Closed (The Sanctuary) Herbs and Learning (Caelum)

[Lyn'nice]

22nd of Spring 514AV It was a nice day. Nice and warm with a gentle breeze blowing. Lyn'nice was enjoying it along with a few of her potted plants she had brought out for some fresh air. She was messing with an area of soil, she wanted to plant some flowers here. She watched a small white haired girl wander about the courtyard. Lyn'nice smiled. Lillian, Caelum's little girl just recently rescued. The little Konti was a doll. She had just started referring to Caelum as 'daddy'. Lyn'nice wasn't sure how Caelum felt about it. It was adorable to Lyn'nice. She looked over the soil she had been playing with thinking about what flowers would look best. An odd sensation caused Lyn to look over her shoulder only to see the Konti girl duck behind something. It made Lyn'nice chuckle to herself. She was often put in charge of watching the children of the Sanctuary and found that she got along well with them. But there was some curious bond between her and this little girl. She felt proud that out of all the women who resided here, she had been chosen. Once again feeling a staring sensation and hearing the girl's footsteps not far behind her Lyn'nice patted the grass next to her. Within a few ticks the little girl was seated beside her. "I think we should plant flowers here. We should ask your daddy if we could, I was thinking some peonies for me because my scales on my head looks like one." She lifted her bangs to show the little girl who giggled. "And lilies for Lillian." She smiled at the girl.

[Caelum]

“What kind of lilies?” A new voice intruded. The ethaefal had appeared behind the konti girls, the angle of the sun casting his shadow in the wrong direction to impose. It reveled in the rest of him, however, daylight soaking into the bronzed skin of his face and forearms as revealed by the rolled up sleeves of his work shirt. It pooled in golden eyes, currently squinting down at Lyn’nice and Lillian as if in debate. “Maybelle lilies are good for burns if you use the root specifically,” Caelum continued in that absent, distracted way of his. He paced around the two of them so as to sink into a corbie’s crouch on the other side of his daughter. When Lillian somberly held up a handful of dirt in front of Caelum’s face, he obediently sniffed at the soil and nodded her gravely. “Smells right to me. Ask Lyn’nice though,” he prompted the shy child who, left to her own devices, would fail to speak much at all and interact purely in gesture. Some of it was Pavi grasslands signs, which Caelum encouraged the instruction in, but the rest wasn’t actually healthy learning practice but rather the opposite. “Is it good for m’bells, Lyn’nice?” Lillian asked politely. The dirt crumbled through her little fingers as heaven’s blue eyes turned up to the lady. Caelum tucked a smirk into one corner of his mouth and looked at Lyn’nice over Lillian’s head.

[Lyn'nice]

"Nhn?" The sound of Caelum's voice started Lyn'nice and she involuntarily jumped and grabbed Lillian to protect her from this sudden voice. Realizing whose voice it was she let go of the small girl and tried to hide the embarrassment from her face. "Oh, it's just you Caelum. You're as quiet as a ghost! It can't be good to startle an expectant woman as often as I get startled." It was true, Lyn'nice jumped very easily. She listened to Caelum and his opinion on lilies."Good for burns, huh? Sounds like a good choice." She said looking at the little Konti with a smile. She took the soil from the young girl's hands and let her sight take over. She ran a finger through it, serching it for any problems. "It looks all good and clear, my dear. It will most certainly be good for M'bells." She smiled at Lillian. "What we REALLY need Caelum is a plant to ward off internal worms, while you were gone Reven was pretty sick. She was pretty sure she had picked some up via a hunting trip where she had eaten some raw meat. I made her tea and gave her a look over with my mark. It helped a bit but.." She shock her head. "But I felt like I really couldn't do much for her, with both you and Kavala gone. I can grow almost anything and I know what most common herbs do..But I have no idea how to prep tonics or herbal remedies. Sure I can make tea but that's about it. Plus my mark is inferior to Kavala and probably yours. It makes me think, what if something really bad happen when you guys were gone? I wouldn't of been much help." She watched Lillian playing with the dirt. "I need to learn more, I don't want to be dead weight here at the Sanctuary." She continued to watch Lillian, "She speaks with her hands a lot. She makes signs at me and I don't understand. But you understand her so it's a real language she's speaking. I want to learn what she's saying. I take that she doesn't speak Koninese." There was a question in Lyn'nice's mind but she hesitated to ask, "Does she know what she is? I mean being a Konti? I could try and teach her things, if you wouldn't mind. Like deep sea diving for treasurses. After all it's not something I can teach my own child, he'll be too busy training with Van." oocIC Lyn asumes she's carrying a Akalak, however if you didn't know it's a female Akontak.

