Solo Of Tinctures and Poisons

[Valerius Nitrozian]

Fall 63, 513 AV

As Valerius arrived at the Kelvic Research Institution that day to begin his work, Doctor Alzelin immediately asked him to follow him. They went to a laboratory where various bottles with liquids as well as different herbs were on the table. „You will not simply watch me experiment on Kelvic today“, Doctor Alzelin informed the young man. „Instead you will help me prepare several tinctures. I cannot stand your ignorance any longer. It’s about time you learn something useful.“ Valerius frowned – he didn’t appreciate being called ignorant – but he didn’t say anything. He just nodded. For now Doctor Alzelin was still his superior, and it would be unwise to contradict him too much.

„Put this on.“ The doctor handed him a white lab coat. „We don’t want your clothes to get dirty. And please try to put on a little less fancy clothes in the future. This is not one of your society events. We work here.“ He waited until Valerius had put the lab coat on and then he took a large brown bottle from the table. „This bottle contains ethanol. Ethanol can also be used as a solvent, but today we are going to make a few tinctures, as I’ve told you. For that we need something with at least fourty percent ethanol to prevent mildewing of the plants. What I have in this bottle should be just about right. I wouldn’t advise you to drink it though.“

„Don’t worry, Doctor“, Valerius replied and made a face. „I don’t have any intention of drinking this here.“ He preferred fine red wine, brandy and other alcoholic beverages – in small amounts as he didn’t want to become an alcoholic – not some bottle from a laboratory.

„Give me one of those glass containers over there“, Doctor Alzelin ordered him, and Valerius brought him a glass container with a stopper. „The right container is just as important. When you are making a tincture, you should only use a glass or ceramic container, but never something made of metal. Metal can react with the tincture. Now give me the dried lavender flowers …“ Valerius began to look around the laboratory. „… in the bowl over there. Yes, the purple flowers. We are going to make a lavender tincture first. It soothes your nerves, helps you sleep better and relieves headaches which can be useful, especially after a long, stressful day at the laboratory.“

„Come here. You might as well do this yourself. Put the lavender into the glass. It should be about three quarters full.“ Valerius removed the stopper and started filling the glass. Once he had done that, the doctor handed him a cup. „Now mix one cup of alcohol with three cups of water. The water’s over there.“ He pointed to where it was. Valerius put three cups of water into a separate container and then added one cup of alcohol. „Now pour the mixture over the lavender, close the container and shake it.“

Valerius took the glass and shook it, and then Doctor Alzelin took it from him. He walked over to a cabinet and put it into it. „The tincture should be kept away from all direct light sources as well as from heat and cold. It should also be shaken once or twice a day for the next thirty days.“ He took another container out of the cabinet. „Here I have a container with lavender tincture that is ready for the next step.“ He put a funnel and a bottle made of dark glass on the table, and then he put a piece of cloth in the funnel. „Come here. Strain the mixture through the cloth and then throw the flowers away. We don’t need them anymore.“ Valerius felt rather like a servant than a future scientist as he did that. Once he was finished, Doctor Alzelin inspected the tincture.

„Good“, he remarked. „Now to the next tincture.“ He paused for a moment and looked at Valerius, thinking about something. „I should probably also teach you how to make some simple poisons before I send you home today. It won’t do if you work in a place where people regularly deal with poisons and don’t know how any of them are made or what they are even called.“

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„Next we are going to make iodine tincture. It is an antiseptic, in other words it reduces the possibility of infection“, the doctor informed Valerius. „Give me the container with the green powder over there!“ After the Nitrozian had done so, the doctor continued. „This is kelp powder. I have imported it from Zeltiva, my old home. Kelp from Zeltiva is best for this kind of tincture in my opinion. Kelp and other sea vegetables contain the highest amount of iodine.“ He paused for a moment and waited for his assistant to process the information before he told him, „Give me another one of those containers and fill it about halfway with kelp powder.“

