@medalliah

"Chaotic, yes, yes. Things are a bit stable in my time, but yes, still chaotic. I think you'll get furious trying to help, or even just observe, them. Not a good idea." said David with a cynical smirk. He then gulped down some more ale.

"So Zzubus manages this place. I guess he's someone I can reason with then?" He took a quick glance at the demon.

@LChris314

"I'm not that big on conquest, but maybe your world needs a Dragon to rule it" she chuckled "at least you're out! Shame I can't show you how great Dragon rulership is, you'd love it."

Another sigh as she leans on her hand watching Zzubus.

"Oh you should make friends with him but he's very smart. You won't trick him, but get him on side is what you can do. He's all mine though so you can't have him" she grinned, but something would make the man think she might not be entirely joking "want me to introduce you to him?"

@medalliah

While listening to Czurem, David hurriedly swallowed all the ale. A pale shade of red appeared on his neck. He wasn't the best drinker.

"Ah, I see. I see what it is." David showed a mischievous grin. He's normally quite rational and would avoid jumping to conclusions at all costs, but alcohol made him jump far this time. "Introduce me to him, you said? Well, never a bad idea to know the one in charge. Please."

@LChris314

"Careful, the stuff is really strong here" she hopped up onto her feet.

"No time like the present! Let's go see my Zzubus!" Czurem giggled and pushed her way over to Zzubus (@Gutshot)

Wow. There's a lot here. Big guy must be expecting some guests.

In the chill of the cooler, Kric lay on his back with the handful of wrappers over his stomach and a half eaten ice cream cone currently being eaten with big bites from the imp, leaving devastating fang marks all over the innocent treat. He felt fairly relaxed as he listened to the hustle and bustle of the tavern outside, thoughtfully chewing the chunk of ice cream and swallowing it quickly.

His haven was destroyed soon enough as the tavern owner tumbled the blushed skin imp out of his hiding place, Kric still attempting to swipe at his lost cone as he was dragged up by the back of his shirt. The imp had ice cream all over his mouth and chin, but still glared equally back at Zzubus. "Put it on my bill." He stated carelessly, understanding fully well that Zzubus knew that the imp street urchin would never be able to pay one off, never mind how many he's devoured.

@medalliah

"Sure. Let's go." David stoop up and followed the cheerful dragon-girl. The ale was stronger than expected, as the floor seemed to be rocking gently once he left his seat. "What a good drinker I am." He murmured with self-mockery.

The imp (@Cherrywitch) had a lot of spunk, Zzubus could give him that. Calling for one of his hirelings to write up a tab for Kric, the Archdemon looked up to see the silky-voiced Vakim (@Zi) speaking about his excitement for the new wave of patrons. "Well, if you want to converse with them, do so. I've told you that. If you're just going to stay up in the rafters like a house cat, I'll treat you like one", Zzubus responded in a somewhat light-hearted manner. The bartender soon added, "Here's a chew-toy, kitty", before throwing poor Kric up at the lounging jaguar. The imp wasn't a real liability and customer until he was dead, that's the beauty of the Edge Tavern.
Rebecca (@shagranoz) strolled up to the bar with a confidence that betrayed her words. "Hello there, Zzubus. I'm back, but it seems this will be a more permanent visit. Kind of embarrassing for someone like me, to be perfectly honest.", she said almost shamefully. The archdemon retorted with a witty, "You say that to an archdemon tending a bar in the middle of nowhere, don't sweat it.". The necromancer had been an old friend of the demon before, but her studies and worldly happenings had caused a long hiatus in their connection. Zzubus was always happy to have another friend at the tavern, even if it was permanently. He passed her a glass of ale and a seat before asking her what caused a master of death to die. Disease, huh? "You should've seen the bar when the Bubonic plague hit a planet called Earth 2. I was booked for weeks.", the demon chatted.
Rebecca and Zzubus's catching up chat was suddenly cut short with the appearance of Czurem (@medalliah) and the rosy-cheeked David (@LChris314). The archdemon turned as the draconian teen explained her want for the magik user and him to become acquainted, really something that wasn't a problem. "Have you already got yourself a handsome date tonight, Czurem?", the demon joked. He had never seen this gentleman before, his features chiseled but his expression quite childish and inquisitive. Interesting definitely described him. The man was obviously feeling threatened by the proportions and, of course, complexion of the eternal barkeeper, something that not even his stoic face could keep back, so Zzubus proposed to quell this apparent fear with an almost 'peace-offering' handshake. After all, rule one of being a bartender was to always make your patrons comfortable. The Tavern master extended a finger for the earthling to shake, his hand much too big to proceed with a more normal greeting, and started with a polite introduction. "I'm the archdemon Zzubus, bartender of the 'Edge of the World' Tavern. You must be David. You came with Rebecca, correct?". At the mention of the necromancer, the demon gave a slight gesture towards the female magic user. "Anyways, like I said, this is Rebecca, above me is the tavern pet, Vakim, and you've already met Czurem. Sadly, David, I'm a busy man tonight, so if you have any questions now is the time to ask them. Of course, Vakim and Rebecca have been around long enough that they can probably answer them, so if i'm not around later you know who to go to.", the archdemon informed the smartly-dressed gentleman. Zzubus pulled up a drink for himself for once as he talked with David, the sulfuric bubbling of the tavern's fiery stock liquor filling his glass as he leaned on the bar-top, a little more relaxed then usual.

