Completed Hands of a Dying Man

[Savacea Jovellana]

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29th, Summer 515 AV
Hands of a Dying Man

They were having a slightly slow morning at Tokia's Tonics today, as the weather rage on outside, the clouds opening and pouring out rain like a waterfall on the dead island. Savacea sighed knowing that the fog would be thick on the way home later on in the evening. She had some what became accustomed to the weather of Black Rock, the dreariness matched with the weather well. The Symenestra grinded away at the mortar with the pestle, as Tokia had disappeared to the back of the shop working on something else.

The Myrian explained that the seeds she was grinding was from a plant found in the Marsh called Tivcore. Tokia explained that the seeds were used to make ink, one would grind them and then add oils and water to make ink. Savacea was not skilled enough to do anything with it, besides assist Tokia in the making of it, this consisted of her grinding it into a powder so the woman could take it to make some ink. Black Rock was notorious for their Paper Making, so it made sense that Tokia assisted in what ever way she could, for a few Ashls of course. She looked down at the seeds, observing that they were now ground down to a fine powder. Setting the mortar and pestle to the side she gave a sigh, wondering what she could do next.

Before she could think much on that thought, a woman came in to the shop. The Symenestra turned to call over Tokia but the woman was no where in sight. She gave a slight huff at that, not really wanting to deal with the customer, as her social skills were still lacking when it came to dealing with the customers. She glanced over at the woman, observing her. She had light brown eyes that complimented her golden browns well. She wore a plain cotton dress in a navy blue color, that fit snugly on her large form. The woman appeared to be nervous, as her eyes peered around the shop in a shifty manner, her body slightly fidgety, and she was wringing her hands as she glanced around.

Savacea stayed silent for a few more moments, before finally clearing her throat to get the nervous woman's attention, Ahem.. Can I help you Miss?" Savacea called out, her tone that of curiosity as she looked at the woman with one raised elegant brow, wondering what she was about.

"Yes.. I... well.. Uhmm.. I n-need.. some poison..." The woman said in a nervous tone, sightly fumbling over her words as she gave a pause walking closer to the counter, ...N-nothing fatal.. Just something to uhm... Keep my husband down... just for a couple of days.. if possible." The woman said the last in a nervous whisper, her eyes still shifting around the shop as if spies lurked around the corner, listening to what she was saying.

Savacea observed her for a moment then nodded her head, "I will see what I can do, come back at sunset." All she could do was see what she could do, although she was not sure she was capable of making anything that would last a couple of days, she would still try though and see what she could come up with for the woman. She seemed so frightened and it made Savacea wonder why she needed to put her husband down for a couple of days, perhaps he beat her? This did not bode well with Savacea but she stood there emotionless, staring at the woman who was now more relaxed at receiving the answer she wanted.

" Oh thank you... Thank you so much." The woman said, her mousy brown eyes bright now with happiness as a sigh of relief left her mouth. Savacea gave a closed mouth grin, nodding her head, as the woman left the shop.

The Symenestra turned to yell for Tokia, but she stood behind her making her jump swallowing the scream she had built up to call out for her. She recovered from the scare, wondering how that old woman could sneak up on her so easily, "Where were you?" Savacea said with a glare at Tokia.

Tokia rolled her eyes, shooing her with her tawny hands, "Working, which is what you need to be doing. Now go on, get." The woman shooed her to the back of the cottage, where the work space was located. She stuck her tongue out at the back of the Myrians head as she walked. "Next time I will cut it off." Tokia quipped, making her balk for a moment wondering how the petch she knew she did that. Shaking it off she walked into the room that held the work space, ready to attempt to make a poison for the customer.

Common | Symenos | Thoughts

[Savacea Jovellana]

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What Poison To Choose...?

Savacea exhaled loudly, a tinge of exasperation on the sigh. She was not really sure what to make that would not kill him only stop him for a moment. So with that she grabbed a poisons book off the shelf, sat down and began scanning the contents looking for something that would be strong enough to last a couple of days, if there was anything.

Blackened Breath

"Pale yellow stones with pungent, colorless fumes found that when burnt and inhaled, cause a slight yet permanent loss of health followed by twelve hours of additional physical weakness. Most often found in coastal caves."


Savacea read about the Blackened Breath, thinking that could help if it was given in two-doses. She read further and found it was in coastal caves, "Not sure if there is a cave around the coast here.." Savacea thought, though it would be quite an adventure if there was, but she had no time for an excursion today so she continued to scan the pages.

