Closed Hunting for Herbs (Beodan)

[Sayana]

Summer 44, 515AV – Bronze Woods: An hour’s ride from Syliras

That morning Sayana came across her only Eypharian friend in the city, the owner of Stormhold Salves. The dancer waved cheerfully at Mistress Sahfri. “So how is the finest herbalist in all of Syliras?” Sayana asked with a smile. “You have certainly helped me with my baby so far,” she added as she touched her growing stomach fondly.

“Actually, there’s a new herbalist in town,” Sahfri replied having recently read a bulletin notice posted. “Or more accurately, out of town. Apparently he lives about a bell’s ride from Syliras and is looking for someone to help gather herbs and plants. He’s willing to teach them a thing or two about herbs too. You always seem to have lots of questions about them.”

This piece of news, or rather the exchange of services sparked a good deal of curiosity from the dancer. Even with her wedding looming so near, it was nice to have the odd distraction. She pressed Sahfri further regarding how and where she might meet up with this herbalist and soon her morning plans had changed. She’d be seeking out this man to learn what she could.

---

In less than a bell she was on the road and it wasn’t all that long of a ride to get there. She had her beige riding pants on with a red top and was equipped with her usual set of daggers: two throwing, her heirloom, and her lakan. She had also packed a basic travel bag with a bit of food, a water skin and some other basic needs. She rented a horse like usual from the Windmount Stables. At this rate she wondered if she ought to just buy a horse but frankly she didn’t like the idea of having to look after it. Besides, the prices weren’t too bad and it was very convenient.

The trees started to thin as she neared another clearing. She had already passed a couple but none of them seemed to be the right one since there was no one there. Could he have come and gone? Was she just wasting her time? Sayana tried not to think about it as she kicked her heels into her mount to keep up the nice trot. Gently she tugged one of the reins to guide the stallion towards the grassy clearing and scanned the area. Aha! There he is. She spotted the man sitting on a rather large rock and wheeled her horse over towards him. Leaning back in her saddle and pulling both reins she brought her mount to a stop.

“Hello! I’m Sayana and I saw your poster about gathering herbs.” The Eypharian introduced as she dismounted. “I’d happily help in exchange for a lesson.” Only after her introduction did she realize that there was something familiar about the man’s face. When had she… Oh! Surprise showed upon her face as she recognized the horse kelvic she had met much earlier in the summer.

“Beodan, is that you?”

Receipt10 gm for the horse rental

[Beodan Clathony]

Beodan was sitting on a rock, the morning sun warming his nearly naked body. He had his eyes closed, his head tilted slightly upwards as if to better absorb the fledgling day’s heat into his skin. His ears were perked, twitching every so often when something stood out against the natural forest ambiance. A bird chirping or a rustling of leaves as a larger animal stalked through the bushes, ever wary of his presence. He may have dozed off once or twice while he waited. For whom did he wait? Well, he had no idea. When would they come? Not a clue. Sometime during the next few days or so. He hoped that someone would come sooner rather than later, his throne of stone was becoming more and more uncomfortable as chimes went by.

As a plant enthusiast, he kept in regular contact with Mistress Sahfri, who kept her shop in the heart of the city around the bazaar. It was a choir to get to, but he always ended up enjoying his visits. She always had interesting knew herbs to show him from far off lands he could not even dream of. Things that grew in swamps or right out of desert sand as if they did not need water to exist. She seemed just as eager to give out knowledge as he was to learn. He collected rare herbs for her around Syliras frequently, a job which seemed to complete itself. It was like a treasure hunt! He tended to get side tracked when ever something else caught his eye, but he got the job done. The fact that she was also good company just made his visits all the sweeter.

A bell or two had passed when he started to doubt himself. Had he written poor instructions on how to find the clearing? The Kelvic had doodled a map with a few landmarks, so it could not have been that hard to understand. Though maybe it was more clear to him since he had seen the route before, and others had not. He frowned, his brow furrowing at the possibility of having made a mistake. He really did need the help this time, he was going to conduct a huge harvesting of the summer’s herbs in order to keep his stores high for the rest of the year. Maybe more than one person would come, he could always use another pair of hands.

