[Weaver Woods] Sifting Through the Thorns

[Ashandra Gha'Nalis]

ooc: I couldn't find an actual description of the woods, so I'm assuming they're relatively safe to RP in ... as far as any woods are save, that is

I'm just herb gathering here, as well as working on some herbal remedies and scrolls and such for my shop. If anybody would like to jump in and RP, feel free! Otherwise, nothing much of any importance will be happening.

First Oridisia of Imperos, 8th Candlemark

Ashandra had always found these forests and woodland areas peaceful - no matter where she was, she invariably sought them out. Like a moth to the flame, as they said.

Back in Arconis this had been a rather common time for her to go gathering herbs, do in part to the fact that her shop did not open for several hours. That was true here, as well.

She kept to the main paths for this, her first trip into the forest outside Demios. She would stop every once in a while to inspect one flower or another, sometimes gathering some of what she found, other times continuing on with a small smile.

Her one precaution this day, that she had not thought of back in Arconis, was the inclusion of a rather deadly looking dagger strapped to one thigh. Though the rumors of spiders had been vague, a little precaution wouldn't be remiss.

[Ashandra Gha'Nalis]

As she made her way away from the more travelled forest paths, Ashandra knew it was probably a bad idea; but, she wasn't having much luck sticking around here, and at this rate she'd have to close the shop from lack of supplies.

Fingers trailing along the bark of trees as she walked along, Ashandra's eyes suddenly narrowed, zeroing in on one plant in particular.

Jamblai. She'd read extensively on the plant, scouring the book she had recieved in Ieffreon for references to various types of plants. And Jamblai was one that had interested her, perhaps most of all. Healing burns, it also helped to alleviate seasickness and nausea, all of which were, more than likely, common ailments on this island.

Kneeling down, Ashandra smiled in delight as she realised there was actually a small grouping of the plants. Carefully and methodically pulling each plants out, roots still attatched, she carefully placed them into the leather bag hanging from one shoulder, standing and quickly making her way back toward the city proper.

[Ashandra Gha'Nalis]

It was perhaps a candlemark later that Ashandra slipped into her small shop, closing the door tightly behind herself and moving toward the long table in the back. Carefully removing the plants - six in all - that she had gathered in the woods, she quickly retrieved two clay pots, already filled with soil from the woods themselves in preperation for the transplant of herbs she might find on her travels.

It took her the better part of the next candlemark to transfer two of the plants into the pots, watering and setting them upon a low bench - one on each end, leaving room in the middle for one to sit. The bench itself was just under a window - the perfect spot for a plant or two to bask in the sunlight they so desperately needed.

Eventually, she turned her attention to the remaining four plants, tapping her right index finger against her pursed lips as she studied the plants. With a slight shrug of her shoulders, she moved to collect them, carefully seperating the roots from the rest of the plant. Once she had all four roots, she carefully hung them up to dry behind the table, before turning to the flowered part of the plant.

Gathering the flowers to her in one large pile, she carefully went about pressing them between sheets of parchment, leaving those pieces of parchment piled upon one another to dry the flowers, as well.

By the time she had finished all of this, it was nearly time for her to open shop, and she settled herself in the chair behind the table with a small sigh, reaching for a fresh sheet of parchment, ink and quill.

[Ashandra Gha'Nalis]

Jamblai

Having a six petaled bluish white flower which blooms from early Spring to late Fall, this plant has a green fleshy stem and broad egg shaped yellow-green leaves.

The root is long and spidery and must be boiled and the resultant distillation applied to burns. If used successfully the herb will double the rate of healing for the burn.

The dried flowers, when used in a tea, will alleviate seasickness and nausea.

Ashandra set the piece of parchment to the side, allowing the ink to dry as she began on the next piece of parchment, repeating word for word what she had written in the first.

In total, she created four such pieces of parchment, which she then rolled and tiedwith a small piece of leather twine, setting them in an empty bowl she retrieved from a pile on the floor.

