The Spook's Bestiary - By Joseph Delaney Page 0,40
.”
“Enter the mist and you’ll find it. The light is just beyond it. Do it now!”
Within moments the column of light faded. But I had tricked it. The ghost was too tainted by its evil ways to ever reach the light. I had sent it off into the gray mists of limbo. The light did indeed lie beyond that region—I hadn’t lied about that. But the strangler ghost had no hope of reaching it and would wander in limbo, perhaps for all eternity. It was cruel, but it had to be done. My first duty is always to the County and its inhabitants. No more people would die in that dell at the hands of the strangler.
This sketch is of a creature I glimpsed at dusk on the edge of Crow Wood. Whether demon or elemental, I am not sure. I raised my staff toward it and it flittered away into the gloom, never to be seen again. There are many unknown entities at large in the County. We must continue to observe and record; a spook’s work is never done. – John Gregory
* * *
1Having completed my training as a spook, I was very disappointed to be unable to send the ghosts of my mam and dad to the light. Abe died in an accident; Amelia killed herself because she could not bear to live on alone. Still they haunt the mill. I have returned to Chipenden to ask my former master, John Gregory, to see if he can do anything for them. —Bill Arkwright
I tried my best but could not send them to the light. The dead husband could leave but refuses to do so without his wife. For some reason all my skill and experience in dealing with such matters proved useless. —John Gregory
The water witch Morwena revealed that the Fiend had prevented Arkwright’s mam, Amelia, from going to the light. That explains why all the efforts to free her came to nothing. Then I bargained with the Fiend, agreeing to go out onto the marsh and face Morwena if, in exchange, he would release Amelia’s soul. Now at last she and her husband, Abe, are at peace. —Tom Ward
2Within the Ord, the citadel of the Ordeen, I saw a large number of abhuman spirits. They had degenerated as a result of passing back and forth between this world and the realm of the dark. It would have been impossible to free them by the usual means of talking them through to the light. —John Gregory
3As a child, I was terrified by the ghasts on that hill. I could hear them swinging on the branches and choking as they hanged. When it got really bad and I couldn’t sleep, my mam went alone up the hill and made them quiet for more than a month, something that not even a spook can do. —Tom Ward
4On the way back from Greece on board the Celeste, I had such an experience. I believe it was Mam returning briefly to say good-bye and let me know that she was all right. —Tom Ward
The Minotaur
Demons
Demons, like boggarts, are spirit entities, but they are much more powerful and intelligent. They have complete control of their shape and appearance, becoming visible or invisible at will. They also have highly developed language skills. Some of them aspire to be gods, like the Old Gods, and spend their time trying to augment their power at the expense of their human victims. The stronger ones want to be worshipped.
They do not dwell in the dark like the Old Gods, who pass into our world through portals. Demons are bound to this world, usually frequenting a particular location from which they cannot wander far.1 Although they are less powerful than the Old Gods, they can be extremely dangerous.
Bugganes
The buggane is a category of demon that frequents ruins and usually materializes as a black bull or a hairy man, although other forms are chosen if they suit its purpose. In marshy ground, bugganes have been known to shape shift into wormes (see under Water Beasts, page 200).
The buggane makes two distinctive sounds—either bellowing like an enraged bull to warn off those who venture near its domain, or whispering to its victims in a sinister human voice. It tells the afflicted that it is sapping their life force, and their terror lends the demon even greater strength. Covering one’s ears is no protection—the voice of the buggane is heard right inside the head. Even the profoundly deaf have been