Ngā Tōtara i te Waonui-a-Tāne

The legendary Māori/Polynesian god of tricks, Māui, is not dead. Rather, he is trapped in purgatory forever, following his unsuccessful attempt at entering the underworld to gift immortality to humanity.

Māui has been alone in this small purgatory for thousands of years. He's traced and lapped the length of the narrow path between the obsidian entrance and lava-walled exit more than he can count, out of boredom. Stuck in his bird form, he often chirps and warns approaching humans to stay away, but desperately longs for fun.

After thousands of years, more people start dying and walking through his purgatory. Māui calms them, learns about their lives and legacies, and guides them through this new, dark world, offering them advice and items that will ease their journey to their next lives.

NB. This is written for the Royal Road Community Magazine, January 2025 edition. The prompt for this edition is "Dead Men Tell The Best Tales", which I've interpreted as a series of episodic chapters where Māui guides different dead people into the afterlife. A glossary of te reo Māori words used in the story are found at the end of each chapter.