Flashback The Agony Of Beginning Herbalism

Kavala makes a friend in one of the most boring classes she's ever taken.

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Home of the Konti people, this ivory city is built of native konti stone half in and half out of the sea. Its borders touch the Silverwood, and stretch upwards towards Silver Lake, home of the infamous konti vision water. [Lore]

The Agony Of Beginning Herbalism

Postby Kavala on June 7th, 2014, 11:12 pm

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Timestamp: 40th of Summer, 508 AV


Drae Sommers’ basic herbalism class was thorough. Kavala had other classes but this one was heavy in nomenclature, utilized the student’s ability to draw, and had them learning heavily about botany as well as they gained herbalism knowledge. Drae drilled into them over and over again that they needed good fundamentals before they could move on and have solid skillsets in medicine. She didn’t care where each person was in class, she constantly drilled them to make sure they perfectly understood her teaching. And that meant that notes had to be copiously made, meticulously labeled, and the students had to know their stuff. Quizzes were not unheard of and often their tests were unannounced. For all that, Kavala liked Drae. She always gave the ENTIRE picture of what they were trying to learn, not just little slices of the puzzle that never equated to a whole pie.

So, it wasn’t a big shock to Kavala to find herself out in the gardens, a large sketch pad and a box of pencils and colored inks sitting beside her. She wanted to master the concept of drawing, and plants were fortunately easy enough to do. Luckily they were just lines and simple strokes that could be shaded with greens or blacks or whites. With a fresh journal in her laps and colored inks sitting beside her, Kavala was tracing careful lines on paper with a quill and adding delicate lables to them. The drawing was slowly taking shape with Kavala’s careful attention to it. It wouldn’t be her first of the afternoon… but it would set the bar to her journal that would set the pace of her herbalism studies for the whole of her life.

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She started from the top down, labeling carefully the stems leaves and buds. Nodes got marked and then she decided a entirely new diagram of leaf parts would be needed. She got blades and petioles done. Then she labeled the entire system the shoot system. Then she went on to label the lateral roots, primary root and then the entire root system. When she was done, Kavala sat back and admired her work. She had two more diagrams to do... one was specific leaf parts and one was specific flower parts.

Drae was making them learn the parts of plants because in order to be proper herbalists, they had to know which parts of plants were good to use as medicines and which parts were useless or even harmful. If one didn’t know stems from leaves from roots – which should have been obvious but weren’t in all plants – then there was no point in taking the training further. Once they learned plant parts, they’d move on to types of plants and then individual herb identifications. There was a lot of information to fill a young Konti’s head with… but it was something she had to learn… whether she wanted to or not.

Kavala sighed, stood up and stretched, then gathered a few leaves and laid them out as models so she could begin drawing all over again.
She dipped into the black and outlined a leaf coming from a stem, making notes as she drew in the veins. Kavala wiped the tip, dipped into green, and began to ink in the inside of the leaf in color, dragging it through the still wet black to get a darker shade of green around the edges. She then wiped the quill again, dipped it in white, and added pale spots to the leaves to give it highlights. One more wipe and she was back in the black drawing in the veins. When she was done, Kavala paused, blew on the journal, and re-dipped the black and began labeling.

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She sat back, groaned, and then stretched. Kavala carefully filled the rest of her journal with notes on leaf structure to go along with the notes on plant structure she had already added. When she was done Kavala knew she’d have a very nice identification book if she kept working… but the work was tedious and one of the things she didn’t understand about work on Mura. Among her people, the Drykas, everything was taught orally. Nothing was handed down in books. Books didn’t survive on the Grasslands. But here, if she wanted the marks she had to follow protocol, and her class was lonely. She longed for the moments she could split from her study work and turn back to the cove where she’d been camping in, sharing evenings and lessons with Matthew.

Sighing, she stood up and paced the garden once. She gathered leaves as she did so. The Konti had a pile of various sized leaves with her, different shapes, sizes, and margin types. Once she thought she had one of each kind, she left a pile sitting around her on the bench she had taken over and once more picked up her inks. The leaves, one by one were divided into categories then carefully sketched and labeled. She went back over them with color, making some of them interesting colors just to relieve the gross tediousness of the task.


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When she was all done, Kavala had them all divided up into five categories. The categories were veins, shapes, arrangements, edges, and arrangements on the stems. Kavala ran her fingers through her hair leaving streaks of color in the translucent strands. She frowned down at the work, then began adding notes from the lecture to the journal entry. The writing went on forever. Her hand cramped, her eyes practically crossed, and she looked downright cranky. When she could take no more of it, she packed up her inks and notes, blew on the journal page until it was dry and slammed it shut. Her teeth were practically grinding in frustration.

”This all seems so useless. I know we need to know what plants look like to be able to harvest correctly and do proper herbalism, but can’t they just show us the exact plants we need? Why do we need to know the difference between toothed edged leaves and lobe edged leaves” Kavala said into the thin air, wondering even to herself whom exactly she was talking too. The young Konti was willful, restless, and wasn’t used to long hours in the classroom or bent over a journal taking meticulous notes. She slammed her journal closed, then re-opened it again, scanning over some of the paragraphs she’d written.

Flowering plants and herbs are split into two types. The first type is a monocot. Monocots have one single seed leaf called a cotyledon that emerges from the seed. The second type of herb is called a dicot. This type has two seed leaves or cotyledons that emerge from the seed. A good example of a monocot is a grass while beans are great examples of dicots. Leaf veins and floral parts also differ in monocots and dicots. Monocots have veins that form parallel patterns that move from the base to the top. Dicots have leaf veins that form a net-like pattern. Monocots have floral parts in multiple of three while dicots have floral parts in multiples of four or five.


Kavala groaned. Drae was her friend, but the classwork was so dull. It was incredibly dull. Anything else in the world pretty much held more of an appeal to her than this dreadfully dull material. She rose, brushed off her rear from where she sat on the dusty bench, and wondered if it wasn’t time for a run before hitting the books again.

Before the night was done she had to get through leaf arrangement, leaf shape, and simple or compound leaves. Dicotomy keys were brutal and dull. Kavala decided getting her nails yanked out by the roots would probably be less painful.

Count: 1304
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The Sanctuary The Sanctuary Forum Riverfall The Cytali
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Please Note:
  • This pc is maxed out in Animal Husbandry, Medicine, Observation, Rhetoric, and Socialization.
  • Kavala a Master Teacher. Students she is teaching in thread can earn more than the maxium 5 XP per thread.
  • This pc has a Konti Gift of Animal Empathy. She has a superpower from a Riverfall city event that allows animals of all sorts and Kelvics (in kelvic form) to speak clear understandable Common around her.
  • Kavala is a Konti but was raised in the Drykas culture so her accent is entirely Pavi though she can speak Common, Pavi, and Tukant well. She's only conversational in Kontinese.
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Kavala
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The Agony Of Beginning Herbalism

Postby Alaia on June 8th, 2014, 12:39 pm

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Herbalism! Plants! Leaves! Stems! Leaves! Plants!

Alaia’s mind swirled as she stared at the journal they kept for the class, each page filled with meticulous drawings and labels that she agonized over every evening. Really she thought this would be more fun, couldn’t they plant and harvest? Alaia was sitting in her bedroom, her back pressed against the wall and her knees were bent at a forty-five degree angle to support the precariously positioned journal. Her fingers ran deftly over the edge of the page as she repeated to herself out loud what would seem like a personal mantra if people didn’t know she was studying.

“A plant has two organ systems: 1) the shoot system, and 2) the root system. The shoot system is above ground and includes the organs such as leaves, buds, stems, flowers (if the plant has any), and fruits (if the plant has any). The root system includes those parts of the plant below ground, such as the roots, tubers, and rhizomes.”