[Caelum]

The physician listened Lyn'nice with a sober countenance. He held himself so still that one could imagine pale winged moths settling to rest on the elegant curve of his horns. Around him, Lillian began to crawl, turning her webbed little fingers into the soil in order to begin mounding it up in a new row that she meant for maybelle lillies and burn cures. "You should learn," Caelum broke the quiet of the stirred earth and pulsing sun, a smile suggesting itself to his countenance so as to gentle it from any stern seeming. It became obvious that he approved. "Not only herbalism, but the more canny aspects of medicine as well. It's a simple matter to learn both at once. The first steps in herbalism have to do with identification." He arched an eyebrow. "Rule number one, never give anyone any part of a plant you have not positively identified. Not just ruled out or theorized. You must know. There are more than a few mimics in the herbalism world and instead of sparing a child a tummy-ache you could cause permanent brain damage." Lillian giggled from where she was digging and Caelum blinked over. A smile strayed back into place and he swatted playfully at his daughter's backside. "Come on, Lils. Let's show off our plant knowledge, eh?" That was said, Caelum rolled up to his feet and his hands dropped down to brush off stray bits of dirt before he offered Lyn'nice a hand up. It was a gesture of common courtesy, but she wouldn't know it was also one of great trust. With his secret mark from Nikali, a thing so simple as touching hands could give the pregnant woman an extreme advantage over Caelum Yet Lyn'nice had been helping look after Lillian along with the other children of the Sanctuary, and so Caelum trusted her wants to be gentle and right. "When she uses her hands to speak," he explained, "She is speaking Pavi, the language of the Drykas. She speaks Pavi best, and Common second. Kontinese is a very poor third and she only seems to know a few words. My own Kontinese could use polishing, so I haven't really had time to work on it with her." He searched Lyn'nice's face. "I'd be obliged if you found the time to do so. It's important for her to know her milk tongue."

[Lyn'nice]

Lyn'nice nodded, "I've only been using well known herbs. I go herb hunting with a fellow Konti who's good with herbs. She's been teaching me slowly, but I get the feeling you have a deeper well of knowledge than Clover." She returned to watching Lillian tumble around in the dirt. "You know, my entire family my mother, grandmother, and cousins were all blessed by Avalis. I was the first to be marked as a healer. That along with this strange birthmark," she lifted her bangs exposing a cluster of scales that overlapped like petals. "It seems the gods want me to heal and help." She smiled, "Not that I mind my calling. I do know how to read tea leaves, though. It kinda ties the family gap of healing and seeing." With a grateful smile she took Caelum's hand, "Aww, why thank you!" With a groan Lyn'nice got to her feet, unaware of the flood of knowledge she was giving Caelum. A mixture of loneliness of loosing her Talvas, the joy of her new family here at the Sanc, the need to help others, a nervousness of being a first time mother, and a crush on a certain person. "No problem! Maybe she can teach me Pavi in return. I never force her to speak, I hope that's alright. I feel like if it's important enough, or she wants me to know really bad." Lyn'nice smiled. "She'll tell me."

