Completed New Growth

[Amon Torque]

Fall, 15

Amon loved the feeling of the soil on his hands. The course soil massaged his fingertips as he dug small holes in the centers of his dirt-filled clay pots. Looking through his selection of seeds, he picked up four tolm seeds, which were a common ingredient in his pain killers and sleep aids. Amon gently placed each seed into its hole, and buried them, as if he was tucking in a child. Looking through his remaining seeds, he chose three vyfox and buried them, scratching vyfox into the side of the pots he placed them in.

With seven pots down, he had almost reached his goal of ten plants started for the day. Taking one of his larger pots, he placed two batonal seeds on opposite sides, and covered them. After etching batonal onto the pot, Amon sighed and rubbed his hands on his only cloak, done planting for the day.

Anxious to begin creating some of his first medicines, Amon took the plants he had collected from his earlier strange walk at the marshy side of the beach. After taking out the four fauxil plants, along with the single belitor, Amon took his sharpest knife and began to strip the fauxil plants of there useless fronds, and put them in a small basket on the side of his table.

After about five minutes he had gotten all of fronds off, and was now plucking the leafy green leaves from the stalk. When he had completed the repetitive task, Amon measured a empty jars worth of water and poured it into his cooking pot, placing it by the hearth and lighting the fire with his hanging lantern..

As he waited for the pot to heat up, he measured out an ounce of fresh fauxil leaves on his merchants scale, happy with how many more leaves he had, Amon began to cut strings off his hemp rope, and tie them around the tiny stems of where the leaves were connected to the stalks. He tied them off in bunches of ten or so, and hung them from his desk, setting them out to dry.

The water began to boil and Amon placed his measured out fauxsil leaves into one of his empty jars. He carefully grabbed the handle of the cooking pot, pouring the water into his metal jar, filling it to just below the rim. Amon quickly placed a cork in the top, sealing the jar. Amon smiled, silently congratulating himself. The young man needed the funds this infusion would bring, he was running very low on food, and if he was going to make this his profession, he would need more materials.

Amon sighed at the thought and began to tie more leaves off, when he finished he had about ten bunches of one ounce groups of leaves.

[Amon Torque]

A plop of honey sounded off the last jar he needed to make. Amon had decided to flavor his new concoction with a pinch of cinnamon and a bit of honey. He corked the jar, looking at the other seven sleep aids. They would sell well in a place like Sunberth, for who could actually get a solid nights sleep without waking up frequently checking to see if your house had been robbed or your family murdered. And if using a sleep aid was necessary to be at your best, then thats what people would use. These jars would fund his next purchase of herbs, food, and a new weapon he knew he needed.

Looking over to his gallon bucket, filled with water and sitting in the coals of his put out hearth, he took his last empty jar and poured half a pint of almond oil into it. Amon sat down and began to chop up pieces of his balltor's stem and leaves into small bits. He picked these up and put them in the oil. Amon held the jar in the water, halfway submerged so the water heated the jar but didn't get inside. After about five minutes, Amon took out the jar and put a cork on it. He knew after about a week after the soaking, he would be able to use the macerated remedy to help seal his wounds, and prevent scarring.

Amon smiled, heading back over to his pots. He decided that balltor was an important ingredient, and planted three more of his pots with its seeds. Later, after finishing his work, he looked over to his plants and jars of assorted oils, treatments, and spices. His business idea was becoming a reality, and he was the cause.

[Amon Torque]

Fall 19th 514 AV
Amon felt silly, wandering the streets as he was, carrying a large basket of jars. But feeling a little funny wasnt going to stop him from earning some mch needed mizas. In fact he had already sole two of his sleep aid infusions, each for seven silver mizas, which covered the cost of the jar, and gave him a decent profit. He was spurred on by the sales, and begin to yell about his sales louder. He was wary of theives, and held his new kukri under his cloak tightly. Selling without guards made him an easy target for passing thugs, and quick cash for everyone else. But Amon wasnt about to walk out on his dream, just because some thug looked at him funny. In fact, he was feeling strangley confident today.

