Memorandum:
To: Postmaster St. Simeon Peter
From: St. Nikolaos M. Klaus
Date: May 6th
Subject: Underworld Change of Address
Peter,
I am writing to you with haste, to avoid a potentially ugly situation. Please understand that I am attempting to keep the situation out of the spotlight. The last thing that I want is a general alarm sounded. It appears that the routing for the Damned Souls of Hell have been routed here.
The elves and I, as of this moment, have the situation under control. We have had to cease construction in the meantime. I am concerned about our ability to keep control for long, but I think that we can hold for a short time. This situation will need to be handled with haste to avoid any Divine interventions, if you follow.
I would recommend rectifying the inter-dimensional channel between Earth and Hell, immediately. Following that a small herald of Angels to be released to the Pole to transport the Damned to the Lower Gate. I would prefer not involve the Seraphim, if possible. We have been lucky so far, the souls that we have received have been mild and easily corralled, and would not require a heavy force to move.
If we can proceed along that course, or something similar, then I think that this should be a minor situation, easily resolved; and allow us to get back to what we do best, making toys for good little girls and boys.
Warm Regards,
St. Nikolaos M. Klaus
Head Gift Giver
North Pole
Memorandum:
To: St. Nikolaos M. Klaus
From: Postmaster St. Simeon Peter
Date: May 17th
Subject: Re:Underworld Change of Address
Nikolaos,
I apologize for the delay and the inconvenience. I appreciate your candor in this matter, I assure that we’re doing everything to rectify the flow of souls to their right and appropriate domain.
In the meantime, as we work to rectify this situation, please follow protocol. These circumstances must indeed seem grim, but I assure you that if you follow the guidelines laid out in the Celestial Management Handbook, everything will be okay.
Warm Regards,
St. Peter
Postman & Trans-dimensional Controller
Main Entrance
Heaven
Memorandum:
To: Postmaster St. Simeon Peter
From: St. Nikolaos M. Klaus
Date: May 18th
Subject: Re:Re:Underworld Change of Address
Peter,
The faster you repair the channel to Hell, the better we all will be. We are following protocol with our best efforts. However, the number of souls entering our small realm every day is staggering.
The elves began constructing holding cells for them all initially. The cells are similar to the pens constructed for the reindeer. The Damned began tunneling under the walls by midday and the bigger ones simply bowled over several pens.
We enlisted the help of some local residents. Yukon Cornelius is a bit of a local legend, he directed the elves and together they began digging ‘The Mines’ under the workshop. The ground there is solid and holds bars well in the bed rock. With the help of Cornelius’ companion, whom he refers to simply as Bumble a large snow ape of some sort, they began rounding up souls and placing them in the new cells. Even as they are imprisoning the souls, they continue to dig straight down below the Workshop, excavating more cells.
I do not like this business. It is changing the elves. They have always been a whimsical, unsullied by corruption. The men drink too much now, and some have even been witnessed smoking. The women leer at the damned, some of the younger ones gazes last too long.
If this situation is not rectified shortly, we will need reinforcements. The men coming out of the mines are exhausted, and will not be able to keep up their pace for long. We have also lost two weeks of production time to this mistake, so we need help.
Please send me a detail of your plan and time line as soon as possible. I understand that you can’t send it over insecure lines, but these are all that were provided to us. You could come and see the situation first hand, and deliver the details of the plan.
With Hope,
St. Nikolaos M. Klaus
Head Gift Giver
North Pole
Memorandum:
To: St. Nikolaos M. Klaus
From: Postmaster St. Simeon Peter
Date: June4th
Subject: Re:Re:Re:Underworld Change of Address
Nikolaos,
I assure you that we are doing everything that we can to bring this misunderstanding to a quick conclusion. Unfortunately, we live in dangerous times. There are talks of coup and of Lucifer raising an army against Heaven. We must remain vigilant. For all we know, this event might be his or one of his agents doings. In the light of this possibility, I must ask you to remain strong. Follow the guidance of the Handbook, and keep the Faith.
I do bear some good news though. Gabriel is being dispatched to come to your aid! He will be asked to oversee the Damned and the efforts of the elves. As you know, there exists only one greater mind regarding strategy and tactics of dealing with the Damned. He populated nearly an entire ring of Hell himself by delivering living souls to Perdition. I tell you now Nikolaos, you are indeed in good hands having the Archangel to watch over you.
W/r to time lines and plans, again I can not stress this enough. We can not discuss those over these lines of communication. Since there exists no other mode of communication with the North Pole than Post, we must continue using what we have available. I’m sure you understand. Gabriel will be able to fill you in completely on every detail that he can.
Keep up the good work, this will all be over soon. Get some rest, you’re going to need it to catch up on the remainder to the toys needed for Christmas.
Warm Regards,
St. Peter
Postman & Trans-dimensional Controller
Main Entrance
Heaven
Memorandum:
To: Postmaster St. Simeon Peter
From: St. Nikolaos M. Klaus
Date: June 6th
Subject:Update from Frozen Beaches of Hell
Peter,
The North has changed forever. You can not comprehend what has become of this place that was once a joyous and wonderful place. Things may never be the same here again.
Following your last correspondence, Mrs Klaus and I waited anxiously for the arrival of Gabriel. Obviously we have all heard of his exploits and felt that he would be the perfect individual to straighten out the predicament that we find ourselves in.
When he arrived, I met him at the gates myself. I began apprising him of the situation and what we had done to house and hold the Damned. He cared not a whit about the souls housed in The Mines or the steady stream of wicked souls pouring through the gates around him.