That bowl quickly made it's way to an empty spot on one of the table, before another empty bowl that would soon hold the flowers and roots currently drying around her. Those herbs would not be ready for some time yet, however, and so the second bowl remained empty ... for now.

Settling herself behind the table, Ashandra gave a small sigh, before clearing her throat and retrieving a small book from inside her bag, brushing bits and pieces of leaves and flower's from it's cover before opening it to a blank page.

[Ashandra Gha'Nalis]

... The Next Day

Ashandra stretched her arms above her head as she made her way out of her bedroom and into the main area of her shop.

Her first priority this morning, as always, was her plants - esepcially the newest ones. She hadn't actually had to take care of Jamblai before, and she quickly pulled her book off the shelf, leafing through the pages until she came upon the one with information on that particular herb.

Skimming through the information, Ashandra frowned, tapping one finger against the tabletop as she re-read the passage carefully, before moving to the plants themselves with a pensive, worried frown, mind already turning toward the conditions she had found the Jamblai in - and those in which it now resided.

[Ashandra Gha'Nalis]

Making some slight adjustments to the location of the herbs - thus affecting the amount of sunlight they would receive - Ashandra ran her fingers through her long white hair, sighing loudly and tipping her head back to face the ceiling. Stretching languidly, she gathered her leather shoulder bag to her, rubbing a hand across her mouth before making her way outside and into the woods once more.

It was still early enough in the morning that she had no fear of being late opening up the shop - a quick trip to the woods had always calmed her, readied her for the coming day in Arconis, and she saw no reason not to continue that trend here in Demios.

It didn't take long to reach the outskirts of Demios, and from there to venture into the forest. And this time, she didn't even try to keep to the normal, well-trodden paths, though she glanced over her shoulder rather often to make sure she did not lose her way.

That was the last thing she needed.

As she walked, she kept her eyes out for the many herbs known to grow in these climates, bending down every once in a while to inspect one thing or another.

[Ashandra Gha'Nalis]

Stopping before a healthy-looking ash tree, Ashandra gathered to her several strips of bark - three in total. Another herb she didn't have much personal experience with, but it didn't seem that hard of a concoction to create - and practice made perfect, as they said.

Reaching up, Ashandra gathered several of the leaves growing upon the tree's branches and depositing them, with the strips of bark, into the leather bag that hung from her left shoulder.

Though the previous day she had returned immediately after gathering just a small amount of herbs to herself, todays she continued on. After all, she had gotten a rather early start, and found something useful almost immediately.

With that thought firmly in mind, Ashandra continued her way down the path, stopping every once in a while to insect one plant or another as she walked.

[Ashandra Gha'Nalis]

It was nearly a candlemark later that Ashandra made her way back to the shop that also served as her house, hands empty of any other herbs, though that didn't upset her too much; she had brought enough from Arconis to tide her over for a bit, and the Ash bark and leaves would keep her busy for much of the day.

The shop wasn't due to open up for another hour or two, and so she quickly made her way into her bedroom, grabbing up her book of herbs and remedies as she went. Sliding her bag to the floor, Ashandra flipped the book open to the correct page, setting it to the side as she gathered the strips of bark to her, using the book as reference as she prepared them.

Lighting a fire in the fireplace, she carefully filled the pot with good, clean water and set it atop the fire, dropping one piece of bark into the pot and gathering the others to her and making her way out and into the main room of the shop.

[Ashandra Gha'Nalis]

The bark would have to boil for most of the day, or so the book had said. Therefore, she would be forced to busy herself with other things.

Taking a small bundle of Jallow from the table - she had yet to package up all of the herb for sale, after all - Ashandra set about placing the roots of a single Jallow plan in her small, bright yellow mortar, before beginning to grind with the pestle.

She worked at it for a good ten to fifteen minutes, until her arm felt as if it would fall off at any moment. Finishing at last, she moved back to her small bedroom, setting another, smaller pot above the fire next to the first. This she filled with more of the clean water she had brought up several days before, before scraping the roots into the pot and leaving them to boil.

