The Bath of Blood

Whatever you do, never go to any part of the Tortuous Fire during the time that the Bath of Blood is held. Spirits are always high and every demon in the black iron cities appears to have something to prove. Admittedly, the latter is unfortunately true; every young dæmon who wants to shoot for the top of the pecking order has to do well in the Bath or risk sliding to the bottom. 

The best will win...

The dæmons of the Tortuous Fire pride themselves on their meritocracy, and the Bath of Blood is their largest test of merit. The competition is simple: be the best at what one was born to be. Hornéd Demons try to be the strongest and most intimidating, Face Demons aim to be the most aesthetically pleasing to charm the judges, Taskmaster Demons try to out-strategize the others, and so on. The winning groups from each species will be promoted or considered for very important positions, the losers will have to keep doing the dirty work for the higher-ups. 
The competition is not held on a particular schedule; if anything, it's whenever the local Fire Prince gets bored and wants to see heads roll. The name for the event comes from the traditional colosseum where the event is held, which is vaguely bath-shaped, and the undeniable amount of violence that the event creates. 

...and the ruthless are the best.

Because of course, what dæmon competition would be complete without absolutely blatant and despiccable cheating? From poisons and diseases to mental infiltration to good old fashioned double-crossing, the winning dæmons don't shy away from whatever it takes to win. They'll use a friend's appreciation for them as a stepping stool to the heights they need to climb. Among the dæmons, making a friend is often the first step to a long, terrible descent to the bottom of the ranks, and the Bath of Blood is where that is regularly made clear.

Primary Related Location

The Tortuous Fire

"Coming of Age"

Dæmons don't have a sense of age, as they tend to only get stronger as they grow older and can never truly die. However, a young dæmon's first Bath of Blood is often something that is looked forward to with anticipation. Many young hopefuls will dress up in their best clothing (while staying practical, of course) and celebrate their results with their friends and family afterwards. The amount of expectation placed on the youngest demons is often stifling; being generally weaker, they are much more likely to die in the Bath. However, among the dæmons, trying to "go easy on someone" is asking for a knife in the back, so the youngest often aim to be the one holding the knife and not the one getting it between the ribs.

All images in this article were created by me, EmperorCharlesII, unless otherwise credited.