As if responding to his thoughts, Beodan began to hear muffled steps coming from the opposite end of the clearing as his rock. As it got closer, it started to sound more like hooves. He cocked his head, why would a horse be… Oh. He rolled his eyes at his own brain lapse. The horse would have a rider, of course. He blinked into the light and put a hand over his eyes to see who was coming to meet him. It was a woman with long, dark hair who began to dismount, not turning her face to him yet, who spoke to him, “Hello! I’m Sayana and I saw your poster about gathering herbs. I’d happily help in exchange for a lesson.” He grin cracked his face. It was Sayana, the girl he had ridden with! He could see her stomach had taken on more of a curve than last time they had met. Though, she seemed not to realize who he was quite yet. He waited in silence…”Beodan, is that you?” His smile widened further as he greeted, “Sayana! Good to see you again! How are you? Thank you for coming out here to work with me. Just..um.. lead the horse. Come, follow me to my tent, we’ll tie him up and head out.” He set off down the small path behind him, his turned back concealing a wrinkled nose at her possession of a horse.

[Sayana]

Beodan had recognized her right away and she noticed the bit of a smirk on his face when she realized it was him. Still, he was a nice guy and she was more than happy to spend the day with him.

“I’m quite well. And same with my baby.” She replied as her low hands instinctively went to her stomach. “And we have the wedding planned and everything. Would you like to come? It’ll be on the 55th of Summer.”

Sayana chattered happily as he led the way through the trees. There was a neat little trail to follow and she kept a hand on her mount’s reins to steer it along after her. When they arrived upon the tent and the various gardens about his home, she looked around in fascination.

“This is brilliant! How do you manage to survive so well out here in the woods? And are those herb gardens?” She tied her horse to a sturdy branch and started looking through his various herbs. She was trying her best to see if she recognized any and then a plant with a white clump of flowers caught her attention. “You’ve got vyfox? I never thought about growing it. That would be so useful…” To be quite honest, there was unlikely any possibility of growing plants in her dark apartment but the concept was certainly a smart idea.

“Tell me what these other ones are. And also which ones we’ll be looking for.” Sayana asked excitedly as she pointed out some of the other pots of plants growing outside.

OOCA little short but I didn't want to get too far ahead.

[Beodan Clathony]

|||+{{OOC}}Sorry, the end felt a bit awkward that I did not really lead them anywhere, but it was already so long. That was my bad!+|||

“Of course I’ll come! Just tell me where and what time and I’ll get there,” Beodan replied, happiness bubbling up inside of him. He had never been to a wedding before, much less invited to one. He wondered what they were like. Grand parties where everyone came to celebrate the marriage? Or were they just little ceremonies only involving a few people. He was eager to find out! She chatted to him as they walked, easy, light conversation that he only had to gently prod for it to continue.

They soon arrived at his abode, a pavilion nestled between a clump of trees. In front was moderately sized clearing, where he had a fire pit and free plants he had cultivated. Closer to the tent walls were many pots of varying sizes, only about half of them filled with plants at the moment. “This is brilliant! How do you manage to survive so well out here in the woods? And are those herb gardens!” Sayana gushed, her eyes darting around the grove. He smiled at the compliment, and said, “Well, I don’t require a steady supply of human food, just some bread or something every once in a while. Why bother when I can just graze? Or pick berries and fruit?” he asked rhetorically. A small frown appeared on his features as he continued, “I wouldn’t call it a garden really. It’s too generous a term. I am not that good at taking care of plants, and with these ones I don’t have to do much other than harvest and water them! Maybe someday I will get better at it and hold more exotic plants, but until then..” He trailed off, gesturing at the potted plants with a hand.

The Kelvic nodded at her observance, “Yes, a dead useful plant! It’s very common in the forest, but it is nice to have your own plant just growing right there!” He frequently used it in tea for its slightly sweet taste and general positive effect on his health. Great for bleeding wounds too, which tended to happen on occasion. “Alright, lets see. Those, as you know are Vyfox. Those two over there are Feverfew, which does exactly what you would guess, helps with fevers. That one is Peppermint. I would have it in the ground, except it would spread and overwhelm other things. That last one took a while to find. It’s Black Cohosh. It would be more useful to you, after you have your baby, than me, but it still helps with sore throats and improves your mood if you feel sad and down.” He walked over to each plant in turn, holding up a leaf for her, or caressing a petal as a mother might their child.