[Caelum]

"You're right. Lillian speaks when it suits her," Caelum agreed. Concern nevertheless creased his brow as he watched the toddler's passage deeper into the garden, skipping her way throw the painstakingly neat rows. Lillian began to sing softly to herself and the language she chose was Pavi, voice pretty and fragile as it rose with the rustle of leaves; and it was to this that Caelum listened while the rest of him broke apart the needs and desires of Lyn'nice. The sorrow over the loss of her talvis was an expected desire and one he easily fielded, having had quite enough practice with such things on himself. He gave her hand a light squeeze once she was on her feet and then let it go in order to amble with her into the herb garden. As they walked between a row of some of the more commonly used herbs, a smile startled across his mouth as ranuri helped him identify Lyn'nice's need to help people. That was something he could immediately launch into, a part of his brain already labeling the konti woman under the title of apprentice because herbalism was most helpful to others when combined with medical skills. There was not a part of that Caelum himself was not well versed in and he recognized her desire and answered it, filled with nearly instant gratification by Nikali for this simple but important service. "Sage," he pointed out a short series of such plants, vibrant and thriving in the spring light. He stooped down to pluck one of the leaves and rolled it around between his fingers before holding it it front of her nose to smell. "You're familiar with it in food, I'm sure. It'll grow almost anywhere and you can find it in almost every region of Mizahar. This is important because a lot of people think it's only good as a spice, but the truth is that sage can help with bronchitis, canker sores, sinus congestion, and fevers if taken internally. External uses include relief from itches and scalp problems like dandruff produced by over dryness." The leaf was crumbled into Lyn'nice's hand and his smile hooked sideways. "Plants such as these are the backbone of herbalism. While the more rare plants are highly prized, the problem of course is that they're rare and it isn't likely you'll always be somewhere like the Sanctuary with Kavala and I's gardens or Mura with the Opal Clinic's. You need to learn how to make the most use out of what is on hand, and that is where I think we begin."

[Lyn'nice]

Lyn'nice held the leaf in her hand, she looked it over memorizing it's shape, texture, and smell. She showed the leaf to Lillian and introduced it in Kontinese,"In Mura where I grew up we say Sage. Your Mother was a Konti. So am I and you too." She watched the little Konti's face, would she understand or even take to the new language? "How do you say it in Pavi, Lillian? I would like to learn how you speak and in return I'll teach you how I speak. Your daddy would like you to learn it, it's called Kontinese." She smiled at the young girl. Lyn'nice turned to Caelum, "Sage, I've heard of infusing it in oils along with other herbs. How do you prepare it or can it just be picked and taken as is?" Lyn'nice was sure to ask as many questions as she could. The more she knew the better. She put the leaf in a pocket. She could use to for mortar and pestle practice.

[Caelum]

Lillian tilted her head and studied the sage leaf for a long minute of consideration. Finally, she said, "Cadra makes chicken with sage," in fluent Pavi, a little hand rising up to hook fingers down and jump her fist lightly through the air. That was the toddler's personal sign for the gorgeous kelvic girl -- a pouncing cat. "Cadra seasons chicken with sage," Caelum translated for Lyn'nice in her best language, kontinese. "Cooks," Lillian corrected. A chuckle scuffed in the back of Caelum's throat and he repeated, "Cooks," while dropping into a crouch beside another row of bushes. A few brown leaves were tugged from the stalks as he absently occupied himself with pruning the garden. "I'm fluent in Pavi, but I'm just as good in kontinese as I am in with the common language, Lyn'nice." This explanation was provided off hand. "What I want to learn it tukant. Alright --" And Caelum ducked his chin in a nod toward the plant he was pruning. "This is boneset. Notice the slender stalks and the frond-like leaves. They'll always been narrow, long, and come to a sharp point. As the seasons warms, it will flower into white blossoms. Little clusters, really, with small and rounded petals. I'm pointing it out to you because if you include boneset with sage in a tea then you have one of the best treatments for a cold and bronchitis I've ever seen. You want about two teaspoons of sage to one teaspoon of boneset and steep it in boiling fresh water for at least ten minutes before draining out the leaves. Add lemon juice if you can get your hands on any and also red root --" He jerked his chin an aisle down the garden at the red root plant. "If you have it." "Sage. Saaaaaage. Sagesagesage." Meanwhile, Lillian practiced saying sage over and over in kontinese, all the while making the Cadra pouncing-cat hand motion. Caelum smirked fondly at this and unraveled back to his feet, eyes turning toward Lyn'nice. "Teas and tonics are best for internal treatments. If you want to use it for dry scalp and itches, then you can get fresh leaves and macerate them into a prepared lotion or soap wash. I'll be honest, I haven't much had the opportunity or equipment on hand to work with my philters, so I rely a lot on teas, infusions, poultices, and purchasing prepared base ointments. I intend to dig deeper into it now."