Valerius took a container, removed the lid and poured kelp powder into it. A bit of powder landed on the table rather than in the container. He quickly wiped it away with a piece of cloth. „Now take the bottle of alocohol that we used for the lavender tincture and pour it over the kelp powder“, Doctor Alzelin ordered. „It will pull the essential oils out of the kelp and into the tincture. There should be just enough alcohol left in the bottle. The kelp should be expanding now. Close the container, shake it and then allow the kelp some time to settle. Repeat this for a bell and add alcohol until the kelp no longer expands.“

Valerius frowned slightly as he heard that. He wasn’t particularly keen on standing there and shaking a container with kelp and alcohol for a whole bell. His hands would probably start hurting. „I’ll leave you in charge of the laboratory during that time. I need to check on one of my experiments“, Doctor Alzelin said which made Valerius feel a little better about the unpleasant task. If he was in charge of the laboratory – albeit temporarily – it wouldn’t be so bad. He preferred to think that the doctor had finally begun to trust him more.

~~~~

As Doctor Alzelin finally returned – there was a bit of blood on his previously pure white lab coat now – Valerius had already begun to be a bit uncomfortable. The doctor looked at the container in the young man’s hands, nodded and said, „That should be enough. Put it into the cabinet where the lavender tincture is. We should probably label them so that we don’t confuse them. For the next three days I want you to shake the container every time you pass by this laboratory. Again I already have a container with tincture that is at just the right stage. Give it to me. You should recognize it by the label ‚iodine tincture – stage two.“ Valerius opened the cabinet, put the mixture he had just prepared away and handed Doctor Alzelin the requested container.

„Now you are going to blend it“, the doctor informed him. While Valerius had retrieved the tincture, Doctor Alzelin had taken a metal sieve and a spoon and handed both to his assistant. „This will take a while again and his hard work, but you are strong, aren’t you?“ Valerius didn’t reply, but just started blending. Blending the mixture promised to be just as boring as shaking it, but if he refused, the doctor might think he wasn’t physically strong enough, and if there was something that Valerius didnt want, then it was to be seen as a weakling! Of course blending the mixture seemed to take an eternity!

„Now pour the kelp back into the jar“, the doctor told him after what seemed like an eternity. „Make sure that you remove everything from the sieve. And add more alcohol. There should be about a two inch float above the kelp.“ The Nitrozian nodded, poured everything into the jar and added the required amount of alcohol. Once that was done, he looked at the doctor. „Now screw the lid back on and shake it, and then put it into the cabinet again. Don’t forget to label it.“ Valerius nodded and wrote ‚kelp tincture stage three‘ onto the jar. „From now on you should shake it about once a day for fourteen days. Can I trust you not to forget this? It would be a pity if I had to throw the whole tincture away.“

„You can rely on me, doctor“, Valerius replied. „I am not forgetful.“ „We’ll see“, the doctor murmurred. He walked over to the cupboard as well, looked through it and finally took yet another jar. „This tincture is ready for the next step“, he informed his assistant. „Get me a porcelain bowel and a piece of cotton cloth. They should be in one of the other cabinets.“ Valerius searched the various cabinets until he had found a porcelain bowl. It was a beautiful bowl, white, with a picture of Ravok and its famous canals on it. It was almost a shame to use it for making kelp tincture rather than putting cookies and chocolate on it. He also found some cotton cloth and brought both to the doctor.

He was a little tired of always fetching stuff and being ordered to do things, but if that was what it took in order to become a proper researcher that would eventually surpass his teacher, then so be it. He could act a little less arrogantl for a few seasons or a few days at least.

