to search for a way to get rid of them. It is fortunate that they fade slowly over time, eventually disappearing altogether.
Ghosts
Ghosts are full spirits still trapped on earth and unable to pass on, either because they are victims or have committed some heinous crime. Some may be bound to the scene of their crime; some to their own grave. Occasionally they have a message for those still alive and may linger for years, waiting for the opportunity to pass this on.
Ghosts are ranked from 1 to 5; strangler ghosts are always ranked from 1 to 3. A rank 1 strangler, although rare, is extremely dangerous and can asphyxiate its victims. Ghosts can choose whether or not to make themselves visible.
There are, very rarely, other visitations from beyond the grave. These never make themselves directly visible but sometimes cast a shadow. More usually there is a noise in the air—a cracking or tearing sound, as if the very fabric of our world is being ripped asunder and an entrance created. Very occasionally there is a physical sensation of warmth that announces the presence. I have never experienced such a phenomenon myself but have spoken to other spooks who have, and I’m convinced of the truth of such encounters. I suspect that such visitations come directly from the light and are both powerful and benign.4
A CONVERSATION WITH A STRANGLER GHOST
In the third year after the death of my master, Henry Horrocks, I was summoned to Balderstone to deal with a suspected strangler ghost. Three deaths had occurred in less than a year, in a hamlet that had only forty remaining inhabitants. I was able to view the most recent corpse but was unable to interrogate its spirit, which had already moved on to the light.
Only rarely can strangler ghosts kill people; I knew that if this was what I was dealing with, then it must be exceptionally powerful, because it had exerted enough pressure to actually leave finger marks on the victim’s throat. And there was a chance that the murderer was human. There are many examples in the County record of killers who have attempted to blame supernatural agencies for the deaths they have been charged with. But in this case all the victims had died on the western edge of the hamlet, close to a small dell, and that’s where I eventually found the strangler.
There was no moon and the night was dark, with heavy cloud cover and hardly a breath of wind. I saw the ghost as a faint column of light moving through the trees toward the village. The strangler was no doubt seeking out its next victim. When I called out to it, the column of light halted and then proceeded swiftly in my direction. No doubt it thought I’d be easy prey. Stranglers and other ghosts are deterred by groups of people and are always more likely to manifest themselves to lone humans.
When it was no more than a staff’s length away, it halted for a moment, at which point it became aware that I was not the easy victim it had anticipated. Nonetheless it attacked me, and I felt it place its cold fingers around my throat. It tried to choke me, but a seventh son of a seventh son has a degree of immunity, and it lacked the strength to do me any serious harm. So I tried to talk to it.
“How came you here?” I demanded. “Why are you bound to this place?”
“Love this dark dell,” replied the strangler. “Killed many here before they caught me. Three women, a child, and an old man. Put my hands around their necks and squeezed until they struggled no more. But they caught me at last. . . .”
“Did you hang?”
“Nay. They kicked me with their heavy boots until all my bones were broken. Battered me until my spirit fled my body to escape the pain. Here I am now. Can’t go too far from this place, but it’s not so bad. Not so bad at all. Three I’ve taken in the last few months. So good, it is. So nice to put my cold fingers around warm plump necks!”
“You must leave here now,” I warned him. “Each life you take only makes it harder for you. Go to the light. Go now while you still can!”
“What chance have I got of ever reaching the light?” the strangler asked in a melancholy voice.
“It’s difficult, but it can be done,” I explained. “Think of a happy memory. The moment on this earth when you were most happy!”
There was silence for over a minute; then at last the strangler spoke. “I remember one summer’s morning when I was hardly higher than my mam’s knee. She’d just given me a good slapping for doing something wrong—I can’t remember what—when I saw a large butterfly hovering over a clump of long-stemmed dog daisies. It had red wings that shone in the sunlight, and I remember feeling so jealous that it should look that way when I was ugly and misshapen myself—my mam always said I should never have been born. It just didn’t seem fair that it should be able to fly as well, when all I could do was hobble about.
“So when it settled on a flower head, I seized it quickly and pulled off both its wings. That showed it! Now it was just an ugly little insect and couldn’t fly. I felt happier and better than I had in a long time. Aye, I remember that morning well. It taught me how I could make myself feel better by hurting others.”
At that, I knew that the strangler was beyond salvation. Part of me felt sorry for that poor twisted spirit. It sounded as if he had endured a difficult childhood. But others are afflicted by worse and yet still rise above their pain. My duty was clear.
“Look toward the light!” I cried. “You should be able to see it now . . .”
