9 Ash, Year 122
[Closed - Khyan]
With the plumes of smoke and ash having cleared, Hilana was able to relax inside the shop again. Of course, ‘relax’ was a relative term, because for her, work meant being busy, but she wouldn’t have had it any other way. That energy that had served her well as a child was still helping her now that she was channeling it in a more constructive manner. She did enjoy working with her hands and learning - not just from Vasilei’s talks and explanations, but from the books as well. She cared less for the selling aspect of her job; but she had come to understand that at least part of it was explaining to patients why they might need something and why it would help. Communication was key. Reining in her mouth was important. Tiaz was back to accompanying his owner now that the the atmosphere was back to normal, and the python was lounging contentedly on a driftwood branch in the fading sunlight of the day, enjoying his basking until she would pick him up and lock up the apothecary to take him home. It was late enough in the day that she wasn’t expecting too many more clients, but she was visible from the front windows to those passing by. Her long hair was down, though it was pulled back from her face with a ribbon. She still had her relatively plain attire on, her form-fitting sleeveless shirt with the long tiered skirt, though this one was cut asymmetrically.
For now, she was sorting out unlabelled bowls of dried flowers and herbs with a large stack of written labels that Vasilei had provided her, but the challenge was that there were twice as many labels as she had samples, and none of the samples were fresh. They were all aged and dried, and that meant a couple of clues that she would have been able to figure out from seeing it growing wild or in the garden were no longer there. But that was part of the challenge.
“Identifying a plant is crucial, Hilana. If a quality doesn’t match what you think you have on hand, and you misidentify it, you could hurt, or worse, kill your patient. Consider hydrilla or waterweed. Both look the about same. But can both restore a Vasti from severe dehydration? No. One of them will, but which one? One is toxic, and will hasten death. Many desperate Vasti have ingested it, only to die in a viciously agonizing fashion, seeking a restorative. But which one helps, and which one harms?”
“Waterweed is the one that will aid in rehydration. Hydrilla is the toxic one,” she had said.
“Good. Now which is which?” He had put two bowls in front of her, before taking away the heavy book that he had given her for the purposes of studying as she was reaching for it. “Ah. You’ve been able to look at it here, and take it home. Let’s see what all you’ve retained from the book.” He tucked it under an arm. “Consider this a test. Show me. Which one is which, and why?”
They were dried. One was a lighter colour still, which helped. She lifted one of the samples, looking between the two, grabbing a second sample. “The waterweed is wider and has up to 8 leaves in the whorl,” she said after a few minutes. “The hydrilla is thinner and more feathery. It only has a maximum of 6 leaves to a whorl. This one is the hydrilla.”
“Do you feel confident in your choice?” Vasilei challenged her.
“Yes,” she answered him, setting the dried plants down.
“Then eat the waterweed,” the tall Vastian told her, looking down at his student. “If you’re willing to prescribe it, you have to be willing to take the medicine yourself.” Without looking away from his gaze, Hilana selected the plant she had identified as the waterweed, taking a chunk off of it, and put it in her mouth, chewing. After a minute, she was feeling the effects of the plant, as a thirst she hadn’t realized she had developed was feeling quite slaked. “That was the right one, hmm? Here’s more for you,” he indicated the table full of bowls and the stack of labels. “You have between now and closing to get them sorted out. I’ll be checking tomorrow when I get in. If clients come, you tend to them too. You’ll rarely ever have the opportunity to identify something with all the peace and quiet you want to focus. Good night, girl, and good luck.”
She was almost done, having helped a dozen clients since Vasilei had left for the night. Mostly easier requests, though a few she had had to really think about. And yet… for months, she had had a quietly discomforting distraction that she had tried to bury down, deep inside of her, and push it away. She had heard the verdict, heard the sentence… and made an effort to take a quick look through the Forum regularly, all in an attempt to try to find the young noble that she had met last season. Even if she had found him, what would she had done? A number of the prices for slaves were well beyond what she made in a season. She could have asked her father for a loan, or gone to the bank… but that would have raised questions that were difficult to answer.
Wild grapes or moonseed? Wild garlic or death camas? It didn’t help that Vasilei had deliberately mixed in a number of poisonous plants with the sample… but when the familiar jingle of the bell rang to indicate someone was coming in, Hilana looked up from where she had been checking out the contents of the bowls, already beginning her greeting. “Salve, wel—-“ she cut off as soon as she realized who it was, getting up and coming around the table at a surprising speed with wide eyes. “Khyan!” On her face, there was an overwhelming relief, mixed with delight to see he was alive and intact, and yet mixed with pain to see the collar on his throat. “Are you alright?” She stopped short of touching him, not at all sure how he would have reacted to it.
