PM to join [Bhrani Library] Plants With a Side of Parchment: Take Two

[Saej]

¤

42 Winter 515 AV

It was the fifth bell of the evening and earlier in the day the young inarta woman had bought a blank book* to aid in her studies. It was bound in leather and just waiting to be stocked full of gardening tips, vegetable goodies, and the occasional story or poem as they graced Saej’s mind. Unfortunately this brand new book had taken a spill into a puddle and the bottom was soaked. She left it out to dry on her fireplace before leaving, the bottom edge curled slightly up. She had brought that along with her vial of ink and two quills to write with, one extra in case something happened to the first. Since her last escapade with the tarnished scrolls she had decided to simply buy a booklet to keep all of her writings in once place. This brand new book had one hundred pages just yearning to be scrawled upon. During Saej’s first trip to the library she was none the wiser about the rumors of a spirit. In fact this is when the supposed spirit was still running amok, as she later found out at the bar in the Star’s Shadow while eating her dinner.

Today she returned to the library again feeling confident, after seeing nothing herself, that the rumors were nothing but that-- rumors. Hardly a week later she found herself back at the library once again. This time she didn’t need the librarian’s help, her books were located in the six hundred and thirty fifth mark, and she went straight to the gardening portion of the non-fiction. Instead of selecting a book about specifically Lhavitian flora she was interested, today, in taking out a book about gardening in general; more so vegetables.

She didn’t have long until she came across a book labeled, “Gardening: For Beginners” written by a “Precilla Abbot”. Upon opening to the title page she was met with an illustrated picture of an onion, a carrot, and a head of what appeared to be lettuce, though in her opinion is resembled more to a mangled, trampled lettuce head; poor thing. The introductory pages were filled with prettied prose about the author’s love for gardening and she found it a bit tiring, she was uninterested in the author and if the forlorn lettuce was anything to go but this book would prove to unworthy of her time. After about the sixtieth time Precilla restated she loved her garden Saej deemed it a loss but still flipped to the beginning of the informational portion. ‘Enough of that prattle’, she thought as she removed her quill and new, blank book from her backpack.

While she read, in between that and jotting things down, she ran the soft part of the feather between the spot on her upper lip and her nose. One would think she would sneeze but instead it was a metronome of sorts, speeding up when she was taking in information she thought fit to be useful to her own self. It was actually interesting, this learning. When she found agreeable information she carefully copied, but in her own words, from the textbook on to her own book. Despite the author’s rattling mouth she found heaps of great information she was sure would be of good use in the springtime. She was happy to be writing all of this down because there was no way she would remember everything in its entirety and was glad to have her book to be able to refer back to.

Just from reading “Gardening: For Beginners” she was already getting great ideas for her very own garden to be. The book said everything she need to know, so far, about gardening. Between the lines though she thought she could read, “my plants are my only friend, help me I’m so lonely!” The thought of that made her laugh and it carried around the the silence of the sitting area, reaching the ears of the librarian who gave her a stern look. Saej snorted and held in more laughter at the look too, clutching her hands to her mouth with the quill still in them.

[Saej]

¤

She hardly had two pages written down when an unsightly fellow wearing a garish yellow and orange bowtie sat down beside her. His hair was black and stringy, falling to his shoulders like limp noodles in clumps from the obvious lack of washing. His eyes, a unrelenting green, were trained on her like a hawk readying to eat his prey. In his hands a book proclaiming “Tales from the Other Realm” told her she was here to just read a book of fiction.
“Hello”, his breath reeked of onions and wafted straight up her nose. Although she liked onions the smell coming from him was horrible, it was all she could do to keep from gagging.
“What do you have there? I write in my spare time. Fiction in fact, a lot of fantasy about unknown worlds”, he flourished with his hands as he spoke the bit about “unknown worlds”. She was very obviously doing something and looked up from her studies with contempt.
“I'm studying.” She said this briskly in hopes he would get the hint and leave. He didn’t.
“Studying for a big Tower exam I bet! You seem rather bright. I’m Randy!” he outstretched his hand and she stared at him for a moment, daring him with her eyes to leave but he just kept on standing there with his arm outstretched. Finally, after a couple of seconds, she took his hand and limply shook it.
“Aye, I’m reading up about gardening,” she flashed her book, keeping a finger on the binding on the inside to hold her place as she showed him the cover pointedly not bothering to introduce herself. “Miss Abbot has a lot of good things to say, so she does.”
“A gardener! No kidding! Well, you wouldn’t happen to live in the Okomo Estates. I couldn’t happen but notice you must be an inarta and I must say the Okomo Estates are the place to be for a gardener. How long have you been here, certainly by the way you hold yourself you must be from Wind Reach?” He was rather chippy, startlingly so, and stank faintly of stale body odor.