Each word rolled off her tongue in a dull staccato that made her want to fall asleep especially added to the comfort of the bed she was laying on. The young Konti shook her head and grabbed the edges of her book lifting it from her lap “This just won’t do …” she muttered to herself before she slid from the mattress and tucked her journal under her arm as she turned towards the desk sitting neatly in a corner. Her drawing supplies were on top in a purse that was big enough to hold her charcoals, inks and a decent sized sketch pad. Really the purse was more like a backpack in size but hung from her shoulder like a females purse and that suited her just fine. Slinging it over her shoulder she paused only to tuck a stray hair behind her ear before she set out to head towards the gardens hoping that inspiration would be more forgiving among the plants.

“……A crown is a region of compressed stem tissue from which new shoots are produced, generally found near the surface of the soil. Crowns are compressed stems having leaves and flowers on short internodes.

A spur is a compressed fruiting branch. Spurs are short, stubby, side stems that arise from the main stem and are common on such fruit trees.

A stolon is a horizontal stem that is fleshy or semi-woody and lies along the top of the ground. A runner is a type of stolon. It is a specialized stem that grows on the soil surface and forms a new plant at one or more of its nodes…..”


Alaia sang the words in whisper under her breath finding a horribly boring song much more fun than a horrible boring repetitive chant. Every once and a while she’d flick open her book to confirm or reread something she thought was right and then she’d continue on with her song keeping a finger between the pages of her journal as she did. The Konti women that lived here in Mura worked and spoke and sang as she passed each one of them nodding with a friendly smile to those she knew personally and even to the ones she didn’t.

The trip to the gardens wasn’t a long one but she wasn’t exactly rushing to study either, she was convinced she ate slept and dreamt about herbs and while that would help her in the long run alls she wanted to do was draw something other than plants for once since she started this class. Her steps slowed and her song died on her lips as she paused by one of the shops on the main street of their island. She waved gently to the vendor that was dealing with another customer just to greet her while she looked over the food that was set out for sale. Suddenly she was starving and a full stomach would help her study with more intensity when she wasn’t constantly thinking about something to eat.

On the venders table there was a wrap of kelp around some Tol’uma and some freshly steamed fish, a smile brightened Alaia’s face and she dug into her pocket to pull out the coin needed for her treat. Stepping over to the vendor she spoke in soft polite tones. “Excuse me … I’m sorry I just wish to pay…” The vendor and the Konti woman she was speaking with both nodded as if to okay her interruption before Alaia carefully placed the coins in the woman’s purse careful not to touch her. “Thank you!” Turning back to the table she’d pick up the snack she wanted and continue on her way towards the gardens eating and singing under her breath between each bite as she went.

“…..A tuber is an enlarged portion of an underground stem, underground stems store food for the plant. The tuber, like any other stem, has nodes that produce buds.

A rhizome is a specialized stem which grows horizontally at or just below the soil surface. They act as a storage organ and means of propagation in some plants and are similar to stolons. Some rhizomes are compressed and fleshy such as those of iris; they can also be slender with elongated internodes…..

…I don’t know what else to sing because I’m bored…”


She ended her whispering song rather abruptly as it started to get even on her nerves by the time she reached the edge of the gardens. Slowing her skip she entered the edge of the garden, her eyes scanning for a nice place to set up for the rest of the afternoon, when she noticed one of the girls from her class. Alaia’s steps came slowly to a stop for just a moment before she approached her classmate, she didn’t know her name as Alaia often kept to herself and from what she could tell so did this girl but she figured maybe she could rope the girl into studying with her to help it not be so monotonous. “Good …” Alaia looked up into the sky for a brief second to try to judge the time before she continued in Kontinese offering the girl a soft smile “…morning? I hope I’m not interrupting but I saw you and well … you’re in my class aren’t you?”

The small woman caught her bottom lip with her teeth chewing it a bit nervously though her eyes flicked to the journal in the girls hands and then back up to her before she rushed her next words just to clarify what she meant. “I’m sorry, I’m Alaia … I’m in the Herbalism class with Miss Drae.” Alaia was easy going despite her worry that she had possibly interrupted the girl when she wanted to be alone, it was easy to get lost in the Gardens when you wanted to be alone. She kept her distance from the other Konti not reaching out a hand to shake in introduction but she smiled warmly nonetheless, she didn’t really like touching people if she could help it so she got used to being overly expressive in her face to make up for that fact.
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Alaia
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The Agony Of Beginning Herbalism

Postby Kavala on June 9th, 2014, 8:32 pm

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Kavala looked up when the smaller Konti approached her. The Dryaks in Konti skin offered a hesitant smile, wondering if she was trespassing on someone’s bench or doing something wrong by picking leaves off plants and gathering them in smile piles around her self-appointed workstation. She hastily stepped in front of them, guilty for a moment, then tilted her head to the side as the woman spoke.

Kavala’s mother had started teaching her Kontinese when she’d been little, but then the woman had gone and fallen from a horse, breaking her neck and leaving her young daughters behind. Neither Kavala nor her older sister Akela had learned more than a handful of Kontinese words, which was one of the reasons she was glad her classes were taught in Common. The teachers claimed it was to get the girls used to common and off their native tongue. When they left the Isle on Calls, they had to be able to speak the language of the outside world. And so Kavala spoke Common well, though Pavi was her primary language. Kontinese… not so much.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not catching all your words. I don’t speak Kontinese.” Kavala said, flushing slightly. “At least not well…” She added, knowing she’d picked out Drae’s name, the term Herbalism, and a few other things… a few conjunction words… and, in, etc. She had no idea she’d just been given an introduction or that the woman was trying to be friendly. Kavala had received some of the worst tongue chewings from the most beautiful politely sounding women.

“Can you repeat everything you said once more in Common if you speak it?”
Kavala asked. “And I didn’t mean to break any rules picking leaves or drawing at the bench. I’m truly sorry if I have. I can move along. I was almost done.” Kavala said, her words apologetic. Though, if truth be told she hated leaving just yet. She wasn’t due to meet Matthew until evening, and the afternoon stretched out full of beautiful weather and with the promise of some interesting study. She had more to study for, mostly in regards to Drae’s class, then she had plans to buy a kite she’d seen for sale in the market and go see if she could fly it. The whole idea intrigued her, even though she didn’t know the first thing about kite flying.

Kavala noted the strangers face. The other girl’s face looked truly familiar suddenly… insofar as all the Konti looked alike to her. Sure, she was Konti herself, but she’d grown up on the grasslands where everyone looked Drykas and she’d stood out. While the Konti might think all humans looked the same, Kavala knew different. Was this girl in one of her classes? Maybe even in Draes? Maybe she didn’t’ know common. Kavala frowned, uncertain about even wondering such things.

The Konti was all alone on Mura until she’d found Matthew, a fellow student and someone she studied with… a whole host of things they didn’t or couldn’t learn in classes. None of the other Konti had given her much in regards to the time of day. She was ‘rough’ by their standards, dressed in interesting and sometimes inappropriate clothing, and didn’t know their language. It left Kavala something of an outsider, which she rarely forgot.


Count: 553
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The Sanctuary The Sanctuary Forum Riverfall The Cytali
Reverie Isle Wolf Creek Training Course
Please Note:
  • This pc is maxed out in Animal Husbandry, Medicine, Observation, Rhetoric, and Socialization.
  • Kavala a Master Teacher. Students she is teaching in thread can earn more than the maxium 5 XP per thread.
  • This pc has a Konti Gift of Animal Empathy. She has a superpower from a Riverfall city event that allows animals of all sorts and Kelvics (in kelvic form) to speak clear understandable Common around her.
  • Kavala is a Konti but was raised in the Drykas culture so her accent is entirely Pavi though she can speak Common, Pavi, and Tukant well. She's only conversational in Kontinese.
User avatar
Kavala
I am more than the sum of my parts.
 