Instead, he seemed hell-bent on interrogating the elves. He is convinced that the situation was perpetrated by one of them. I spent the better part of his first day here trying to convince him that I have known every elf here for as long as modern humanity has existed, and that I vouched for them personally. After much harrying him incessantly, he agreed to tour the mines and to review our provisions.
That is when the real problems began. The Mines, being excavated by elves and Mr Cornelius (a man of uniquely miniature stature) have rather diminutive passages. Gabriel, the Archangel, being of unusually large stature was not able to pass within. He halted at the gate and indicated as much. We discussed it at length, and it appeared that he would have to suffice with diagrams and descriptions. As we were leaving, Gabriel overheard a taunt from one of the Damned in The Mines. He was so incensed that he proceeded throughthe entrance, and bodily destroyed it.
He pursued the unseen cat-caller, through several corridors meaning to punish and discipline the poor fool. As I mentioned before, the passages of The Mine are smaller than average due to the experience of the builders. Gabriel destroyed several hundred cells as he pursued the specter deeper inwards. Gabriel stopped his search after an exhaustive search, and destroying a great deal of the work that had been completed to that point. The source of the taunts was never found. Gabriel departed shortly afterward as well, leaving us to clean up his mess.
The elves and Mr Cornelius, began rounding up the damned and placing them into cells. They spent a full day in this task and thought that they had recaptured all of them. It would appear that a small band was able to hide somewhere in that dark hole we created undetected.
This group killed all of the guards. They’re elves you see and not trained or bred for this sort of work, they had no chance. The marauders then released population of the damned from their cells. By this time it was a larger group than we could contain.
Cornelius and several elves were killed in the assault. Cornelius’ snow ape, Bumbles, was grievously wounded. Rudolph, Blitzen, and Vixen were all killed. I fear they sit in the wood, in front of their fires feasting on them, even now.
The entire population has escaped, and the Damned continue to stream in. We have been over run, Peter. Immediate action must be taken on the part of Heaven. I beg you to send down Michael and his Seraphim. If you can not, or will not, I will have to take more drastic action to try to save us.
St. Nikolaos M. Klaus
Head Gift Giver
North Pole
[REJECTED: PORTAL INACCESSIBLE]
Memorandum:
To: St. Nikolaos M. Klaus
From: Postmaster St. Simeon Peter
Date: June 15th
Subject: Re:Update from Frozen Beaches of Hell
Nikolaos,
I understand your frustration. You’re in a difficult situation that’s gotten a little out of hand. You’ve been around this metaphysical sphere long enough to know these sort of things are going to happen.
However, there is no excuse to do something rash. To do something that might have irreparable consequences. Please consider that before you make any hasty decisions.
Now, with the nastiness behind us resolve to move fwd in good faith with the agreement that you don’t do anything dire, and we will do everyting in our power to fix this.
Warm Regards,
St. Peter
Postman & Trans-dimensional Controller
Main Entrance
Heaven
Gray ash swirled in the arctic winds, slooping sideways whipping past the band of men wrapped in white. Ash passed by them without touching them though, splitting on one side of the group and rejoining on the other, like a river splitting around a stone. Eddies swirled in their wake forming slate colored dust devils. St. Simeon Peter walked at the head of the group. His face without emotion, no joy or sorrow showing. But neither was there the serenity one would expect to see in the visage of a divine being. They trekked with care through the waste land of what had been a vast forest surrounding the Kingdom of the North. The home of St. Nikalaos, head gift giver, annointed by God to good girls and boys.
Through the swirl of ash something appeared, a glimmer. St. Peter’s browed lifted slightly as the gate of the North Pole edged grudgingly out of the gloom. The gate was built to reflect the delight and joy of those in the domain of Earth below. It was a structure that mirrored the best attributes of men, their craftsmanship, their ingenuity, virtue, and most of all hope. Hope for peace among men. Peace between Heaven and Hell could not exist if it did not first exist between them. It was a great source of pride to all those that hoped for a reckoning between Heaven and Hell, especially Peter.
His brow furrowed, and his lips drew out into a line as it came into the clear eddy that surrounded he and his Vanguard of Angels. The gates were closed and barred from the inside. The gate had taken many forms over the years. Heavy wooden beams with deep celtic carvings, intricate cast iron webbings, and even a sleek stainless steel facade in the last century. What Peter saw now was none of those things. It was a shambling tatter of rusted steel and scrap metal, that looked like it had been parced together with haste. Heavy welds dominated the steel with spikes facing outwards. Its weight was more than its bulk alone.
Heads adorned some of the spikes along the upper rim. And above on the frame, scrawled in red ABANDON ALL HOPE YE THAT ENTER HERE. It looked as if it had not be applied with brush, but with a sloppy script that could have been the heel of a hand. In the center hung a single piece of golden parchment.
Peter approached and pulled free from its restraint.
The script was unfamiliar to him, but it was certainly of Nikalaos’ stock. He recognized as being his and his alone. It read
Peter,
We have closed the Pole. We have done everything that we could, but we were unable to contain the onslaught of the mutiny that followed the escape from Gabriel’s visit. Nearly everyone was dead. Cornelius, most of the elves, Bumbles, and all of my husband’s precious reindeer. He died in the mine. He went into pull out Cornelius, and was ambushed.
I did as he asked. He said that if anything were to happen to him, that I should release the Krampus. God have mercy on us, I did. And now we reap a harvest of despair. There will be no Christmas this year, Peter, and I am afraid any year that follows.
In Loving Honor of My Husband
Elsa Klaus
June 21st
Barton Carter 