[Lyn'nice]

Lyn'nice watched Lillian,"Like this?" She mimicked the hand motion of the little jumping cat. She couldn't help but smile and suppress a laugh. Lillian was a bright little spark, she'd be speaking Kontinese in her sleep before she knew it. She seemed to like the word 'sage'. She listened intently to Caelum, even with a chorus of 'sage' behind her. "Boneset and Sage." She tried to connect the two together that way if she remembered one the other would easily be remembered as well. Sage and Boneset, 2:1 teaspoons. Add lemon and Red Root. "So I take it red root is up next?" She asked. "Also, what can Boneset do on it's own and do you know where it's name comes from? Spiritualists in Muru burn sage bunches to purify things, they say the smoke is what does it. Sorry, just thought I'd throw that in." Lyn'nice added shyly. Lyn'nice giggled at Lillian, "I'd better try and fix this before she starts calling Cadra 'sage'." Pulling the leaf from her pocket she held it up "Sage". She then did the jumping cat motion, "Cat". The little girl watched. "Maybe I should start my focus on external uses that way we'll be evened out. I still enjoy learning tea recipes though. Heck, I just enjoy learning anything new! And if it helps people it's even better."

[Caelum]

"Cat!" Lillian announced in kontinese, but instead of the hand gesture, she hopped herself and then took off down a garden row. "She's racing out some energy. She'll be back in a minute unless she actually runs into Cadra," Caelum offered Lyn'nice with a wry smile. Navigating his way through the plants, he sank down again next to the red root and began the same process of pruning, pinching off the deadened leaves so that healthier and more vibrant ones would have room to grow in their place. He made an absent gesture to his companion to do the same to its twin plant alongside. "Boneset is the best treatment I've seen for the mosquito born fever. The one that causes such severe muscle spasms that it's called most often breakbone fever. You've doubtless heard of it what with living in this part of the world. You have to be careful with boneset though and never use the root, only the leaves. The root can be toxic. The whole plant can be if you oversteep a tea and feed it even to the worst of a fever more than once a day. Now this --" He gave a playful tug to one the red root's bursting flower heads. It quivered and held, white petals shivering out a miniature cloud of pollen. "This is red root. These lovely white and yellow blooms are just for looks. They'll last a bit indoors, actually, and take a good smell, Lyn'nice. If you're ever in doubt whether or not it's red root, all you'll have to do is smell it. It smells like wintergreens and snow. Spicy and unforgettable. The blooms are good for use in allergy treatment creams and lotions as they're a natural anti-inflammatory and will kill any of the less pleasant scents that sometimes accompany other ingredients." He sat back on his heels and looked over the heads of the garden to watch Lillian race around the edge, chased now by one of the Sactuary's Imperial Watchers. It looked like Indigo, actually, who was always up for a run and a tousle. Looking back to Lyn'nice, he ducked his head in a nod. "I think if you wanted to pursue philtering, that would be excellent. It would balance out some of my skill set and then maybe you could teach me a thing or two." He flashed a smile.