Posts: 3025
Words: 3295757
Joined roleplay: October 25th, 2009, 1:46 am
Location: Riverfall
Race: Konti
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Scrapbook
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Medals: 17
Featured Thread (1) Mizahar Grader (1)
Trailblazer (2) Overlored (1)
Master Merchant (1) Donor (1)
One Thousand Posts! (1) One Million Words! (1)
Riverfall Seasonal Challenge (2) 2014 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)

The Agony Of Beginning Herbalism

Postby Alaia on June 11th, 2014, 7:56 pm

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Alaia’s eyes scanned over the woman’s movements, her eyes flicking to where the other Konti’s movements seemed to hide a bunch of leaves that belonged to area plants. Confusion set in as to why the woman seemed to feel the need to hide her work considering Alaia was simply introducing herself and had done similar things to plants so she could more properly execute her drawings. The words spoken by the taller woman were in common and it took a moment for Alaia’s brain to grasp what was being spoken because she hadn’t been expecting it.

A blush instantly flooded her cheeks and she waved her hand softly. “No, no. I did not know.” She took a deep breath remembering what she said and slowly she translated it to the smoothest common she knew as common wasn’t fluent for her. Each word was spoken with a slow deliberate nature though her lack of speed wasn’t meant to be insulting; it was more so she wouldn’t embarrass herself by replacing wrong words. “I am Alaia…What is your name?” She tilted her head and then offered an easy smile to the girl. “…you are in my class, yes? Miss Drae’s herbalism?” She held up her journal as a visual aid because well that felt more comfortable just in case she said the word wrong.

“Rules?” she frowned in confusion trying to figure out what rules the girl was talking about, her gaze flicked to the leaves the girl had picked again and realization dawned on Alaia’s face like an open book. Every emotion she felt flashed there ready to be read so long as the person was paying attention. “Oh! Don’t think it is problem. I do pick them too.” She grinned then and shrugged the shoulder that her pack was slung over and splayed a webbed hand around the garden “More will grow, but if you wish I won’t tell … it can be our secret.”

Alaia nodded and chewed her lip again not wanting to be rude but curiosity piqued in her and a question poised on the tip of her tongue. In order not to bombard the girl with personal questions she instead opened her journal and pointed to one of the pages in it and the picture she had drawn. Even though the lessons were taught in common Alaia’s book was written in Kontinese though there were subtle notes in common beside each of the Kontinese words so that Alaia could learn the language better. She hadn’t started learning Common until a bit later in life, not for lack of wanting but just from lack of need until a few years ago and the class on herbs was full of words that were not spoken in everyday common so she wrote her journal in both.

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“Do you think I made this right? There are many little parts…” She quirked a sideways smile of embarrassment towards the other konti and chewed her bottom lip “…I think I did it right.” Herbalism, the two had that in common so that was what she stuck to for the beginning of the conversation though there was a certain part of her that thought maybe she could make a friend through the girl. Alaia didn’t have many friends, even her sisters were closer with each other then they were with her so she was a bit tentative in her approach to the girl now standing before her but she was also excited at the prospect.
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Alaia
My soul whispers to you in the silence.
 
Posts: 232
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The Agony Of Beginning Herbalism

Postby Kavala on June 16th, 2014, 6:25 pm

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It took Kavala a moment to realize what they were dealing with was something of a language barrier. She should have guessed because Drae always spoke common to her but a lot of her fellow students didn’t speak common fluently. They were instead limited to Kontinese which was fine for Mura, but when they went out on Call it wouldn’t aid them further in the lands around the island.

“I am Kavala. Yes, we share a class. I was afraid… very afraid that we could not harvest here. But I needed the leaves to draw.”
She said, settling down once more on the bench she’d been occupying. "I’m glad we are working on the same project. I don’t feel so bad about my harvest now. I’m trying to get the gist of Monocots verses Dicots for how to key them out. As far as I can see the Monocot Stems look like they have faces in them and the Dicot Stems seem far more organized. They look like X’s in the middle.” Kavala confessed, tapping at the various stems she had out on front of her for comparison.

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Kavala said, pointing at her drawing that was a bit smeared because she’d hastily closed the book. The Konti pulled out her inks once more and set about fixing the diagram, redrawing some of the margins, and filling in the middle with a nice bit of shaded ink. “I like your diagram. That’s a nice bit of art.” Kavala said, pulling her samples out of her jacket pocket and laying them out once more. She frowned, looked around, and spotted a nice picnic table in the midst of the park that was unoccupied. She nodded over to it with her chin since her hands were full. “Would you join me at a real table? We could work together.” She suggested, starting to rise to move over to the table if Alaia agreed. The Konti took a few moments to organize herself at the table this time and laid out her harvested samples.

“I’m glad there is no rule that you know of against picking samples. It is hard to do this work without knowing what we are doing. I would rather Drae just give us the plants we need and let us learn. I mean… hand us a sprig of Lavender and say ‘This is lavender.. here are its properties.. this is why you need to know what it is…” Kavala paused. “That is how my people learn. This way… seems very complex with a lot more information to remember.” The Konti confessed.

"Like these stems and root systems… I never knew there were so many kinds of plants before. And I didn’t know the difference between monocots and dicots or why they are more important. Drae says monocots are more primitive… less advanced. I’m not sure why that is. They seem just as complicated as the dicots to me.” Kavala confessed and then started in drawing more root and stem structure like Alaia had. Alaia’s drawings looked better than Kavala’s work did. The Konti shook her head. Drawing wasn’t her forte though she did indeed love art.

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“The Monocot seeds are different from Dicot seeds too. Same with the leaves, flowers, and everything. I keep looking at the drawings, the seeds, flowers, parts.. and think I’m never going to remember this stuff.”
Kavala injected, looking a bit intimidated. She ran her hand through her pale hair, smearing it inadvertently with green ink which she didn’t notice doing.

“Do you have any classes that are more exciting than this one?” Kavala asked, curious to see what Alaia had as a set of classes and if she enjoyed any of her rotation. Kavala liked some of her classes, but most of them were utterly dry and unrelated to what she wanted to learn as a whole. Everyone talked about being a healer to mankind and other sentient creatures. Kavala just wanted to be an animal healer, since without the animals the people would starve, have no transportation, and get far smaller amounts of labor done. But it was hard to find anyone who could relate. Everyone else wanted to be a sort of people healer. And that was what all her classes focused on and all the examples were for given in those classes.

Kavala hoped for Alaia to give her a favorable answer so she could know what to take in terms of classes when the current rotation was done. While she was listening, Kavala pulled out two seeds they had been given – a corn and bean seed – and began diagramming them. Corn was a monocot while beans were dicots. She carefully split both with a razor sharp knife and then laying them flat began to sketch them carefully. To be rebellious she used blue ink and colored them bright bold blue.

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The Konti was gritting her teeth by the time she was done. Her quill tapping furiously at her chin, she studied the drawing and then the real seeds, then looked back and the drawing making quick notes and looking thoughtful. She labeled everything in common though if Alaia was looking, and knew common in writing, she could tell Kavala made a lot of spelling mistakes. She was Drykas, and just not used to writing things down.

“You know, on the Sea of Grass we have no paper. Mura seems to be made of it. Everyone writes everything down here. It’s very strange… very strange indeed. We don’t have things like charts and graphs and terms. We have our memories and only that. I don’t know how you Konti do it.”
Kavala admitted, dragging her hand through her hair again, absently brushing it out of the way. She left an indigo blue ink stain this time, parallel to the green one. It was almost comical the way it looked.

The Konti wiped her quill down, studied her own drawings, and frowned at the specimens. There was a lot to learn here on Mura… a lot. And most of it, in Kavala’s way of thinking, wasn’t exactly about medicine. It was more about life and what it entailed to the outsiders and people who lived beyond the Sea of Grass.

“So where are you from Alaia? Mura or someplace else?”
Kavala asked curiously.


Count: 1,057
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The Sanctuary The Sanctuary Forum Riverfall The Cytali
Reverie Isle Wolf Creek Training Course
Please Note:
  • This pc is maxed out in Animal Husbandry, Medicine, Observation, Rhetoric, and Socialization.
  • Kavala a Master Teacher. Students she is teaching in thread can earn more than the maxium 5 XP per thread.
  • This pc has a Konti Gift of Animal Empathy. She has a superpower from a Riverfall city event that allows animals of all sorts and Kelvics (in kelvic form) to speak clear understandable Common around her.
  • Kavala is a Konti but was raised in the Drykas culture so her accent is entirely Pavi though she can speak Common, Pavi, and Tukant well. She's only conversational in Kontinese.
User avatar
Kavala
I am more than the sum of my parts.
 