His presence was beginning to piss her off. Couldn’t he see she was busy? The last part about Wind Reach was meant as a compliment but she wasn’t interested in where his smooth talking was headed. Right now, she was petching busy, and dammit if he didn’t leave and take his lust with him she was going to break his arm. ‘Well, I doubt I can break his arm but aye, putting him in his place will do it for sures.’
“I’ve lived here for nearly five years.” She flatly stated, opening her book and standing it on its edges trying to keep some of his ungodly smell away. Randy wasn’t taking no for an answer.
“ You know, that ghost really gave everyone quite the scare. Glad to say the old man got rid of him, or so I heard." Saej payed him no mind, being rude now, and stared off into her book wishing he would leave.
I’d just like to say--” he touched her arm and she jumped back, flinging his hand from her arm, dreads flopping wildly and gave him a dark, incredulous stare. ‘Did he really just put his hands on me?’ She leaned forward, looking around him, and at the librarian who was startled as well by the inarta’s quick movements. He looked at Saej warily as if he thought she was going to attack the man. Saej nodded to him and sunk back into her seat, turning her eyes to Randy who was standing in a state of shock at Saej’s lashing out.
She said simply, “I’m only giving you a hint to a warning: My brother is an Endal. Which if you know nothing, that means he flies on the back of a very dangerous, large bird. I want you to leave me alone; I said I’m studying.” Saej found when she was pissed off her manner of speaking was much more fluid, usually devoid of the slow tongue speaking which was thanks to the Temper use in her teen years, and was more intelligent than she was used to. Randy sputtered skeptically, “Did-did you just threaten me?”
“Yes!” She began to shriek, but caught herself, this was a library, and she hissed out the final part of the word. With a raging monotone voice she told him, “I did in fact and with a large bird; I’m not interested, now leave me be!” Now Randy understood and picked up his book, bowed, and left.

She sensed herself being stared at but ignored it, the looks would pass. These Lhavitians weren’t used to inarta’s ways. In Wind Reach she would have told him out flat to turn and walk away. Here she tried her hardest to be nice to people but when they didn’t listen, she knew she had to say what she meant. Beating around the bush just was not her forte being she was a simply and bluntly spoken woman. That being said she didn’t always blow up on people, hardly in fact, but that man had struck a nerve with his stink and his wanting to touch her. No, he reminded her of a Dek and although she felt for the Dek people, damned caste system, she still treated them as such in public. ‘As if his stinking breath would woo me, dammit I’m busy.’ She grumbled internally, still feeling the effects from her explosion on the man. She had her face buried in her book, hidden from the people’s stares, and now she peeked out from the top. To her pleasure no one was looking at her anymore, she noticed there were more people here now than when she came the first time, and she carried on with what she was doing. Reading and copying.

[Saej]

Source will be provided

[Saej]

[Saej]

[Saej]

[Saej]

Sources for this thread include:
http://www.gardeners.com/how-to/vegetable-gardening/5069.html
http://www.gardeners.com/link-page?cid=5600
http://www.gardeners.com/link-page?cid=5373

[Saej]

¤

After five to the point, concise pages she felt she was finished copying, for now, the basic’s out of the first chapter from Miss Abbot’s well written book. She had stressed the importance of keeping a journal and Saej felt proud to have bought this book, certainly she was going to turn out to be a successful gardener; at least by Miss Abbot’s standing. Although she, half the time, only wrote down to the stain on most of the pages she still found this paper much better to use than the dark scrolls she used last time. At least this time she would be able to clearly read what she’d written. Unlike her first time she made sure to write slowly, painfully slow, so as not to get any ink splots or messes on her pages. Of course she took her time in between the pages to allow the ink to dry, this only allowed her to read on and formulate what she was going to write on the next page. She wrote large, too, as she found this made her less likely to press down and cause a spot.

This entire process had made her extremely excited to begin in the Spring. She could almost see it now. She needed read on to figure out what more to write down. She skipped to the pages where it was written out by season when to plant what vegetable. The calendar even went as far as to put which annual and perennial flowers to plant too, this Prescilla was a “killa”, that was for sure. Yuk yuk.

