Solo [Opal Temple] Value of Herbs

[Ki'toka]

76th of Spring, 513 AV The Opal Temple Herbilism Class Thread #1 Ki'toka was early that day, her body once again warring with being excited and nervous at the same time. She was going to go to her first class here at the Opal Temple. She'd had hopped that she'd do Medicines first as Nel'fi had shown here a few things over the years, mostly when she was younger and she'd needed the medical help. But no, today was Herbs. She knew that they were used to make medicines, or at least that was what she thought, other than that, she didn't really know much. Which herbs were used for what, where to find them, what effects each thing had. She was excited cause she'd be learning something new, but scared because she was worried she wouldn't remember anything. Letting out a sigh, she shook her head and rubbed her face. 'No... I'm going to do just fine. This is what I want. I can do this.' She told herself as she quickly dressed and brushed out her still damp hair. Her nerves hadn't played nice with her the prior night, giving her unsettling dreams, then when she woke she'd been disoriented and had fallen out of bed into the knee high water that occupied her room floor. 'That had been a quick wake up call...' She hadn't panicked like one that might drown, no, she could breath just fine. Her gills along the side of her neck had kicked in right away the way they were supposed to to fill her lungs with oxygen. Dressed and ready for a day at class, she scooped her arm through the strap of her backpack that contained all her drawing supplies. If she got out early, she might find something she might want to draw on the way to the library to study. Moving out of her room with the Opal Temple map in her hand, her feet sloshing through the water around her legs, she made her way toward the surface and toward where she knew the class was going to be. She'd explored the temple right after she'd gotten registered, so she knew what the place looked like. The map in her hands was just in case she couldn't remember how to get there. In the end she hadn't needed the map. Folding it up, she stuffed it into her backpack after taking a glance at the instructors name. 'Drae Sommers....' She'd not met the person before and hadn't seen them when she'd been wandering around the prior day. Finding a place to sit down, she pulled her backpack onto her lap, her eyes scanning the area around her as she waited patiently. 'Maybe I'm early... How many chimes has it been already?' Deciding to make use of the time she was wasting just sitting there, she pulled out one of her drawing books, lifted the cover to peek inside then stuffed it back into the bag and pulled out the other. Lifting this ones cover, she saw the elaborately scrawled words on the first page: "All that I have learned.". Turning to the next page, she looked at the blank page and smiled. She planned to fill this full of information she could use down the road while she was in class. Digging around in her bag again, she found one of her charcoal sticks then picked one of the potted herb plants closest to her and started to sketch it onto the page. After a moment, she scooted herself closer so she could see the small details on the plant even better.

[Ki'toka]

76th of Spring, 513 AV The Opal Temple Ki'toka was half way finished with the drawing of the plant in front of her, having left enough room toward one of the edges that she could scribble the name and some important facts to remember about it once she learned them. Hearing footsteps approach from behind her, she looked up and smiled at the older looking Konti woman that appeared. She wore the traditional white robes of the Order and wore her gnosis mark from Rak'keli proudly on her upper left shoulder. She had the air of strickness around her though, and Ki'toka's smile started to falter a little. 'Have I messed up already?' She thought as she stood up, her drawing book folding closed as she watched the older Konti get closer. "You must be new, I don't recognize you." She said, her sounding a little harsh around the edges as her eyes looked the younger Konti up and down. "Must be here for class, well what do you know?" She asked as she moved past her toward the potted herb plant Ki'toka had been drawing. She pressed her fingers into the dirt, checking to see if it needed watering before she looked up again to find Ki'toka stumbling with an answer. "Almost done with the season, can't have you holding up the rest of the class if you don't know anything. Come on, spit it out." Ki'toka's face colored a bright red, the scales atop her forehead turning a pinkish color. "I'm... I'm sorry. I thought it would be alright if I started now, the lady at the desk said I could." She swallowed hard then started rambling on once the woman lifted a brow at her, still obviously waiting for a proper answer. "I, uh... I don't know anything about herbs. Other than they are plants and used to make medicines or add flavor to foods... That's it." Her eyes locked down at the woman's feet as she finished, embarrassed at how little she knew. 'This was a bad idea... I don't know anything... I... I should go...' She thought as she started to fidget where she stood. It was silent for a chime or two before the older woman cleared her throat. "Well, I can't have you in my class right now. The other students are toward the end of this season's studies. Seeing as you don't know anything, you won't understand what they are talking about and I don't want you interrupting my class with questions." Ki'toka closed her eyes and nodded her head. 'Maybe I can get my money back from the receptionist lady...' It was silent for a moment again. "What do you have there in that book?" Ki'toka started a little at the question, her arms raising to wrap protectively around the book. 'It's mine...' She thought, worried that the woman would take it away from her for some reason. That only lasted a moment though before she lowered her arms and flicked open the cover to the page she'd been working on, the plant on the page nearly finished. "I wanted to draw all of the herbs and put the information beside them... So I could use it to study..." She mumbled. The woman took a step closer and leaned down to get a better look. "Very nice. You capture the detail of the individual petals of the flower very well. Do you know what plant this is?" She asked, leaning up again. Ki'toka shook her head. "No... I don't. It was pretty and the closest one to me after I sat down." She pointed to the empty space on the page. "I was going to draw the name here, then put info about the plant here under it once I found out." She explained, feeling a little better after the woman had taken an interest in her drawing. "Well, I won't tell you what it is. For your first class, right now, I'm assigning you to go to the library and study. Ask the librarian for books on herbs, she will show you where to look. Study the plants in alphabetical order starting with A obviously. Don't draw anymore in your book just yet, save that for when you have seen the plant here in the classroom. Come back in four days, I don't have a class then, and I will quiz you on what you know." Ki'toka stood there a little shocked. Here she'd been thinking she'd have to wait until next season to actually start, but now, if she wasn't mistaken, she was going to get the instructor all to herself after she finished this studying. Giving a quick nod of her head, she stuffed her book and charcoal back into her backpack. "Ok, four days, what time should I be here?" The woman hmmed a little and looked off to the side. "Be here 30 chimes after the 9th bell. Don't be late." She said before she turned, dismissing the student as she went to fetch some water for the potted plant Ki'toka had been drawing. Nodding her head to the woman's back, she turned then quickly made her way out of the classroom as other students started to file in. 'Guess I did show up early, but good thing I did. I might have ran out if I admitted I didn't know anything in front of all these others...' Slipping out, she looked back over her shoulder at the class as they started and smiled then started off toward the library to start her studies. She had four days to memorize herbs and she wanted the instructor the be proud of her next time.