Rose Nomenclature

Egregore

11/20/2024 4:33pm

We tracked the small armada through the next day from a comfortable distance, riding in the clouds, surfacing now and then to keep them in sight. If they spotted us, they didn't let on.

The ridiculous @Billy Sabab was somewhere ahead in his Matte Kudasai, heading for whatever ominous fate @Madam Zita's Enchanted Crystal Ball had predicted. The flock of ships ahead of us was obviously on his tail, and we were on theirs. And the flock really was a small fleet, with two medium and one general class ship, and at least five snub gliders swarming continually, occasionally docking on the general class airship for relief. Even working together, the Egregore and the Matte Kudasai would be no match for them. And the ships themselves were suspiciously unmarked. Definitely trouble.

And when the sun went down that night, they left their running lights off.

"Mweeek!"

"You can say that again, Mweek."

"Mweeek!"

Egregore

7/27/2024 10:24pm

"You're getting very good at this," said @Madam Zita.

I was in Ocular Space, interfacing with Madam Zita's crystal ball, getting readings on the mysterious armada.

"Why didn't I spot them before?" I asked.

"You didn't know about them before," Madam Zita said.

"But there's lots of things in Ocular Space I didn't know before. Like the location of @Billy Sabab's Matte Kudasai, or that he was being followed, or that there's an enormous metal skull with gnashing mechanical teeth to the northeast," I answered.

Madam Zita was quiet for a moment.

"You know more than you know. And you know less than you know," she said.

"That just sounds like more zen bullshit," I said.

"Now you know," she said.

A warm droplet of blood came out of my nose and dripped onto my lip.

"Good session!" Madam Zita said. "Enough for today."

Egregore

4/5/2024 11:21pm

"Mweeek!"

I'd asked Mweek to wake me up if there was anything to see. Like @Billy Sabab's Matte Kudasai, or a giant metal skull with fangs on the horizon. Mweek tended towards the nocturnal, so our schedules worked out.

"Mweeek!"

It wasn't a danger squeal, but loud enough to reach me in my cabin. I'd been dreaming of @Madam Zita, and wondering if our communication was still limited to her crystal ball.

I pulled on my robe and headed down the hall to the bridge.

"Mweeeek?"

"Yes, I think this definitely counts. Excellent work, mweekmate."

"Mweeek!"

In the distant darkness was a constellation of running lights. At least three vessels, medium to general class, possibly accompanied by a few smaller ships. The Egregore was running dark so they likely hadn't spotted us.

I put us in neutral and wondered how we might keep them in sight once the sun came up.

Egregore

12/17/2023 10:49pm

I'd taken @Madam Zita's advice and limited my time with her crystal ball to just a few minutes a day.

"No nosebleeds is good nosebleeds!" she kept saying. "Or from the ear, then something to fear."

But it's not like I wanted to spend a lot of time in Ocular Space. Really, just enough to keep track of the Matte Kudasi and its ridiculous captain @Billy Sabab. I wasn't sure who he'd made contact with along the way, but he sure seemed to know where he was headed now -- making a bee-line east. Right into the maws of the heavy metal holographic skull on the map.

"What's with that skull, anyway?" I asked Madam Zita on one of our short sessions. "What does that skull represent?"

"Well, it's your vision," Madam Zita said. "We don't tell you what to see."

"But how would I know there's.. a giant gnashing mechanical skull in the east?"

"You just picked me up near a 50 foot hologram of the Grim Reaper, remember?"

It seemed we were headed deeper into skeleton country.

I kicked my feet up on the control board and let Mweek fall asleep in my lap while I scanned the ancient forests to the horizon, keeping out of sight.

Egregore

9/3/2023 11:57pm

Mostly, Ocular Space gave me a headache.

"Try working with Ocular Space for just a few minutes a day," @Madam Zita said, "then work up to longer periods. Through time your mind will be able to adjust and manifest meaningful psycho-emotional landscapes more easily."

I don't generally do "emotional." What I did end up seeing was like a lot of flat shapes. Circles, squares, triangles... different colors, moving around over a kind of grid.

"That's a map," Madam Zita said. "Your heart's desire..."

A map? THAT's my heart's desire?

"It's a subconscious manifestation," Madam Zita said. "Which is good. If you'd come in with something specific in mind, it would have taken a number of sessions to deconstruct it."

Well, it's true I didn't spend a lot of time obsessing over my "heart's desire." Really I just keep things moving, job to job.

"But it's clear you'd like to know where you're going... and the lay of the land..." Madam Zita said.

And suddenly the grid took on the shape of what I knew to be the mountains region we were in. The vast primeval forest spread out around us, and there was the abandoned amusement park we'd just left. More icons appeared in the distance for what I realized must be the Matte Kudasi, near a larger, diamond shaped icon and one that was black and white striped. And over the mountains in the east rose a metal skull with horrific mechanical fangs, grinding up the scenery...

"That will be enough for today," Madam Zita said, shutting down the program.

Egregore

2/18/2023 11:56pm

MADAM ZITA'S ENCHANTED CRYSTAL BALL

INSTRUCTIONS (PART I)

Thank you for your purchase of this Madam Zita's Crystal Ball. While Madam Zita's Crystal Balls can not truly be "owned" by anyone, know that, for the moment at least, this crystal ball is in your possession. And also, that if you weren't wearing proper eye protection, you would most surely have already been driven mad by this short exposure to the wonder that is Madam Zita's Crystal Ball.