Per the calendar, located towards the back of the book, and Miss Abbot’s suggestion, she decided and wrote down that she was going to plant potatoes, onions and carrots, and marigolds earlier in spring. Later she would plant her tomatoes, geraniums, and sage. Last and closest to summer she would sow in her garden more potatoes, rosemary, thyme, and peas. Finally she closed the book, reminding herself to come back for it later, and sat back in her chair scanning the library and its inhabitants. There were twelve of them in here, Randy included seated by the fireplace and scowling into his book. Last time, due to rumors floating around about a specter haunting the library, there had been only ten. A class of a few twelve year olds, their teacher, herself, and the librarian was in the library for the better part of a bell and a half.

Another thing she had just thought of, while gazing at the other patrons, was to ask her brother for some Temper seeds on his next flight out. Right now he was in the city, the winter not allowing he and his bird to fly back, so it likely wouldn’t be until spring until she could get them. She was excited. Temper was uncommon in Lhavit, unlike her native city, and she knew it was easy to grow, it was a weed after all; she would make a killing. Similar to Wind Reach, Lhavit was built into a mountain. She was sure there would be little difference in the way it was tended here as opposed to there, the climates were relatively the same if maybe Wind Reach was some degrees warmer, she was sure the hearty plant would survive within the warmer months. She made a note on her paper to plant it when she planted the peas. If she had a herbalism wing on her house it would make the climate easier to watch over, but by going off of this job she would have to wait for many seasons to be able to buy her own herbalism wing though.

‘I wouldn’t have to worry about bills anymore, in fact I bet if I started growing Temper I would be able to have my own herbalism wing in about two changes of the Watchstones, so I would. Ahh gods, that’s be great.’ She put her elbow on the table and her head in her right hand, all the while twisting a dread with her other, free hand. ‘Not to mention will all of my vegetables what I don’t eat I can preserve in soups to reheat for later and save money on going out to the tavern or buying groceries-- Of course I’d still go to the Star’s Shadow, aye, I’d have to if I want to see Hip. This garden though, is going to save me so much money. I hope it’s fun. I enjoy my indoor plants enough, I feel like a garden in the yard will be just like that except perhaps messy. Oh gods, I forgot about weeds and such.’ She looked down at the “Gardening: For Beginners” and her things, deciding now was as good of a time as any to get everything situated.

Her quills and ink were easy enough to scoop up and put into her rucksack. As was her new, sullied, she sighed to herself as she looked at its waterlogged remains, notebook. Despite it being waterlogged though, she was glad to have it. She put on her cloak, a flourish that made the thing swoop around her, and shouldered her backpack. While being eyed up by the librarian she picked up the book and traversed up the stairs to put the tome back. By now, only her second time, she was familiar with the six hundred and thirty-fifth area in the nonfiction and found her way to it with little effort. She replaced the book back into its rightful spot, happy to have met Prescilla, and turned on her heel ready to leave.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Randy watching her leave, a dark and revengeful look, but paid him little mind. She skipped to her toes and hopped out the door, leaving Randy and his revenge plots far behind as she returned home, her work done for the day.

[Saej]

Source:
http://www.ufseeds.com/What-To-Plant-Now.html

OOCAlso, if you would like to pop in just let me know. I'll just take off the brief ending I have which will put Saej in the gardening section of the library, if you wish to join her.

[Brandon Blackwing]

SAEJ

XP:

• Observation +3
• Socialization +1
• Acting +1
• Intimidation +1
• Gardening +2
• Planning +1

Lore:

• Gardening: feed the soil
• Gardening: light, space, and protection
• Gardening: How to plant vegetables
• Gardening: How plants climb
• Gardening: Trellising
• Gardening: Climbing plants as decoration
• Gardening: Which plants are Climbing Plants
• Gardening: The crop rotation system
• Gardening: Importance of observing your own garden
• Gardening: When to plan which plants

Notes:
I wasn't sure if I should award a lore on Randy or not, as I usually don't give lore for disposable one-time use NPC's, but if he's some kind of important character in the future, and/or you do want a lore on him, just let me know, and I'll give you one

Please remove or edit your post in the request thread.
Also please track your newly awarded xp and lores in your CS so both staff and graders alike can keep on grading your threads
If you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding your grade, please do not hesitate to send me a PM.

credit goes to Adelaide Sitai