„Put the cloth into the bowl“, Doctor Alzelin instructed him. Once Valerius had done so, the doctor poured the contents of the jar into the bowl. „And now take the ends of the cloth and wring the tincture into the bowl. Squeeze as hard as you can. I want you to get every last drop of tincture.“ To Valerius that sounded like slave work, like so many other things the doctor had ordered him to do, but he took the ends of the cloth and started squeezing. He squeezed and squeezed until his hands began to hurt a little. Finally the doctor nodded and told him, „You can stop now. Take the kelp and throw it away.“

Valerius made a face as he grabbed the cloth with the kelp and shook it over the garbage container. He put the now empty cloth onto the cabinet as Doctor Alzelin didn’t seem to be the kind of man that would approve of throwing something away that could be washed and then reused.

While he had done that, the doctor had already produced the funnel again and arranged several small dark glass bottles on the table in front of him. „I’ll hold the funnel while you pour the tincture into the bottles“, he told Valerius. Once they had done that, he ordered Valerius to label the bottles and put them away. The Nitrozian sighed a little as he took a look at his hands that had a lot of tincture on them. He would go and wash them before he helped Doctor Alzelin with the next tincture, whatever that would be.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„Now we are going to make arnica gel“, the doctor revealed. „It can be used for muscle pain, aches and arthtritis. Give me the container with the dried arnica flowers, Valerius. They look a lot like daisies, but are yellow.“ The Nitrozian handed him the container the doctor had asked for, quietly wondering whether his grandfather, Sitanos, would appreciate some arnica gel. The head of House Nitrozian wasn’t young anymore. Surely he had a few aches every now and then. Would he be happy about such a gift or get mad at him because he dared to suggest that he was growing old? He pondered that for a while while Doctor Alzelin talked more about the flowers. „Arnica should only be used on the skin. Ingesting it can cause problems. Are you still with me, Valerius?“

The Nitrozian looked up abruptly. Apparently the doctor had noticed that he had been lost in thought for a moment. „Yes, of course, doctor. You just told me that I should never ingest arnica. Please continue. How do you make arnica gel?“ He hoped that it wouldn’t involve more shaking and blending and that it wouldn’t take dozens of days to make, but alas, he was not that lucky. It seemed as if every single tincture took forever to prepare!

Doctor Alzelin put a flat plate in front of them. „I want you to crumble the arnica flowers with your fingers now, Valerius. I only want you to crumble them, not make arnica powder, do you understand? I can’t use powder for this here.“ „I understand, of course“, the Nitrozian replied and went to work. Crumbling the flowers was pleasantly easy. Once he had crumbled all the flowers, the doctor handed him another one of his jars. „Put some alcohol into it and then add the crumbled flowers. The right ratio is about one part arnica flowers to five parts alcohol. Do you think you’ll manage?“

Valerius nodded curtly, poured some alcohol into the jar and then added the flowers. „Shake it and then label it and put it into the cabinet to the other tinctures. It should remain there for about one third of a season, and it needs to be shaken at least once a day.“ The look on the Nitrozian’s face darkened for a moment as he heard that. Apparently the next season at the KRI would be spent shaking various jars rather than experimenting on Kelvic, if the amount of tinctures Doctor Alzelin asked him to produce was anything to go by.

Still, he shook the jars vigorously, just as he had been asked, labelled it correctly and then put it into the cabinet. If he did what the doctor asked of him and put some effort into his work, maybe Doctor Alzelin would decide to teach him how to make a few more complicated tinctures soon!

