Sifting Through the Thorns III (Closed, GF, Mod)

[Ashandra Gha'Nalis]

The Month of Junctior, in the Season of Autumn
Era I of the Celestine Mandate, Era XV Post Fractum.


This thread will be rather fast paced, and is generally just a herb-gathering spree. If anybody would like to join in and make it an adventure - or even just a social thread - however, you are more than welcome to!

Also, due to the Chronosynch, Ashandra has the chance of running into some new - and apparently dangerous - herbs. Though I'm hoping she can gather some of them for her shop(s), there's also the chance she could get hurt quite a bit.

It had become a common occurance in first Arconis, and then Demios, for Ashandra to scour the nearby countryside - and especially any forests or woodlands areas nearby - for local herbs and the like. Therefore, it was really o surprise that she would take to such again.

Her clothing for this particular trip was simple; a long robe, brown in color, with designs in white upon the bottom, as well as the ends of the sleeves; sleeves which englufed her hands in their wide folds.

Her hair she wore loose this day, and the white strands fell in gentle waves around her shoulders, her twin-tipped ears peeking out now and then as she moved her head this way and that.

The grass was cool beneath her feet - for she wore them bare, her shoes left back at her house in Ieffreon. It had been nice, to return there instead of taking up in the local Inn, as she had been forced to do in first Arconis and then Demios upon first arriving in the cities - before she had earned enough to buy the houses and shops she now owned in those fine cities.

She was creating quite the life here, wasn't she? Between the two herbalism shops she owned in Arconis and Demios, she always seemed to have something to do, though the two girls she had hired meant she could come and go as she pleased; they knew what they were doing, and more than that, they enjoyed it.

Which was really the only way she could consider opening up a third shop.

Ieffreon would always hold a place in her heart - even through all the darkness she had endured her, the city had been good to her, the people welcoming. She had bought her first home here, held her first job here. And so it was no surprise she would want to set down permanent roots here, as well - more permanent than simply owning a house in the poorer district of town. And as much as she loved that little house, perhaps it was time to move up in the world.

Bending down to inspect a small bit of weeds, Ashandra sighed before straightening and moving on.

[Ashandra Gha'Nalis]

It was good to be back in Ieffreon, Ashandra decided as she turned a bend in the path before her, frowning as she glanced to the side. There was a smaller path here; one that she didn't remember from before. And though a part of her was frightened - frightened of what she had encountered in these forests before, frightened of the horrors she had witnessed on this small little island - a larger part of her refused to give in to that fear.

Drawing a deep breath, the small half-elven young woman ducked beneath an overhanging brush, stepping onto the side path with a frown. Her chances were greater of finding viable herbs off the beaten path, where they would have become trampled on or, worse, gathered by other herbalists and alchemists in the area.

Even so, she knew she was taking a risk by veering off the normal paths, venturing down roads travelled by few - perhaps none travelled these paths any more, perhaps she would find only wild animals and overgrown wildlife. And perhaps she would find both relatively harmless.

There were the other options, of course - like the two siblings who had dragged her into these same forests, down similar paths on the promise of meeting druids. There had been no druids that time; no gentle walks through snow filled forest paths. Only two wanna-be necromancers with too much time on their hands, and too many animals to sacrifice. When they had decided to move on to human sacrifices was when she had come into play.

And what a play it had been.

The entire forest looked the same, really; perhaps that was why she was so frightened of it now - because she could see those blood-splattered trees in every clearing she glimpsed. And perhaps it was the fact that only one of those siblings was captured - the male. What about the woman? Was she still here, carrying on with her experiments, her dark magic and sacrifices to some dark god or another?

[Ashandra Gha'Nalis]

The thought was frightening, Ashandra had to admit - one of the most frightening she had had lately.

As if she didn't already have enough things to be frightened of - as if the Sanguine hunting her weren't enough. She had enough things to worry about as it was - why add a homicidal wanna-be necromancer to the mix? She'd had her fill of those.

Not like Elmorus. Homicidal necromancer, yes, But different ... and his better than average looks hadn't hurt matters, either.

Smiling slightly to herself, Ashandra trailed her fingers along a rather large tree, pausing only long enough to draw a small knife before moving forward and stripping a small section of the bark from the tree. Even the bark of more mundane trees could be useful ... anything could be useful, if you just had a bit imagination and ingenuity.

