“What about the king?” I asked a little later, remembering that he is still groundside.
“Don’t touch the king.”
Petunia then suggested I talk a walk to calm my mind.
“Don’t worry,” he said while seeing me off toward the ferry. “Goodbye!”
Category Archives: Rose Heaven-
up 02
Petunia had the answer. At least a temporary one. “You’ve brought the house up, good,” he purred in his mysterious, cat-like voice. “Now you must bring the *rest* up of importance. The house, the church, the *tree*,” he emphasized.
—–
“There,” he declared, moves seemingly over. “Doesn’t that feel *better*?”
Turns out the house, the church, but especially that tree, were attracting the wee ones, Ruby Fantasie the Jamacian witch, and who knows what else. Red balls fell from the sky as I was taking ground shots today. Now, yes, it felt better. We asked him the next step.
“You wait.”
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0017, 0202, Rose Heaven-
up 01
“At the very least, Herbert Gold, I had to move your house. I believe it’s jinxed!”
“The *house* — *my* house; *OUR* house — is not jinxed. It — just doesn’t have a proper home yet.”
“I’ve successfully set it up back in Snowlands now,” I replied to the disappointed, tired, aging man sitting across from me, his tea finished like mine. We were in the house, true. In Rosehaven still, yes. But way up in the sky now. More to be seen *here*, but not down below.
Then I had a realization. We need to talk to Petunia, I suggested.
“Ring him up.”
Petunia came right over.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0017, 0201, Rose Heaven-
Flock and Feather
“*You* again,” Jane the barmaid spoke across the counter, not seeming very pleased to see Magus Ellen once more in her place of business. “Where’s, um, your sidekick this time?”
“Sidechick? He couldn’t make it.”
“Are you going to ask about that castle again?” added Jane rapidly, not wishing to talk any more than needed to this — *intruder*.
“Nah, all that’s done.” He waves his hand in gesture.
“Because all that investigation last year got you *banned* from the property.”
“I know.”
“And *your* Princess is not *our* Princess. I’ve found out some things in the meantime. Who is this Merry Gouldbusk? Why is her skin colored gold and not normal? Who are King Tully and that Queen of his? Not *our* rulers (once more). Never have been and never will.”
Nothing more seemed to be said. Magus Ellen rose from the stool. The castle was gone, or at least changed — morphed. This was not Murdochh’s Castle in resonance with the Loch Ness castle any more. *That’s* when it changed, he realized. A moment in time. He thought from this video that *Murdock’s* castle in the realm of Rosehaven was open to the public. Apparently it was all a misunderstanding.
That’s an important key. Misunderstandings can be smoothed over. He donned his hat.
“I will speak to the Princess before leaving,” Magus Ellen then called back while walking away.
“Make sure it’s the *right* one!” she insisted with bile. The door slammed behind him.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0017, 0118, Rose Heaven-
penultimate (again)
“I’m afraid I may have to leave, Hucka D. This Rosehaven is not my Rosehaven. My Princess is not their Princess.”
“How ’bout this. You call *your* Rosehaven Rose*heaven* instead. Or Rose Haven — two words instead of one.”
“Maybe.” Baker Bloch, in character as a uniformed Ellen now, perhaps ready to revisit the… he can’t remember the name of the pub Magus Ellen and Sidechick Corea visited last year trying to dig up information about Murdochh’s castle. He tells Hucka Doobie this.
“I’ll go check,” she says, then teleports out.
—-
Hucka Doobie teleports in. “The Flock and Feather,” she informs.
“Probably doesn’t matter anyway… but thanks.” Baker Bloch stares out in the distance. If only The Mist would roll in right now and make all this better.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0017, 0117, Rose Heaven-
another visitor
“Aahh, found it. This must be the portal.” A squeaking occurred. Rules of Rose looked around for a mouse. Then she remembered Norris. Just outside. He was speaking in his high register way. She adjusted for the tone, understood what was being said. He was asking about the portal.
