any of the battle. When it is concluded, Ak tells him simply "The Awgwas have perished". As his journeys continue, Claus is aided by two deer named Glossie and Flossie, who pull his sleigh full of toys. With their aid, he reaches the dominions of the Gnome King, who wants toys for his children, but trades a string of sleigh bells for each toy given by Claus. In restriction of the deer's service to a single day annually, their supervisor Wil Knook decides upon Christmas Eve, two weeks away from the hearing, believing this will mean a year without taking the reindeer from their homes; but the Fairies retrieve the toys the Awgwas stole and bring them to Claus, allowing Claus's first Christmas to proceed in spite of Wil. As Claus continues giving gifts, he earns the title "Santa" ("Saint" in most Romance languages). Claus sees stockings placed by the fire to dry as a good place for his surprises, but when he finds a family (sometimes taken to be Native Americans, or caricatures of the same) living in a tent with no fireplaces, he places the gifts on the branches of the trees just outside the tent. When Claus is in his sixties, the Immortals realize he is near the end of his life, and a council, headed by Ak (Master Woodsman of the World), Bo (Master Mariner of the World), and Kern (Master Husbandman of the World) gathers together the Gnome King, the Queen of the Water Spirits, the King of the Wind Demons, the King of the Ryls, the King of the Knooks, the King of the Sound Imps, the King of the Sleep Fays, the Fairy Queen, Queen Zurline of the Wood Nymphs, and the King of the Light Elves with the Princes Flash and Twilight, to decide the fate of Santa Claus. After much debate, he is granted immortality just as the Spirit of Death comes for him. At the end of the book, the immortal Santa Claus takes on four special deputies: Wisk the Fairy, Peter the Knook, Kilter the Pixie, and Nuter the Ryl. Baum's short follow-up, "A Kidnapped Santa Claus", further develops his relationship with his deputies, who must work in his place when Claus is captured by five Daemons. Later, children's parents and various toy-making companies take part in gift-giving, and Santa Claus withdraws to his valley. Adaptations A graphic novel