'where am I" max thought as he woke up in a sort of box. He came to a stop so he decided to get out he was amazed at what he saw it appeared to be a tavern but he died he knew that much.@Gutshot (entry post)

Vakim gave a playful snarl at Zzubus' comment of being a mere 'Kitty', However when the imp was thrown to him, he gracefully caught it in his mouth and took him across the bar to drop him off in a still empty section of the Tavern. When he returned he saw dear Czurem already indulging on the demonic wine and conversing with a stranger. "Anyways, like I said, this is Rebecca, above me is the tavern pet, Vakim, and you've already met Czurem. Sadly, David, I'm a busy man tonight, so if you have any questions now is the time to ask them. Of course, Vakim and Rebecca have been around long enough that they can probably answer them, so if i'm not around later you know who to go to." Said Zzubus. Vakim then pounced to the table and flicked his tail with finesse. "I assure you, I am no mere pet~" His voice sounding like a harp played by master fingers. "Czerum, Take it easy on the wine tonight, I beg you, I know your father will be very displeased. Furthermore, I would like to hear of your death~ Go on~ Tell me. He said to David, as he set himself down on the bar and tucked his hind legs underneath himself and crossed his paws, Waiting patiently for the man to explain.

@Gutshot

Czurem shook her head at that, wide-eyed. "A date? Not at all! He was just telling me about the humans in his world!" she said quickly, staring up at the big handsome strong demon that she certainly did not have any kind of crush on. Nope!

@Zi

When the cat dropped down, Czurem did what she always did. She reached out to pet the large kitty!

"I promise to behave, this is only my second glass. I can easily have this and one more" she protested with a Dragony pout

The imp flicked his spaded tail to show his annoyance with the tavern owner, his aqua eyes darting back to his defenseless ice cream cone that had slipped from his clawed fingers and now lay helpless on the floor. Kric licked his ice-cream coated lips, attempting to squirm down to retrieve his stolen treat.

Instead of being thrown to the wolves, the imp was thrown to a particularly frightening feline. His face went pale for a moment. "Good kitty. Nice kitty..." Kric implored quietly, a bead of sweat popping up on his forehead.

Luckily, the cat left him be in a quiet section, which could have been seen as a poor choice. The imp sneakily dived under the bar and dashed under Zzubus' legs, successfully capturing his fallen cone before popping it into his mouth and eating it whole. Once finished, the imp darted up one of the posts that held up the tavern, similar to a squirrel climbing a tree as he circled it quickly, stopping when he was a decent ways from off the ground. "Hey, Zzuby. Why is there a lot more guests rolling in all of a sudden?" He questioned from his post he held onto so dearly, tail lashing behind him in a wavelike pattern. Kric enjoyed to call the owner 'Zzuby'... it always annoyed him.

Zzubus chuckled at Czurem's (@medalliah) frenzied attempt to dismiss the demon's innocent comment. She was quite the chatterbox and got flustered easily, indeed. The wine didn't help this habit either, but, again, the archdemon never saw any problem with alcohol and the dragon teen. "Heh, sure", Zzubus told Czurem before taking a sip from his unnaturally strong drink.
Kric came back into the bar area in under a second after being put down by Vakim. The archdemon snickered at the mention of 'Zzuby' before answering the pompous thief's question. "Lots of mass deaths. I believe an old god awoke in the last hour, while a crusade against beast-tamers just concluded a minute ago". If worse came to worse and Kric became a real problem, Zzubus could simply wake up his dead master in the inn to control him, so it was no need stressing over how to remove him currently.

---

Out of the edge of the demon's eye he saw two patrons seemingly mesmerized by the tavern and it's workings. A short, gypsy-like girl (@RenaKin90) standing in the doorway and a dark mercenary (@Blueflame) near the carriages. Tapping one of his hirelings on the head, Zzubus told the small imp to go and bring the two inside so the tide of patrons wouldn't be blocked too badly.
The small, fat yellow body of the hireling wobbled outside and enthusiastically started pushing both the girl and man inside. Many of the main tables in the tavern had already been occupied, so the couple were brought to the stools lining the bar-table, next to David and the demonic bartender himself. "Hello, and welcome to the Edge Tavern. If you have any questions, ask away.", Zzubus said before passing the two drink and meal menus.