“Just found!” she shouted through the window pane, painfully confusing in the double transparency with the Live Oak tree limb. “Why don’t you —” She was going to ask why didn’t he come in and see for himself. Then she remembered the rule. The rule *she* imposed, after all. No entering private residences by the wee’s. But *she* was here. She had that right — another rule. “Here.” She angled the laptop toward the window. “Can you see it now?” She understood that Norris requested she hold it in her hands up to the window. “Now how am I going to *type* on it if I’m *holding* it?” she inquired, staring out at him with a grimace. She edged the laptop a little closer — it was in danger now of falling off the side of the table if care wasn’t taken. Which it will be. Rules of Rose was always careful when entering residences, a seldom used loophole. But this was a special case. She had to find a certain object or thing inside the portal, which was the game in front of her, she realized. Gunn Mobile Trailer Park: Your Darkness. The gunn itself?
You may remember Rules of Rose as Blue Berry Girl from the last photo-novel, in disguise for the sake of a plot. She’s usually in disguise. This time ’round she gave her purple color to the bear.
Half an hour until the 1st service held at neighboring St. Merry’s Church ends and Herbert Gold returns to his new home. Probably not enough time to find the needed object. She’ll have to come back. Might as well end now….
—–
An object appeared in the middle of St. Merry’s church out of nowhere. Many parishioners later reported that they heard a *plop*, as if it fell from the sky.
Herbert Gold recognized what it was but said nothing.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0017, 0116, Alabama, Rose Heaven-
truth
“Tea sir?”
It was Alberta the Selenite butler behind him. He was always there, at the back of the hearth. Waiting to serve. Selenite, huh? Mssr. Gold thought. Wonder if there’s a connection…
… for he had just finished up re-reading photo-novel 12 on the house media feed, where the Rosehaven-Caledonia fictional universe was conceived. The one that featured Merry Gouldbusk as Princess-Queen, *not* the actual Princess ruler of Rosehaven. That would be Selena. In the universe of the here and now, where Caledonia is not Caledonia but Caledon, the somewhat larger micro-continent just south of Rosehaven. At the end of photo-novel 12 the two lands were united again, just like in olden days. I’d have to check back but I’d guess when Rosehaven was called Winterfell, the name changed several years ago to distance Selena’s realm from the Winterfell region in “Game of Thrones,” growing beyond cult status at the time to achieve universal recognition. Enough, said the Princess. She tired of telling outsiders that this was *not* a “Game of Thrones” role playing region. And so Rosehaven was born from Winterfell in Our Second Lyfe.
On the official Realm of Rosehaven blog, under the Chronicles header, you’ll find a good number of fictional stories about Rosehaven already, most of a much more serious and detailed look at the land and people populating it than my own. But a cool link is a concept called The Mist (or Myst or Mists, et al), an agreed upon unifying element that actually hides (or can hide) Rosehaven from the rest of Our Second Lyfe for protection (if needed). But like all powerful agents, The Mist has a darker side. Princess Selena herself is a product of The Mist, having shown up at her aunt’s door out of the blue in 2012, a physical manifestation of its trickster aspect, it seems.*
And so now, as a land owner in Rosehaven, I’ve had dealings with the real Princess. Dare I tell her of my fake ruler: Princess Merry Gouldbusk? And then there’s Ingo, her fake big brother who also rules after the death of their mother and father, the King and Queen (also fake).
Then there’s the curious, little detail of a storyline by Merri(Kat) in the official Rosehaven chronicles. Interesting wormholes here, with more to be found I’m guessing. How far have the wayward fingers of The Mist penetrated? All the way to… Earth?
*footnote:
By this I mean *The Mist* is a trickster at times, *not* Princess Selena, who seems to be a decent and wholesome elven type being all around from what I’ve read and heard! Direct quote from the blog post on her origins, then. Serra Anansi, her mother, is the speaker:
A baby in a basket?! The Mist?! And then I suddenly remembered making an off-handed joke at Mr. Drinkwater’s rez day party about having a baby. I do like to see him sweat and try to be diplomatic about such outlandish things and you know how wonderful he is at finding the most ingenious ways to divert the conversation to more proper topics.
