Beyond Light and Dark 3

Anyhow, time for a little catch up.After the necromantic operation in the cemetery; Jai and I tried to follow up on the dclue we got. "The Society for Public Beautification". The clue was not yielding any results, we had hit a dead end. Yes there had been a "Society for Public Beautification" , but seems to have had only one member and yes you guessed it: Titus Wendel-Jarlsberg. We could not find out anything on what the :"Society" did, only that it had existed. I was getting discouraged, this was proving harder than I thought. I even summoned Rak, the Hound of Tindalos, but he was no help. Although it did cheer me up; I have thing for eldritch animals. ; Anyhow, eventually the clue did bear fruit. (about a week later) Remember my date with the architect professor, Greg Phillips. He had actually heard of the "Society", but he did not know Titus Wendel-Jarlsberg. It seems there is some sort of discussion in the field of architecture about making public spaces beautiful versus functional. He had read an article put out by the society on the subject. Of course, after I heard this my interest in Greg soared. You know, that femine psychology, it was like all of the sudden he seemed really sexy. I flirted shamelessly. You know, it also had a practical aspect; it got him motivated to find out more. Who says women are not practical. One other thing of note that I found out about the Tetrahedron that would become important later. I found out from Eitherol, that the Tetrahedron was made of seraph stone.You know like the Monas Stone that gave me the ability to move between different dimensions of reality. Anyhow, it was back to work on my books. The books were going a lot better than my classes. Again, it was back to teaching only required classes; no philosophy majors, just students that wanted to get the requirement out of the way. The books were holding my interest, and enthusiasm. My book "The Visual Bias in Thinking" was in the editing process. And the other book on how sight has influenced mythology and culture was growing. I had the pleasant problem of having too much data. Although it seems overwhelming at times. You know, almost all literature, and all languages are sighted literature, and sighted languages. An example would be the word "blindness" to me it means much more than an inability to see. Unlike the sighted definition "blindness'' means to me a different way of experiencing the world and a different way of thinking, and connotes stability instead of chaos. Sometimes I really feel like a blind alien on a sighted planet,not in a bad way, but like sort of a researcher, anthropologist examining sighted culture, beliefs. I sure wish there was more blind literature. I know it is beginning to grow, but it is not even in its infancy, it is still being conceived. I wish blind literature would get more attention.The problem is sighted people think there is no other point of view, and do not take well to criticisms of sight. Whenever I mention sighted literature I get silence or as sighted people say "blank looks". I guess this is what is meant by ableism. That sighted people cannot even conceive of a different way to experience the world. That you can think intactile images, instead of visual images. Again all languages are sighted languages there in no language of touch. Some examples would be all the sight based words, you know like "seeing is believing", instead of "touching is believing", or "I see" for understanding, instead of I touch" for understanding, and so on. Sight seems to be the most deceptive sense. I mean there is a whole study of optical illusions. have you ever heard of a study of tactile illusions or olfactory illusions? I know they exist, but the other sthat judges the distance.enses seem more stable.The trouble with sight is that visual images have to be translated into tactile practice. This is why I hold that sight is a tactile illusion, I mean no matter how good you can see, it does no good if you walk into walls This has led me to a fascination with depth perception. Lide how does it work? You close one eye and and you have less depth perception. I have been working on this problem, I have done some experiments with sighted friends (Jai and Paul) . Put a sighted person in a lighted room and tell her to memorize the lay out of the room; walk around, touch all the furniture etc.,whatever you need to do to memorize the room. Then Put the sighted back into the room. The only difference is no the room is pitch black. Then tell her to navigate around the room. They fail every time, they cannot judge the distances properly, The memory from sight does not translate into tactile memory. This baffled me for a while, but I finally came up with an answer. You know this seemed to blow my theory that sight is a tactile illusion. Even in a room a sighted person knows well their sighted memory does not translate into tactile practice. What gave me the clue to the answer was that with only one eye depth perception is affected, It is the feeling (tactile sensation) of the eyes working together that judges the distance. So it is still a tactile feeling