Maybe it was the sheild that was plastered onto him, invisible to the eye, but there nonetheless. He had taken time on it, weaving with extreme care, it had taken almost an hour to make, and Amon was sure it would withstand more than a few punches. 'But a knife would slip right through,' Amon thought, becoming cautious again. He called out to the crowd around him, going about there business,"cant sleep? Try a sleep aid!" A man and woman approached him, both had bags under there eyes, and clear signs of severe sleep deprivation.

"How much?" They asked in sync, like they were having the same thought. Amon knew that they needed this, and might be able to shell put a few extra mizas for it. He felt bad, but knew this is how it was in Sunberth.

"Eight silver mizas." Amon was ashamed, they were already expensive before he upped the price. "They are good for ten or so uses, guaranteed full night of sleep, restful sleep." They both gratefully reached into there pockets, taking out the eight mizas. They slowly reached out there hands dropping them into Amon's outstretched palm. He held out the large jars to the tired couple, seeing the satisfied look in there eyes at the size if the jar made him happy. Amon could tell that they would be using these soon.

[Amon Torque]

Fall 20
It was not the threat of a bear or wolf that bothered him, or the ongoing caution needed when away from the populated areas of Sunberth, it was the repetitive task of collecting herbs and plants from the forest. It was eating away at his sanity, not only the fact that he was in a forest, alone, with an annoying folk song stuck in head head, but that he had to do this before the rains came.

The added pressure was the cause of his annoyance, as well as the only thing to keep him from turning back. Amon was tired after the five hours of collecting anything that looked even remotely like what he thought were the plants he wanted.

Tying down rope around trees every so often was the only way he was managing a sense of security of his route home. Amon had quite the bounty, and was not willing to lose it, so he made sure to always hold his basket while he squatted down, examining the ground cover and bushes, picking this and that.

A particular plant interested him, what looked like a flametoe plant grew up from the ground. Although slightly wilted, considering its growth period had come and gone, it would still be worth a try to use.

Amon began to cautiously dig out its roots, making sure he didn't break them in the hardened, dry soil produced from the drought in the Summer. The dusty ground was hard to dig up without taking out large chunks, so Amon took out his herbalists kit that he had bought from the market earlier, and took some of the small spoons and knives, cutting and scooping the ground with the small utensils.

If he truly was harvesting what he thought he was, this would be helpful in a town like Sunberth. With people fainting frequently, from starvation and dehydration, to exhaustion and disease, something to wake them would be helpful.

The bright red root, grasping onto nearby rocks, was almost completely harvested before Amon got a real smell of the plant. No wonder it brings people from unconsciousness, he thought, it smells like the bodies, hidden in the worst alleyways around Sunberth.

He finished and looked at his full basket, it would be a long trek back through the woods, and a quick look at the fiery orange sky said that it would not be too long before the nightlife of Sunberth came out. The same nightlife that Amon always avoided when possible. For at night there were no good people left, only criminals and the toughest of Sunberth. Well, and the foolish men thinking they have something to prove in a fight.

Amon began to jog back, following his trail closely, not bothering to undo his segments of rope he had used as trail markers. And as he got closer to the city, the moon got closer to the edge of the sky. Amon began a full on sprint, taking off his cloak and covering the basket to make sure his goods did not fall out.

Several men looked at him, and one even attempted to stop him. Amon payed no mind to them, they did not deserve his time or fear. But what did deserve it was the group of five men, all large and wielding knives, blocking the path to his apartment. Amon ducked into the alley, clutching his knees and panting, vision red and lungs burning.

Amon watched as the outline of a man dressed all in black passed by the men, unnoticed and unseen by most. Amon's eyes were honed in on the unnoticed, it came from searching for herbs all day. Watching the man pass by easily, and a memory flashed through Amon's head. A memory from his first and only mentor in the art of shielding, his father.

