The Iron Gates of Hell

The outside really gave nothing away as to what lay inside the iron gates of Hell.

The gardens about dripped with bulbous fruits. Huge statues worked in lapis and gold depicted sylph-like forms; exposed and entirely naked; appearing to be entwined in comforting embrace; yet when one gave a closer inspection you found that they told sinister stories of torture in the queerest of poses; with knives and gaping mouths, and their hands bound in subservience – it was suffering memorialized.

Marble Gryphons stood in the forecourt, eerily translucent - appearing very life-like, yet bloodless - and were vomiting dirty water into fountains so deep their floors could not be seen.

- Gabriel Brunsdon, Puck in Hell, Azlander Series

Babies See Ethereal Beings

Usually in the material world he would appear as tall, or taller than any normal man - but to the infant he looked like a doll and could do vanishing tricks to amuse her and pass the time.

Babies naturally see ethereal beings until the age of three or so. Puck could stay with her longer, because his ability to be present in our world is strong, and he remained within her vision until seven, when she began to actually question who her imaginary friend exactly was.

- Gabriel Brunsdon, Puck in Hell, Azlander Series

Nature Herself is Driven by this Wild Card

Alan Howe

This could be said really for all of the fey folk - that they are cocksure and speak with the bravado of one who knows.

Allied so closely with the Kingdom of all-things-green they are famed for their rampant sexuality. Nature herself is driven by this wild card, which is not of promiscuity but of promise. The raptures of the flowers and trees, the fruits and berries, the crops and their foods - these ecstasies are rooted in productive purpose and result: the essence of true sexuality is never just a barren orgy.

- Gabriel Brunsdon, Puck in Hell, Azlander Series

Making his Yuletide Trip

It was seventeen years ago on Christmas day, that Caroline had first entered this world into her new life - of what turned out to be that of a very sickly child. From birth she had been given the spirit of a poet and the body of a spirit.

Puck had been making his yuletide trip to the hospital, bringing gifts of enchanted dreams to the sufferers who were bedded down indefinitely in white sheets, and in grave need of the release that a good dream can bring.

When he first saw her, he thought her to be the most beautiful mortal he had found this century. Seventeen was a most perfect age for the physical form. He was drawn to her grace, her expression, and countenance of kindness. She seemed good for the world and far too young to be dying.

With half opened eyes she could watch the light shimmering through the tree branches outside of her window, as the curtains inhaled backwards and forwards with the breeze. She could not see him watching her.

"What day is it?" she asked her nurse softly - who had cuffed her arm and pumped the pressure with an awkwardness that showed her nervousness with death. She was uncomfortable, and fumbled with the pen upon the chart, whilst replying that it was Christmas, not even bothering to look up.

Caroline herself said nothing more - her soul had other plans now and was preparing to move on. Puck remembered that day and how she fled from the world without complaint or expectation.

After her passing she was immediately occupied with a crowd of relatives and friends who came to greet and chat in spirit speak, and embrace her with spirit arms.

He held back from introducing himself - she was so busy, and now happy - there really was no need.

From time to time he would go and find her, to see how she was faring. He never showed himself - she would not have known him - but nonetheless this pure soul was now on his list for people to care for.

Just three decades later Caroline returned to be born again - this time to a frosty family who did not treat her well at all.

As an infant she would be left crying on her own for long periods of time - cold, hungry, saturate and red faced. Puck would go to cheer up the child as best he might - presenting himself to the baby Marley (which was her name now) as being only eight inches high. Usually in the material world he would appear as tall, or taller than any normal man - but to the infant he looked like a doll and could do vanishing tricks to amuse her and pass the time.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, Puck in Hell, Azlander Series 

The Dark-hearted

The dark-hearted are not vampires, ghouls, or any such other - they are simply humans gone bad: who have been morally challenged, have battled and lost - men and women who have forsaken all that truly matters - no longer being able to take in a sunrise, or care for any other … not even for themselves. 

Empathy, virtue, cheerfulness and nobility are crudely exchanged for their wretched desires. And just as an artery to the heart can become clotted, selfishness over time closes those portals where the light of life can come in through to nourish the soul.

—  Gabriel Brunsdon, Puck in Hell, Azlander Series

Which Door Will You Open?

Introducing Puck

Puck was always a little misunderstood wherever he went - for it was unusual for a fey-man to visit the material world and its demon infested hell - to travel out so far from his native land, the golden etheric realm.

One black night he followed a sorry fellow, down into the Underworld, who had passed out and away from a cold bed of newspapers and urine.

This poorly man had been sickened by a black-heart condition, and Puck had wanted to see what would happen to a mortal after dying so pitifully destitute. He had trailed his shadow from the moment the corpse was vacated, and throughout the journey that followed after.....

Puck's superior airs frequently presented as downright vanity, but often his estimations were perfectly correct. His kind hold recollections that span centuries (because they do not die as we do) and one can accumulate quite a bit of knowledge over such ages.

He could appear as young as he wanted - his preferred glamour was that of a twenty-eight year old mortal- tanned and muscular, with dark choleric eyes (that would turn blue sometimes) shaded by sunglasses when out in the common world. His attire - whether it was street-wear or formal - always appeared expensive and clean, fitting him perfectly. He wore his hair groomed short, even though overnight it would lengthen into six-inch ringlets and require cutting every morning. He had an energetic handsome face that was neither gay nor straight, but rather reminiscent of a Greek demi-god with pointed ears.

His fascination for death was lately disturbed by an increasing sadness he held for the epidemic of desperate men now diving fast into Hell. What within Earth could be the cause of such numbers? Puck had set himself the task of discovering why so many were afflicted at this time.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, Puck in Hell, Azlander Series