[The Chapel] Feel It In My Bones [Veldrys]

[Vanos Strongarm]

Vanos nodded his head at the question as he looked up at the Symenestra. It wasn't a matter of pride that he looked hurt at the fact that he didn't actually own his place of employment, as in his mind there was no disgrace in being the hired hand for the time being. The amount of time it would take for the road to get constructed would mean he'd have to eventually get his own forge to work on while he waited for the trail of paperwork and other administrative matters that he cared so little about to go through. He'd have to keep his mind busy, and his hands working, in the mean time. "Vegetables and fruit come from farm, always safe," Vanos said with a nod of his heas as he looked over to some random plant that was within viewing distance. Having the knowledge of what was edible or helpful may be useful, especially if he ever found himself alone in this part of the world. The plants around Sultros were few and far between and since he was a small Isur he knew what was acceptable to play with and eat and what should be avoided. Around Denval was another matter completely. "Perhaps you teach, I learn. Book, no good," He said with a shake of his head as he put his hand up to further emphasize his point." Reading Common harder than talking Common. But memory is good, you show pictures or plants and I can learn." Vanos said with a smile as he let his bandaged hand hang at the side of his body, as if it wasn't hurt or bandaged; the dry comment had finally sunk in and he knew how childish it appeared to try and will his own wounded ligaments to heal of their own accord. "Sym-es-tra," Vanos said, aware that he was missing some letters in that word, "They from Denval? Or close? Never saw many in Sultros. Tall, thin person vould stand out. Vould see but not talk to. Sultros busy place, not one to stand around and chitchat."

[Veldrys]

„Maybe I’ll teach you“, the Symenestra agreed. „It’s indeed harder to learn from books. I’ve tried it, but I’ve never had the patience for it. I prefer to discuss the topic I want to learn about with another person. I can show you pictures of herbs – I could even draw a few pictures for you – but we could also take a walk around Denval, and I’ll point a few plants out to you.“ He wondered if Vanos would be abe to pronounce the foreign words since he had so much trouble with the Common language. Maybe he could get the Isur to tell him the words in his own language. It would be useful to know the names of the herbs he used for his potions and salves in more than one or two languages, useful, if he ever had another patient that was not from Denval. „I don’t doubt that you have a good memory“, he remarked. „You seem to be a fairly intelligent man. As for where Symenestra come from, we are not from Denval.“ He wondered why Vanos had asked that. It wasn’t as if there were very many tall, pale people with claws and fangs here. In all his time Veldrys had only met one or two others. „We don’t even live close to Denval, although Kalinor, our city, is still in Kalea.“ „You’ve seen Symenestra in Sultros?“ he asked and arched an eyebrow. „Do you know what they did there?“ Had his people conducted a Harvest? If Veldrys ever felt the urge to participate in that, he wouldn’t go to Sultros. He had no interest in bedding a short woman with two mismatched arms that would probably be able to crush him. Maybe his people had come to the Isur to trade? They were talented blacksmiths after all.

[Vanos Strongarm]

Vanos smiled at the prospect of being taught what was useful around his new home and what could kill him. He had never had a knack for that sort of knowledge before, but Vanos had never applied himself to try and learn about plants and herbs, either. He nodded his head at the idea of seeing what sort of plants that the Symenestra could draw and hopefully Vanos would be able to retain that information so that, if he ever found himself outside of the city, he'd be able to survive on more than just his determination. "Symen-es-tra," Vanos said, confident that he got the name right for once and gave a smile to himself, "Not sure if they vere truly in Sultros or not. Never had good look at them; alvays busy, alvways vorking. Could have been human. Hard to tell others apart - all tall vaces look the same." Vanos said with a little grin and a bit of a deep chuckle, to hopefully impart that he was trying to make a joke, in Common no less. "Plants." Vanos said as he tried to focus himself back on the topic at hand. "Ve valk around, you show plants, I learn? Or ve look at books, you exam?" Vanos furrowed his brow again as he let out a low, rumble of a grunt. He said something to himself in Isurian, muttering to himself about how it was possible that not everyone was as strict about learning and an education as his teachers had been.

[Veldrys]

„Exactly“, Veldrys remarked as Vanos pronounced the name of his race correctly. A smile flickered across his pale face. It seemed as if the Isur was able to learn after all. What he said about the people he had seen in Sultros didn’t make any sense to him though. How could anybody mistake Symenestra for humans? Veldrys looked down at his long hands and his claws and shook his head slightly. His face might have passed for human – for the face of a weird, hairless, pretty human – but the rest of his body was decidedly inhuman. „Well, I suppose it’s hard to tell all those tall, slender people apart“, he remarked and shrugged his shoulders. From the way that the Isur chuckled Veldrys had the impression that he was trying to make a joke, but he couldn’t understand what was funny about the fact that he couldn’t tell humans and Symenestra apart. Isur had a strange sense of humor. „Plants“, he confirmed. „We walk around, I show you plants, you watch and learn. No books. Books aren’t good for learning. You have to see the real thing and touch it. And there won’t be any kind of exam. This isn’t school, and I won’t punish you for not knowing the answer. I hope that you remember what I tell you regardless though. If you are alone, don’t identify a plant correctly and proceed to eat it, it can lead to all kinds of unpleasant consequences.“ He wondered if Vanos understood what he had said.

