Observations On the Basilisk (Basilicus basilicus) and an Abbreviated Introduction To the Basilisk, Asterisk (Basilicus basilicus asteriscus) [Basilisk*]

The creature known as Basilicus basilicus, commonly referred to as the ‘basilisk’, has many recognized subspecies. Doubtless some of these are completely fictional, the result of mistranslations by wine-crazed calligraphers and wild imaginings by explorers to uninteresting realms, but zoölogical consensus and the preserved archives of no less than Pythagoras himself hold that the basilisk certainly does exist and is wildly dangerous. The details of the specific basilisk at hand pertain only to the extremity of degree to which that ‘flavor’ of basilisk holds fatal potentiality.

That miniscule basilisk which wears a petite royal crown may cause painful poisonous death to those who lock eyes with it, or with a glance. The basilisk which hatches from inauspicious hen’s eggs to despoil plant life and cause death at a touch may or may not also kill the close relatives of its ruined victims. Then also, the basilisk which poisons as well as breaks stone upon touching it with its breath may or may not have a deadly bite. All these and more may be found within the wikipedia page on basilisks, but link it the author shall not, as they are not today’s concern.

These subspecies, races, or individuals, no matter how dire and deadly, are mundanity itself compared to the form described here, by the author, today.

Beyond the basilisk lies the basilisk* (Basilicus basilicus asteriscus). This is a basilisk that demands special notice, that holds surprises and dangers, that demands you read the footnotes before claiming knowledge of it and insists the small print be scrutinized before signing any contract it hands the reader. The origin of the basilisk* is not a place near or far, but one without (See future notes on such directions concerning the Eternal Compass Rose.

In this place and time where reader and writer coincide, such a creature has appeared exactly here and now as, primarily, a blog, though tenuous connections to other media have been detected. The creature has a symbiotic relationship with a being known as ‘the author’. The manifestation of the basilisk* requires further studies but appears concerned with the relationships between fiction, forms of solo and tabletop roleplaying, and related social games. To this end, the generation of playable content and toolsets is suspected to be ongoing. Thoughtforms of cultural cross-polination leading to gamification of fiction and fictionalization of gaming have been seen in the bone-casting of six out of seven weirding-women conscripted to concentrate on the basilisk* beforehand. The author has jumped into some manner of deal with the creature with the zeal only a recently unemployed author can bring to a childhood and lifelong passion. Beware of poisonous PDFs, Patreons, and podcasts. Treasonous Twitch.TVs and, technically, TikToks.

Pythagoras naysaying some legumes

The author is still ambivalent about how the author is to be referenced by the basilisk*. They might go the way the alchemists used to, where every book they wrote they pretended that Cleopatra wrote it. The author is more likely to play Pythagoras than to play Cleopatra. Pythagoras had more interesting quirks and thought beans sucked.

* The basilisk is known to be native to our world. As the basilisk* is takes a form more subtle and refined than the more mundane basilisk, many scholars† take the existance of such a creature as proof of overworlds of higher emanations. Simpler, less dangerous underworlds with less interesting baslisks have also been proposed. (back)

† Many of these scholars are either experts in typographical sciences‡ or known consorts of same. (back)

‡ Typographical science holds that footnotes be marked with gimmicks in a specific order. This order begins with the heavenly, though troubling, asterisk (*). It then proceeds through the dangerous dagger (†), the violent double dagger (‡), the barely known section sign (§), and wilder markings. Further research into the existance of the basilisk†, basilisk‡, and so on is a topic of urgent research. (back)

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