Symenestra Poison

"Poison produced by a Symenestra near starving, difficult to collect and spoils quickly. Effects caused through contact. Highly acidic, erodes flesh and metal in potent doses."

Savacea gave a laugh as she saw her race's poison listed. She gently flicked her fang as she read, noting that it was highly acidic and could erode metal in potent does. "I have no desire to starve myself.." She thought with a laugh, even if biting the man would be fun.

Heartstinger

"A dense, brown paste that smells like manure made from the slime found in various mollusks. Effects caused through injury. Causes moderate physical weakness for up a day."

When Savacea came upon the Heartstinger poison she was intrigued. It lasted for a solid day, it was found in mollusks which could be found at the beach. The woman could give him two-doses to last for a couple of days. It did not seem too difficult to make either, as it was made from the slime inside the mollusks. "I wonder if Tokia has some around here somewhere." Savacea thought, walking to the front.

"Do you have slime of the Mollusk Tokia?" Savacea asked with out realizing there was a customer standing close by, who blanched at her request and quickly found something to busy herself with though keeping a ear in. It did not escape Tokia though, she was an alert woman and she shook her head, "No dear I do not. You will have to go to the beach to find some Mollusks." Tokia supplies, looking the nosy woman up and down before turning to Savacea with a small eye roll. "They should not be too hard to find, look in the shallows near some rocks. Should find plenty, here take this to put them in." Tokia said handing her a large glass jar, "I want that jar back when you are done though." Savacea gave a smile and nodded, glancing at the woman again glaring at her back, then walked out the door to cultivate some Mollusks.

Common | Symenos | Thoughts

[Savacea Jovellana]

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So Slimey...

Savacea walked along the shore, keeping her feet submerged in the water as she did so. Carefully she investigated the ground before her, looking for some shells or snails among the sand. She had been doing this for several minutes with no luck, so she observed her surroundings looking for a rocky supratidal area, since the snails would most likely be in those types of areas. Spotting a nice rocky area she jogged to it, looking at the moisture on the rocks, it was definitely in the spray zone of the waves. Investigating the rock further lead to dark lichen upon it's surface. "Perfect for the snails to feast on." Savacea observed. The lichen was near the top of the rocks, but then the snails would have to worry about the seagulls snatching them up and eating them, as well as the summer sun heating them up.

With this knowledge she decided to look in the cracks and crevices of the rocks, in the more moisture laden and shaded areas. Savacea bent down and began pulling back loose rocks to look between them. She ran her hands along the sides of the rocks, until she came to a slimy texture. Making a grimace she knew she had found the trail of the snail. Following the gross substance with her finger she came to a stop against what felt like a shell. Peering closely between the crevice she found the snail. The shell was bulbous, with white spirals along a light brown color. She lifted the shell, observing that the shell was actually well-developed and thick. She had expected the shell to be fragile and was taken by surprise that it was not. There was the snail sticking out of the shell, it was a greenish looking thing and was quite large. Savacea cringed as she saw no eyes on the thing, but the slime was plentiful. "You are disgusting.." Savacea said, dropping the Bubble Snail into the jar.

Lifting the jar up into the light she noticed that the shell was actually a beige white in color, but it was a some what translucent shell so the color of the snail made it look different. Shaking her head she went to the ocean, dipping her hands inside and rinsing away the snail's yuck from her palms and fingers. Once she was satisfied she picked the jar back up and began walking back.

As she walked she still investigated the shore line, just in case she had missed something from earlier. Sure enough there was a rock on the shore line, half-way into the water. Upon the rock was a shell that was spiraled in shape, a golden color, with brown splotches. She grabbed the shell and looked to see a large snail carrying the shell upon it's back. The shell itself was half the size of Savacea's hand, the disgusting creature was slimy like the other snail, with what looked like eyes but she was not even sure you could call it that. The body of the snail had a green hue with a yellow tint to it. She quickly popped the guy in the jar, not really wanting to touch him or his comprade any longer. She twisted the lid on to the jar and began running back to Tokia's ready to start on the poison for the lady, her hunt for the Mollusk over with.

Common | Symenos | Thoughts

[Savacea Jovellana]

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Heartstinger Dose One..

