Preludes & Nocturnes

[Marburg]

'My visit is unexpected and there is no one to greet me. I approach the pedestal and ring the gong, its sound echoes in the rotten air...'

"There's one at the door, at the gate to Damnation..." an approaching creature declared to me. A slab of walking muscle with grafted appendages. "Is it thief, thug or whore? There's one at the door and there's room for one more till the end of creation. There's one at the door. At the gate to Damnation."

Greetings, Gatekeeper." I say to the Demon."I wish to speak to your Master. Take me to him immediately."

"Oh yes, my Clown. And who might you be?" it asked disrespectfully.

"I have many names, but I am the King of Dreams, of the Nightmare Realms...I seek Lord Lucifer. The Lord of Hell."

"So Where is your Crown?"

"Some Demon has stolen it. I have come to Hell to get it back."

"So where's your Ruby?"

'Enough of this. I reach between the bars and grab the cluster of half-spilling intestines above the navel that serves as the creature's mouth, and assert my authority:'

"I will take no insults from you little demon! Guard your tongue! Lucifer will not be kind to one who insults an honored guest--and I Am a guest in this realm, as I am the monarch of my own...Now open the gate."

"Back to your gate and duty, Squatterbloat!" another approaching Demon said. A yellow, horned one that I recognize. "I'll take the Dreamlord, play his Guardian...For innocents abroad need guides of note--and who notes more than me...? Than Etrigan?"

---