The Doors of Perception

Eloi had always been a simple soul with few vices. All the vices, in fact. He was, however, soon to gain a taste of higher things, and a hankering for them on frequent occassions.
How he came to obtain his prize is no modest tale.
Whilst he was staying in Thornward several years ago, although Eloi doesn't have much concept of time, he was carrying out some underhand task on behalf of the Angelboys, and he happened upon an inn that had a rather fine line in ale which matched his rather overwhelming and everpresent thirst - not to mention a very attractive serving wench who seemed to have an eye for Eloi.
As he sat at the bar, trying to act suave and sophisticated to impress the serving wench, the barkeep attracted his attention with a cursory nod towards a door at the back of the room.
"You seem like a discerning gent, sir. There be something going on in the back you might be interested in," he whispered.
Eloi leant forward interested.
"A game of cards," he continued. "Would you care to join?"
Eloi nodded eagerly, and was ushered to the back of the room and through the door to a small room to the rear. Seated at a small table were three gentlemen, one a round portly gent dressed in expensive clothes and obviously nursing a large purse. The second was a small, wiry man with nervous eyes and sweaty palms - it was obvious that he was losing, and quite badly.
The third was perhaps the most ridiculous of the three, dressed in brightly coloured flowing robes topped of by a startlingly tall pointy hat. This figure casually blew smoke rings through a long clay pipe which seemed to linger about the room as though they had a life of their own, and Eloi was sure he had seen or heard of this character somewhere before.
Following, the introductions Eloi sat at the table and started to play. It did not take long for him to realise that someone at the table was cheating, and from the way the portly gent and wiry man were losing it did not take him long to figure out who.
Eloi made a mental note, not to lose much money, but to put on a good show for the wizard. As the evening progressed the other two players dropped out, one from prudence, the other, bankruptcy. This left Eloi and the wizard to play the game out.
After several more hands, and losing a modest amount, Eloi finally gave in, praising the wizard for his obvious great card skill.
The wizard made his apologies and made to leave.
Eloi followed, staying out of sight as the wizard made his progress through the darkened sidestreets of Thornward. From the shadows Eloi saw the wizard stop as the wiry man stepped into his path. There was a blinding flash of light and the wiry man fell unconscious to the ground, the wizard taking to his heels and fleeing, with Eloi stealthily in pursuit.
He ran through the streets for several minutes, until he came to a dead end. Eloi was still hidden in the shadows and managed to move within a few feet of the wizard without being noticed. The wizard reached into his robe and drew out a long scroll, which he then proceeded to unravel and stick against the wall.
Eloi was mesmerised - it looked like a set of doors.
The wizard uttered "GAR...", as Eloi biffed him on the head with his flail and knocked him unconscious.
Several minutes later the wizard woke up to find himself tied up by Eloi, with a sharp-looking dagger two inches from his nose.
"Pleeeaaasssee don't hurt me, I didn't mean to cheat you, I am a poor wizard and need the money for my spells".
"Why shouldn't I kill you?" asked Eloi.
"Nooooooooo" whimpered the wizard, "I beg you, I'll give you anything"
"What's that?" pointed Eloi towards the curtain.
"Say 'GARZOG', and then enter through the doors, and you will find out!" replied the wizard.
As he uttered the word the doors seemed to flicker with light.
"No fucking way," shouted Eloi, and he biffed the wizard again knocking him apoplexic.
Eloi quickly grabbed the curtains, rolled them up and stuffed them down his trousers. He frisked the wizard to see if there was anything else he could find , then swiftly returned to his digs and locked the door to his room behind him. He pulled out the curtains, unravelled them and placed them against the wall of the room.
"Oh well here goes," he thought, as he uttered "GARZOG".
The door motif shimmered as Eloi took a long gulp of air and passed through the doors.
Eloi was astonished to find himself in what appeared to be a simple box like hallway, with no decoration, just plain white walls. A pale white figure stepped towards him.
"I'm dead! This is heaven, right?" sighed Eloi.
"I am the Architect of Drawmji, designer of the Doors of Drawmji. What room do you wish me to create, master?" asked the figure.
"What, for fuck sake, make sense. I need a fucking drink," roared Eloi.
All of a sudden a door appeared in one wall.
"Enter" said the figure.
Eloi stepped through the door and found himself in the most pleasant bar he had ever been in. "Welcome sir," said the jolly barman. "What will it be, drinks are on the house".
Eloi had a very large ale as a rather drunk, but not unpleasant, man clapped him on the shoulder and slurred.
"A fineeeeee estab... stabllisss... pub you have here for sure, you surely are an ammme... mennnab... a good host."
Eloi looked stunned at the pale figure.
"Another room, sir?" he asked.
"How about some women?" smiled Eloi...
And the rest, as the saying goes, is history.

A tale by Stuart Ferris.