Posts: 3025
Words: 3295757
Joined roleplay: October 25th, 2009, 1:46 am
Location: Riverfall
Race: Konti
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Scrapbook
Plotnotes
Medals: 17
Featured Thread (1) Mizahar Grader (1)
Trailblazer (2) Overlored (1)
Master Merchant (1) Donor (1)
One Thousand Posts! (1) One Million Words! (1)
Riverfall Seasonal Challenge (2) 2014 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)

The Agony Of Beginning Herbalism

Postby Alaia on June 21st, 2014, 1:11 pm

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Aalia’s embarrassed smile turned into one of warmth and welcome when the other Konti introduced herself. Watching as Kavala settled onto the bench Alaia drew closer to peer at the woman’s book as she talked about Monocots and Dicots. With a simple nose wrinkle she shook her head lightly “Ugh I hate Monocots and Dicots. It’s like trying to remember what difference between a stalactite and stalagmite is. For the record I don’t know those either…” She laughed brightly because it was the truth, what was the point of learning about these plant innards when she knew she would never need to use the information in the future? “…I think that drawing is right … yes …” she nodded and flipped open her own journal searching for the page that she had drawn her own similar diagram to compare what she had with what Kavala had. Kavala’s art was much more colorful then Alaia’s but when she found her own charcoal drawing she smiled “Looks to be right, and thank you. I love your colors.” She nodded again and then glanced up towards the picnic table when the other Konti pointed it out and Alaia nodded – if Kavala let her she’d offer to help her carry things over before taking her own seat opposite the girl.

While Kavala talked about how her people learned versus how the women of Mura learned Alaia’s brows knitted in curiosity. “I hope it’s not rude … your people? Where are you from?” She began laying out her own journal and pulling out the charcoals from her pack before pushing that out of her way and off to the side. “Yes, it is rather tedious isn’t it? Though I suppose we learn what we need to know …” It was the only way Alaia knew to learn, unfortunately their typical medical and herb training was repetitive and dry in the classroom. She was simply grateful healing ran in her family because she tended to get a bit of hands on experience that way which was much more fulfilling then scribbling in a journal.

“I don’t really understand why one is primitive and one is not either … I have this …” She paused and flipped a few more pages to show another diagram in regards to the Monocots and Dicots “Ms. Dae didn’t make this but I was having a terrible time knowing how to tell them apart …” She pointed to the leaves first in her drawing “Monocots seem to be well organized above the surface, they have the parallel leave veins and seem calm. Dicot’s intensity lays in its leaves…” she paused trying to think of a good way to describe how she was slowly remembering the difference. “…think of a Monocot as the person who is calm on the surface but that is only because they hide their emotions well … beneath the surface they are an unseen storm. Reminds me a lot of Laviku really, the ocean. The Dicot is just the opposite. Chaos on the surface, like the person how expresses all of their emotions on their face and are very easy to read but beneath the surface they are simple and more at peace.” Alaia shrugged and blushed lightly, it was easier for her to remember the parts if she compared them to everyday things so she hoped the comparison helped her classmate.

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“It’s simple but it shows the same thing as your stem picture, the Dicots seem to be more of a crossing, more organized in their structure. Maybe that’s what Ms Dae meant by them being more advanced? The roots tend to grow straight down unlike the Monocots which just do their own thing and grow in a bunch of different branches and angles. They’re the rebel of the two.” Alaia grinned at that and the flipped to another page where she could better display the root systems of the two different plants. “You see…the taproot on the Dicot … I think that’s the common word for it? It’s just like a stem with little feelers that reach out from the roots, they almost seem shy … but the Monocot reminds me of a bad hair day. The roots just go everywhere and look to be in complete chaos.”

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Alaia smiled sheepishly as she stopped talking, hoping Kavala didn’t think she was rambling to much. “I hope that helped.” She offered though her eyes traveled to the green that was smeared in the other Konti’s hair and she grinned from ear to ear “You’ve got a little …” she motioned to the spot in her blonde hair and hid a soft laugh behind her hand before she answered the questions about her other classes. “I tend to spend most of my time learning from my mother honestly. I love classes but I find hands on much easier to retain. My mother is a healer, like me… though I do have an anatomy class; I don’t even want to talk about how my head spins on that one.” She laughed softly and then glanced down at her journal with a slight frown. She loved healing but because of her gift there were times she dreaded the hands on work because she just didn’t want to know everyone’s business and that was so hard to escape in her life. “I want to learn philtering, I think that would be a big help when it’s time to finally go out on my own. I won’t stay in Mura; I’ll leave once I become an adult. I was thinking Riverfall maybe.”

The Sea of Grass, finally it all clicked together as Kavala spoke of the way they learned where she grew up, that was why she felt separate and why she spoke common over Kontinese. “Maybe you can show me how you learned where you grew up? I’d love to experience what you’re used to … maybe we can have little study sessions and help ourselves learn by combining the two styles?” As she spoke Kavala added a blue streak to her green one and the smaller Konti couldn’t stop from laughing, she wasn’t laughing at her but at the fact she didn’t seem to realize what she was doing. “Kavala … your hair … you’re a flower now, a Monocot since you have three colors, like petals.” She winked hoping that Kavala wouldn’t be offended by her gentle laughing.

When she finally got a hold of herself she grinned “I was born here in Mura. I have a few sisters and a brother but my brother doesn’t live here. I don’t see myself living here for more than a few more years though like I said … I can feel it in my bones – the want to leave. To heal someplace where they might need me more, if that makes sense?” Reaching up she tucked a few pieces of hair behind her ear and shrugged a delicate shoulder “What about you? How was growing up on the Sea of Grass? What brought you to Mura?” She paused briefly and then added with gentle tones remembering a phrasing that Kavala had used. “You’re a Konti too, you know. You’re one of us even if you are of the people from the Sea of Grass as well.” She blushed with slight embarrassment hoping she wasn’t prying to much “I’m just saying, you’re one of them but you’re also one of us. I'm sorry if I'm being rude but, welcome to your second home Kavala.”
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The Agony Of Beginning Herbalism

Postby Kavala on June 23rd, 2014, 6:34 pm

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Kavala watched Alaia rearrange herself and settle down to work across the bench from her. She was grateful for the help, advance, and everything the woman said. She knew they would have language issues, but perhaps between the Common and the smattering of Kontinese that Kavala knew they could mingle through it. Alaia wasn’t bad at Common; she just seemed unused to using it, which made sense if the woman had grown into herself on Mura.

“I’m definitely in your class. Drae has become something of a friend. I take poisons from her as well. Many poisons are medicines, though people don’t realize that.” Kavala said, looking thoughtful. Compared to Alaia’s drawings, Kavala thought hers were primitive. She was just glad she could read her own artwork enough to actually study them and learn something from it. Alaia obviously was a bit more gifted. Kavala used colors, but it didn’t make up for talent in her mind. “The colors help me learn.” She said simply, not sure she should say that she just wanted something other than plain text to look at – that she couldn’t stand plain text.

“Secrets are a good thing.” Kavala said in agreement to Alaia’s earlier statement about keeping it a secret. She offered Alaia a smile. “I’ve been taught if you find something to pick – a medicine herb or food – you just pick one leaf or stem to every three and that will keep the plant alive and growing for others.” Kavala interjected, hoping the girl was picking up on her common. She knew she wouldn’t be able to pick up or keep up in Kontinese. That was one of the reasons she’d made very few friends. Most everyone here her age or younger didn’t speak a language she could understand. Had her mother lived longer, Kavala was sure she would have learned more Kontinese, but that hadn’t been Lex’s plan for her.

“I’m Drykas. I mean… I look Konti but my entire family is Drykas. My mother got her Call to The Sea of Grass and married my father as a second wife. I have a sister who’s Drykas and Konti both as well. She’s very good with a sword.”
Kavala said, suddenly missing Akela acutely. If she had no other friends here besides Matthew, at least if Akela had been along, Kavala would never have lacked for female companionship.