Like this bark. Even if she didn't use it for a medicinal reason, there were plenty of other reasons to gather it - not the least of which was to experiment with various other ways of preparing other types of bark. As long the composition was similar, the theories should hold true from one type of bark to another.

At least, that was the her theory.

She had a lot of those.

Drawing a deep breath, Ashandra tucked away first the bark, and then the knife before moving on, tucking a few wayward strands of pure white hair behind one twin-tipped ear.

Funny, the last time she had been here, she had been in the dark about so many things. Her heritage, her parents, her sister. So many truths kept from her, only to be shoved upon her in so little a span of time.

A matter of months - perhaps a year. That was all that it had taken for her entire life to come crashing down around her. She had thought leaving Ieffreon would help - thought she was escaping from her ghosts, her demons.

But she had only been running headlong toward them, not away from them.

[Ashandra Gha'Nalis]

Drawing a deep, steadying breath, Ashandra shook her head. As if that would clear her mind of all the demons that haunted her still, all the ghosts of her past.

Stopping, the white-haired half-esh ran her fingers along the bark of an ash tree, staring up into it's bought for a moment before once again withdrawing her cutting knife and beginning to carve off a healthy portion of said bark. The bark of an ash tree ... good for fevers, but the wood itself was traditionally used in the creation of stakes, for protection against vampires, if she remembered correctly. She'd have to come back with the proper equipment ...

Ashandra nodded once, carefully tucking away first the bark and then her knife, before once again moving on.

This new path was not a straight shot, but rather it curved and wound until it felt as if she were walking in circles. It was disconcerting, feeling as though she could lose her way at any moment - like she already had. She had come across no forks in the path, however, so her fears really were unfounded.

Well, that fear, at least.

[Ashandra Gha'Nalis]

Ashandra gave a low sigh of exasperation, running the fingers of her right hand through her long, pure white hair. She didn't turn around, no - that wasn't the cause of her sudden exasperation. No, it was more the heat of Ieffreon in autumn.

Well, Ieffreon in any season, really.

Adjusting the strap of her bag on her left shoulder, Ashandra paused suddenly, eyes narrowing as her ears picked up a rather odd sound ... water. No, more than that, a waterfall.

Though it would mean departing from the relative safety of the path, Ashandra still moved toward the sounds, stepping carefully through overgrown weekds, shrubbery and plantlife, weaving through trees both large and small until she reached a small clearing, which lead directly toward a small waterfall emptying into a good-sized pool.

Certainly large enough for a swim.

Bag dropping down to the ground at her feet, Ashandra quickly divested herself of every stitck of clothing upon her body, before carefully easing herself into the thankfull cold waters of the pool.

Herb gathering could wait. Right now, she needed this.

[Ashandra Gha'Nalis]

The water felt good on her sore muscles - it was not so long ago that she had travelled to the island from Demios, and the ache of so long a travel still showed on her slight frame. The limp was gone, thank the snows for that. But her muscles still protested prolonged movement, and drawing a bath at home was such a hastle that she hadn't bothered as of yet - just a few splashes of cold water were enough to wipe the worst of the dirt and grime away.

But this ... this felt heavently. And she would finally get the chance to was her hair, something she hadn't done yet this cycle - not since she had left Demios, at the very least.

Submerging herself beneath the water, Ashandra resurfaced with a gasp, smiling as the sun warmed her head and began rapidly drying the water from her face Her hair was thick; she had no worries that it would dry before she finished here.

It hadn't been so long ago - a year, perhaps - since she had been frightened of such a large body of water - though she had overcome that fear, it had not been without the addition of another, perhaps even worse fear.

Though being afraid of water while living on an island was a bit hazardous.

Still, she would prefer it over the little girl that still haunted her dreams - the one little girl she had been unable to save from the merfolk. That the girl had been Rhaghrnd only made it worse.

Hands reaching up to clasp around the necklace she wore about her neck at all times, Ashandra closed her eyes, wading in the water. She was in the middle of the pond now, and she moved to rst upon her back, floating lazily as she stared up at the crystal blue sky.

[Ashandra Gha'Nalis]

Eventually Ashandra made her way toward shore once again, cimbing out of the water only long enough to retrieve a bottle from her bag, before once again slipping into the blissfully cool waters.

The bottle was fairly good sized, made of metal and with a cap firmly screwed in place. As she opened if, however, a strong smell permeated out, and it became readily apparent what was inside.

Vinegar.

