Near the castle gate an expeditionary force of Knights, squires, pages, Amazons, Fair Maidens and ladies in waiting gathered. They were preparing for a journey to Nasdaq the mysterious city so renowned in legend about which very little was known. Legend had it that the city had streets paved in gold. No one there was known to every have spoken a negative word. No one of the tribe of Basher was allowed within a mile of the place. Flowers bloomed everyday and the weather was perfect all year round. Three large carriages outfitted with teams of four Percherons each left the castle surrounded by 10 knights in full armor riding on Destrier Horses outfitted from head to tail in mail. Each knight in turn was covered in diamond patterned blue silk.
Noting that to the east was the road that led to the Manor, to the north the road that led to Slovinia, to the south the road that led to the Land of E the party decided to head west on the road that led across the Desert of Misunderstandings up onto the Plateau where it joined with the Road to Rich’s. Though they speculated that their travial in the desert would be short they did plan ahead with barrels of water and wine to placate their thirst as the headed off into the desert.
That night in the library at the manor John Kennedy Toole was scheduled to give a reading from his novel “A Confederacy of Dunces.” Some objected that Toole himself had committed suicide almost ten years before the book was published but others pointed out that since they had been consistently wrong about almost everything for months there was no need to worry about facts now. Besides consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
As usual a small group of ne’r do wells was drinking over at Rich’s the small saloon, hotel and casino over on the other side of the Desert of Misunderstanding. A number of them were playing poker in the game room back behind the bar room and discussing putative realities, Uranus, sex with animals, the Stinky Cheeseman, grubs, festering wounds, their winnings, their losings, dirty underware and well you know the usual stuff most of which ought to get deleted anyway.