“Yes, it’s very dry. Drae is a good instructor, but the subject matter seems so repetitive. I’m starting to hate looking at plants.” The Konti said, warming up slightly to Alaia. The girl opposite of her seemed so normal. Without the pale skin and scales, she could have passed for a Drykas easily enough in her mannerisms. Kavala listened on as she spoke, deciding she liked Alaia’s accent and the way she formed her words.

“People that consider themselves educated tend to label things that are simple as primitive and those that are complex as advanced. They think a city like Mura or Syliras is advanced whereas people that live off the backs of their horses and move their cities often are primitive. It’s ignorance on their part for all their education.”
Kavala said, looking thoughtful again and tapping her chin with a thumbnail. “I like your chart. It does help a lot.” Kavala said, leaning over the table to look across at what Alaia had made.

It made perfect sense, in a way, to categorize them that way. Kavala made a mental note to make a chart similar to that when Alaia wasn’t looking so she could help herself study as well.

“Drae says plant identification is everything. I understand that there are plants that look like other plants. I get that. But these drills and details overfill my head and it starts to pound. I went after class to talk to her the other day and she showed me a table filled with things. Then she let me look a full minute at it, and then covered it with a blanket. Once it was covered she asked me to recite things off the table. I told her everything I had seen and she argued with me because she said I had extra in there when I told her I saw a red piece of thread. When she pulled back the blanket it was there still… not on her list of other objects like the cup, bowl, tincture labeled spearmint, and so forth. It was then that she asked me about my people… and I told her I was Drykas. She wondered how someone raised so primitively could have a brain that could see things. We must be smart... if you aren’t, you don stay alive.”
She added, shaking her head.

“Then a bit later a girl from Mura came in… while I was still there talking to Drae. She paused to do the test on the girl. The girl got five things out of the twenty that were on the table. That was a city born girl. I think we loose something growing up so crowded.” Kavala admitted, shaking her head sadly.

When Alaia gave her definition of monocot verses dicot, Kavala was really impressed. Her analogies were spot on and not something Kavala would forget fairly quickly. Kavala continued listening, nodding when Alaia pointed at her drawings of roots and gave the comparison and contrast to all sorts of things between the two types. Kavala laughed at a couple, especially the reference to the sea. It was so true.

“You are lucky you have your mother to teach you.”
Kavala said, reaching up to pull at the ink in her hair. It was no use though. There wasn’t much she could do with the green and blue inks until she got to where she could bathe. She only shook her head sadly at Alaia and laughed at herself. “I’ve always wanted another color of hair rather than white.” The Konti said, chuckling at the strands.

“My mother died when I was seven. It was from a fall off a horse. That’s why I didn’t learn much Kontinese and why I was raised Drykas. I would have loved to have her around to teach us … my older sister and I … of what it was like to be a Konti. But I’m learning a great deal of it here. It’s very different than The Sea of Grass. Life is a lot less complicated and dangerous.”
Kavala admitted not sure how much detail she should go into or if it was just safe to leave her issues at that.

Alaia’s suggestions brought a smile to Kavala’s face. She wanted to cross train from a Konti and a Drykas perspective? That would be fantastic. Kavala’s smile turned into a grin. “I’m learning philtering too. I plan to take a class on it next season, but for now I’m just doing the basics. I would love to study with you more, make it a regular thing. I have another study partner as well. You should meet him sometime. We study things we take in school together and other things as well. We camp out a lot, since the weather is nice and our rooms here at the college are cramped.” Kavala added, though maybe if Alaia lived at home with her mother then she’d most likely had a larger space.

Alaia interrupted her train of thought about the housing situation as Alaia pointed out she was a monocot. The Konti laughed and nodded. “So most would think....But I have a feeling these monocots will surprise us. I have already seen a lot of them in this garden that are medicinal. Maybe they aren’t complicated, but sometimes simple is good.” Kavala said with a laugh.

Then she grew quiet as Alaia talked about her family. She could understand wanting to get away and learn. Mura was so tame, very peaceful, but because it was it didn’t make its white isle women strong. The world outside forged and tempered them. Kavala said as much. “You will change if you leave, even to go to your father’s people in Riverfall. Time here passes slowly if at all. Outside everything happens fast, Alaia. The world is hard and dangerous. Men would take from you what you do not want to give, be it your coin in your pocket or pleasures from your body. There are things out there as well that eat people. Roads are not always safe. You’ll need to learn to ride and fight to be really free out there. And you want to be free and safe. I can help you learn to ride. I brought my strider with me. But I’m just learning to fight. You can learn that here, but it takes some digging. Promise me you will?” Kavala said suddenly, worried, not wanting to see the fragile Konti across the table eaten alive by the world outside the white isle.

Then Alaia’s next words shocked her. She told Kavala that she was just as much Konti and just as welcome as the rest of them. Kavala rose from the table, circled it, and gave the other woman a fierce hug. “I thought I had no family here. My mother’s kin are all gone. But… you… you just accepted me into your Pavilion which is a high honor. Please be welcome in mine as well and in my heart. Thank you Alaia. That is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. That means we are sisters in truth, not just because our skin color is the same.” The Konti said again, hugging Alaia fiercely a second time.

“I’m going to teach you everything a sister should about the outside word. I don’t know much yet, but what I do know you will know too before I leave this place. I swear it.”
Kavala said, smiling brightly. It took her some moments to calm down and resume her seat.

Alaia could tell the strange Konti had been lonely for a long time… very lonely. She not only missed her family, but her mother and her sister. She wondered if Alaia could fill that gap, and staring across the table at her new friend, she was almost certain of it.

“First things first, we need to work on your common. No one speaks Kontinese out side of Mura except other Konti. Then we need to get you a weapon, a trainer, and on the back of my horse for some riding lessons. No?” Kavala asked eager to get started now that she had some family to take care of. Matthew was something of family too, but their relationship was complicated and he liked to guide it in his own way, which was fine with Kavala. Maybe if she figured out how to be a sister to Alaia and a friend, she could better figure out how to interact with everyone else here too.

“But plants… we are talking plants….”
She said, tapping her quill against the wooden top of the table.

“Moving on… Angiosperms and Gymnosperms. Why does she always give us these kinds of terms? It seems all plants are divided into two groups. The first is the flowering plants. Its old tongue meaning vessel or something… it means the seed is formed inside a container which I have written down as fruit in parenthesis. Angiosperms are the largest group of plants in the world and the most useful to us?” Kavala said, commenting further as her pen ran down her notes.

“Drae says that angiosperms or flowering plants are the ones that most often utilized in our lives – giving a bouquet of flowers in parenthesis? - and landscapes, supply almost all of the vegetable matter in our diet, and are the source of the world’s hardwoods. They are the most sophisticated of plant forms and are best adapted to survive in a wide range of climates and places.”
Kavala said, quoting their instructor. “What in the world is a hardwood? Is that a tree or something?” Kavala asked. Trees were another sort of thing they were lacking on the Sea of Grass, which Kavala now understood to be made up of mostly monocots. She shook her head sadly.

“The second group of plants is called gymnosperms or plants that produce seeds in the open spaces of cones. Gymno means naked in ancient.”
Kavala said, tapping her chin thoughtfully. Then she continued reading her notes.“Gymnosperms include all the conifers, like redwood, pine, fir, juniper, cypress, and the largest living things on earth: The Spire Trees.” Kavala looked at Alaia in confusion. “Are we supposed to know what a The Spire Trees is?” She asked knowing she’d have to make another trip to the library or ask Matthew if Alaia didn’t know.