[Vanos Strongarm]

When the Symenestra spoke and retold the words that Vanos had previously said about not being able to distinguish between the taller races, he realized just how silly that sounded. A darkening of colour spread across his cheeks in a blush - though it was more of a dark grey along his flesh than the red hue of the non-Isurian races - but from his body language it was obvious to anyone around Vanos that was embarrassed by what he had just said. "Yes. You touch, I vatch and learn. Ate bad plant once vhen vas younger, vas sick for a veek. Lesson not learned, as never found out vhat the plant vas that I ate." The Isur let out a grown as he started to walk with the Symemestra to some part of the garden. Vanos was unable to tell any plant from one or the other, as to him they all looked green just with varying shades, so he bent down to examine the closest one at his feet. It had weird, angled and thin leaves that made it look far more hostile than it probably was. After all, it was just a plant right? Vanos cautiously reached out with his hand and was just about to touch it when he thought twice about it as he looked up and over to Veldrys with a curiously look on his face. "Safe to touch? Or leave alone?"

[Veldrys]

„Do you still remember what the plant that made you sick looked like?“ Veldrys wanted to know. „What kind of symptoms did you have?“ As a healer he was of course especially interested in that. Whatever the Isur’s reply was, he followed him into the garden. The Symenestra knew a bit more about plants than Vanos, but to him they just looked green with varying shades as well. The difference was mostly in the shape of the plants, their taste and their smell. As Vanos bent down to examine the plant at his feet, Veldrys bent down as well. „It’s safe to touch“, he decided after he had taken a good look at it. „Most plants are safe to touch. Sometimes your skin will burn and itch a little, but touching a plant rarely kills you.“ To prove his point the Symenestra plucked one of the leaves and showed it to Vanos. „I’m not exactly sure which plant this is“, he admitted. „There are differences between the plants that grow near Kalinor and here, but there is an easy way to find out if it’s poisonous. I thought you might be curious about that since you mentioned getting sick before.“ „If I’m not sure about a certain plant, I’ll just put a little bit of the plant into my mouth to see what it feels like on my tongue. If my tongue doesn’t burn, and my mouth doesn’t begin to feel strange, I will eat a little bit. Then I will wait an hour. If I’m still fine, I will eat a little more, and then I’ll wait a little longer. If I still don’t develop symptoms after a day, the plant is most likely safe to eat.“ He played with the leaf in his hands a bit, thinking, and then he handed it to Vanos who could stick it into his mouth if he felt brave enough or just throw it away. „As I said, this plant is slightly unfamiliar, but there are a few that I recognize“, he said. He didn’t tell Vanos which plants he meant right away though, but waited to see if the Isur had any questions about his method of plant testing.

[Vanos Strongarm]

"Plant colour, plant size, do not remember. Vas a young Isur vith not good memory other than seeing it vas green and vas a plant shape." Vanos realized just how silly those words were, but these were the limitations of Common. In Isurian, Vanos would be able to express the size and colour of the plant he saw with far more precision than simply saying "green" and "leaf life." He let out a low grumble at himself as he muttered the words in Isurian, words that would be impossible to translate into Common. Vanos glanced up to the Symenestra with a look of disappointment in himself, though it could be easily interpreted that he was looking at Veldrys and was seemingly disappointed with the man that was helping him. He chuckled as he thought of his skin getting itchy and going red from a simple plant - what a silly idea. If the heat of a fire didn't affect the flesh of his fingers, what could a plant do to his skin? Crouched next to the plant, Vanos' large fingers tugged on the leaf curiously as he listened to the Symenestra speak. Vanos tugged off a leaf o the plant and cautiously placed it against his tongue between his lips. He looked up to Veldrys as he nibbled on it slowly, cautiously, and swallowed just the tiniest bit of the green leaf. No tingling, burning, or anything bad happening - the leaf just tasted funny. "Leaf seems okay. Though I do not think that there vould be poison around here. Not around little Denvali and animals. Right?" He let the rest of the leaf fall to the ground as he kept his eyes on Veldrys. "Method for testing seems okay. Vill not kill me, and if make sick, I'm in good company." He said with a big smile as he reached out and grabbed the Symenestra's arm with his left hand, giving it a squeeze. He frowned for a moment as he pulled back and thought that, perhaps, not everyone was as comfortable with Isurian physical contact as, well, Isur were. Jerzy seemed to be alright with it, but the blacksmith had spent a fair amount of time around Isur and could even speak the language, so that was par for the course. "There more to plants than just leaves to eat, correct? There are berries and fruits and roots that can be eated, correct?" Vanos said as he looked around the little garden around them for any coloured fruits that he could try and sample, or avoid. "Not alvays around, fruits and berries, but vhen around might be good to know vhat vill kill, vhat von't."