Egregore

11/14/2022 11:03pm

I'd had just enough time to loose the moorings and leap on board before Mweek has us into the air, barely avoiding the grasp of the unleashed carnival god. Once we were airborne, it didn't take much to put distance between us. Carnival gods tend to be a localized phenomenon, tied as they are to certain enchanted artifacts. Who knows what foul objects this one sprang from, but I wanted no part of them. We'd report it to the Old Gods Network once we had some free time.

"MWEEEEEEEEEEEK?"

Yes I was fine, and she did a great job saving both our skins.

"mweeeeeeeeeeeeek?"

No, I didn't have any better idea where we were headed before this little detour.

But now we had one of Madam Zita's enchanted crystal balls. And I had just the kind of eye protection it called for.

"Let's just keep heading over this vast primeval forest," I told her. "Down the valley. That away. No rush. It's time for some research."

Egregore

8/21/2022 11:54pm

Mweek had started up the preflight checks as soon as it saw me coming. Actually, I'm inclined to call it a she, though I've got no real way to know, not being familiar with her five-legged, horned and cloven type. But you'd be surprised how capable she is in the cockpit, bouncing round from button to lever to wheel. And she's pretty handy with that tail too.

"MWEEEEEEEEEEEK!" exploded over the loudspeaker.

With the carny and the clowns laid out of on the floor of the big top, I hadn't seen a reason to quicken my step. But apparently Mweek was anxious.

"Ok, ok! Hold your little horses, Mweek!" I hollered.

"MWEEEEEEEEEEEEK! MWEEEEEEEEEEEEK!"

Sheeesh! She was going to wake all the creatures of the forest. I expected a stampede of squirrels and bluebirds at any moment.

"That's enough there little tyke!" I yelled back. I was getting close enough that I could just make her out in the cockpit of the Egregore, moored as it was at the edge of the abandoned amusement park. Her two glowing yellow-green eyes were looking especially wide. And alarmed.

And after a moment I realized there was something else reflected in the windscreen. It was as if the big red and white striped big top had been lifted off the ground by a tornado, or a great unseen spirit that was wrapping the huge tent around itself like a cloak.

Just like an old carnival god, returning to wreak vengence.

I didn't turn around to get a better look. I just ran for all I was worth towards the Egregore.

"MWEEEEEEEEEEEEK! MWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! MWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!"

Egregore

6/12/2022 11:09pm

And there I was tied up in a chair. Again. For the second time since I met @Billy Sabab.

PSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHT!

Another round of seltzer water to the face. These clowns were playing hardball.

"TELL ME WHERE YOU GOT THEM!" the disgruntled carny screams in my face. He's wearing the glasses, but it's clear he doesn't know how to use them.

"Estate sale, like I told you," I sputter, spitting out seltzer, "On Moonbeam Five. A hoarder. All kinds of glasses. They had these super rare Vuarnets I really wanted, but--"

"ENOUGH!" screeched the carny. "Since you're still not interested in telling the truth..." he turned to the hard-eyed clowns at his side. "PREPARE THE PIE!"

Oh god not the old cream pie routine. Who did they think they were dealing with here?

While the clowns prepared their ridiculous concoction, the carny suddenly turned stock-still. I noticed the little green light on the glasses had turned on, followed by a little red light I hadn't seen before. And then a yellow. And then it was clear the glasses themselves were projecting a wild explosion of light directly into the carny's eyes.

What happened next was a blur.

In an flurry of movement, the carny whirled at the clowns, and with a series of swift strikes and kicks the clowns lay on the ground, covered in custard and cream.

Then the carny was at my side, untying the ropes and releasing me from the chair.

An uncanny voice came from his lips. Or maybe it was the glasses.

"30 degrees SE. About 100 clicks."

And then the carny collapsed in a pile on the floor. I plucked the glasses off his head, wiping off the bits of custard and whipped cream.

I grabbed the Madam Zita crystal on my way out. And the Cloak of Leon. I figured it was fair.

Egregore

3/14/2022 11:47pm

"As, yes, a discerning haunted artifact connoisseur, as I live and breathe! I'm sure we have a number of things that will, catch your eye, so to speak."

Just as I'd suspected, there was a disgruntled carny living in the broken down big top, enchanting pieces of obsolete machinery and preparing for the return of the old carnival gods. There were tables and tables of old junk, stretching off into the darkness of the big tent.

"Haunted pinball machines? We have a Mermaid Imperium Deluxe, one of the only two known to exist!"

Yeah I'd seen a few of those.

"Dunk-a-bum Spell-a-lie. Guaranteed to tell the truth!"

Too big. Not my style. Plus, lie detection sensors were a lot more sensitive these days.

"The Cloak of Leon! Impervious fur protects the wearer from all assaults, physical and otherwise."

Tiny moths flew out when he picked it up.

Down the aisle a flash of light caught my eye. The carny saw me look.

"Oh.... yes, you do have an excellent eye. One of Madam Zita's enchanted crystal balls. But, everyone knows, it will drive you mad if you look at it too closely... or without proper... protection...."

The carny was sizing me up like a juicy steak.

"How much?" I asked.

"I'm sure we could arrange an equitable exchange. For example, those remarkable glasses around your neck."

"What, uh, these? Sorry, family heirloom."

"Ah, yes, well, I'm sorry to hear that. Get her boys!"

It was only then I noticed the clowns in the shadows.