A few minutes later, Artholath stared at the inn from under the hood of his brown traveling robes after disembarking the odd carriage that had taken him there. An inn, of all things. He hadn't known what to expect when the fires of the archangel's blade had engulfed him; truth be told, he hadn't the ability to think anything at the time. Prior to that event, he could only speculate what rested beyond the realms of life. Either archangel blades had interesting teleportation properties, or he was in fact well and truly dead. An odd thing, death was. It didn't feel a bit different to him.

His human form seemed trivial, yet he remained in it for the sake of playing along, for he didn't imagine that a demon walking into an inn would be a common sight - even in the afterlife.

He needn't have worried, as the very first thing he saw upon entry was the true form of a demon that easily rivaled his largest cousins, a being that resembled a half-shifted dragon, and a creature that looked as though it had just walked out of the forests he had strode through what felt like a mere two days before. Of course it wouldn't be an ordinary inn. Such is the oddity of death, he thought in a way that seemed very wise in his mind. It made him feel better after he made the unwise mistake that brought him here.

Removing his hood, Artholath sat at a table near the bar, looking over the other guests. Some appeared to be mortal, and as he had observed earlier, others quite the opposite. Plainly, death didn't judge. Which was fine, he would. He couldn't stand the sight of humans anymore. Now, the demon was interesting, and obviously a high figure. He wondered how that one would compare to the other two he had been in service of.

He pulled out a small arrowhead with purple stains from the folds of his robes, staring at it for a while, contemplating it and his new state of death.

@Gutshot max thought for a small while and said "if I'm dead then what is this place". Max thought 'maybe I am in a coma and this is just a dream' he dismissed the thought as he remembered how he died.

"Yeah, I bet. The day they cure the fever is the day you go out of business." She smiled at the demon. "Got any Ghirdan spicewine? I don't have any gold, but you probably have need of a house witch or something. I got no problems working for a roof over my head."

Zzubus turned towards Rebecca (@shagranoz) as she asked for 'witch work'. It was quite early in the rush-hour for people to be wanting a way to pay their bills. But, nevertheless, the demon responded with, "Sure, last time I remember you were talking about brewing up a kind of liquid to raise animals, mind stocking the tavern with liquor like that?".


"The Edge of the World afterlife tavern. You died and the death carriages brought you here.", the archdemon simply answered. Though the mercenary might want more of an elaborated explanation, truly, there wasn't much else. It was a simple plot twist to the ultimate reality of the afterlife. Again, the tavern's magic at work.
Shortly after Max's question was answered a downcast, hooded man (@ArenaSnow) approached the bar in solemn silence. He sat quietly, breathed quietly, and acted quietly. Right off the bat Zzubus knew this was a demon in disguise, the indifference to afterlife aswell as the empty look in his eyes gave it away immediately. At least to the highest archdemon such as Zzubus, this lower demon wasn't a great hider. The demonic bartender handed the cloaked man drink and meal menus before returning to his conversations. Demons were not uncommon in the slightest at the tavern, it was just peculiar this one thought it wise to hide in plain sight.

(@Gutshot)warren thought over that answer and nodded his head. With what all work he had done where did he expect to go, paradise? No, he was fine with being in a tavern for the rest of his afterlife. He didn't have much coin with him when he died so he checked his pockets, not much. After hearing the girl(@shagranoz) speak of getting a job here warren asked "need any work done around here that I could do for some coin?"

As he was walking towards the bar just behind Czurem, David saw Zzubus launch someone up to the black jaguar while chatting quite casually with the woman who left the carriage ahead of him. The dragon-girl talked to the demon before getting teased in return. Zzubus seemed, contrary to his imposing physique, to be a friendly bartender; still, David could not suppress his innate fear completely, but managed to put on a calm masquerade.

"I'm the archdemon Zzubus, bartender of the 'Edge of the World' Tavern. You must be David. You came with Rebecca, correct?" The archdemon said, extending to David a single finger, clearly to be shaken the 'usual' way. The politeness further calmed the mathematician, but not enough to prevent him from hesitating.

Sadly, the finger was there only for a split second. The bar was inundated with a growing crowd of various creatures and Zzubus couldn't afford to wait any longer. "It's good to meet you." David finally greeted the bartender (@Gutshot) with a raised voice, lest it be lost in the clamour of the tavern.

He ordered another glass of ale, then turned to Czurem (@medalliah) again. "He's a well-mannered bartender. Very likeable, don't you agree?"

"An alcoholic version of my Resurrection Elixir?? Here? Zzubus, I have to say, that is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. You want me to make a drink that would bring your customers back to life." The necromancer paused for a second. It had occurred to her that the living experienced many things the dead simply could not. "Actually, I think I could whip up something. Give me a few minutes, and I'll have a recipe for you."