Beodan went to his last growing set of plants, two small shrubs that were a head or two shorter than he was. It had bell shaped, purple flowers near the top, and shiny, black berries hanging from the bottom. “These two are the odd ones out. Belladonna. Quite a pretty plant, what with the flowers, don’t you think? But, it is the only one that does not serve much of a purpose other than to look good. Really, it is a foul, evil plant. Much like a beautiful woman, a black widow, she kills. Those berries look like the taste good, don’t they? And they do! But, eat much more than two… I ate half of one and my stomach was mad at me for the rest of the day. However, it can relieve muscle pain in macerated form, and even, very diluted mind you, can be used for cosmetic purposes.” Dan realised she probably did not want to hear him talk all day about plants, so he cleared his throat and asked, “Any questions?”

Chimes later, he held the flap to his tent open to her, saying graciously, “Please make yourself at home! You can unpack your bag, you will only need water, a bit of food, and a trowel and knife. I we will be keeping many plants in and on the packs, let me just get the...holder thing.” He needed to come up with a better name. In the corner was what looked to be jumbles of thin rope. They attached to pack straps quite nicely, and had many loops to attach plants to, much like the system he had for the ones hanging above them. With the added storage space, they would be able to carry as many plants as they physically were able to. He picked up the two sets he had made, and offered one to her. He attached it to his own pack, modeling what she should do with hers. He moved over to his desk and picked up a collection of tools for digging and cutting, and set them in the bottom of his pack.

“All set? Anything you need before we head out? Tea, maybe a bit of food?” Dan asked, knowing it would be a tiring experience.

ledger :

4 GM Spade x 2

[Sayana]

Sayana was delighted at his response in regards to her wedding. The more the merrier especially if some of her friends couldn’t make it. She quickly relayed the information regarding the time and place. It was going to be a beautiful event in the large courtyard of the Syliran Theatre.

She listened in as he chattered away at how he lived out in the woods. He seemed very much at home here and happy to pick berries and fruits. It was curious how one could live so well outside of the populated city. Absently she wondered if she’d have the skills to last on her own or with Aren. Oh right. She couldn’t just graze like Dan could. But if she could find food and hunt. Beodan babbled on happily and her smile matched his. He was clearly excited about his home and his plants and she could hardly get a word in. Instead, she simply looked carefully at each of the plants in his garden that he identified.

There was vyfox of course. Then feverfew to help with fevers. She bent down and looked at the white flowers with round yellow centers. And then there was peppermint. Wasn’t that the same as mint which she had in her spice collection? With a smile she bent down and looked at the leaves. The felt textured as she touched them and she picked off a leaf and bit into it. Definitely minty. And then Black Cohosh. It had these long wispy white flowers that were actually all these little tiny ones. It was curious that he might suggest it to her since she was having a baby but she shrugged it off. There was no doubt that she’d be happier than ever when the baby was born.

Each time the kelvic pointed out a plant she repeated its name in attempt to memorize the different herbs. There were many of them and she wanted to remember them as best she could. When he went to the Belladonna plant, Sayana looked on curiously. The berries did look good to eat but he said they were quite poisonous. Might she encounter other potentially poisonous plants out in the woods?

The berries were bright black and tucked into the leaves. She eyed them curiously. Idly she wondered what Beodan was using them for. She doubted he was one for cosmetics but maybe he was merely using it to relief muscle pain. Still, in the wrong hands it could be quite a dangerous poison. All it needed was to get mashed up and put into someone’s food.

“I think you explained it all quite well,” she replied with a nod to his prompting of questions. She’d probably have more once they got out into the forest.

“I only packed the most basic things,” Sayana explained as she stepped inside his tent. “What’s a trowel? I’ll need one of those. But I’ve got my daggers to cut things.” The Eypharian patted the daggers at her hip and then took off her backpack to find one of these trowel things. She wasn’t sure what he meant by the holder thing but soon she saw him attaching the seemingly random jumble of ropes to his bag. Frowning, she attempted to copy him but with more sloppy success. Here and there she did extra ties so it wouldn’t fall off and it seemed to be a decent enough job.

“Oh tea would be lovely, if you have a chime. I have water and some cheese and bread. Even some dried fruit too once we get going.” Sayana replied to his offer. Yet she was equally excited to get moving. “So what are we looking for mostly? Plants? Bark or berries, or even roots? I think I once found some Aletrid in the woods growing on rocks. Lead on, my fair mount!” She spoke with a teasing tone to her voice.

OOCOnce we get going she spot a fair number of plants/herbs too. I was just trying to catch up on all the different things Dan explained to her.

