactions with all manner of beings, indicated that she had little desire to instigate fights and the powder was likely a preemptive measure to maintain her own cognisance.

She soon returned, placing the goblet of blood in front of the client. Joan then sat intimately close beside her with pen in hand, using the more traditional methods to attempt to curry favour. “So, what type of information do you desire?” The vampire then produced a small wooden box, dark sealing runes engraved into it. “I would like to trade these cursed nails, forged from the blood of a high-ranking demon, for a brief compendium of the supernatural creatures found in the lands south of the Sahara Desert.”

The Temptation of Asmodeus did deal in the magical black market, albeit lightly without touching on live trade and physical violence, so the offered payment was not out of reason. The metal itself was indeed valuable, with certain buyers being able to exploit the creator through various underhanded means, if it were made available to them. How they were gathered was a different issue, tracing it back the bar could affect their reputation. “Might I ask where you got them, Lady Worm?” The vampire pulled out a carefully crafted whistle holding the blessings of a natural spirit before offering her explanation, “I often exchange herbs with various faeries and spirits. They recently had issues with a demon and asked me them to dispose of.” Her story seemed to be authentic, she could confirm with her demonic superiors before accepting payment “Understood, my Lady. We should be able to fulfil your request, please wait here while we confirm the deal.”

Joan left the vampress in her booth, retreating to the staff area carrying the cursed nails with utmost care. She entered a small office, staffed by a lone slimy tentacled mass***. Its green appendages reviewing all manner of books using dozens of floating red eye-balls, it barely reacted to the intruding succubus. “So, what does the vampire desire?” The container was transferred to an outstretched arm and greedily examined, “She wants a compendium of supernatural creatures in the Southern lands the Portuguese discovered. These nails were her payment.”

The nails were clearly a point of interest, drawing several of the floating red eyeballs to their container to better inspect the wares. “So this is where Mammon's nails wound up, it seems that one of his many schemes caused some backlash. So how did Miss Worm claim to receive them?” Head bowed, Joan answered professionally “She trades with the forest-folk, they apparently gave it to her for disposal.” A perplexed humming came from the demonic entity, several eyes seemed to spin in a circle. “That... is possible. It is rare for vampires to interact with others to each others benefit, but they likely wouldn't risk their own life for it... Tell her that she can collect the information in a week's time, we can probably strong-arm Mammon into providing a decent finder's fee. Her drinks are on the house, her payment far exceeds the service. If Nasha is visiting, we will cover some drinks if she answers some questions for the young-ling. Consider it a bonus thrown in for her.” Joan excused her self, recording the transaction in their own way and asking one of their demons to request an audience with Nasha. She was a very loose-lipped drunk, so would likely accept their offer.

Lady Worm was waiting for her return, drinking her provided blood whilst reading a book on surgical theory. “Your payment has been accepted, the information will be provided to you in seven days time. If you come with me, there is a guest we would like to introduce you too.” The succubus proceeded to guide her to a floating platform with an in-built pool of deep water. Resting the translucent blue liquid was the enormous form of Nasha, a large brightly coloured fish, happily lounging in the warm pool. “Thank you Lady Nasha, for agreeing to speak with Miss Worm about your homeland.” “Of cooooourse, Darling. Who could say no to such fiiiiiiiine liquor” the fish said, casually sliding over to the stairs. “Where should I begin? Probably with the wildlife. Have you heard of Crocodiles?” Joan left the pair to talk, returning to the front of house as to return to her regular duties as a host and leaving the vampress to learn in peace.