Jack and the Psychomanteum Date Friday, April 19, 2024 - 04:34 AM PST Topic Entertainment Many years ago lived a poor miller's son called Jack. He was not originally called Jack, of course, but had foolishly lost his name in a game of cards and had to make do with a name that he had discovered in a corner of the barn one day.The mice had dragged it in from the fields, and this name was certainly Jack. Jack lived in a cottage away from the village and had little company except for Mrs. Baudrons, who was the cat that slept by the hearth and complained to Jack that nobody appreciated her whenever she thought Jack might be listening and many times when she was sure that he wasn't. One day Jack announced to Mrs. Baudrons that he was going to the Psychomanteum and that if the wolf came to the door asking for alms while he was away, she should give him the wool sweater that he no longer wore because it made him itch. With that, Jack quit the cottage and walked to the nearby Psychomanteum chamber. The Psychomanteum, as we all know, is a strange land that can only be entered through enchanted chambers that separate one's mind from their body. The keeper of the chamber explained to Jack that he would perceive the inhabitants of the Psychomanteum in strange and diverse ways (for in the Psychomanteum, one sees things halfway between the perceiver and the perceived, but we shall see what that means) and one can never perceive oneself. With that word of caution, Jack entered the chamber and left his body behind as he came into the land of the Psychomanteum. He found he could no longer be Jack in the Psychomanteum and wrapped himself in a coat of Jack2655, by which he was to be called. He discovered that no two people in the Psychomanteum saw others in quite the same way. A person's appearance depended entirely upon how the person presented themselves and who they presented themselves to. For this reason, a very, very good person might be a sort of light faerie or trooping elf in varying degree according to the goodness of the person speaking with them. Bad people took on the appearance of any manner of bogle... the worst people took the form of hideous trolls, and were not tolerated by anyone. It was not long before Jack2655 came upon a kingdom in the Psychomanteum that he liked very much and was to return to often. It was ruled by a wise king who was not above sneaking around his kingdom invisibly once in awhile for a merry prank. Jack2655 discovered that the glamour of the Psychomanteum could be manipulated, and the skillful had a great deal of control over their appearance (for good or ill) and even the appearances of those around them. He grew to like this kingdom very much (and most of the inhabitants, but we shall see) and marked it on his map so that he could return here whenever he wished. When Jack returned to his cottage in the evenings after his visits to the kingdom, he would tell Mrs. Baudrons of the people and adventures that he had there. "I was arguing with Phunguy, Bumble_Puppy and pjusk, when Titivillus came by... you know that he can't spell well... and he was so negative that the cemetary we had been sitting in changed to a gorge... I told him..." Jack gushed while Mrs. Baudrons licked her paw attentively. "Yes, yes..." Mrs. Baudrons said from in front of the hearth. "If you really cared about me you would bring me a bowl of milk." She was always this attentive as Jack described his battles in the Psychomanteum to her. One can take any manner of injuries while in the Psychomanteum and come back to the chamber as if from a dream (with only the memories of broken bones and bloodied heads) which provokes some of the visitors to greater acts of aggression than they would normally be wont to engage in. A few in particular provoked Jack's wroth, and they appeared to him as great, hairy hobgoblins and sometimes even as despised trolls (although they must not have appeared this way to anyone else or they would be run off with a clamour of stones and arrows whistling through the air). One day, Jack2655 was sitting in the kingdom and listening to a lively tale from Miseria (who was a traveller and was always good for stories of lusty adventures). Court_Jester (who, ironically, always appeared to Jack2655 as a bit melancholy) and LeviathanLVX were chatting idly nearby, when along came Baculus (whom Jack2655 despised and who appeared to Jack2655 sometimes as a great serpent and other times as a loathsome spider) who was picking a fight with Caprimulgus (who generally did not fight with anyone and who Jack2655 perceived to be a timorous brownie on most occasions). "Back off, Baculus! I've no stomach for your nonsense today!" Jack2655 roared and got up from the toadstool he was sitting on. Miseria did not seem to notice that Jack2655 was no longer listening and continued to regale the air around him with a gripping tale of how he had stolen a cap from a powerful sultan that would take the wearer anyplace in the world. Jack2655 pulled out his sword and smote Baculus mightily on the head (which appeared on this occasion to be like the head of a great, hairy boggart). Baculus raged back and drew his own sword, whereupon he and Jack2655 spent most of the afternoon railing at one another. Once in awhile pjusk or Darkwyrrm would happen by and throw a heavy stone at one or the other of them, but they hardly noticed these extraneous missiles so great was their animosity for one another. Finally, they each departed, none having bested the other (as fights in the Psychomanteum so often end). Jack left the Psychomanteum chamber and trudged home to his cottage still frothing in anger. He could not wait to tell Mrs. Baudrons about his epic battle against his hated nemesis, but when he looked to her place at the hearth she was not to be found. Puzzled, Jack ate his dinner of magic beans and waited for his truant cottage-mate to return to her place. A few hours later, Mrs. Baudrons came dragging herself in and dropped indignantly in front of the fire. "What is wrong with you?" Jack asked, sensing that Mrs. Baudrons was in a more surly fit of temper than was usual even for her. "You were entirely indistinguishable from the meanest troll," Mrs. Baudrons replied curtly. "When you hit me on the head. If you were only able to see yourself, you would have run yourself out of the Psychomanteum altogether." With that, Mrs. Baudrons licked her paw and went to sleep. This article comes from Shmeng http://www.shmeng.com/ The URL for this story is: http://www.shmeng.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=446