“I can’t see the light. Just a gray swirling mist . . .”
“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
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 known to fall victim to its insidious sound. Those who hear the whisper die within days unless they slay the buggane first. It stores the life force (see Animism Magic, page 120) of each person it slays in a labyrinth, which it constructs far underground.
A Buggane
Bugganes are immune to salt and iron, which mak
es them hard to kill and to confine. The only thing they are vulnerable to is a blade made from silver alloy, which must be driven into the heart of the buggane when it has fully materialized.
Another source of their strength is the alliance they sometimes make with witches or mages: In return for human sacrifices, they will destroy an enemy.
They are most common on the Isle of Mona, which lies to the northwest of the County coast, where a particularly dangerous one haunts a ruined chapel at the foot of Greeba Mountain. Bugganes, like some types of boggart, are occasionally open to persuasion or may be prepared to move location in exchange for something they badly want.
Harpies
These are said to be female; they are winged, and descend upon their prey faster than a stone falls through the air. The only warning that they are heading in your direction is a stench that is carried toward the victim no matter which way the wind is blowing. Sent out by Zeus, the former leader of the Old Gods, they hunt down those who have displeased him, to rend and tear them apart with their sharp claws. The bodies of the slain are contaminated by their visit, along with the surrounding land; plants and animals die, and nothing will grow in the soil there for many decades afterward.
Harpies
These observations were recorded from the ancient writings of the Greek spooks, but it seems likely to me that harpies never existed. Sightings of flying lamias probably gave birth to this legend. Without evidence we must always be skeptical. Note also that Zeus is no longer the leader of the Old Gods and through lack of worship has declined in power.
Kelpies
The kelpie is a type of malevolent demon that lives in rivers and lakes and has a great hunger for human flesh. It’s a shape shifter that usually takes the form of a black horse or pony. It allows a human to ride on its back before galloping into the water to drown him. If particularly hungry, it bites off the feet of its victim.
A Kelpie
The kelpie loves extreme weather conditions and often manifests itself during thunderstorms, when it shape shifts into a very hairy man, leaps out of the water and crushes its victim to death, snapping every bone in the process. Whether in the form of a man or a horse, however, a kelpie’s teeth are barbed and slope backward. Once it has bitten into flesh, it is almost impossible to pry its jaws open. A kelpie can be bound with a silver chain—though only with difficulty, because of its great agility. Like other demons, it is vulnerable to a silver blade.
Selkies
Selkies are water demons and usually live in the sea, appearing in the shape of a seal. But they can also take the form of a beautiful woman and live on land undetected. In this guise, selkies have been known to live with an unsuspecting man for years at a time. Selkies are benign creatures and like music, particularly sad songs. They are essentially lonely and thrive on human companionship. But they age very slowly indeed, and if one does choose to live with a man, her youth can attract the attention of neighbors, particularly jealous women. Although harmless in themselves, their presence makes people uneasy and nervous, given that they are a type of demon. Then a spook may be called in to help.
The best way to deal with a selkie is to hunt the creature, usually with dogs, which attempt to catch it and tear it to pieces. If the selkie escapes, she returns to the sea and again takes on the shape of a seal.2
Strigoi and Strigoica
Strigoi are masculine; strigoica are feminine. These vampiric (blood-drinking) demons live in Romania, mostly in the province of Transylvania. Often content to exist for years in spirit form, many eventually choose to possess the living; when their host dies, they move on to seize another body. Others prefer to animate the dead and choose a corpse soon after it has been buried.
These demons enter a living host through a cut or wound. Romanians are so fearful of this that they will endure the pain of cauterization—the wound being burned with a hot poker to seal it against that threat. The dead have no defense, and strigoi and strigoica follow wormholes into a corpse.
Strigoi and strigoica demons often work in pairs. One animates a living host, guarding and protecting the other during daylight hours. Many live in grand, isolated dwellings and have accumulated wealth acquired from the living hosts they have possessed.
Once clothed in human form, living or dead, they exist on a diet of human blood, but sometimes eat raw flesh, hearts and livers being considered particular delicacies.
It is the practice of Romanian spooks to dig up bodies one year after they have been interred. If decomposition is under way, the corpse is considered to be free of possession. However, if it has changed little— and especially if the face is pink or red and the lips swollen—it is deemed to be possessed by vampiric demons and the head is cut off and burned.
A Strigoi
There are many ways to deal with strigoi and strigoica, both the living and the dead: They can be decapitated; a stake may be driven through the left eye; or they can be burned. They also can be kept at bay using garlic, roses, and the same method employed against water witches—a salt-filled water moat. Only a demon possessing a dead body can be destroyed by sunlight.
