Incense and Common Sense

(This is a thread from Mizahar's fantasy role play forums. Why don't you register today? This message is not shown when you are logged in. Come roleplay with us, it's fun!)

The Diamond of Kalea is located on Kalea's extreme west coast and called as such because its completely made of a crystalline substance called Skyglass. Home of the Alvina of the Stars, cultural mecca of knowledge seekers, and rife with Ethaefal, this remote city shimmers with its own unique light.

Incense and Common Sense

Postby Haeli on February 28th, 2011, 5:00 pm

Image
Timestamp: Winter, 510 AV
Location: All Things Wild
Reason: Shop Thread

Haeli needed more things to sell in her shop. The denizens of Lhavit loved things she often found mystifying, and incense was one of them. Haeli remembered Ozantha making it for the sailors, namely to protect themselves against not only their own odors which were a result of being at sea without proper hygiene, but also against pests that tended to invade their space. Incense had numerous purposes, from altering one’s state of mind, putting one in closer touch with the gods, to pure and simply olfactory bliss. And while Haeli didn’t often make incense, it was definitely something she wanted to stock in All Things Wild.

The good thing about incense was that it needed very few ingredients to be successful. Many of those ingredients were readily available in and around Lhavit. There was also the possibility that Haeli could teach people their own incense making and simply stock the raw ingredients for such crafting if and when folks cared to try their hand at scent making. All she truthfully needed was fine natural incense resins, woods and herbs. All of which, naturally, she had on hand at the shop.

To Haeli, the art of crafting incense was an almost meditative process that allowed her to exercise her creativity and direct scents she knew could help people in a controlled manner that would release when and where a person wanted it. Incense making tended to reinforce people’s (and Haeli’s) interconnection with Cayhai. Incense allowed everyone, even those working indoors, to experience the pleasure of the Mizahar’s aromatic bounty. There was a scent for anyting and everything; ones that could be devoted to greeting Syna in the morning and welcoming Leth back at night. Even Zintila had a mixture of scents that could be devoted to her aspects, both day and night. Scents could be manipulated to calm people, give fussy babys more rest, or even stimulate the sensuality of a lover. Haeli loved giving scents up to the sky that caused a smooth relaxing atmosphere that eased the troubles of someone’s day. Haeli used incense to create aromatic, fragrant spaces both indoors and out. Incense has always been deeply intertwined with religious ceremonies as well as the practice of medicine. In fact, most decent herbalists knew the art of incense making on principle alone. The Gods knew they had enough materials laying around.

Haeli remembered back.

Ozantha smiled. “Haeli, you can always strengthen your connection to nature by creating soft clouds of sandlewood, juniper, and lemon grass. It’s easy enough. All you need is a few key steps.” The old Dhani said. She fiddled and fussed around, then carefully gave Haeli some steps to follow. ”You’ll need to first determine what sort of incense you want to make. Then you need to decide how it will be heated, child. Gather your tools and ingredients, and finally pulverize, mix, dry or cure as needed, and burn. It’s really as easy as that!” the Dhani said.

    Steps To Making Incense

  • determine the type of incense you'll make
  • determine how you will heat your incense
  • gather tools
  • gather ingredients
  • pulverize ingredients (or use powders)
  • mix ingredients
  • perhaps a drying or curing time
  • heat ingredients
  • enjoy the aroma!



Haeli reviewed her mental notes. She had a perfect list in her head and knew exactly what to do. When she was young, she’d listened carefully, paid attention, and most importantly had really and truly made incense over and over again. That helped a tremendous amount in knowing exactly what was needed. Haeli’s only problem was that she didn’t’ have a broad scale knowledge of what scents to mix together. That, however, would come in time as Haeli familiarized herself with Lhavit and what the people in the city really wanted from a local herbalist and witch.
Image
Image
User avatar
Haeli
The stars in the sky have all the answers.
 
Posts: 349
Words: 366819
Joined roleplay: July 2nd, 2010, 9:33 am
Location: Lhavit, The Unforgiven, Gyvaka Swamp
Race: Human
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Plotnotes
Medals: 2
Trailblazer (1) Donor (1)

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest