Bloodfire

Hahaha, oh... stop, no, really, please, I can't... heh. Hoooooo boy. Okay, so to address the giant flaming devil in the room, Surrosi, I am sorry *snicker*, but in our hosts defense, you were warned about taking food not explicitly meant for you.

— Jasper Cameron, Leader of the Bronze Ravens

  So many of you may be wondering where the name "bloodfire" comes from. To learn that we must go back a century or two, to what started as a rather innocuous meeting between an archdevil brought to our plane by cultists, the dwarves of the Myrskyt Mountains, and several representatives of the city of Silmere.   To briefly set the stage, cultists did what cultists do, in a bit more secrecy than they usually are capable of, and so actually succeeded in bringing an archdevil, one Surrosi, to our plane. This, as you can imagine, ended up causing problems for both the dwarves of the Myrskyt Mountains, who have their own problems to deal with in The Emerald Hills, and the nearby city of Silmere. There were several years of fighting, some tragedy's, no small amount of bloodshed on all sides, many adventurers became famous, many more died. It was a good time. Well, and entertaining time at least. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. So it was that after 20.. or maybe 30 years of massacred villages, collapsed mines, blessed rains, planar bindings and the like that the three parties involved decided to meet and come to a truce of sorts.   It was agreed that the Dwarves would host, though not underground, so they set about making a grand amphitheater out of a mountain that had partially collapsed in the conflict. The city of Silmere would be in charge of supplying the peace summit, which at the request of Surrosi would last for 7 days. The only other request of Surrosi, not trusting the dwarves or the residents of Silmere, was that a Fae arbiter be brought in to ensure the rules of hospitality were followed. It was something to which the others quickly agreed to, as not even devils would risk the wrath of the Courts. Some demons maybe, but devils knew better, and despite what mortals thought, were actually good to their word.   So the stage was set, A wonderous stone amphitheater, nearby lodging, 13 representatives from each faction (as required by the Fae) and Sir Flickerwing Frostspear presiding. After inspecting everything, Sir Flickerwing made one thing abundantly clear, "Silmere has pulled out all the stops in providing for this summit, however, it is vitally important that you only consume the food and drink provided for your party, as the diverse foods needed to cater to the diets of those present do not always agree with those of other races. Now, let us break bread and share a drink."   I shall spare you the boring details of the next several days. There was much harumphing and grinding of teeth, but in the end an agreement was reached that no one (save Sir Flickerwing) was happy with. The surest sign of a successful negotiation. Treaties were signed, one or two blood oaths were sworn, Surrosi was named the official executioner of Silmere. One thing bugged the devils present though. The delegation from Silmere and the Myrskyt dwarves were both allowed to fill their tankards and chalices from the same keg, something that they did often. Yet the devils, even Surrosi, while provided with excellent beverages, were not allowed to sample even a sip from the casks in question.   "Tis just a simple mead, not fine enough for your refined devil's pallet." or some variation was often heard over the 7 days. And, well, lets just say devils aren't really known for their acceptance having things denied them. Still, Sir Flickerwing held firm, no one could consume things not meant for them while the summit was in session. After the conclusion a lesser devil approached the dwarven delegation and made a side deal, 3 days of good luck in exchange for a barrel of the mead in question. "Bloodfire Mead, I think I overheard one of the humans say its named for a flower or some such used in the brewing, not the best I've had from Outh Mead, but it goes down and brings the warmth of the forge to yer bones." Several of the other dwarves nodded, eager to be back on the road home.   And to those of our plane it does indeed bring a pleasant warmth, and several other effects, but the dwarves were partially wrong about one thing. While the mead was named for an ingredient, had the devil in question gone to the humans instead they would have learned that ingredient was the fruit of the Bloodfire Mango Tree, and would likely have never even considered consuming the mead. The mead was brought back to the rest of the devils and cultists at a camp where Surrosi was meeting with a mercenary leader from one guild or another. After having several cultists try the mead, and a bit of spellcasting to ensure that it was not blesses (something all devils who deal with dwarves learn to do) chalices were filled and... well, Surrosi is still the Executioner of SIlmere, but lets just say those devils with a lesser constitution developed rather spectacular and lethal case of heartburn after consuming the mead.   You see, Bloodfire Mangos get their name for the effects they cause in beings of otherworldly origin. When digested by such creatures, it lights their blood on fire. A fire that burns even demons and devils, despite the many of them that usually have resistances to such things. Actually, this resistance is what makes it supposedly one of the more painful deaths such creatures can suffer, as while an Ice Devil or some other creature without resistance to fire immolates in a matter of seconds, for those blessed (cursed) with even the slightest bit of resistance to fire, the process stretches out for agonizing lengths, the slow inevitable spread of the fire taking hours to burn across a body. In the case of archdevils, elder elementals, high celestials, and the High Fae this prolonged suffering may not be lethal, but it is agonizing and one of the few things known able to leave such creatures with permanent scars. Similar to how those creatures who perish from the flames are well and truly dead. No banishment from the plane, no being reincarnated, or reconstituted, just the final oblivion.   So it came to be, as the mercenary leader allegedly took a sip of mead and cried "WAIT," that out of the 31 devils present, seventeen immediately went up in flames so intense several nearby cultists were blistered. Of those left nine doubled over in agony, their torsos starting to glow from within before they, to burst into flame. One jumped into the nearby river, for all the good that it did, and the others dashed through the camp, looking for anything that may quench the flames, and consequently igniting many of the tents. Surrosi and her 4 closest advisors remained seated at the table they had been meeting at, yet every one broke out in a sweat and had an intense look of concentration (if pressed I would say that, purely hypothetically it was a look that may accompany a severe bout of either diarrhea or constipation. With a strained "You'll have what you want, just go" from Surrosi, the mercenary leader was dismissed from the camp, and who can say what became of them.