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Please Note:
  • This pc is maxed out in Animal Husbandry, Medicine, Observation, Rhetoric, and Socialization.
  • Kavala a Master Teacher. Students she is teaching in thread can earn more than the maxium 5 XP per thread.
  • This pc has a Konti Gift of Animal Empathy. She has a superpower from a Riverfall city event that allows animals of all sorts and Kelvics (in kelvic form) to speak clear understandable Common around her.
  • Kavala is a Konti but was raised in the Drykas culture so her accent is entirely Pavi though she can speak Common, Pavi, and Tukant well. She's only conversational in Kontinese.
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The Agony Of Beginning Herbalism

Postby Alaia on June 27th, 2014, 9:35 pm

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Alaia listened to Kavala with her head slightly tilted, as if that helped her focus better or something, her blue eyes carefully trained on the woman across from her when she spoke of her family. It was a wonder any Konti women remained on the isle, granted Alaia understood that most felt their life complete here but there were so many adventures to have outside of Mura that it only seemed natural to hear that Kavala’s mother’s calling was to go to the Sea of Grass. “A sword? That seems unusual to me .. but maybe not? Are swords common for Drykas?” She didn’t really know much about their culture, just where they lived and that they had special bonds with horses but really, unfortunately, that was all she knew. Maybe if she got Kavala explaining the culture she grew up in that would make the Konti woman feel more at home as well.

Her thoughts of learning about Kavala’s culture drifted though when the attention was brought back to Herbalism and the comment about hating plants made Alaia laugh out loud. “Oh, I know what you say! When I used to look at gardens I would see their beauty … now I hear Drae’s in my head and see my notes rather than the plants …” Shaking her head Alaia grinned from ear to ear as she spoke in agreement before falling silent once more as Kavala explained that intelligence was misunderstood and that it did not come simply from a school or a traditional class room. She had to agree with the other Konti, while classrooms were a great way for some people Alaia was definitely a hands on learner more so then a note taker. She did what she had to do in class because it was expected of her but it really was her work with her mother that taught her much more than any teacher could, no matter how good they were. Real life experience was the true back bone of learning.

Every word that was spoken by Kavala only made Alaia believe she could actually find a friend in this woman, not the superficial relationships that she even had with her own sisters. She loved her sisters but she wasn’t friends with them, she could see Kavala becoming a lifelong friend if they got to know each other more. “I’m glad you like it ..” she would turn the journal around and keep it there not realizing that Kavala had meant to be sneaky, she didn’t mind sharing and she thought it only fair if she wanted to make this Drykas-Konti a friend. The story that was told about the table and the items on it made Alaia grin for a second time “That’s great! I think that people who live here, Syliras or even Zeltiva at the university …” Alaia paused searching for the right phrase to use in common while chewing her bottom lip “… they just wish to think their way is the right way?” Wrinkling her nose Alaia shrugged a single shoulder “People, no matter race, are bold headed. It makes the cities go ‘round.” Pausing again Alaia rested her forearms on the table and clasped her hands together with a look of determination on her face “I want to test it. Rak’keli forbid I be as unlucky as the other Konti girl.” It was a challenge and the perfectionist in Alaia enjoyed the prospect of it, she would do it later just to see how much she needed to work to be as sharp as Kavala. It wasn’t a sense of competition that fueled her desire to try the game and instead it was more about wanting to be better.

“Why do you not want white? It matches everything.” She teased lightly, there were so many shades of hair in the Konti culture even though to outside races it was either blond or white but nothing in between. To Alaia there was some white hair with silver tones, others with grey and even some that were such a pale gold they only seemed white until the light of Leth when they truly shined. She would have explained this artistic view to the limited pigments in Konti hair but truthfully she didn’t know exactly how to put it into common words. Instead her eyes softened when Kavala spoke of her mother’s death – it was sad but it also explained why the girl didn’t know much Kontinese. Alaia didn’t offer words of pity she simply offered a condolences but she left it at that figuring if the conversation continued farther down that road then it would be up to Kavala to take the reins.

“Oh we can make this regular of course! I’d love a study friend or two … bring your friend next time. Is he in Drae’s class? What is his name?” She paused and pressed her lips in thought, she had never camped before – she had no real reason to since she had been living in her mother’s home. “Where do you camp?” she was curious now since she couldn’t think of where it must be but her attention was quickly grabbed by the talk of monocots again. “I don’t think that they are a lesser plant even if they are made out to be … maybe they are like Drykas … underappreciated for their properties.” Comparisons helped Alaia learn better especially when dipping between the two languages so she really hoped that Kavala didn’t get sick of them.

The life experiences that Kavala spoke of next settled a fear into Alaia’s gut but they also made her nod her head in acknowledgement. “You can’t grow if you don’t change. I need to change. I love Mura but it is not my future.” She nodded quietly to herself more then to Kavala while running her fingers through silken strands of pale blonde hair absentmindedly. “You will really teach me how to ride horse?” Interest perked in her voice making the gentle tones gain some excitement at the thought of it “I know how to use my Suvai, kind of … I’m still learning … maybe we can learn more together? Do you know how to use Suvai? You need one, you’re a Konti. I promise you if you promise to keep in touch when cities separate us!” She swelled inside at the possibilities of learning more combat for the outside world to defend herself but mostly she wanted to learn how to ride a horse, she had never needed to before as she just swam or walked everywhere. In the real world that wasn’t going to always be an option so learning to ride would be a great skill.

What happened next happened so fast that Alaia had no time to prepare; Kavala was up and around the table hugging her before she could even say Rak’keli and the smaller Konti froze. Images of what Kavala’s intentions were in the near few days slammed into her, thankfully she didn’t see much of anything that she couldn’t have already guessed just from talking to her. The next words that flowed from Kavala’s mouth as she hugged her overrode Alaia’s ability to concentrate on her gift anyways because the emotions that were suddenly bred in her made Alaia hug the girl back willingly after a tick. Even her own sisters did not purposefully touch her, mostly from her request but she also knew part of it was their own choice. The younger girl did not expect her words to have such an impact but then again she didn’t expect Kavala’s words to have an equal impact on her. The woman claiming her as a sister with such earnest left Alaia speechless except to nod in agreement to everything that was said. It was a chime before she spoke up and when she did her voice was thick with assumed truth since she couldn’t actually divine the future “I can tell, you will be more of a sister to me then my own blood … we will be sisters no matter where we are Kavala.”

Wrinkling her nose towards the girl who finally settled back in her seat Alaia grinned “My common is perfect!” It wasn’t, it was slow spoken and carefully chosen making long speeches almost insufferable even to her own ears when she knew she could have rattled it off in half the time should it have been in Kontinese. “I definitely am all up for this … but what can I offer you?” She thought for a moment to herself trying to figure out what would be an appropriate exchange between the two because she didn’t want Kavala to end up on the short end of the stick. “I can teach you Kontinese … and I could ask my mother if you can join us to learn medicine hands on? If you’d like …” She smiled after hearing about Kavala’s own mother she hoped maybe being around an older Konti woman would be warm feeling, a nice home cooked meal and all.

Quickly Alaia clapped her hands together and grinned “Yes, sorry plants!” She grinned and then her lips quickly fell into a frown “Amnginimnosperms and Gymsperms?” It was as if the terms were completely new to her, did she miss a class? Or zone out? … She was sure she didn’t but the words made no sense to her and she didn’t even get them right when she repeated them back. Thankfully Kavala went into an explanation of them and the lecture came back to her, vaguely but she remembered learning something about them. “Fruit? … I thought you said they were flowers.” Alaia pulled her journal back to her figuring she’d give it back to Kavala to copy the chart later if she hadn’t already during their talking. Flipping through pages she found her page on the lecture and they weren’t nearly as detailed as Kavala’s, clearly it had been one of the lectures she had barely kept up with in regards to understanding the common language.