[Beodan Clathony]

“Oh, I meant spade, not trowel! They look similar.” Beodan corrected, pointing at the shelf set to the left of the desk. “I have a spare on the bottom shelf, right next to that tiny pot. You can use that one.” He eyed her daggers, remembering how she had used them to fight off mountain lions. Sharp, and deadly in her hands. They should be able to cut through vines and stems quite nicely. His own knifes were more purpose built, not necessarily for fighting, but he supposed they could be used as such in a pinch. Not that he knew anything about fighting. He would stick to decapitating plants, rather than things that fought back. He smiled as she tied the...device to her bag, excessively knotting it. Hey, if it worked who was he to judge.

“Oh tea would be lovely, if you have a chime,” Sayana replied, also informing him that she had brought water and assorted foods. The dried fruit would be especially good fare, due to its light weight and ability to last well, even if squished. Though, they would only be out for the day. Dan gave her a happy smile and proclaimed, “Coming right up!” He lit the lamp on his desk and set a kettle of water onto the small flame. He set out glazed clay cups and began assembling a collection of herbs in the bottom of each from the dried plants hanging and jars that sat on the shelf to his right. As he fiddled and picked, she asked, “So what are we looking for mostly? Plants? Bark or berries, or even roots? I think I once found some Aletrid in the woods growing on rocks. Lead on, my fair mount!”

The water slowly absorbed heat from the flame. “Mostly plants, and roots usually come part of the package. Though, some roots are the only useful part of the plant, and other times the roots are no better than fuel for a fire. Like in Belltor!” He pointed to the dried Belltor plant hanging above her, its jagged leaves crinkled without moisture. “The only barks I use around here are Alder and Elder. Both are good for fighting fevers, but Elder is a bit more.. direct in its curing method. It causes you to sweat to cool down.” He thought for a moment, did he ever use berries? “I don’t collect many berries, they just don’t anything right away, and most that do are poisonous not beneficial. Same goes for fungi!” Aletrid, the creeping plant that walls could not stop. It smelled nice, but that was not of use to an Herbalist. Unless they had not bathed for a year, of course! He chuckled at her last jab, and poured the steaming water into the pair of cups.

The strong aroma of peppermint and many other fainter scents layers upon one another spread throughout the tent. Dan had added a little honey to sweeten the taste somewhat, just in case she did not like raw tea. Sayana would feel more alert, ready to act, after consuming her cup. If she drank it too fast, she may notice that her heart rate had elevated slightly. Once it had cooled to a safe temperature, the Kelvic slowly drained the cup, relishing the wonderful taste. He could feel it flow down into his stomach in a path of warmth. He set the empty cup back on the desk. It was going to be a hot day. He rolled up his pant legs to just below his knees, wishing for something shorter, like nothing at all. But he was not sure if she minded. Even so, his chest and feet remained uncovered. He did not want to melt!

Chimes later, once her tea cup had been set aside, Beodan said excitedly, “Let’s get started!” He threaded his arms through the straps on his pack. It seemed light now, but would no doubt be a burden by the end of the day. He stood tall just outside the tent, and took a deep breath of air, releasing it in a contented sigh. The sun promised many more hours of its light for them, with hardly a cloud to inhibit them. As they walked out of the clearing, and on to a path that lead further away from the city, he explained more about what he wanted them to collect. “So, I don’t know if you remember what I said on the notice, but when I said I need to gather herbs for my stores, I mean all of my stores. So, Belltor, Connal, and Vyfox for the more common plants. Then a bit trickery ones, like Comfrey, Feverfew, Goldenseal, and Thyme. Also, if you seen any Dandelions, we want to collect the root. I really, really need some valerian root. It is so hard to spot..” He trailed off, cursing the plant for being so elusive. “It has leave sort of like a fern, about four feet high with tiny white or pink flowers on top. We may only find one plant today, which is an ounce or two of dried root, but I will count that as a success! I do want more plants than what I listed, so if you find anything useful that I didn’t say that you know of, please, harvest it or call me over. Don’t worry about the plants you don’t know about. If you see something with flowers or weird leaves that you can’t identify, point at out and I will tell you about it. Also, if I find something more rare, I will tell you about it. Sound good?”

They had walked for fifteen chimes, and the thin path seemed to disappear. “This is where we start our work. We will stand 15 feet apart, and walk forward. Scan your eyes in from left to right, around 5 feet ahead of you, every time you take a step. Say my name if you find anything, we will harvest it, and then we will continue on our way. Simple! Ready?” Beodan stepped away from her, stopping the stated distance away. He sent her a reassuring smile. She would do great! He trained his eyes on the forest floor, and they began their crawl.