Amon entered the shack that used to be his home, which was strangely quiet, normally his mother would be cooking dinner by now, and his father would be back from the market, holding the few mizas he was able to con from he naive visitors to Sunberth. But there was no smell of meat sizzling or bread baking. There was no spoonful of seasoning that his mother had concocted just for this meal. The only table in there two roomed house was not set. And Amon's parents were nowhere to be found.

Amon looked about worriedly, for almost an hour, searching inside for notes, and outside for footprints. He sighed, and simply gone about making dinner. It was only when he heard a laugh from the corner at his table sitting that he saw them, his mother and father. They were in the shadow, hidden from the candlelight that lit there small home. When the couple walked out, to Amon's surprise, they were dead black, from head to toe. His father then let the shields go, allowing sunlight back in.

It was like he was mummifying himself, wrapping the dark strips of light-blocking shield around himself, layering them piece after piece, covering all the major parts of his body. It was slow going at first, but as he got the hang of it, and as his mind began to focus better, Amon's work speed increased. But still, that was no consolation to the fact that the men hadn't left by the time he had finished, ten minutes after he had started plastering the material that he could barely see, but not feel, onto himself. The low light had made the task daunting, for despite the irregular torch light on the street, Amon could barely see his feet. If he couldn't see where he missed, and stepped out into the brighter light, he would be spotted to any person with a bit of vigilance.

Amon took off his shoes before he snuck out into the street, stealthily moving through the darkness of the night, the dark violet sky with a few stars the only witness of his travel from one side of the street to the other. His feet made an occasional noise when hitting the ground, but Amon was far enough away from the group of thugs to hear, but still to close for comfort. So Amon hugged the wall, at the greatest risk yet, passing directly by the thugs. Amon's breathing must have been a but too hard, for one of the men glanced back, which caused Amon to stop breathing entirely, and stare right back at the man, sure he was caught. But the thug turned back to men, having seen only darkness, allowing Amon to hurriedly slide away from the group, until the point he was sure he was too far from the group to hear his bare feet heating the ground.

So Amon sprinted into Daggerhand territory, and then into his long, two story apartment building. He entered his door, with new hinges that he had replaced after the incident earlier that month. He sighed, laid down, and slept, harder than he ever before.

[Amon Torque]

The next morning, Amon started working immediately, he hung up long strips of the smelly root to dry, tying them off by the hearth, where it was warm and dry. It would be a little over a week before the moisture was out of them and Amon could truly use the benefits of the bright red root. Which Amon was, of course, ready to exploit for the good of the people. And the good of his stomach, which was growling viciously and needed a few mizas and a trip to the market to fill it. Amon happily did just that and when he came back he surveyed his home.

Throughout the chaos, it was looking good. The table was upright again, his door fixed, his bed was less creaky, and Amon was in a good mood. He had gotten through two months of living by himself, and was earning more money daily as he figured out how to market and sell his herbs. His skills had improved from the beginning, and with the cost of gear out of the way, the rest was profit. And when you took away the strive for money, safety, and hunger for more of everything, Amon enjoyed Sunberth, and most of what it had to offer.

But even more important was that he enjoyed his role in society, and that he liked to think he had more depth than people thought. He was in a vital stage of his life. He was in a stage of new growth.

[Avarice]

Player 1

Skill	Points
Gardening	+2
Etching	+1
Herbalism	+4
Cooking	+2
Observation	+1
Navigation	+1
Running	+2
Shielding	+1

Lore

How to Cook Fauxsil Leaves

Sleep Aides are Perfect for Sunberth

Herbalism: A Recipe for Sleep Aides

Collecting Herbs is a Maddening Task!

Gardening: Harvesting a Flametoe

Using Rope to Navigate the Woods

Tasking a Shield Against Fists

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Stuff?
Consequences, Injuries, Expenses, and More!

• Sales: +3 gm

Comments

As the issue has been rectified, your Shielding XP has been dispersed. Well done!