~~~

„This jar contains some mixture that is ready for the next stage“, the doctor explained as he removed another jar from the cabinet. He handed the jar to Valerius, and then he arranged a porcelain bowl, a colander and a paper towel in front of the Nitrozian. „I want you to strain the contents of the jar through the towel, over the colander and into the bowl now, and then I want you to pour it into this small jar here.“ He handed another amber colored jar to Valerius. While the Nitrozian strained the liquid, the doctor explained, „What you are making now is arnica extract. To turn it into arnica gel, we need this here.“

He put a container that contained a brownish green substance in front of Valerius. „This is dried moss. I want you to full a cup three quarters full with water and then add one teaspoon moss. Here.“ He handed him a clean silver spoon. While Valerius worked, he explained the next step. „Once you are done, I need you to make a fire in the small oven over there.“ He pointed at an oven in the corner. „Sometimes the mixtures have to be cooked or boiled.“

Valerius had already felt a bit like a slave before, but making fire was definitely slave work! He couldn’t wait to be free of the doctor. In a few years Doctor Alzelin would be the one who started the fire! Still, he gathered a few pieces of wood and some tinder, threw them into the oven and then used flint and steel to start the fire. „Now I want you to take a pan, put the dried moss and the water into it and bring it to a boil“, the doctor instructed him. „Stir it with this here …“ He handed Valerius a bigger spoon. „Let it simmer for about ten chimes and then take it off the heat. I assume you can do that?“

Valerius had never done kitchen work before, but boiling some moss wasn’t particularly complicated, so he just emptied the contents of the cup into a silver pan that Doctor Alzelin handed him and put the pan onto the even. For the next ten chimes he just stood there, watching the mixture. Once the time had passed, he removed the pan from the oven. Doctor Alzelin took a look at the mixture to make sure that it looked right, and then he handed him a fresh bottle of alcohol.

„I want you to put the mixture into a bowl now and add a quarter of a cup of alcohol to it. The alcohol will help preserve the gel“, the doctor told him. „Then cover the bowl and put it into the cupboard. It should be left there to thicken overnight.“

Once Valerius had done as he had told him, the doctor took another covered bowl out of the cupboarrd. „Now I want you to strain this through a paper towel and a colander and put it into a jar.“ Once the Nitrozian had done this, the doctor handed him the arnica extract they had just made. „For every ounce of gel you should add five to ten drops of arnica extract. We have about five ounces here, I think. That’s …“ „Twenty-five to fifty drops of arnica extract“, Valerius replied. The doctor nodded. „More arnica extract will make the gel stronger, but if you use too much, it can cause skin problems, and we don’t want that, do we?“

Valerius shook his head. He definitely wasn’t interested in developing skin problems. He only added twenty-five drops of arnica extract to be on the safe side. „Doctor“, he wondered once he had finished making the gel. „Could I have this here?“ He held the jar up. „There’s somebody at the Nitrozian Estate that might appreciate a bit of arnica gel.“ The doctor considered this question, and finally he nodded. „You may have it, but only if you make me some more arnica gel.“ Valerius wasn’t particularly happy about that, but he did as he was told anyway for the sake of his grandfather.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

After they had made the arnica gel, both the doctor and his assistant took a short break and had something to eat and drink before they returned the laboratory again. Doctor Alzelin showed Valerius the next herb, a herb that looked very familiar to him. „Rosemary?“ he asked and arched an eyebrow. He remembered that the cook at the Nitrozian Estate had made a most delicious roast lamb with rosemary the other day. „I wasn’t aware that rosemary had any medicinal properties.“ „It does“, the doctor replied. „Rosemary doesn’t only taste good, rosemary tincture can also give you relief from colds or ward off infection. Quite useful, don’t you agree?“

„Give me another jar. You should know where they are by now.“ Valerius handed him a jar. „Now pour two cups of alcohol into the jar and then add half a cup of rosemary needles. You can crush the needles if you want to, but it isn’t absolutely necessary.“ Valerius filled the jar with alcohol, put the rosemary needles in it and asked, „And now I need to put it into the cabinet for around half a season, correct?“ „Correct“, the doctor replied. „You learn fast. Seal the jar, put it away and then gave me the jar with rosemary tincture that is ready for the next stage.“

Valerius did as asked. „Now I need you to strain the tincture to remove the needles“, the doctor informed him. „Once you have done that put the tincture back into the jar.“ At that point Valerius already had some experience straining various mixtures, so he was done relatively quickly and then filled the tincture back into the jar. „What now?“ he wanted to know. „Are we done with the tincture?“

The doctor nodded, and then he explained, „The rosemary tincture can be used for up to a year. Like all other tinctures you should keep it in a cool and dark places when you aren’t using it.“

[Valerius Nitrozian]