[Sayana]

The scent of peppermint was heavenly as Beodan mixed the boiling water with the mint leaves. As Sayana sipped at the honey-sweetened tea she pondered Dan’s explanations. Alder, Elder? She had no idea what the trees looked like and they sounded like one of the same. But the bark was useful apparently. And then berries. Apparently many were dangerous like the Belladonna. But what about the Jile berries? She strained to remember what they did and was pretty sure they protected against poisons, but in a vomiting sort of way. Perhaps berries weren’t all that pleasant.

Sayana smiled as he rolled up his pants. He looked rugged in a nice sort of way just in pants with a bare chest. She wasn’t feeling the heat much herself since it was shaded and she was plenty used to the heat having grown up in Ahnatep. So no berries or fungi, whatever that was. Mostly plants and the whole plant too. She set down the cup feeling rejuvenated and was ready to start.

The Eypharian followed him out of the tent after she made sure her backpack was comfortably on her shoulders with the little ropey things attached. As the kelvic rattled off several herbs he wanted to find, she struggled to keep them all straight in her mind. Vyfox she knew. She might have come across connal before. The rest were all just names to her. Still, she didn’t want to look silly in front of him and she nodded with feigned confidence. She was glad that he encouraged her to pick out plants even if she wasn’t sure what they were, or if they were special. At least she’d be able to check and learn.

Once Beodan explained the plan, she positioned herself a good distance away from him. Easily within sight and calling range. She turned her gaze to the forest floor at his instruction and began looking around before taking a step.

She had never really looked carefully at what the forest consisted of. There were all the trees of course, but there were a lot of dead leaves. She recalled the odd phenomenon of the leaves changing colour and falling off in the autumn and figured it was just a build up from that. There was dirt too and broken sticks, and also small shrubs or plants growing here and there. Usually the small plants seemed to cluster in the sunlight where there were breaks in the tree cover.

“What about moss?” Sayana called out as she found a rock covered with greenish moss. She peeled off a clump and found it was rather moist underneath. Then she spotted some little yellow flowers that were flat with shiny leaves. Jumping over the rock she ran over to the flowers that were clustered in the sun. “Look! Little yellow flowersbuttercups. What are these called?”

There were also some thin but woody looking stalks that held dozens of blue flowershommos. It was somewhat like a shrub and grew just on the edges where the sun reached. Sayana picked one of the little blue flowers curiously. “Is this anything special?”

[Beodan Clathony]

The Herbalist and his companion paced forward, deliberately making their way through the woods. It was slow going, but that was expected. It took a lot of concentration to filter useful plants from the mundane, a constant checking of your innate knowledge against what your eyes could see. Beodan’s chocolate orbs were held wide, flicking back and forth across the ground a few steps away from him, latching onto anything that stuck out from the base forest texture. Every half chime or so he would glance up at Sayana to make sure she was still doing alright. He had smiled to himself the first time he looked over to her. She was intensely focused, and it filled him with a sense of pride. He was happy that she was taking this so seriously. He had never worked with someone before. Well, besides his mentor, but he viewed that more like a child helping their parent with the housework.

The first thing he spotted was a grouping of light pink flowers that grew purple near the tips. The petals were flat and webbed, with five petals per flower. It was three feet to his left. Dan called to his friend as he kneeled in front of the plant, “I found something! Come, look at this.” He pulled up a leaf with the tips of his fingers. The leaves also came in bunches of five, the edges jagged, and each segment separate from the others. The leaves and stocks were a vibrant green, the stems thin and straight. “This is Cranesbill. You can see the ‘bill’ coming out from the center of the flower, just a little seed pod thing,” he started to explain, his lack of filter showing slightly as he continued, “It helps with diarrhea and other similar ailments of the bowels. Though, it has more pleasant uses too, like if you brew it into very strong tea and swish it around your mouth, it will close bleeding sores. If you drink the tea, maybe a bit less steeping time for that, it generally aids digestion and stops nosebleeds. Ground, you can dust it on a wound and stop bleeding right quick, even if it is a major wound. Powerful stuff, though I don’t use it very often except as a supplement to tea.”