concentrated in the muscle responses of the eye that judges the distance. It is kind of like sighte people feel the world with the upper part of their face. I must say I felt brillant after solving this problem. I saved my theory. Anyhow, before Greg got back to me I heard from Velk, remember the Ghoul. He was trying to gain favor with the local Ghoul clan. Which means he was trying to gain favor with clan leader.The head of the clan here in L.A. was King Grom. Actually the term "King" is a very loose translation, a more accurate translation would be something like "Strong Smelling Low One". It seems the more dominant a Ghoul becomes the stronger smelling he becomes, and the most powerful Ghouls occupy the lowest levels of a Ghoul tunnel system. The weaker Ghouls pushed to the top. Anyhow, all Velk wanted was for me to charge some amulets, so he could present them to the King To gain favor.Of course, I consented, and did not think any more about it. A few days later Velk told me that King Grom wanted to meet me. Of course, I did not want to go, you know the smell, but I need all the friends I can get, so I agreed. I told Jai, and she insisted on coming with me, she was worried. I agreed of course.I was glad she wanted to come with me. It would give her a chance to meet Velk,and you know, our little cult could be all together. I warned her about the smell. but she was used to examining rotten corpses as a police detective. I doused myself in perfume, of course being a blind chick I am a fragrance collector. So me and Jai met Velk at a near by park, where there was a hidden entrance into the Ghoul tunnels. The meeting between Jai, and Velk went well. Which was a relief, I had been a little scared they would not get along, but our little cult was harmonious. Jai was nervous and armed so it helped that we all three trusted each other and got along. The three of us entered the tunnel complex it was a mephitic as remembered. Velk was leading we were on a downward grade, like I said the more powerful the Ghoul the lower his dwelling is in a Ghoul tunnel complex. I also learned that Velk was not considered a powerful Ghoul. He had never been this low in a Ghoul complex. At a certain point we were met by a Ghoul guide, or Herald, or whatever. One of Grom's lieutenants. The lieutenant's name wa Felkin, and he did smell way worse than Velk. Velk started acting servile. I told Velk: "Show some pride, you are a member of my cult, and I won't have members cowering," This seemed to have a good effect on Velk. I got the feeling no one had ever stood up for him. In a short time and a lot of twists and turns we reached King Grom's chamber. It was a real chamber, not just a widened tunnel. Jai told me the scaffolding was meant to last.I should mention Jai was wearing sort of night vision device, something me and Velk had no need for such aids. I was presented, introduced , whatever to King Grom. I met him as an equal and forbid Velk any obsequiousness.King Grom was extra-mephitic which is saying a lot.Everything went well I charged some amulets, and wands for Grom. Grom mentioned my strong smell; which I took as a compliment. (Velk told me later that it was) Even Jai exchanged some pleasant words with Grom. What came as surprise to all of us was that Jai understood the telepathy of the Ghouls.We left with a vague promise of mutual help.The adventure was a success. Jai and Velk got along well, and I finally got a good description of the Ghouls. Jai was a trained observer. It seems Ghouls are between 4ft, 5 in.. and 5 ft. 5 in. in height, rat like faces; the rodent front teeth. They had slim arms and legs, a pot bellied body, and were covered by matted gray.fur. I thought I was through with Velk and the Ghouls for a while, and again I was wrong. A few days after the adventure into the Ghoul tunnels, Jai and I met with Randal. It seems Randal was suspicious that he and "Hugo's" were being watched. He wanted to hire Jai as a security consultant. This was also the reappearance of Nick Edwards he was under Randal's supervision. Before I was informed he was at the meeting I heard Jai say in her flirty voice: "Hi, so good to see you again." It seems Nick is a gook lookinh guy; Blonde hair, blue eyes, slim, and just under 6ft. tall. The reply came back in a masculine flirty voice: "Well Hi, aren't you looking great." Which of course was true; Jai was a bronze goddess standing 5ft. 9in.and super fit.It was Randel that informed me that Nick was back, and he was serving under Randel in the cult.Not Cthulhu ever forgives, so he must still be useful. I was glad Jai was interested in someone else, I had suffered through too many conversations about Stece, and it was getting worse, since Steve's wekking to Monique was getting closer. Although it would have been nice to have been informed before the flirting began. Anyhow, back to the meeting. the business of hiring Jai was concluded quickly. Randal had of course offered Jai a very generous fee to find out what was happening. Randal had made tea so we sat around and chatted for a while. Of course, Randal had more motives than socializing. I found out" that Nick