[Closed - Khyan]
With the plumes of smoke and ash having cleared, Hilana was able to relax inside the shop again. Of course, ‘relax’ was a relative term, because for her, work meant being busy, but she wouldn’t have had it any other way. That energy that had served her well as a child was still helping her now that she was channeling it in a more constructive manner. She did enjoy working with her hands and learning - not just from Vasilei’s talks and explanations, but from the books as well. She cared less for the selling aspect of her job; but she had come to understand that at least part of it was explaining to patients why they might need something and why it would help. Communication was key. Reining in her mouth was important. Tiaz was back to accompanying his owner now that the the atmosphere was back to normal, and the python was lounging contentedly on a driftwood branch in the fading sunlight of the day, enjoying his basking until she would pick him up and lock up the apothecary to take him home. It was late enough in the day that she wasn’t expecting too many more clients, but she was visible from the front windows to those passing by. Her long hair was down, though it was pulled back from her face with a ribbon. She still had her relatively plain attire on, her form-fitting sleeveless shirt with the long tiered skirt, though this one was cut asymmetrically.
For now, she was sorting out unlabelled bowls of dried flowers and herbs with a large stack of written labels that Vasilei had provided her, but the challenge was that there were twice as many labels as she had samples, and none of the samples were fresh. They were all aged and dried, and that meant a couple of clues that she would have been able to figure out from seeing it growing wild or in the garden were no longer there. But that was part of the challenge.
“Identifying a plant is crucial, Hilana. If a quality doesn’t match what you think you have on hand, and you misidentify it, you could hurt, or worse, kill your patient. Consider hydrilla or waterweed. Both look the about same. But can both restore a Vasti from severe dehydration? No. One of them will, but which one? One is toxic, and will hasten death. Many desperate Vasti have ingested it, only to die in a viciously agonizing fashion, seeking a restorative. But which one helps, and which one harms?”
“Waterweed is the one that will aid in rehydration. Hydrilla is the toxic one,” she had said.
“Good. Now which is which?” He had put two bowls in front of her, before taking away the heavy book that he had given her for the purposes of studying as she was reaching for it. “Ah. You’ve been able to look at it here, and take it home. Let’s see what all you’ve retained from the book.” He tucked it under an arm. “Consider this a test. Show me. Which one is which, and why?”
They were dried. One was a lighter colour still, which helped. She lifted one of the samples, looking between the two, grabbing a second sample. “The waterweed is wider and has up to 8 leaves in the whorl,” she said after a few minutes. “The hydrilla is thinner and more feathery. It only has a maximum of 6 leaves to a whorl. This one is the hydrilla.”
“Do you feel confident in your choice?” Vasilei challenged her.
“Yes,” she answered him, setting the dried plants down.
“Then eat the waterweed,” the tall Vastian told her, looking down at his student. “If you’re willing to prescribe it, you have to be willing to take the medicine yourself.” Without looking away from his gaze, Hilana selected the plant she had identified as the waterweed, taking a chunk off of it, and put it in her mouth, chewing. After a minute, she was feeling the effects of the plant, as a thirst she hadn’t realized she had developed was feeling quite slaked. “That was the right one, hmm? Here’s more for you,” he indicated the table full of bowls and the stack of labels. “You have between now and closing to get them sorted out. I’ll be checking tomorrow when I get in. If clients come, you tend to them too. You’ll rarely ever have the opportunity to identify something with all the peace and quiet you want to focus. Good night, girl, and good luck.”
She was almost done, having helped a dozen clients since Vasilei had left for the night. Mostly easier requests, though a few she had had to really think about. And yet… for months, she had had a quietly discomforting distraction that she had tried to bury down, deep inside of her, and push it away. She had heard the verdict, heard the sentence… and made an effort to take a quick look through the Forum regularly, all in an attempt to try to find the young noble that she had met last season. Even if she had found him, what would she had done? A number of the prices for slaves were well beyond what she made in a season. She could have asked her father for a loan, or gone to the bank… but that would have raised questions that were difficult to answer.
Wild grapes or moonseed? Wild garlic or death camas? It didn’t help that Vasilei had deliberately mixed in a number of poisonous plants with the sample… but when the familiar jingle of the bell rang to indicate someone was coming in, Hilana looked up from where she had been checking out the contents of the bowls, already beginning her greeting. “Salve, wel—-“ she cut off as soon as she realized who it was, getting up and coming around the table at a surprising speed with wide eyes. “Khyan!” On her face, there was an overwhelming relief, mixed with delight to see he was alive and intact, and yet mixed with pain to see the collar on his throat. “Are you alright?” She stopped short of touching him, not at all sure how he would have reacted to it.