The Kelvic removed an extremely sharp knife from his pack, the blade the length of his thumb, and carefully cut off every flower just above the receptacle, along the line that the sepal created if you traced around the stem to each leaf. “Unfortunately, the flower isn't much good for anything other than the seeds. And I don’t need it enough to merit giving it pot space.” He grasped the base of the roots, and pulled sharply upward. Dirt clung to the intricately branching root system, which he severed from the surface plant. “The roots share the properties, but they are harder to utilise. The leaves are much more versatile,” he explained his actions, tucking the plant through a rope loop. He gave her a smile, first plant collected! They continued on their way.

It was a few more collections of plants they both knew of, very common things that grew like weeds, until Sayana called for him. “What about moss?” she asked, her voice raised. He followed her gaze to a rock just in front of her covered in a green moss. The soft carpet looked like it would make for a nice pillow. Dan shuddered, that was a surefire way to get a nasty itch. Moss: inviting but full of evil! “No no, moss isn't really good for much. Well unless you are bleeding all over the place and don't have any cloth,” he responded with a chuckle. Suddenly she ran ahead, vaulting over the rock, and stopped under a patch of sunlight. “Look! Little yellow flowers. What are these called?” He jogged over to where she stood. It was a groop of bushy, bright yellow flowers. What were they called? He racked his brain for the answer. The petals made a cup shape.. cups.. Buttercup! He smiled at the minor success. Seconds later his eyes widened as he remembered the properties.

“Don’t touch those!” Beodan shouted in warning, fear evident in his voice, as a father would tell his young not to walk into flames. “It’ll burn you bad!” He took the knife and cut off half a yellow petal, and dabbed it on the back of his left arm for a moment. Almost immediately the skin turned an angry red. He grimaced, it stung for such a little touch. But, it was worth the lesson. “It’s a Buttercup, though its other name is, aptly, Blisterweed. Though, surprisingly, it does have a use! It can be used to remove warts, though that is like using a hammer to thread a needle, more pain that what it’s worth! But I suppose if you really didn’t like a ward to plague your features, you would use this. No good in harvesting it, it only works for around a few hours after it is picked, it needs to be fresh. What ever you do, don’t eat it. I can’t imagine the painful death you would experience.”

Sayana’s next good catch was a dense clump of blue flowers, growing from thin, woody stocks. He winced as she picked a flower. “That, is Hommos. Debatable one of the most useful plants. You can do everything from make dye to tea that relieves stomach pain. The flowers are also good for a bath to ease aching muscles. The entire plant is useful. Careful not to crush or crinkle the flower you picked, even one more is a big help! Uh, I better harvest this one. You have been doing great with the Vyfox and Connal, but this needs a little more experience to get the most out of it. Watch me though, carefully,” the Kelvic explained at length, gesturing with his hand to punctuate what he thought were important properties.

The Herbalist traced a circle in the dirt an arms length away from the stock, then retrieved a spade from his pack. He eyeballed an 80 degree angle and stuck the spade as deep as it would go, and pulled out again. He did this around the entire circle, and was left with what looked like some sort of flat sided bowl. He placed a length of rope into half of the circle, all the way down, and grabbed either end. He worked it back and forth, slowly cutting through the middle of the hole near the bottom. Once done, he was left with a plant with its roots now contained in a little dish of dirt, and a soiled rope. He grabbed either side of the disk, and grunted as the he lifted the heavy pie of dirt, setting it out of the hole with a thud. He picked it up, and slammed it down a few times, most of the dirt dislodging from the roots. He held up the final plant to her with a tired grin, clumps of soil clinging to the roots, “Ah.. ha! There it is, a harvested Hommos! And I didn’t cut any important roots!” Patting her shoulder in a show of camaraderie, he asked, “Shall we move on?” Dan walked back to his track, and their search continued, their ropes filling steadily.

[Sayana]

When Dan called out, Sayana rushed over excitedly. They looked like fairly normal flowers but they were quite pretty and by the sounds of it there was more to them. Cranesbill. She prodded one of the little ‘bills’ with a finger. It had a fitting name. It fixed diarrhea, whatever that was. And helped with sores, nosebleeds digestion and even open wounds. In teas or ground up powder. She muttered softly under her breath trying to remember all the properties and counted them out on her fingers as if it would help. Leaves were the best but roots were okay too.

The moss felt nice on her hands but when he said it wasn’t useful, she tossed it away in clumps. She was excited at her find with the yellow flowers but snatched her hands back at his warning. Curiously she watched his demonstration and she was surprised at how quickly the results happened. Not all plants were good and she’d have to be careful what she picked and what she avoided. But the blue flowers were a much better success. Proudly she grinned as he explained what Hommos was, though she missed some of the explanation due to her smugness. Still, blue flowers in clumps was a good thing. The Eypharian watched as he dug the spade around the plant to pull it out from the ground.

