| Upon passing through the first gate of slumber: |
 |
I precariously balanced on crystalline strands
above a gaping maw of viperous death
and mindlessly shrieked the name of Crom,
the uncaring god. |
| Upon passing through the second gate of slumber: |
|
I saw the Walker on the Wind
who pierced my soul with a spear of ice
and pelted me with hailstones
that gouged and tore my flesh. |
| Upon passing through the third gate of slumber: |
|
The blistering wind from a nameless city
charred and seared my body
until flesh hung in tatters
and my bones bleached in the sun. |
| Upon passing through the fourth gate of slumber: |
|
I swam with creatures on the ocean floor
around cyclopean monoliths of stone
etched with strange and blasphemous glyphs
that boded ill for all mankind. |
| Upon passing through the fifth gate of slumber: |
|
I plunged into the lightless void
of time and space, my brain imprisoned
in a cylinder of metal, borne by winged creatures
from beyond the stars. |
| Upon passing through the sixth gate of slumber: |
|
I walked the ancient streets
of a strange New England town
where no Christian churches stood
and people never smile at strangers. |
| Upon passing through the final gate of slumber: |
|
I stood on a newly risen isle of primeval ooze
where squat, toad-like creatures piped and gibbered
around Lord Cthulhu, causing me to start awake
screaming in my sweat drenched bed. |
|