The next thing that Doctor Alzelin brought to Valerius was a large ginger root, again something that the Nitrozian had only known as food so far. „Ginger root“, the doctor explained. „can be used to treat nose, a sore throat, cramps, arthritis as well as colds. Pregnant women shouldn’t take it though. Remember that, Valerius. And neither should you ingest ginger tincture on an empty stomach. Now then, I want you to chop the ginger root up. We need about half a cup of chopped ginger root. Here.“ He handed Valerius a rather sharp looking knife. „Can I trust you with it?“

Valerius didn’t reply, but just started chopping the ginger. Once he was done, he filled a cup half full with ginger and put it into a jar that the doctor handed to him. „Now I want you to add half a cup of alcohol to it“, the doctor told him. „Once you have done that, seal the jar and shake it for about a chime and then put it into the cabinet. For the next fourteen days I need you to shake it about once a day.“ A sigh escaped Valerius‘ lips. It seemed as if he would have even more jars to shake for the rest of the season and maybe even the next!

He sealed the jar, shook it, labelled it and put it away and then retrieved the ginger tincture that was ready for the next stage without Doctor Alzelin asking him about it. By now he knew how things worked. „I’m going to strain it now“, he informed the doctor. Doctor Alzelin nodded, and Valerius strained the ginger tincture through a sieve and then put it into a new jar. Once he had done that, he labelled the bottle and put it into the cabinet. „The ginger tincture will be good for about two years“, the doctor told him. „To use it, you should add one teaspoon of tincture to one cup of hot water.“

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„We are going to take a break from making tinctures now and work on something a little different“, Doctor Alzelin announced. „I’m going to teach you how to make and use a poultice, a bit of important medical knowledge. Do you know what a poultice is, Valerius?“ The Nitrozian frowned a little as he heard that question. What did the doctor take him for? An ignorant child? He had worked at the Kelvic Research Institution long enough to have observed a few things, and there had been doctors visiting the various members of the Nitrozian family as well when they had been sick. „A poultice is a paste made of various herbs“, he replied, and the doctor nodded.

„It can be used to clean wounds, prevent swellings or draw out splinters. It can also be used to treat boils, infections or abscesses, depending on what kind of herbs exactly you decide to use“, Doctor Alzelin added. „Today we are going to make a drawing poultice. There’s a a Kelvic that has an abscess under his skin. He needs treatment. You are going to provide that treatment to him, Valerius.“ Valerius nodded, acknowledging the doctor’s order, although he wasn’t too fond of boils and abscesses.

„The herb we are going to use is plantain weed“, Doctor Alzelin informed him. „Most people consider it some kind of useless weed that just grows in their backyards, but it isn’t useless. The leaves are edible. They taste similar to spinach, although they are slightly more bitter, and of course plantain weed has a few medicinal properties as well. Apart from using it for a poultice, plantain weed leaves can be made into a tea or tincture and used to treat indigestion, heartburn or ulcers. Externally plantain can be used to treat insect bites and snake bites as well as rashes and cuts. It also has anti-inflammatorial properties.“ He paused for a moment, cleared his throat and retrieved a mortar and pestle as well as a bag with what Valerius assumed were the plantain leaves. „I actually got those from my own backyard“, the doctor informed him. „Now then, I want you to mash the leaves into a paste.“

Once Valerius had done as requested, the doctor retrieved some gauze and gestured for his assistant to follow him. „Our patient is of course not here, but in one of the cages. We are going to go to him now.“ Both the doctor and his assistant walked through the Kelvic Research Institution to the area where the Kelvic were being kept. Their patient looked like a muscular dark haired man in his thirties. He was completely naked, like all of the creatures and had a collar around his neck so that he couldn’t shift. It was easier to treat a Kelvic when you didn’t have fur in the way of course. „Normally he’s a bull“, Doctor Alzelin explained as he unlocked the cage and gestured for Valerius to follow him inside.

