Several demons bought the Djinn some more horns of ale and mead as he concocted his method of divining capable members for the expedition from this rough and tumble squad.

The crowds faded away as the Djinn sat, unmoving from his position, concocting a method on some sheets of butcher paper to determine how the group was to be selected.

Meanwhile, in other areas, some demons had simply bullied their colleagues out of the ranking, leaving quite a few of the loner demons adrift. Upon hearing the news of this impartial judge, some of these demons had come here instead to try their luck. Over time, a sizeable population had gathered and this tavern was overseeing quite the competition.

Eventually, when the excitement started to wane and several demons started to whisper, whether he would even be able to carry out such a task – he stood up.

The bartender saw this and paused wiping a glass. His eyes widened as he put the glass down and reached up to ring the bell, signalling the beginning of the test.

Outside the tavern, a crowd nervously milled about waiting on what the Djinn’s test would entail. The Djinn looked incredibly tired, but seemed rather pleased with himself as he announced the test parameters.

“Okay, so uh, the most important thing we’ll be focussing on is teamwork, but there will be multiple tests so that the results will be as impartial as possible,” he announced. There’s going to be 5 rounds of tests to best determine the best commander among you lot and weed out the candidates who aren’t fit to participate. Uh, that’s about it, we can get started now and I’ll explain the rules as we go. But first, please get into groups of three and we can start from there okay?”

After much umm-ing and ahh-ing, the crowd found their groups from friends and family that also had like-minded aspirations. The Djinn turned to the last three individuals to record them down together.

“Okay, so you guys are the last ones so are you okay to- ah…” he trailed off once more as he realised that he recognised the remaining three. “Aren’t you guys…”

“Djinn, there must be some mistake,” growled the Dullahan, his eyes glowing a dangerous red. “Surely there are some others here who haven’t been grouped up yet? These guys are the worst.”

“Ugh, speak for yourself,” said the Ghoul, looking just as repulsive as the Djinn had seen him on the first day. At least he’s not getting worse…I think? He thought to himself. A high pitched whine emanated from the sobbing heap beside them.

“Noooo please don’t make me pair up with these oafs. I’ll instantly fail,” wailed the Succubus, chest heaving with despair. “Please Djinn, can’t you make an except-.”

“Hmm welp, looks like you guys have got this covered,” chirped the Djinn, scribbling down their names at the bottom of his list and climbing atop a stump to address the organised crowd.

“Okay everyone, the first test will be a hunt. But this is no ordinary hunt, no this is to show how well you are at investigating! Please read the list I’ve handed out to you all.”

He had given each person a list of items found in their region of hell. The items ranged from demon-hawk eggs to ordinary house-hold torture devices. “Find these items for me. Scavenge these items for this test and bring them back in one hour…starting, now!”