Savacea made it back to Tokia's faster then she thought, although she was a bit out of breath from running. She bent over heaving in big breaths, then slowly began to bring her breathing back to normal. Once she was not gasping for air like the fish when it is out of water, she opened the door to the cottage holding the jar in the air with victory. "Got the slimy critters!" Savacea explained, gaining a stern look from Tokia. The Symenestra lowered the jar her eyebrows raised as she looked where Tokia now did, flushing slightly as a customer was giving her a strange glance. Savacea quickly walked to the back, a bit embarassed as she did not realize there was a customer in the shop.

She sat the jar down on the work space table, tapping the jar that held the Mollusks in it. They were quite disgusting looking, sliding around on the sides of the jar, leaving trails of gunk in their wake. A clearing of a throat brought Savacea away from the jar, as she glanced at the door way to see the Myrian woman standing there, "You think next time you can not scream in victory as soon as you enter the shop?" She asked looking the girl over, a stern look upon her face. Savacea gave a defeated nod, then pointed at the Mollusks. "I can now craft that poison the lady wanted." Savacea said softly.

Tokia nodded, "I see that, I will leave you to it, remember to clean the jar and sit it on the shelf when you are finished." The Myrian woman then left, to go back to the front of the shop leaving Savacea with the creatures and to do the work necessary for the customer that came in earlier.

Wasting no time she brought out the mortar and pestle. Adding only a few drops of water she brought out the first Mollusk. The first snail up on the chopping block was the one with a bulbous shell. The shell was quite lovely, with white spirals going around on the surface. Savacea brought out a small yet dull knife, sticking it on the sides of the snail she began to remove the slimy creature from it's home. She placed a bit of force behind the knife until she cut the snail out of the shell, and it plopping in the mortar.

She turned dropped the lovely shell in a pot of water, to boil the shell after she grinded it's used to be tenant up into a paste. Savacea figured Tokia would like the shell, as she did have many different things adorning her hair already, as typical of Myrians. Turning back to the mortar and the almost lifeless snail, she brought her pestle down and squished it. The sound was a bit sickening as it made a wet slurping sound while she grinded away with the pestle.

Adding a few more drops of water she continued to make a slimy paste. When the snail was ground into the water a sickening smell lit her nostrils. It smelled closely to that of animal feces, making her gag a bit. She dropped the pestle and brought a mask over her face to help her not smell the aroma as much. Then she picked the pestle back up, continuing her grinding until it formed a dense, brown paste.

Bringing forth a small jar, she grabbed a small wooden spoon, scooping the contents of the paste into the jar and capping it off with the lid. Savacea removed the mask over her face and examined the paste inside. She wondered if she could help hide the smell for the woman, then shrugged her shoulders. Savacea figured the woman could always mix it with the man's favorite jam, spread it on some bread, and he would then ingest the poison into his system that way. She made a mental note to suggest this to the woman, as she sit the jar to the side with the paste, and looking over at the other lonely snail. "Don't look at me like that.. You are going to be squished into paste too soon." She told the snail, who did seem to be pleading her not to kill him. Savacea dismissed it though, as she had no heart for the disgusting creatures. It did not bother her to grind them into a pulp.

Common | Symenos | Thoughts

[Savacea Jovellana]

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Heartstinger Dose 2...

Looking away from the snail, Savacea added a few drops of water to the mortar. She reached in and grabbed the slimy creature, taking the knife and once more cutting the snail out of the shell. Depositing the shell into the pot to boil and clean for Tokia, she returned to the lifeless snail in the mortar. This snail was the bigger one, she observed. "Probably going to need a bit more water for this guy." Savacea said out loud to no one in particular, as she added a few more drops of water to the mortar.

Taking the pestle she pressed down a bit hard on the snail, the slurping sound was a bit louder with this one, as it also made a smacking noise as she twisted the pestle. Adding a bit more water she continued to twist and turn the pestle until a paste began to form. It smelled like feces just like the one before it, becoming a dense, brown paste. She brought the small wooden spoon back and scooped out the contents into a smaller jar, placing the lid on top.

Now she went over to the pot of water, placing it on the heat element to boil the rest of the contents of the shells out so they would be clean. Picking up a damp towel she cleaned her work space, placing the spoon, mortar, and pestle in a different pot to boil after the shells were done.

After she had cleaned the space up, she removed the pot of boiling water sitting it down on the table to cool, bringing the other pot over to begin the process of cleaning. She gave a sigh, washing her hands in a basin of water. Returning to the work space the water in the first pot was cooler so she poured some into the jar that Tokia had sent her with so she could clean it out. Taking a clean spoon she dipped the clean shells out of the water and placed them on the table. Finishing the cleaning of the other utensils and the work space table afterwards.

