The Spook's Bestiary - By Joseph Delaney Page 0,15

a grim old man with a white beard. But that wasn’t the only time I’ve been helped in a time of need. Often I’ve felt that something was standing at my side, lending me strength. I have come to believe that when we face the dark, we are never truly alone.

The Fiend

The Fiend is the dark made flesh, the most powerful of all its denizens and the very oldest of the Old Gods. He has many other names, including the Devil, Satan, Lucifer and the Father of Lies. It is believed that he meddled in the affairs of humanity from the earliest times, gradually growing in power as the dark strengthened. At some point he walked the earth in a reign of terror lasting over a hundred years but then returned to the dark. Occasionally he passes through a portal and visits our world—usually at the instigation of a witch or mage who seeks power through satanic magic. The most famous pact between a human and the Fiend is that of Faustus, but there are many others, some barely remembered now.

The Fiend sometimes makes a special bargain with a witch.2 In exchange for bearing him a child, her power is increased. He hopes that the child will be an abhuman, witch, or mage and will grow up to serve the dark. There is one other benefit of such a liaison to a witch: once the Fiend has visited her child, he can no longer approach the mother for as long as she lives, unless she wishes it. Henceforth she is free from his influence and meddling.

The Fiend

The Fiend has many supernatural powers. He can make himself large or small, taking on any form he desires, either to trick or terrify people.3 His true shape is said to be so terrible that one glance can drive people insane or cause them to die of fright. He can appear out of thin air, look over a victim’s shoulder, and even read human minds. Often he remains invisible, but his cloven hoofprints can be seen burned into the ground. He can also manipulate time—speeding it up, slowing it down, or even halting its flow entirely.

Above all, he is crafty and treacherous. Rather than resorting to force, he often uses trickery and deceit.

SATANIC MAGIC

This magic is earned at great cost by making obeisance to the Fiend, often known as the Devil. Such worship is fraught with danger, as the worshipper, mage, or witch gradually grows less human and more subservient, eventually becoming merely a tool of the dark.

The highest and most dangerous form of satanic magic is obtained in return for selling one’s soul to the Devil. However, he is usually sly and subtle, getting the best part of the bargain—as can be seen from the following account.

THE FAUSTIAN PACT

Faustus, the foremost scholar of his age, was disappointed by the limited knowledge available to him. He had mastered the main university subjects but found that they neither provided answers to the big questions he asked nor granted him the power he sought.

He fell into bad company, and a dark mage lent him a grimoire—a book of magic containing a spell to raise the Devil or his servants. After dithering for many days, Faustus finally used the spell to summon an assistant to the Devil, a lesser devil called Mephisto. On behalf of his master, Mephisto made a pact with Faustus. In return for knowledge and power, the scholar agreed to surrender his soul at midnight twenty-four years after the bargain was made. Faustus signed the contract in his own blood. He attempted to do this three times—on the first two occasions, the blood dried too quickly for him to write his name. It is said that this was angels of the light attempting to save his soul. But finally the pact was made, and Faustus was doomed.

Using satanic magic, Faustus became the most notorious mage in the known world, visiting the courts of kings and emperors to display his magical power: levitating, making himself disappear, or conjuring wonders from thin air. But as time went on, Faustus began to realize that he’d been cheated. He could not create life or learn all the secrets of the universe. These things were denied to him because the Devil did not have the power to supply them. They belonged to the light and were beyond the reach of dark magic.

There were times when Faustus longed to repent, but each time the Devil appeared to the mage in