“Hardwoods … well wood is tree right? That’s what a tree is I think if that’s the right word ... Yeah ..” she turned another page and found a loose translation of what Kavala was talking about “You’re right but are they monocots or dicots? Or something else? That’s what confused me I think … I don’t understand if they are different groups or if the angiosperms …” At least she said it right this time “…and Gymnosperms are little parts of the monocots and dicots?” She growled slightly under her breath as she tried to recall the lecture “…maybe hardwoods doesn’t mean tree? If there are trees in gymnosperms?...I have no idea what the Spire Tree is …” she didn’t like not understanding something as she flipped back and forth between pages before looking up at Kavala “Maybe we should visit the library?” Her words echoed Kavala’s thoughts unintentionally but they didn’t have class to see Drae and her own notes were incomplete and there were even frustrated scribbles on a few of the pages in regards to the topic. “Give me Monocots and Dicots all day! Start tossing trees at me and I have no idea what is going on.”
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The Agony Of Beginning Herbalism

Postby Kavala on June 30th, 2014, 4:05 am

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Kavala laughed when Alaia asked her about swords. She shook her head. “No, they aren’t common. That’s why I suspect my sister picked them. It was rather a scandal come to think of it. But Akela claimed that’s where her Konti gift was formed. She said she could hear metal and its memory… especially blades.” Kavala said, knowing Akela had been unique among the Konti for certain and she missed her terribly. “The Drykas use mostly bow, arrows, bola, that kind of thing. We even are known to use darts and blowguns.” Kavala added, her eyes dancing with mischief. “I’m going to learn blade here though of some sort, dagger maybe. I would learn suvai but when I go home it will be impossible to get one if the ones I bring back get broken or damaged. So I’d rather learn something like dagger that can be found anywhere.” Kavala said, looking thoughtful and wondering if she was crazy to assume she needed to learn a weapon in life at all.

“What about you? Do you know any weapons or have any defensive skills? I have no idea if native Konti here even teach their children to fight or defend themselves?”
Kavala asked, curious. The conversation drifted on though, and Kavala didn’t mind. She was glad Alaia had similar experiences with the gardens temporarily loosing their beautiful appeal and turning it something dark and sinister that more resembled work than anything else.

“Truth be told it wouldn’t be so bad if there just wasn’t so much memorization.”
Kavala said, knowing it was true and feeling sad about it nonetheless. She liked her classes, but she couldn’t WAIT to get to the point where more of it was hands on than it was now. Drae was packing their heads so full of information that she thought she might have a blow out of brain matter before long. She’d learned, for example, here on Konti Isle that one could put soap into water, mix it up, and then take a damp hoop of string and blow bubbles through it. Her head kind of felt like one of those quickly expanding bubbles that were going to reach the point of bursting. And she was glad she had her camp, Matthew, and all their extra activities to get her mind off schooling nightly.

Kavala chuckled, reached up, and then twirled a stray lock of her straight hair around her finger. “I guess it’s what I’m left with. It just doesn’t feel right to have white hair. I feel like I should have black hair. I know it’s the weirdest feeling, but it just seems stark to me.” The Konti added, looking a bit sheepish as if perhaps she knew she was being ungrateful. “I love color, Alaia. I love color on everything. That’s why I wear such bright clothing. I can’t even think of a favorite one because it changes daily, that’s how much I am in love with color.” Kavala said, laughing at herself then, and grinning at her new friend.

Studying together sounded great. She was absolutely excited to expand her almost non-existent friendship circle to include Alaia. The Konti frankly was longing for another female perspective. She’d gone through a lot this season and was acutely missing her sister Akela’s presence because there was no one to talk to about it other than Matthew. And truth be told, Kavala knew something was wrong with the man even though she pretended everything was fine. He wasn’t dangerous or anything but there was still something almost broken about him in that he seemed to try on emotions like an actor tried on masks. And yet, when he did so, it almost seemed like nothing he felt was genuine. And that was a little unnerving, though Kavala was growing used to it.

“A regular meeting time would be great. I need to do so much studying its not even funny. One of the other professors said that in taking Drae’s classes, you’d actually have to almost take a class on how to study to survive. I’m starting to believe it. And though I’ve never taken a class on studying, I almost think I need one.”
Kavala said, looking thoughtful and attempting to figure out just what it was she was doing wrong.

“My scores are not the greatest. I’m not sure why. I’m trying hard, but it’s so difficult to focus on this stuff. The reading is a bit much and the terminology is all new to me. Does it help you that you grew up here?” Kavala asked, wondering if her being local gave Alaia an advantage in studying at the Opal Order. For all Kavala knew her mother was a healer as well. At least half of everyone she knew on Mura was. And the other half? They were seerers. So Kavala guessed they could just divine answers if they got stuck on exams. It all seemed unfair to the Konti though she didn’t comment on it.

“I understand what you say about growing and changing. I’ve felt that so much so myself lately. I’m changing fast and sometimes I don’t even recognize myself. Do you feel that way?” Kavala asked, curious beyond measure if she was alone in this transition or if it was just part of her growing up. Kavala was slowly approaching the time when she’d officially be considered an adult as a Konti and that scared her. She wasn’t ready to leave her families pavilion and become a person that belonged somewhere else. “I think part of my fear is that when I return home, I’ll have to marry someone. That means moving out of my father’s pavilion which is a large tent where all of us live. We move into our husband’s family’s pavilion, and I don’t know who that is going to be. Will I like them? Will I be welcome? Will I even be offered a good selection to choose from? That’s why I’m here in Mura… to gain some skill. Not being human on the Sea of Grass means that I have no value because they count children as everything and no one would count a Konti because we can’t contribute that way… not human children that is.” Kavala said, clarifying. She met Alaia’s eyes and shook her head, almost disgusted.

“And sure I’ll teach you how to ride a horse. When do you want to get started? We can right after this lesson if you like.’
Kavala said, laughing. Windsong would certainly like to meet another Konti. Kavala was fairly sure Alaia would be a great rider. She hadn’t so far seen an awkward Konti or one that didn’t have amazing grace.

Kavala laughed as the topic went back to weapons. “No no… I need a Suvai like I need another hole in my head. I’m comfortable with my daggers! But the weapons are fairly equal across the board. I bet we could spar and learn a thing or two without even batting an eyelash that you’re using a Suvai and I’m using a dagger.” Kavala said, liking part of the idea, but not the part where she changed weapons. “The Suvai’ look great but they are way too hard to get outside of Mura. When you leave here to go on your Call or just travel, you should save up and by several extra to take in your pack. You could sell them if you run into trouble and have spares in case of an emergency where you loose your weapon.’ Kavala encouraged, knowing she was right in this instance. “My people are big on bartering. We don’t count on carrying money so it’s important to have trade goods that might be rare or in demand elsewhere. Vision water is another thing you should carry…. Bring as much of it as you can. I know on the Sea of Grass I’ve only seen a vial of it once and a while and it was incredibly precious.” Kavala said, offering her new friend a smile.

“I’d LOVE to learn more Kontinese. Oh would you please? I absolutely stink at it and my pronunciation actually makes some of the happiest women here look on the verge of tears. That would make me very happy, especially if we do it away from everyone where no one can actually be made ill of how good I am not with languages.”
Kavala said, laughing slightly. She thought Alaia spoke far better Common than Kavala spoke Kontinese. That would be more than a fair tradeoff in Kavala’s mind. She knew her language issues were a big problem here on Mura and she hoped to correct it. But she didn’t want to take a class or ask for a formal tutor. It would be so much better to have someone teach her privately. She’d talk to Matthew too. He might even want to learn and teach Alaia something else in return.

But then they were back to plants and Kavala had to chuckle. She hadn’t meant to confuse Alaia, but she figured she could fairly easily unconfuse her. “No no… I didn’t mean to be confusing. It’s actually really easy. There are two types of plants… Angiosperms and gymnosperms. The Angiosperms are all the flowering plants which are further divided into monocots and dicots. The Gymnosperms are divided differently but are definitely not monocots or dicots because they don’t have a ‘cot’. “Kavala said with a chuckle, making a plant joke that was rather debase in its humor.

