Alex Burgess is the son of Roderick Burgess, the man who had the temerity to plot to imprison Death, but captured Dream instead.
History[]
In 1916, Alex was brought into his father's inner circle of occultists and took part in the ritual to capture Death. The ritual failed, however, when the group summoned Dream instead of Death. For the rest of his life, Roderick kept Morpheus prisoner, and as Alex grew up, Roderick continuously bargained with the dream lord unsuccessfully. Alex, though an indifferent student, learned magic from his father. He ultimately took over his father's estate and magic order following Roderick's death in 1947.
Afraid to free his father's prisoner, he kept Dream imprisoned, offering the entity the same deal his father had; trying to bargain immortality for release. Dream stone-walled the son as he did the father. Alex claimed that he hasn't had a decent sleep for all those years.
Unlike his father, Alex wasn't an avid practitioner: when some New Age believers came to learn from him in 1968, he forbade them to call himself "Magus" and only taught them superficial practices like Kundalini yoga and astral travel, apparently still terrified of what true magic entailed. Eventually in 1970 Alex passed leadership of the Order on to Paul McGuire, who had been his long-time personal assistant and lover. He even stopped reading books of magic but remained obsessed with Dream, reading the entry on him in the Liber Fulvarum Paginarum over and over again.
Finally, in 1988, Alex was a broken old man, and he threatened Dream to no avail. Paul, now his caretaker, accidentally broke the circle that held Dream by pushing Alex's wheelchair over it.
Dream saw a chance at last and collapsed. When the guards came in to confirm his apparent death, Dream sent them to sleep and escaped to the The Dreaming.
Weakened from years of imprisonment, Dream recharged himself. While Alex was taking a nap, Dream visited him in a cold rage. Alex pleaded for his life, stating it was his father that imprisoned him and that they wanted to imprison Death instead.
Dream reminded Alex that he did not release him and tried (just like his father) to bargain for things he shouldn't have and Dream couldn't give anyhow. As an act of vengeance, Dream gave Alex eternal waking: a dream in which he kept waking up from one nightmare to another.[1]
Alex was stuck in the nightmare coma for years until Dream finally released him.[2]
He attended the funeral of Dream, appearing as he did when he was a child.[3] There, he encountered Daniel Hall, the new incarnation of Dream. Dream seemed to bear no further grudge against Alex, and allowed him to peacefully wake. Upon doing so, Alex told Paul he felt absolved, and he was glad to have dreamed.
Appearance[]
TBA
Personality[]
TBA
Relationships[]
Roderick Burgess[]
Alex had a strained relationship with his father, who was strict and condescending towards him. Even in his later years, Alex still remained conflicted about his feelings towards him: he wrote a memoir about his father, edited a volume of his letters and wrote to newspapers defending his father's reputation, but at one point burst out and slashed his father's portrait.
Paul McGuire[]
Alex was romantically involved with Paul, but he apparently remained closeted about that, only calling him his "personal assistant".
Powers and Abilities[]
- Magic and Occultism: While not a particularly powerful practitioner Alex is very knowledgeable about the craft.