„He’s not going to hurt us, but let us treat the abscess“, the doctor said, as much for the Kelvic’s sake as for Valerius‘ sake. „He remembers what happened the last time he tried to attack one of the researchers. I don’t think he wants to be on the operating table and receive one of those injections again.“ He walked over to the Kelvic, grabbed his arm and turned it around so that Valerius could see the red swelling on it.

„Come here, Valerius“, he ordered his assistant. „And put some of the paste on the abscess.“ Valerius really wasn’t particularly keen on touching an abscess with his bare hands, but it seemed that was necessary before he was allowed to do really important and interesting things, so he carefully smeared some of the plantain paste over the abscess on the creature’s arms. The Kelvic flinched a little, but Doctor Alzelin held his arm tightly. „And now wrap some gauze across his arm to hold the poultice in place“, the doctor continued. Valerius took the gauze from him and wrapped it around the area where he had put the poultice. „I want you to check on him regularly for the next while and change the poultice every couple of bells“, the doctor told him before he turned to the Kelvic again. „Don’t try to take the bandage off!“ he warned him. He let go of the creature’s arm, gestured for Valerius to leave the cage and locked the door again.

The Kelvic stared at them for a while as they walked back to the laboratory.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

“I think some of the creatures have flees“, Valerius murmurred as they entered the laboratory again. The doctor arched an eyebrow as he heard that. „Fortunately the next thing we are going to make also helps against fleas. I’m going to show you how to make wormwood tea. It’s a rather bitter herb, but it can be used to cure rheumatism, gout, intestinal parasites, stomach or gallbladder illnesses. You can also drink wormwood tea when you have a cold or the flu since it has strenghtening properties.“

He looked around the laboratory for a bit before he produced a container with dried wormwood leaves. “I want you to put one teaspoon of dried wormwood leaves into a cup and then pour hot water over it.“ He briefly checked the stove. There was still a fire in it, so he gave Valerius a sign to just go ahead and make the tea. Valerius put some water into a pot and heated it. Then he put one teaspoon of wormwood leaves into a cup and poured the hot water over it.

“You said that wormwood tea tastes bitter, but what if I add sugar to it?“ he asked the doctor. “It’s so bitter that even sugar may not change the taste much, but you can try mixing it with another tea. Now then, I told you that wormwood tea also helps against fleas. For that you bathe the animal in question with diluted wormwood tea. You can also disinfect wounds or small cuts with the tea if you don’t have anything else at your disposal.“

He paused for a moment as he considered something, and finally told Valerius. “I said that I would also teach you about poisons. This was your first poison. Wormwood tea should not be consumed in excessive amounts or longer than a quarter of a season. It can be poisonous then. The side effects include cramps, vomitting and delirium. If you really overdose on wormwood tea, you could even die!“

“I think it’s getting rather late“, he continued. “I originally wanted to show you a few more poisons today, but I think we’d better postpone that until tomorrow. I’ll also go over the different types of poisons and a few methods of poisonmaking with you then.“

[Abstract]

Grade Awarded!

Valerius

Skills

~ Herbalism - 5
~ Observation - 1
~ Philtering - 1
~ Medicine - 1
~ Poison - 1

Lores

~ Use Glass For Tinctures
~ Uses of Lavender Tincture
~ How to Make Lavender Tincture
~ Uses of Iodine Tincture
~ Kelp Powder: From Zeltiva, Used in Iodine Tincture
~ How to Make Iodine Tincture
~ Appearance of Arnica Flowers
~ Uses of Arnica Gel
~ How to Make Arnica Gel
~ Uses of Rosemary Tincture
~ How to Make Rosemary Tincture
~ Uses of Ginger Tincture
~ How to Make Ginger Tincture
~ Properties of Plantain Weed
~ How to Heal an Abscess
~ Uses of Wormwood Tea
~ How to Make Wormwood Tea

Other

+ 5 ounces of arnica gel

Notes

Excellent thread! It was really easy to grade, and well written. You got a huge stack of lores as well, all of them incredibly useful.

Otherwise, remember to only put one thread/request in