As they continued their crawl, Sayana’s eyes darted this way and that looking for bits of colour or interestingly shaped leaves. Her attention was momentarily distracted by a chipmunk darting up a tree. She frowned as she looked more carefully at the tree. Parts of the bark looked scratched away at about three or four feet off the ground. Only a few days ago she had been out hunting for deer and managed to get one with horns. Could that have caused it or was it something like a bear? If it was a deer, it would make for good hunting grounds especially if that deer liked to stick around to this area. She fingered the mark on the tree for a moment and then suddenly remembered what she was doing.

“Sorry! Got distracted.” Sayana called out to Dan. Then she spotted white in the distance and raced ahead. Running through the woods and darting around trees she reached a rather large patch of white flowers. “I found vyfox!” She called out and got out her spade. She started digging around one of the plants with the tiny white flowers growing in clumps. She hadn’t been very systematic or patient to cover the land carefully leading up to the clearing that she found herself in, but she wasn’t thinking about that. She was just happy to have found a blooming patch of them.

With her spade she struck the ground several times around the plant and dug it out. Then she went on to the next one. As she was digging the second one out she noticed that the white flowers weren’t just the vyfox plant. “I think there is some feverfew here too!” She called again. Though what she pointed to had longer and narrower petals and perhaps a smaller yellow center. They were merely daisies yet her confidence didn’t waver and she started digging them out too.

“Think we should leave a few to grow back?” She asked seeing that it was a decent sized patch and that they probably could afford to leave a few plants.

[Beodan Clathony]

“Sorry! Got distracted,” Beodan’s hire yelled from just behind where he expected. He brought his head up to look at her, giving her a patient smile. “It’s okay, we are making good progress!” he called back to her, cricking his neck back and forth, sore from being angled towards the ground for a long period of time. He did not mind her getting side tracked occasionally. The work was so much faster with two. This same trip would have took him two separate journeys and a lot longer to harvest since he did not have 3 extra pairs of hands. They could get this all done in one day working together, so even if she only worked half as intently as he did, it would still be a huge reduction in time cost.

Sayana ran ahead once more. He chuckled ruefully and stuck a long branch into the ground to mark his place, and jogged after her. Sweat was beading on his brow, the summer heat just starting to reach them beneath the trees. The air was thick and muggy, seeming to be more solid than usual, as if he could scoop it up and spread it on bread. “I found vyfox!” he heard her voice from the distance, her form bent over a patch of little white flowers. Dan slowed to a walk to check her path for any plants that were less flashy. A thicket of Horsetail sat where the earth naturally dipped down into muddy soil. He checked to see if his companion would be able watch him harvest the stocky plant, but she was busy digging up the Vyfox, and some other plant that had thick leaves. Horsetail was impossible to dig up in a timely fashion, the roots were rhizomes, which meant there was a labyrinth of roots weaving every which way under the soil. That made things simple. He picked the stocks from the very bottom node, leaving the ones that had spore pods on top so that it would grow back in the next year.

After the Kelvic had tied the stocks together in a bundled and attached it to his pack, he caught up with his companion. He bent down just behind her, and watched her work. “I think there is some feverfew here too,” she yelled, unaware that he had already joined her. He smiled and stuck his hand out to pick a leaf from the ‘feverfew.’ The leaf points were a bit too connected, and the petals looked like a feverfew that had been stretched. He picked a flower and sniffed it. Tucking the lone flower into her hair with a grin, he instructed softly with good humor, “Those are daisies, Sayana. Feverfew has leaves that are divided into ovate sections, and the petals are rounded like a club. Very easy to mix up! And yes, you are right, we should leave a few of them alone if we want to have more in the future.” Though, the forest was large and diverse, and would likely replenish the flowers no matter how many they picked.

On the way back to their track, Dan spotted a viney shrub with diamond shaped leaves branching off from one stock, it came up to his shoulder. “Hey, look at that one!” he exclaimed, pointing at the plant, “That is Bynntip. The vines make for a good thatch, though I think that is all it is good for. It is rare, for a weed, but that doesn’t make it valuable. My mentor said I would grow to appreciate it more as I aged, though I haven’t started to! I just wanted to point it out, we aren’t going to harvest it.”