was also an accountant, like Randal. I made a sarcastic remark: "I did not know there was An accountants for Cthulhu group!" Randal met me back: "yel if is much like the Braille teachers for Yog- Sothoth!" I must have looked startled because Randal continued: "Did you think that you are the first blind witch to serve Yog Sothoth? Yog seems to have a fondness for blind witches."The thought had never occured to me. I of course thought I was unique, the more I thought about it the more it made sense. All the mythology about Blind Witches, oh well more material for my books. We all laughed,well the others did.It seems Randal also wanted something else, He wanted to meet Velk. I replied: "Really?" I could not imagine why someone as immaculate as Randal wanting to meet a Ghoul.He answered in a light tone, well light for Randal: "Yes, I have never met a Ghoul before. It would be of great interest to me and Nick." It seems Randal had picked up on the attraction between Jai and Nick.Not that it was hard, it was not like they were being subtle or anything. Of course, Jai was all for it, even agreeing to pick up Velk in her S.U.V. Well none of us were doing anything that evening, so I agreed.I knew Velk would agree. I was right Velk was happy to comply. I arranged for me, and Jai to meet Velk, well before the meeting in Jai's S.U.V., instead of going directly to "Hugo's" we first went to Jai's house. We wanted to try and clean Velk up before the meeting of Randal and Nick. We rushed Velk into Jaii's garage where Jai hosed him off and then we scrubbed him off with brushes, surprisingly Velk was completely cooperative. He even seemed to enjoy the attention. We had also got him some new clothes. Ghouls usually wear that they have scavenged from robbing graves. The only time Velk voiced any opposition was when we started to douse him with a cheap men's cologne we had gotten from a local drug store. I mean you know. I was not going to use any of my fragrances on a Ghoul. Randal, and Nick were waiting for us when we arrived at "Hugo's". Jai and Nick took up where they had left off. (the flirting continued). The meeting was uneventful. Randal and Nick asked Velk some questions. I think Velk liked all the attention. Ghouls are very status conscious. Of course, when I say uneventful that is from my point of view.Velk was happy and Jai was over the Moon. Nick had asked for her phone number, and of course he got it. Anyhow, in the meantime Greg had found out something about the "Society for Public Beautification". My encouragement had worked. He had discovered some local sites where the "Society had erected some statues. We decided to make a day of it when we both had a free day. Anyhow, he picked me up mid-morning Saturday. The first few places did not have much of interest, things like sundials, and metal abstract artwork, but it did give me a chance to teach Greg how to do descriptions. Being an Architect , he caught on fast and he liked describing things. Always a plus when you are dating blind chicks. We were having fun. It was a little square in a bank complex where I struck gold. The statues were placed around a central pond, they were also statues I could reach, and touch. We decided to play a little blind woman's bluff. Greg placedT my hand on the statue to see if I could identify what it was. The first statue was a giant bronze snail, which I did not get. You know, snails are not something I touch. It was the second statute that I hit pay dirt. Greg placed my hand on the statue, as I ran my fingers over the statue, I can actually say tactualized something. It was made of some sort of stone, but it had seam lines that took me back to all those childhood ceramic classes I took. I recognized the seam lines in an instant, as soon as I touched them. It was a frog, a giant frog. I also recognized the stone that the Elder Race uses for building. I now knew where the Tetrahedron was hidden. Wendel-Jarlsberg had put it in the frog statue, safe from the prying senses of the Old Ones. I had barely touched it when I announced it was a frog, and it was made of black stone. Greg was amazed. Greg was getting laid for this ,even though he did not know it yet. He asked in a startled tone: "How did you know that?" I replied in and amused very happy voice: "We bllind chicks have to keep some secrets." This seemed to trigger his curiosity, we had not had the blind conversation yet. He asked: "Can you see anything at all?" I laughed and responded: "Not hardly, I have no eyes!" I heard the gasp. You know sighted people do not find joking about having no eyes funny. Of course, this made me laugh even harder. I was happy and continued in an amused voice: "I was born blind. I have never seen anything, no light perception, nothing. Sight is not something I miss or even want." It took him a few minutes to wrap his head around this information. He then sked the standard sighted question: "Don't you wish you could see?" I continued even more amused (I like it when I get: sighted people flustered): "My blindness is a big part of who I am, me and my blindness are not separable. It is so much a part of who I am that it