Astfgl

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Ruler of the Demons when Rincewind and Eric visit Hell in Eric. His titles include:

  • King of the Demons
  • Lord of Hell
  • Lord of Hades
  • Master of the Pit
  • Supreme Life President of Hell

Revolutionized Hell by moving away from physical torture (which can't hurt non-corporeal souls, but can be an inconvenience) and instead turning Hell into a mind-numbing bureaucracy (modernizing hell into real torture, such as getting told the unhealthy and unsafety rules of pushing a boulder). While effective, this angered traditionalist demons such as Duke Vassenego, Duke Drazometh the Putrid, and Earl Beezlemoth, and caused them to create a rebellion. This succeeded, and they made Astfgl "Supreme Life President of Hell", but then sent him into some limbo full of paperwork (and some coloured pens) for Astfgl to use.

A modernist, Astfgl attempted to reconcile with the Gods, but they ignored him. He also rejects the Pan-like body his predecessor had taken, and opts for a more sleek look (red silk cloak, crimson tights, a cowl with some jaunty little hornlets, and a trident with a loose top). However, when he got incredibly annoyed/angry, he lost self control and huge ramshorns sprouted from his head, great talons grew from his hands, and enormous wings protruded from his back.

After young demonologist Eric and Rincewind the Wizzard accidentally teleported themselves to hell (they weren't sure where they would end up, after previously casting three wishes, influencing the evolution all life forms on the Disc, and considerably vexing Astfgl), they gave the rebellion of Duke Vassenego a good chance to strike, and Astfgl was "promoted" to "Supreme Life President of Hell" and given his own extended office (with floor-to-floor carpets which has its own tribe of pygmies wondering why the sun stays on at night, a comfy chair, a multitude of coloured pens and a huge stack of paperwork) for ever, with no way of getting out, no contact with the rest of Hell, and no way of knowing that he's trapped like this. He was relatively happy about the office, however.

Annotation

The Portuguese dictator António Oliveira Salazar was effectively deposed when he suffered a life-threatening stroke that kept him bedridden and unable to move for the rest of his life.

The interesting thing is that nobody could bring themselves to tell him this, and to the end of his life, Salazar lived under the delusion that he was still the national ruler, although power had passed to other hands. He continued to issue laws and decrees from his bed, and a small staff who were in on the secret would dutifully record his wishes, take them away, and assure him his will would be done. They also controlled his access to the media, TV, radio, et c. In the meantime his successor got on with ruling Portugal, totally unimpeded and happy for his predecessor to carry on thinking he was the boss...

" a carpet which has its own tribe of pygmies wondering why the sun stays on at night" - a deliberate reference to Pratchett's non-Discworld novel The Carpet People? If their carpet is in a magical place, of course, it would go some way to explaining all those little niggles and discrepancies concerning their Universe.

Does Astfgl's office have a Fray?