I ran to the window, still able to see the very last fingers of The Mist evaporating on the horizon and I called out to it “I WAS KIDDING!!!!”
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0017, 0115, Caledonia, Rose Heaven-
house, church, tree
“So what do you think, Herbert?”
“It’s all I ever dreamed of, Baker Bloch. The house is perfect. Thank you so much (!).”
“You’re very welcome. I, um, assume April Mae will be following you soon.”
Herbert Gold hangs his head down, then up again, giving away his doubts. “I would assume.” If she ever gets over the Breeze lapse! he adds to himself. Maybe she will. It’s only virtual reality, after all. Nothing’s real. Is it?
“And this, my friend,” Baker waves his arms around, “is St. Merry’s Church. I’ve toned it down from Collagesity a bit. But you still have Merry.”
“Yes, I see.”
“And then you still have the clown over there. One and the same.”
“Sacrifices?” queried Herbert, knowing the history of the church in Collagesity.
“You bet! Bring your body apron if you sit on the first several rows.”
“Fantastic. I love it. I love it all. ”
“Let’s hope the Princess doesn’t have any complaints.”
“Why would she?” exclaims Herbert, not doubting his words. “Like you said before, the *tree* covers all; makes up for all mistakes.”
“Live Oak, right.”
“Fantastic.”
Live Oak.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0017, 0114, Rose Heaven-
night hike
I stared over at what I assumed was the rising sun, stunning; pink.
I looked back from whence I had just trekked and spotted the fire tree, high on a summit.
This place was special. I didn’t know if I would be coming back….
Walking through the ruined village gave me chills. What does this mean?
This reminded me of something. An Omega place. Omegatown. I wish the sun would hurry up and rise properly to guide me home!
The wee person’s house, probably (belonging to) Norris himself. And now they’re also with me!
I can see my home now…
… but how to get down from here?
And where did the f-ing sun go?? Must have been the moon.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0017, 0113, Rose Heaven-
point 02
I sat there, on my point, watching the odd glow in the distance. Blocks of glow, actually. She approached from behind.
“So you see it too,” she said to end the vision, as if her very voice dispelled it. I looked around. Ruby Fantasie (!).
“Ho-how?”
“Cool tree,” she spoke amidst my studdering, looking over at the live oak. “*Baker Bloch*.”
Of course I invited her inside for tea and cake. She said she just wanted coffee. *Hot* coffee. Ruby Fantasie! And she always declared she would never stay here during the winter. “Circumstances change,” she spoke in a “normal” voice to me, completely absent of the usual, thick Jamaican accent. This is how she instantly knew who I was: Baker Bloch. The user was the only one she lost the accent with, we learned back in photo-novel 12.
“Where do you live here?” I queried politely. Don’t say here, don’t say here! I thought.
“Ebonshire,” she answered, making me wipe sweat off my brow inwardly.
“Oh, that’s nice.”
She moved her coffee away from her mouth, gauging me. “You thought I was going to say here — didn’t you?”
“Maybe,” I quipped back reflexively and defensively. Why did I say “maybe.” I should have said “no.” But somehow I couldn’t lie to her. We were tight that way. User and usee.
She looked around. “It’s okay. I know you have enough problems now with the wee ones.”
So she knows about *them* as well, I speculated, envisioning an axial alliance between Jamacian witch and gremlin-ish wees, like Norris. The handshake: big black on small white.
“What wee ones?” I decided to lie better but was instantly seen through. I suddenly felt stupid… and alone. Ruby Fantasie had vanished before my eyes. I knew she wouldn’t return until I wised up.
(to be continued)
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0017, 0112, Rose Heaven-
Sunklands 