Minotaurs
Minotaurs once roamed the southern islands of Greece, particularly Crete. They were carnivorous, terrorizing isolated villages into making human sacrifices to appease them. Each had the body of a very strong and muscular man but the head and horns of a bull. They would let out a tremendous roar, which transfixed their victims to the spot with fear.
There is a tale of a king who constructed a complex labyrinth and placed a savage minotaur at its center, sending those who displeased him in to meet their death. It is said that a Greek hero called Theseus slayed the terrible demon. He solved the problem of the labyrinth by using a ball of thread, one end of which he tied to a post at the entrance, unraveling the ball as he proceeded. Once he had slain the minotaur, all he had to do was follow the thread back to the entrance.
As no reports of sightings have been made for at least two centuries, minotaurs are now presumed to be extinct.
Cyclops
These demons take the shape of one-eyed carnivorous giants who feed upon sheep and other livestock, considering mountain goats a great delicacy. They are found in the accounts of the early Greek historians and storytellers. It is possible that they are now extinct in that land, but there is some evidence that they have migrated north—there are records of sightings in southern Romania. In my opinion all accounts of “giants” are greatly exaggerated. No doubt there are humans and other creatures in this world that exceed normal dimensions, but the capacity of the human mind to embellish and exaggerate what already is a wonder in itself never ceases to amaze me.
A Cyclops
A Skelt
Water Beasts
Water beasts are to be found all over the known world in seas, lakes, rivers, marshes, ponds, and canals. In the County they cause the biggest problems north of Caster. It is my hope that one day I will train an apprentice who will specialize in dealing with such creatures.1
Scylla
Scylla are a type of fierce water beast to be found only in freshwater rivers and lakes in Greece. The creatures vary in size, but each of them has seven heads, two tails, and five limbs. Covered in green scales, they often hide in underwater foliage, then scuttle out at great speed to seize their prey—usually fishermen or unwary travelers. The first scylla is said to have been one of the children of the first Lamia. It inherited its mother’s voracious appetite, which has been passed down to her descendants.
A Scylla
Skelts2
Skelts resemble huge insects, with long, thin, multi-jointed legs. Despite their size, they can fold themselves into very narrow spaces. Their segmented bodies are hard and ridged like a crustacean and usually barnacle encrusted. They live close to water, often in caves, and emerge to feed on the warm blood of mammals. They have snouts but are toothless, and their most notable feature is a long, narrow, sharp bone tube, which they insert into their prey in order to suck it
s blood.
A Skelt
A Water Witch Feasting on a Skelt
The skelt is greatly prized by water witches, who use it in their rituals. They allow it to drink the blood of a sacrificial victim over a period of days. Once the victim is dead, the witches then dismember the skelt alive and eat it raw. This triples the power of the blood magic gained.
Sirens
These female creatures use their powerful, enchanting voices to lure sailors to their deaths. In trying to reach the sirens, the mariners either plunge into the sea, where they are drowned, or sail their boats onto the rocks.3 It is believed that sirens feed upon the flesh of the drowned.
A Siren
A Wight
Wights
A wight is another creature created and used by witches, usually as the watery guardian of some secret place.4 Wights are created using dark magic. A drowned sailor’s soul is bound to his body, which then does not decay but becomes bloated and extremely strong. Although blind, their eyes having been devoured by fishes, wights have keen hearing and can locate their victims while still submerged. A victim may be totally unaware that a wight lies in wait in nearby water. The attack, when it comes, is swift. The wight seizes its prey and drags it down into deep water, where it drowns while being slowly dismembered.
Wights, like the witches who create them, can be repulsed and hurt by a staff of rowan wood. With a silver chain, they can also be dragged out of the water and finished off with salt and iron.
A Wight
Wormes
Wormes5 are dangerous creatures that range in size from that of a small dog to something as big as a house. Some have legs, most have tails, and all are vicious and bad tempered. Their bodies are sinuous and eel-like, but covered with tough green scales that are very difficult to penetrate with a blade. They have long jaws with a mouth full of fangs that can bite off a head or an arm in the twinkling of an eye. When on land, they can also spit a deadly poison that is quickly absorbed through the victim’s skin, with fatal results. Some wormes have short stubby wings, and because steam often erupts from their jaws, they are sometimes mistakenly believed to be fire-breathing dragons.
The Last Apprentice: Complete Collection Page 297