Those Historic Crescendos of Calamity

Arnold, a dwarf from the Longfellows clan, approached the group to make his announcement.

In his hand were some papers, on his person, was a brown leather coat and matching breeches that were embroidered with a finely spun silver thread. His under-garments (if you could have seen them) were fine flax. He looked important - he was important - and he carried himself with the nobility of a god.

Arnold was one of the most senior of the dwarves (hence the name of his family) and took his position amongst this group very seriously.

In the parts where he came from, his people were sensitive and responsive to the Physical World in ways that brought them concern during those historic crescendos of calamity.

They were protective of all living things - be them rock, plant, animal, fey, or mortal.

Rarely did they have direct communication with ordinary men and women due to the fact that they simply could not be seen by them. But they often visited and conversed in dreams where folk would wake remembering deep conversations that had come and gone with the night.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, Puck in Hell, Azlander Series

The Time that is Given to Us

"I wish it need not have happened in my time", said Frodo.

"So do I", said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times.
"But that is not for us to decide.

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.

"There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought."

~J. R. R. Tolkien, 'The Fellowship of the Ring'

The Ability to be made Invisible when Heated

Since time immemorial the Marshalls had governed over the barracks of Basingstoke. Deep in its soil was buried a mysterious substance there - a metal called Misery - that had not yet been identified or known to men, although it had been refined and crafted by Fey from ages past.

The whereabouts of this metal had been so well concealed that humanity had not yet the chance to know of its properties, or even its existence.

Misery had several characteristics unlike any other. Firstly its conductivity was superior - over a thousand times more conduit to that of the finest silver.

Secondly, it was more malleable than gold, with a tensile strength that was plant-like and fibrous in structure and capable of keeping memory within its internal weave.

Thirdly it bore the ability to be made invisible when heated and then to reappear when charged anew. This gave it many applications of usefulness - especially in armour for which it was impenetrable, and as a compass, impeccable.

To have a substance that could become invisible worked in many ways quite well. You could conceal items within a box made of the metal (or a wall for that matter), but be able to see into that space when needed - or conversely, one could wear a finely spun suit of it and be both hidden and shielded at the same time.

It was named 'Misery' - some said because of its endurance, or possibly because of the Miser's love for keeping it to themselves.

There were a few such oddities that the Fey had held secret from the World at large. Because of it they could hide practically anything in boulders, in the ocean or mountain's heart.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, Puck in Hell, Azlander Series

The Scarecrows

The Scarecrows were inanimate figures, planted within the various levels of WAR, who could come to 'life' instantly, in the event of an outside attack that might threaten the game, sensing and repelling the intruders from the outset.

They were positioned into scenery and structures, and their purpose was to give an implied presence of security to the players. These guardians blended in so well they were hard to pick out - and players were awarded bonuses for finding them. With a double click and a simple keyboard entry, a scarecrow when found would light up and play music and distribute random prizes.

With the introduction to the newer version of WAR - WAR 2 Phoenix - came also celebrations in every major city. Promotions put actors who played scarecrows into shopping malls, and public places - with competitions for spotting them in amongst the ordinary everyday people all around.

This was a difficult task to win as the scarecrows did not have costumes and appeared as anyone else might do. For those playing the game, it was an immensely enjoyable sport, with stares and suspicions being exchanged on trains and in lavatories - everyone was guessing, and going up to complete strangers trying to tag them for a win.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, Puck in Hell, Azlander Series

WAR Supreme

First there came the teasers sent by email, and then followed the viral videos to introduce the epic next generation of WAR Supreme.

Goober thought the name sounded more like pizza than a mythic adventure, but was still keen to get into it and see what they had come up with next.

Soon after came the mysterious electronic keys that arrived in the mail to every registered member. These could only be activated when the game was up and running, which helped to grow anticipation, with everyone keen to try theirs. Finally also were the ID strands sent, with upgraded encryptions to repel all foreign activity.

"Cut off its head and the serpent grows another" remarked Nervina over his coffee, staring at the homepage, which bore a digital clock pulsing out a countdown - 23 hours to go.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, Puck in Hell, Azlander Series

Agents of Hell

Henry Fuseli

Puck was having a troubled sleep. His rest had been blissful until the part when a dream had presented a vision to him of three shadowy figures breaking into Marley's room, and hovering above her bed menacingly.

They were agents of Hell - not of the custodial variety, who care for the destitute souls - but those demons - the hideous variety, that endeavour to draw the hapless and depressed, the barbed and sorely strung, into the abyss.

There are a few sorry souls who pitifully refuse their own salvation. The salve of salvation can only come to those who oscillate along the path of self betterment, and when this instinct has gone, the wretches fall into the company of those woeful dark demons, who, with an iron grip and wilful persuading deride all that is humanly good that's remained.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, Puck in Hell, Azlander Series

Crawled out from a Cold Dark Hole

Both the Angelic and the Faerie realm grew alongside the evolutionary path of Mankind, and with this kinship their experiences together blended. Such spiritual beings are faithful caretakers for the Animal and Mineral Kingdoms, they seek to please the Heavens, and serve Divinity with the respect to which such glory was entitled.

However the alien beings that had found their way to incarnate into our home did not share the vision for Humanity's future interests - they simply sought to take the very life force from them for their own.

There was no way ordinary people could determine who was playing with them in their online adventures.

Neither did they question by what means members who held the highest positions there had earned them. All assumed that every player was human, and had all followed the exact same route they had gone.

Not one suspected that the moderators and game masters controlling were aliens to this world - demonic beings whose creation had fallen outside of our paradise: who had literally crawled out from a cold dark hole - a place where creatures ate one another for sport, lust and snack.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, Puck in Hell, Azlander Series