A small amount was poured over the half-esh woman's head, before she quickly screwed the bottle closed and set it on the shore, quickly rubbing the foul-smelling liquid throughout her hair.

It wasn't the best smelling thing in the world, she knew, but it got the job done - and was one of the perks of working with herbs and knowing natural remedies ... You came across these little things to help in your every day needs ... and your every day hygiene.

Scalp stinging from the roughness with which she rubbed, Ashandra ducked her head beneath the water at least, shaking her head and running her fingers through her hair before resurfacing with a gasp, taking greedy mouthfuls of fresh, clean air.

[Ashandra Gha'Nalis]

Moving over to the waterfall, the young Elfess moved under the water's spray and let the water cascade down her body, sighing as the force of the water soothed away the rest of her aches and pains - rather like a massage for her back and arms, and it felt surprisingly good on her head, of all places.

Shifting her shoulders slightly, Ashandra have a drawn out sigh. She stood beneath the spray of water for several minutes, before finally starting to move back into the main body of water.

Her body felt remarkably better from the healing effect of the water, and she climbed out with another sigh, laying upon the side of the pond and allowing the warm sun to dry her. She lay there for some time - perhaps close to a candlemark, before finally rising and redressing slowly.

Bag once again resting upon her shoulder - though quite a bit more comfortably - Ashandra picked her way slowly back to the path she had been on previously, thankful that she didn't have much of a problem finding it - or figuring out which way she had been headed, and which way would bring her back to the main road.

Perhaps her sense of direction wasn't quite so bad as she had previously thought.

[Ashandra Gha'Nalis]

Continuing down the path, further and further away from the safety of the main forest paths, Ashandra ducked beneath an overhanging branch, brushing the hair from her eyes as she straightened once again.

Her hair was still damp from her foray into the water, but drying rapidly thanks to the warm - hot - sun bearing down on her. Even so, her clothes still stuck to her slightly wet skin, giving her some slight reprieve from the Ieffreon weather she was no longer accustomed to, after being so long away.

Bending, she carefully gathered several of the Jallow herb to her, carefully depositing them into her bag before moving on. She was gathering quite the collection of herbs this day - and for that she was grateful. If she planned to open a shop here in Ieffreon, she would need some herbs, at least, to start out with. Much more than she already had, even including this bunch.

Not far away she found the Jaffray - a rather common herb, but useful enough nonetheless. It was readil recognizable to her, being found in both Arconis - during the warmer months - and Demios. She was not at all surprised to find it here - not with the warm seasons all year long. She gathered only a handful of the herb - perhaps six or seven of the herb altogether. She could always come back for more - it was a rather common plant, after all. Just like the Jallow.

And Jamblai. Ah, she had been hoping she would find some of this - it would prove useful, she was sure. And it should prove a rather common herb to be found in these parts - said to grow in coastal areas, it was. And what was more coastal than an island?

She gathered quite a bit of this particular herb - what amounted to perhaps two handfuls, easily twice the amount she ahd gathered for the other two herbs. But then again, she had a feeling this one would be quite a bit more popular than the others.

She walked for some distance without finding anything more, and she had almost given up hope when her eyes caught sign of a Jinab tree, tucked away a short distance from the path. Though she was again uneasy at the thought of veering from the relative safety of the path, a Jinab tree was certainly worth the risk - and really, it wasn't all that far away.

[Ashandra Gha'Nalis]

She stumbled - almost fell - on her way down, but eventually Ashandra reached the tree in question, carefully pulling out her cutting knife and peeling away three large sections of the tree's bark.

It was a bit harder to find, the bark of a Jinab tree - the tree itself was hard to find. It was rather useful, however; being able to stay awake for a week straight had it's perks, she supposed. The adverse effect of being comatose for four days, and then being exhausted for another week after that were a bit much, in her opinion though, and were the only reason she had yet to use the herb herself. Perhaps if she was desperate enough she would try it, though.

Bark and knife carefully tucked away with her bag, Ashandra tested the weight of said bag with a frown as she made her way back up to the path. Time to turn back, perhaps?

Tapping the fingers of her right hand against her hip, the small half-esh woman turned to stare down the path, back the way she had come with a frown. It was still early, true, but the further she walked, the longer it would take her to return to the main path, not to mention making it back to the city.

Shrugging her thin shoulders, she turned, making her way back down the way she had come. She could always come back on the morrow.

[Nimh]

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