determines how I think. I think in tactile images, instead of visual images. My blindness made me into a philosopher giving me a different perspective. It allows me to see things that the sighted world misses. You know like blind spots in the sighted world!!" I was happy so I kept rambling on. Finding the Tetrahedron had made me ecstatic. Greg was pretty flustered, he asked: "How about for curiosity's sake?" The is of course, another standard question from sighted people, so of course I had an answer: "Not really, like being blind. (This one really gets to sighted people) Anyhow, I figure sight is overrated, it would be a big let down!" I could hear a long gasp like he was deflating. So to soften the blow I continued: "Don't feel bad it is alright to ask me blind questions, as long as i can ask you sighted questions." I heard him mutter " sighted questions?" So I continued: " You know like take clear water, if you can see through it how can you see it?" At this we both laughed, his humble reply was: "Well there is no doubt you are a philosopher." Which of course, took the compliment that it was. Now came the hard part of the day I had to pretend I was still interested in the rest of the sights we had not visited yet. Fortunately. there were only two left. A strange thing happened at the site before the last. The crows started going crazy. I asked Greg what was going on with the crows. I now knew better than to ignore the crows. Greg told me it seemed that the crows were mad at some completely bald guy across the street. so Randal was right we were being watched. I went back to having a good time with Greg. I figured that would be the best cover. When we had finished at the last site I suggested to Greg to come over to my place for a drink. He accepted and got his prize. (he got laid!!) Now that I knew where the Tetrahedron was the problem was how to get it, I decided to keep it a secret that I knew, I was scared the wrong people would hear, dthe hardest person to keep the secret from was Jai. Fortunately, she was busy with Nick, If she had really questioned me I would have broke and told her. I did tell Velk I knew I needed help. I figured he was the safest person to tell, another reason I did not tell Jai is because I did not want Randal and Nick to know, because whatever they knew Hugo would know. I knew it would be child's play for Hugo to retrieve the Tetrahedron, but I could not see Hugo giving up anything that he took. I had already been making preparations to store the Tetrahedron in a different place. It would be risky what I was planning, but worth the risk, I hoped. Velk of course, offered any help he could; he even got King Grom to build a tunnel near the Bank square. The Ghouls offered to even carry away the statue,I refused this. I did not want the Ghouls having the state for even a short period. of time , not because I did not trust them to give back, but I knew it would be to easy for anyone or acrtain Mr. Collins to take it away from them. I did accept the Ghoul offer of a tunnel. So once the Ghouls had completed the tunnel, I had Velk meet me after midnight. I dressed in my school clothes, except for the shoes. I had on a black short skirt and a red top. this I put on coveralls, and sneakers, (I had a bag with my heels in it. I was going to work after the operation. I had also taken out my prosthetic eyes. (they were also in the bag with my purse and shoes. Velk met me at m y apartment and navigated through the Ghoul tunnel, We had some time to wait before carrying on with the plan.I was thinking here me and Velk are in the dark with no thoughts about light. The title of my book on the mythology of light came to me. I would call it "Beyond Light and Dark".The time passed it was just before daybreak when I emerged from the tunnel. I took off the coveralls, put on my heeled shoes and unfolded my cane. I heard the satisfying click as it snapped into place. I was anxious to get this done, Even though I did not know if it was going to work, so it was showtime. We had planned it so I emerged from the tunnel just after the morning shift of security guard came on duty. Velk had surveilled the square. After the night crew left the morning security guards ususa;ly had coffee and donuts before making any rounds. I navigated over to the statue, so far so good I did not hear anyone. I put my hands on the statue, and then activated the Monas stone. I needed to get the Tetrahedron to oscillate with the Monas stone in me. The key was the Tetrahedron was also made of Seraph stone. I finally got the oscillations to converge, there was a loud cracking noise when I finally succeeded in telepoting the Frog statue to the dimension of the Elder Race. It was safe in the keep of Ethirol. Within seconds of the noise I heard the running steps of the guards And heard in an authoritarian voice: "Hey lady stop and turn around!!" It was here I realized I had forgotten my sunglasses. The voice continued in the same authoritarian manner: "Turn around" I was facing away from the guard. The Guard said "what happened to the statue?" i turned around and said quite truthfully: " I did not see a thing!" END