The entrance of the shop opened into a spacious open floor, clean and swept and lit by a combination of natural light and lanterns that hung from the ceiling. It was cool, and the air somewhat humid despite the temperature. She could smell a nearly overpowering scent of lavender in the air, and without meaning to she touched her nose, grimacing slightly as she looked around curiously.
"This way." the voice pulled Lyra's attention to the adjoining room, where she saw Jacun standing next to a table and chairs, one of which he held pulled out for her. On the table, itself rested an elegant black teapot, and two cups made of what looked like carved obsidian. Once more Lyra felt her eyebrow raise and she examined the Alchemist, but she made her way over to the man anyway. Without thought she allowed Jacun to help her into the seat, the man taking her hand with such an elegant nonchalance that the woman did not realize he had done so until after she was seated and her chair pushed up to the table. Frowning Lyra looked at her hand, wiggling her fingers that could still feel the strong yet delicate touch the man had used.
"Wormwood bark, silk vine, and Silverhorn caps." Jacun said as he handed a steaming cup to Lyra.
"Excuse me?"
He smiled, motioning for Lyra to accept the cup, and picked up his own once Lyra had brought it to her lips. The taste was subtle. At first, it tasted like just warm water, the warmth spreading quickly through her chest and filling her with a slight tingling sensation. As the last drop passed over her tongue however her senses became alight with an earthy taste. The flavor lingered in the back of her throat, and when she breathed in she could almost smell the forest after the rain. Taking a second sip Lyra looked down into the cup, swirling the dark liquid there as she considered if she liked it or not.
"Wormwood bark, silk vine, and silverhorn caps." Jacun repeated, tilting his own cup back and closing his eyes slightly, "The ingredients that I put into this particular brew. Wormwood is a common shrub-like tree that grows at the base of the mountains around Kalzasi. The wood of even older wormwood trees is supple and pliable and popular for making wands or arrows that need to receive a form of enchantment." He tapped the side of the cup, now looking at Lyra was a gleam in his eye, "Silkvine grows only in the Wildking's Forest and is something of a parasite that clings to the larger trees there. It is known to suffocate smaller plants before they can grow to maturity. Silverhorn caps are a form of mushroom which grows along the edge of Lake Udori, in the muds of the banks closest to the Astralar Mountains. They appear only after heavy rainfall which accompanies strong thunderstorms. Together these ingredients create a blend that eases the strain on joints and or weakened tissue. It is especially useful for older women who have difficulty maintaining their flexibility with age or degradation over time. The three ingredients are all rich in the aether as well and help revitalize damaged or aether deprived muscles and bone and have been shown to low the ravages of age. "
Lyra paused her next sip, slowly setting the cup down and looking sidelong at the pot. It was quite an unusual, and oddly specific, set of ingredients that the man had chosen for her. Indeed even as she took stock of herself she felt a spreading warmth through her limps. Perhaps she was imagining it, but Lyra thought that her body felt somewhat lighter.
"Do you usually make a habit of adding fungus to your mixtures?" Her gold eyes switched to looking at Jucan, who suddenly seemed a bit perturbed.
"Do you find this blend, not to your taste?" he asked, setting his own cup down with a frown, "I admit I do tend to experiment with the ingredients in my brews, so if you do not like the taste or the idea of drinking mushroom tea, I can make you something else."
Shaking her head with a smile Lyra brought the cup to her mouth and sipped once more, closing her eyes and breathing in the scent of the tea, "That will not be necessary. I was simply taken aback at the implication that I was an old lady."
Jacun stared at her blankly, and suddenly his eyes widened in realization as he stuttered a response, "N-no I, that wasn't what I was trying to imply."
"I know." She had to suppress a chuckle, "I am just being a tad bit contrary. The tea is quite good, though it is the first I have had of this nature."
Silence lapsed between the two once more, both simply nursing their cups. It wasn't a truly comfortable silence, but Lyra found herself struggling to find the words to move on to her reason for being in the shop in the first place. For his part Jacun seemed content to simply sit and wait, his blue eyes watching her with interest. A thought came suddenly to her mind and Lyra once more set her cup down, looking at Jacun with a mixture of curiosity and surprise.
"You speak the old tongue?"
At this Jacun smiled once more, but merely winked in reply. Thinking back Lyra realized that from the moment he had opened the door the Alchemist had been talking to her in Vallenor. It had seemed so natural that Lyra had not even noticed, and even now this man held their conversation with ease and fluency that the ancient elf had not seen in anyone else. Somehow Lyra felt she should have a sense of caution, but somehow this man speaking to her in her own tongue had the opposite effect. She felt more at ease, and after a time she sighed.
"You came here for something, didn't you?" It was Jacun that reinitiated the conversation. He leaned with his elbows on the table, fingers steepled over his cup as he looked at her expectantly.
Hesitating slightly Lyra nodded, still a bit unbalanced after the recent revelation of this child's fluency. With one hand Lyra reached into her robes and pulled out three glass vials. Inside was a swirling mass of what looked like black smoke. It was, in fact, pieces of her own essence. Jacun reached for one of the vials, turning it over in his long fingers as he examined the contents curiously.
"You are an alchemist." She waved at the vial, "This is an aetheric construct, found naturally in a gaseous form. While useful in that state I require I to be condensed into a liquid form."
Jacun 'hmm'ed' in thought, holding up the vial to his eye and staring through it at Lyra, "That is not exactly a difficult request. Transforming aether states is a basic tenant of alchemy, used in many parts of the crafting process. I would call it trivial if important none the less." He lowered the vial to gaze at Lyra unobstructed, "Why not do this yourself?"
With a grimace, Lyra shook her head, "I have neither the equipment nor the experience to do such a thing. Unfortunately, I have found myself in a rather unenviable position." At a look from the Alchemist Lyra reluctantly continued, "I am new to Kalzasi, and have limited funds. I am in the process of preparing a method of earning funds soon for myself, but I am limited to those skills I already possess."
"Something to do with scrivening I suspect." At the woman's frown Jacun pointed at her skin and the tattoos that marked her, "You do not see a branching corridor schema every day, and especially not on a person. The fact you even thought to use it on yourself suggests you have quite a bit of knowledge on the subject."
Again Lyra found herself staring at the Alchemist, mouth opening slightly and closing swiftly. She made to take another sip of tea but was surprised to find that the drink was now fully consumed. At a slight sound from the Alchemist Lyra looked up once more to find him examining the vials.
"As I said I can do what you request. 2 Silvers, and you can pick it up tomorrow." He looked at Lyra once more, "Is there anything else you need?"
The question seemed a genuine one, and Lyra thought for a moment before shaking her head, "For now that is all I am aware of. I would not know what else to ask of you."
It was Jacun's turn to raise an eyebrow, "What about infused ink?"