“As far as I understood Drae from her lecture, Gymnosperms are a huge group of plants that don’t make flowers at all but instead have unique forms of reproduction. So while Angiosperms have seeds inside of fruits, Gymnosperms have no fruits at all. I think the name even means Naked Seed. So they have cone-like structures or coatings. There’s a lot more differences. Most Gymnosperms are trees and shrub type things… but not always. The gymnosperms are known as softwood as they have the ability to last during the winter and have needles instead of leaves while the angiosperms are known as hardwood and usually have leaves that changes color during and die. So... most gymnosperms have needles instead of leaves... like pine trees. Oh and the most important thing of all. Angiosperms have sexual reproduction! Like you have male and female plants while Gymnosperms have asexual reproduction... they don’t need other plants to reproduce. They can have male and female cones on a tree for example… in pines males cones are at the top while female cones are at the bottom… and that’s not true ever of angiosperms. I think there’s a term Drae gave us…
“Kavala said, slipping through her notes and reading furious. “Yes… here it is… monoecious… meaning male and female cones on the same tree. There are exceptions to these ideas… but in general that’s the difference.” Kavala added, and then showed Alaia her list.

She then leaned back; groaned, and stretched… hoping Alaia was ready for a break as well. Kavala certainly was.


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Please Note:
  • This pc is maxed out in Animal Husbandry, Medicine, Observation, Rhetoric, and Socialization.
  • Kavala a Master Teacher. Students she is teaching in thread can earn more than the maxium 5 XP per thread.
  • This pc has a Konti Gift of Animal Empathy. She has a superpower from a Riverfall city event that allows animals of all sorts and Kelvics (in kelvic form) to speak clear understandable Common around her.
  • Kavala is a Konti but was raised in the Drykas culture so her accent is entirely Pavi though she can speak Common, Pavi, and Tukant well. She's only conversational in Kontinese.
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Kavala
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The Agony Of Beginning Herbalism

Postby Alaia on July 2nd, 2014, 10:40 am

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Alaia chewed on her bottom lip as she reached up to tuck some hair behind her ears to get it out of the way, the waves dancing along the column of her neck and falling down over her chest. Her mind was whirling with their conversation and the twists and turns it was taking but she was enjoying herself immensely. The topic of weapons that was being spoken between the two made Alaia grin [color=#FF8080]“I have some basic knowledge, not much I can be fair to say … I’d beat a … child?” She teased lightly, she knew she’d basically be on par with someone her size and weight or someone who wasn’t konti as long as she could rely on scratching them with her suvai. “I need to learn more … definitely … defense, I don’t want to hurt anyone.” She frowned with her last words and at the thought of actually harming someone without the reason of defense.

She would grin in response to Kavala’s comment on the memorization. “I agree.” She offered simply and then tapped her herbalism journal lightly with a slender finger to indicate the class absently as she spoke “My grades are not bad but I am not top ...” she offered with a friendly smile so that Kavala didn’t feel alone in her imperfect grades. She laughed at the idea of taking a class about studying just to pass Drae’s class. “Oh I would cry if we had to do that.” Shaking her head the Konti sat back a little and took in Kavala’s appearance for a long moment before she grinned “You’d look beautiful in black…” It was the truth, she could picture the Drykas-Konti with flowing black hair and every color under the sun and it was like looking at a painting for a moment. If only she could paint then she might actually “Maybe we can dye a piece of your hair not white on the underneath – a little piece of special.” Alaia offered the thought with a grin at the idea of it because of how much Kavala liked colors. The smaller Konti always dressed in white, perhaps it was her upbringing on Mura but she enjoyed the simplicity of white and she enjoyed not standing out but that didn’t mean she couldn’t like the idea Kavala standing out.

She drew herself back to a question Kavala asked a tick before ideas of dying the woman’s hair plagued Alaia’s mind. “I think yes, that being born here helps … I grew up around the plants you know? I know them …” She paused and let a hand skim the air in the direction of the gardens “They are me just like the grasses are you … where you would know the subtle difference in your seas of grass I can tell you that of a root here that can be used as …” she paused trying to think of the proper common word for what she was trying to describe “… well it causes warm feelings in people…” she grinned a lopsided grin that was all too clear as to what she meant but there was also a blush on her cheeks as she spoke that hinted at her own innocence “… but too much can make you see things that aren’t there. You might not know that because why would you? It’s passed around in whispers when we’re kids and there is always someone who tries it just to see if it’s true … “ Alaia shrugged a delicate shoulder then and just laughed softly as she shared the childhood things that older Konti girls taught the younger ones.

“I rarely recognize myself…” she offered in agreement with Kavala after a few ticks of enjoyment over colors, her voice serious now “…I think maybe that is something a lot of people feel when they aren’t where they are meant.” She nodded lightly, she had met several Konti women who had left the isle for the call and then came back to visit and they were at a peace they had never had here on the island. Alaia wanted that especially with each passing day making her itch and her gaze always on the horizon beyond their waters. Looking back towards Kavala she frowned lightly when she started talking about the arranged marriages on the Sea of Grass “I think you should just do what you want to do … I don’t know how Drykas work in marriage but it should be for love and you deserve that, not constantly worrying about these things like ‘Am I good enough because I’m not human?’ … You’re a Drykas-Konti which makes you better than human and Konti, do what you want.” Alaia paused in thought before she added "If you wish to go back and be married then do that Kavala … I don’t think that is bad to want if that is your people’s ways … if that is your calling then I think you should … but if it’s not then you sometimes have to make your own path.” With her words Alaia would reach across the table and grasp one of Kavala’s hands in hers if allowed, she’d squeeze lightly and then pull back letting the topic drop to something a bit less serious.

Pursing her lips together in a line Alaia thought on Kavala’s next words in regards to bartering suvai’s if she needed to when she finally decided to travel away from Mura “I don’t know, maybe instead I’ll learn a more common weapon as well just in case … if I have the chance to get another suvai or two I will but if not at least then I’ll know another weapon.” She nodded and ran a hand through her hair again in thought of the animal who had to pass away for the women of Mura to actually have suvai, not that the animals were hunted but briefly a frown crossed her lips. With a quick shake of her head she smiled and nodded “I’ll bring vision water, of course.” The conversation shifted into the talk of languages and Alaia chuckled “I can try, I’ve never taught anyone Kontinese before so it will be a learning process for all of us” She grinned brightly at her new friend with her words as she imagined the hilarity that might soon come from these language lessons.

Herbs, herbs again …right that’s why they were in the gardens in the first place – there had been no actual foreshadowing to meeting another Konti who would become an unexpected friend so Alaia kept getting caught up in their side conversations. She wanted to continue talking about things that they had opinions on especially since all her sisters looked at her like she was nuts half the time. Leaning forward the smaller Konti plucked a piece of charcoal from her bag and began scribbling down notes on a back page that she could rewrite later. “Oh! That makes so much more sense … monocots and dicots are little versions of Angiosperms.” She nodded in agreement to Kavala’s words as she wrote quickly in Kontinese since that was more natural for her, a laugh bubbled from her lips at the other woman’s attempt at a plant joke “That was horrible.” She teased through her chuckling and flashed a smile up to her before she glanced back at her journal.

Alaia’s eyes were wide now as Kavala explained the differences in a way that Drae never had, the other Konti actually made it easier for Alaia to understand and she would nod along with Kavalas words as she wrote. “Angiosperms have flowers, seeds …. They die when it’s gold only to be reborn in the warmth seasons …. Gymnosperms live all year round, have needles sometimes, no flowers … “ she paused her writings and looked up when Kavala mentioned that Angiosperms have sexual reproduction before she looked down again and spoke under her breath as she wrote “…Angiosperms need other plants to make more angiosperm babies … Gymnosperm don’t need anyone else…” Glancing up again when Kavala’s journal was turned towards her she looked down at it and began copying the list for herself for later memorization before finally slamming her book closed and wrinkling her nose. Her brain felt even more smushed now but at least she was starting to grasp Angiosperms and Gymnosperms in much simpler terms then what she had noted in class. “Thank you for explaining that. Let’s go do something less classroom and more fun …” She stretched her own limbs from her hands all the way down to her bare webbed feet and yawned. She needed to move around and since Kavala didn’t continue talking she seized the opportunity to get away from the herbs and stop worrying about them. Sometimes the best way to learn something was to step away from it and get your mind off of it so it could soak in and your brain could relax. Alaia would gather her things and put them back in her sack before she stood so that the pair could go off and do something a little less dry in nature.
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