As they did so she brought her bag out to the main room, removing the small flowers she had collected with the bark, setting them on the table, to the right of her workspace. Several other loots bits of plant life could already be found there, though it was clear she had made an attempt to seperate the different herbs from one another.

Moving back into her sleeping quarters, the half-esh young woman checked on the Jallow, frowning as she eyed the concoction, before moving over to make her bed as she waited for it to boil sufficiently. This was one herb she did have experience with, after all.

Finally it was ready, and carefully removed the pot from the fire, hanging it to the left and placing a hand towel over it's surface.

Twenty days; that was how long it had to stand for. Though it was a pain, at least she knew most of the work was over and done with, and all that remained from her was to wait, and then bottle the finished product for sale.

Moving back into the main room of the herbalism shop, Ashandra went about her opening routine, humming softly under her breath as she did so.

[Ashandra Gha'Nalis]

... The Next Morning

Ashandra woke a bit earlier than usual the next morning, stretching her arms high above her head until she heard a slight pop. Shuddering ever so slightly, she rose from her bed and went about her morning routine - splashing water on her face, unbraiding her hair and running a comb through it. She was dressed in a manner of minutes, in her usual dark brown dress that reached down to her ankles, accented by designs done in red at the bottom.

Her feet remained bare as she walked through the front room of the store, checking on each of her plants in turn, waving a red ribbon through her long white hair as she walked. After watering the few plants she had situated throughout the place, she gathered her brown leather shoulder bag, slinging it onto her left shoulder and making her way outside.

It was, as always, a short walk into the woods, and she took a different direction from the previous day as she walked. The point was to gather herbs, not just take a stroll through the forest!

Walking slowly, she stopped every once in a while to study one plant or another, before invariably moving on.

She almost missed the tree, though she was passing practically right next to it. It was only the fact that she chose that moment to sneeze rather spectacularly that brought her head to jerk to the side, bringing the Jinab tree into her line of sight.

Rubbing a hand over her eyes, Ashandra moved toward the tree, carefully peeling several strips of bark away and slipping them inside her previously empty bag. Standing, she stared down the path with a frown, before shrugging her shoulders and turning back to begin the trek to her house and shop. She still had some time left to her, but it would be better used creating actual concoctions and remedies from the herbs she had gathered recently.

[Ashandra Gha'Nalis]

One candlemark after leaving the Shop

Ashandra sighed as she set her bag down on her long work table toward the back of the shop, taking a seat behind it, in the only chair she owned in this small house. She missed her house in Arconis at times like these - 3 bedrooms, two washrooms, more than one level ... it had been nice.

Perhaps she could build on to this one ... upward, obviously, Turn her current bedrom into a workspace of sorts, for drying and preparing herbs that required boiling and burning and the like.

Shrugging her shoulders, Ashandra reached for her bag, quickly drawing out the pieces of bark she had gathered earlier that morning. Setting them to the side, she gathered a single piece of parchment to her, opening a bottle of black ink and dipping her quill in.

The dark chocolate brown bark of the jinab tree may be eaten in order to allow a person to remain awake for one whole week, without the need for sleep.

At the end of this period, they will collapse, absolutely exhausted for four days, and will capable of only half movement for a further week after that.

She repeated this two additional times, for though she had gathered five strips of bark, she wished to keep two for herself. Waiting for the ink to dry, she went about checking on her plants once again, gathering several strips of leather twine and two empty bowls to her - one for the bark itself, and another for the scrolls.

Carefully rolling the sheets of parchment into a scroll, Ashandra tried them closed with small pieces of leather twine, before carefully arranging them in the bowl. Setting the two bowls on an empty bit of table out in the shop, one filled with the strips of bark and the other with the scrolls, Ashandra smiled to herself as she returned to the back room - her bedroom - to check on the herbs she had begun work on the previous day, humming to herself as she went.

[Tarot]

Gd - xp|+1 XP Herbalism|Ashandra Gha'Nalis|Tarot