When everything was cleaned she walked up front with the two small jars. The woman had asked for two days of discomfort, so Savacea had to make two doses since the Heartstinger only lasted for one day. She sat the jars on the counter and looked over at Tokia, "It is finished now, also I cleaned the shells if you want them. I left them on the shelf with your jar that I cleaned." Savacea gave a smile, as the Myrian nodded and went to the back. She still seemed to be a bit upset at her outburst earlier, which she understood why. Savacea still felt badly for doing that, hoping the cleanliness of the work space and the shells would make her less angry with her.

Common | Symenos | Thoughts

[Savacea Jovellana]

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The Man

At sunset the woman returned but with her was a man. He was rather older looking, with gray in his hair and a wrinkled face. His hands shook slightly as he approached the counter with the woman who was here to purchase the poison. Before Savacea could say anything, the woman spoke first, "We are here for my husbands weekly supplement." This took Savacea back for a moment, as the woman's tone was a bit harsh and she seemed to be looking down her nose at Savacea. Though when the man was not looking at her, the woman gave a wink to Savacea.

The Symenestra's left brow rose but she nodded her head then looked at the man. His hands were shaking a bit, they seemed slightly gnarled from arthritis, and he appeared to be rather too thin. He really did not appear to be healthy at all and Savacea wondered if it was from the prolong use of a fake supplement. She decided to to say anything about it though and reached across the counter and brought both of the small jars forth. "Here you go." She simply said, not sure what else to say in this situation, as it made her nervous. The woman took the jars and placed them inside a pouch at her waist, then patted her husbands arm, "Okay sweetie let's go home now. We will give you a dose of the supplement tomorrow." The man nodded his head as unintellilgble words came out of his mouth to his wife, then he turned his dull blue eyes on Savacea giving her a grin and a pat on the hands as if to say thank you. Savacea blinked in a pause then nodded her head giving him a half, closed-mouth smile.

The couple exited the store and Savacea let out a loud exhale, not realizing she was holding her breath during the interaction. She felt horrible really, thinking the husband was abusive, mean, or perhaps angry more often then not. Instead he was a dying man with shaking hands, obviously he would not be alive for too much longer. Savacea wondered how long the woman had been feeding him poisons, how many different kinds, and if those were causing lasting effects on him since she feed them to him so often. The Symenestra eyes watered as the facts hit her in the face, she had created something that would help ease him into death, and the woman was more than likely using the doses to keep him out of her way so she could go off with another man instead of tending to her sick husbands.

The emotions of regret were over powering as a tear slipped form her red gaze and rolled down her cheek, she did not even hear Tokia come to the front as the emotions inside her seemed to ring in her ears, "Don't blame yourself for other's greediness." The Myrian simply said, patting her on the back lightly, "You can leave for the day, don't let it get you down." Tokia said as she walked to the back once more.

Savacea rubbed at her cheeks to rid them of the trails of moisture, as she gathered her pack and walked out the door. The weight of regret weighed heavily on her heart, once more making her wish that she had a hard drink to drown her woes in. To get away for at least one night, to numb the pain inside her. She was not sure how the woman was getting away with what she was doing, perhaps the man was dying from natural causes and not poisons all the time, and she just needed a break. Either way Savacea felt horrible about what she did, as she made her way to the Dormitories to cry herself to sleep.

Common | Symenos | Thoughts

[Dravite]

Savacea Jovellana

XP Award:

• Philtering: 3
• Observation: 3
• Rhetoric: 1
• Logic: 2
• Socialisation: 1
• Poison: 2
• Intelligence: 1
• Foraging: 1
• Running: 1
• Endurance: 1
• Cooking: 2
• Cleaning: 1

Lore:

• Black Rock: Fog
• Tivcore Plant: Seeds for ink
• Poison: Blackened Breath
• Poison: Symenestra Poison
• Poison: Heartstinger
• Slime of the Mollusk: Found on beach
• Cooking: Snails
• A Custom Poison

Notes: This line made me laugh out loud "Don't look at me like that.. You are going to be squished into paste too soon." Too funny. I feel bad for Savacea after going to all that trouble of getting the poison together only to find out she was basically helping to kill a helpless guy. Enjoy the rewards!

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