Herbs and Oils (Part 3)

[L'orlei]

Timestamp: 3rd of Summer, 513 AV Location: L'orlei's House L'orlei awoke the following morning eager to complete the concoction she had begun late last spring. The previous night she had begun the final preparations, and now she would finally be completing her concoction. It was time to do some philtering, though it was very basic. L'orlei would be combining several ingredients to make a final whole. The process required a double boiler.. now, there were very elaborate and advanced double boilers in a well stocked philtering lab, but L'orlei did not have access to such things. Instead she improvised. All it took was two containers, and some water. L'orlei had such things, and so once she had her two pots ready, she was ready to begin. The first thing she did was add water to the larger pot, which would go on bottom, and then set it over the fire. Using her flint and steel she quickly lit up the fire, which was not difficult thanks to it still being warm from the night before. After that it was just a matter of waiting until the water reached boiling temperature. While she waited she prepared the other pot.

[L'orlei]

There were three main ingredients to the concoction she was planning to make. The first was almond oil. Almond oil was good for the skin and could be used to keep a person's skin moist and youthful in appearance. It also smelled good, and had a slew of other health benefits as well. She did not need much of it, actually. In truth, the tiny amount of extract she had from each of the three ingredients would likely provide her with several batches. Less than an ounce was needed of the almond oil, which she poured into the small container. The next ingredient was the caplium extract, which she prepared the night before. Caplium seeds could be used to treat hroat pain, earaches, and nasal congestion. Usually they were chewed, but L'orlei had other things in mind, and instead she was after the extract. She did not have much of it, but again, required only a little per batch. After adding that in, she went on to the final ingredient. Onion extract. It was very strong, and she needed only a little. The batch from before provided her about a tablespoon worth, but she only need a fourth of that. Onion was good for many things, but what she wanted it for was the fumes. Everybody knew that onions could make you cry, but in small doses, if you breathed in the fumes it could clear your sinuses, and that was what L'orlei wanted. The next step was simple, and just involved stirring the three oils together until they were thoroughly mixed. This took about a chime, and all that was left was for the water to boil. L'orlei added some more wood, and then sat down to wait.

[L'orlei]

Once the water began to boil L'orlei set the small pot into it. The water level was not high enough to make the pot float, which was good, because she did not want it to. The point of boiling the water separate from the oil was so that the oil was not being directly boiled by the fire, but rather.. double boiled, hence the term double boiler. She continued to stir the oil as it heated up, waiting until tiny bubbles began to appear in the liquid. L'orlei did not want it to boil completely, and as soon as the bubbles began to appear she added in the final ingredient. Wax. Just a small amount, which she dropped into the water and continued to stir. The wax began to melt, and still she continued to stir, mixing the oils and wax together. Stir and stir she did, until the wax and oils were completely mixed, and became a soft, balmy substance. She stirred for a little bit more before removing the small pot from the large one, and quickly brought it to her desk. It was best to move fast, while the balm was still very liquidy and easy to manipulate. L'orlei gently poured the balm into a glass jar, where she would allow it to cool. As long as she did not add too much wax, it would harden only a little, and would still work as a soft balm to apply to the skin. Once the balm cooled L'orlei dipped her finger into the jar, scooping up a small bit of the substance, and brought it to her nose. Right away she could feel her sinuses being cleared out by the onion fumes philtered into the balm. L'orlei smiled and scraped the balm back into the jar. It was close enough to the consistency she wanted, and the Konti was quite pleased with her work, novice level though it was. The balm could be applied on the skin, beneath the nose for the strongest effect on the sinus, or on the throat or chest to sooth aches of the throat from a cold. The fumes would travel up through the nose and mouth to soothe from the inside as well. L'orlei was certain the item would be a hot one on the market, especially with the coming of winter. Overall, she was very pleased. She decided to call it Caplium Balm.

[Traverse]

L'orlei

Skill	XP Earned
Botany	1 XP
Cooking	2 XP
Herbalism	3 XP
Philtering	2 XP
Observation	1 XP

•	Lores Earned
•	Making Due with Simpler Tools
•	Fitting Together Several Herbs for the Final Product
•	Working Quickly with hot Materials
•	The Creation of Caplium Balm: Perfect for Winter

Additional Notes :

So I gave an extra point in herbalism for the completion of the product, I did not specifically add the inventory because mostly it will be switching around your supplies, the almonds collected that are not oil are now Almond butter or meal (quite tasty), I would say about a third of the caplium seeds are gone, and as the herbalist I will allow you to add whatever number of small jars of caplium balm you think is appropriate to your inventory/ store. I liked the combo, and it was a nice step by step process with a great emphasis on your skill level, so well done!

Yes, I Bite.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out.