Generally speaking, if you tell a woman she smells moldy, you are going to be in an intergalactic war situation of your very own making.
In the Arustaaha system, if you don't tell a woman she is as sweet as rose mold, or bring her a perfume made from it, you are getting ZERO love.
The above is neither a rose nor strictly a mold; it is a fungus that blooms in the deserts of Arustaaha 1, 4, 8, and 9 in the winter and the spring, in a slightly different sequence individualized to each planet – but generalized, the blooms are good when there is a rain, then a warm spell, then another rain.
As for odor, each planet's variety has a similar appearance but, like roses, a distinct odor … on Arustaaha 1, the hottest of the four, the mold smells like roses and the floral scent of very hot peppers – on earth, a classic red tea rose combined with a Trinidad Perfume pepper would be a close match, with just a hint of firecracker. On the fourth planet, the mold smells of damask roses – like uttar of roses – combined with geranium and lemon balm.
On the eighth and ninth planets, the rose molds have similar fragrances – one a bright white rose with soft lemon and vanilla notes and ginger, one a bright yellow rose with more citrus and cloves.
Processing is also important … processed fresh, their odors remain true to their freshness … dried first, an additional palette of fragrances emerge … master perfumers bring out individualized collections of perfumes that are worth more than their weight in gold across the galaxy, because unlike Earth roses, rose mold cannot be grown outside of its natural environments.
The deserts of the Arustaaha System, combined, would only be double the land area of the Sahara Desert on Earth, so rose mold is, in galactic terms, very rare. Rose mold only blooms for two weeks at a time, and harvesting can only be one week per harvest so as not to destroy the resource – so, the tons and tons of the first flush of this mold, although they seem vast, are spoken for before they are ever harvested, first from Arustaaha 1 in its winter, and then through the system as winter turns to spring.
There's just one tiny problem.
The sands of the Arustaaha deserts are almost all caustic potash, so, the fungus that grows on them is caustic. Put on too much, and one's skin peels off.
The Arustaahans are immune to this aspect of their mold, but other humanoids who love perfume in the galaxy are pushing the limits of concentration of odor and concentration of toxins.
Only a full-blooded Arustaahan woman can wear a pure uttar of rose mold … and, if she does not want a man as a mate, the result of forcing an encounter is the loss of the skin of his lips or whatever he intrudes with!
Arustaaha 9 was once briefly subdued by one of our galactic rivals. The women bathed in uttar of rose mold and went out to meet their attackers, dripping and fragrant … the result gave time for reinforcements to arrive from Arustaaha 4, and the reinforcements easily mopped up the conquerors because those gentlemen were missing half their skin!
Pure uttar of rose mold cannot be exported throughout the consortium – it is considered a dangerous substance, but is still a highly traded item on the galactic black market, highly desired in the homes of the rich and famous to mix their own unique fragrances … at their own risk.
Every few years, the lifestyles of the rich and famous involve what is called a “rose peel,” and cosmetic surgeons rub their hands together in anticipation.
By the way, I'm a cosmetic surgeon, working out of San Francisco in the 23rd century.
I love the smell of rose mold.
This fractal was a double-render from Apophysis 2.09, once on white, once on yellow-beige to bring out all the delicate pinks and muted grays and browns and oranges in addition to setting the purple into contrast with the yellow.
Wow, I didn't realize it rained on Arustaaha 9. Good to know.
How much would an ounce of rose mold perfume go for, say, in swap hive? Valentines day is coming up...
Hive is about 1.19 USD, so ... an ounce properly prepared that won't take your skin off is probably going to run you around 1000 swap hive (transport costs, intergalactic import duties, and all) ... but one of Earth's own damask roses, while still expensive, is more like 30-50 swap hive ...
Thanks for reading!
Hmmmm, if I save up then I might have enough by the 23rd century.
Thanks for writing! Very fun to read.
Yep -- that's good financial planning!