[Veldrys]

„Green and a plant shape?“ Veldrys repeated and made a face. Every plant was plant shaped! He couldn’t help but wonder if the Isur had problems with his memory or if he was simply a bit retarded. Or did he simply not know the correct words in Common? The Symenestra looked at the other man. He almost seemed to try and pierce the Isur’s skull with his gaze, but after a few moments he simply averted his eyes and shrugged his shoulders, as if he had accepted what the Isur had said without problems. „It has been a long time. I don’t think I would be able to remember every detail of a certain plant either.“

The tone of the Symenestra’s voice was still unfailingly polite and calm, as if there were nothing that could bother him or anger him. To him screaming and insulting people was impolite. It was just not done.

As Vanos swallowed a bit of the green leaf, he arched an eyebrow. He had not thought that the Isur would actually do it. His opinion of the other man abruptly improved again. „What does it taste like?“ he wanted to know. „Is it bitter? Does it burn on your tongue? Is it sweet?“ He decided that he would try and make a drawing of the plant later on and write down what Vanos told him. Maybe he would catalogue all the plants that were unknown to him and a few plants that he was familiar with. It would be useful to have a list of plants and their effects.

„Yes, if you get sick, you are in good company“, he agreed. „If you end up poisoning yourself, I can heal you.“ He wondered why Vanos suddenly felt the need to grab his arm. Nothing about what they had said warranted physical contact, and being touched by other people always made the Symenestra a bit uncomfortable. Was it Vanos‘ way of telling him that he appreciated his presence? He furrowed his brow.

„Eaten“, he corrected Vanos. „There are berries and fruits and roots that can be eaten. You can even eat certain flowers. And nuts. Of course you can eat nuts as well. But back to berries. Try this one for example. It’s quite delicious.“ He had discovered a small bush with raspberries, took one of the big, red berries and handed it to Vanos.

„I can’t see any berries that would kill you here, but be careful if you are ever outside of Denval. There are a lot of things that you should be careful with in the wilderness.“

[Vanos Strongarm]

The taste of the leaf in his mouth was something that Vanos could only describe as earthy, if he had to use a Common word. It had a certain mint-like quality to it; something that lasted on the tongue longer than a moment. It also had this cool quality to it that made Vanos wonder if it was going to turn his tongue to ice. Unfortunately for the Isurian, the words in Common that would describe the sensation were few and thus Veldrys had to settle for: "Tastes like dirt. Tastes like cold." The thought of eating any sort of flower sounded weird to Vanos, who was not sure if he wanted to eat something so pretty. But if certain bugs were craving the petals of a flower, he too could learn to eat them if it was all that he was able to put in his mouth in the middle of nowhere. Vanos picked the odd looking red berry from the Symenestra’s hand and held it between his large fingers curiously. He looked at the odd shape of it, the way that there were little red balls all clumped together with a hollow middle. His fingers accidentally squished the raspberry flat as he let out a grunt and plopped it between his lips. Vanos looked up to Veldrys curiously as he chewed it slowly, moving it around with his tongue. It tasted good! It was sweet and had some crunchy parts inside that Vanos was not sure what they were, but knew that if Veldrys said to eat it, that it would be safe to consume fully. He nodded his head, happy with the taste as he brought a big finger up to his lips and removed the juices from the squished raspberry from them as he gave a little chuckle. There was just the faintest red mark on the lower corner of his lip that the Isurian seemed to be unaware of. “Taste good! Not all in out there taste good like this? If poison berry – vill it taste bad? Or vill it taste good, like this red berry you gave me tried to?” Vanos frowned at the idea of being lost outside of Denval, or anywhere that wasn’t some settlement. He had no abilities to survive on his own in the wilderness and would either succumb to starvation or get mauled to death by some of the monsters that live out there. “Out of Denval, no. Sultros, no too. I do not know how survive in vilderness. Berries vould be last problem I vould have.” Vanos scratched the back of his head as he looked down to the hand that had been pulled back from the Symenestra. The lack of reaction was odd, but not unexpected from someone that did not know the customs of his people. Perhaps the Symenestra was simply reacting in his own way, out of his own customs of his culture? “You – Symenestra – survive out there, yes? Hear of Symenestra move outside, sometimes together, sometimes alone, and do things. Y-“ Vanos paused, he knew this word was wrong and looked up to the Symenestra pleadingly, “Not yielding, but – collection. Taking. Vhy do that?”

[Veldrys]

As Vanos told him that the plant tasted like cold, the Symenestra furrowed his brow. He tried to figure out what the Isur could mean with that. Was it cool on his tongue? Did it taste fresh, like mint? He plucked a couple of leaves and let them disappear within the folds of his robe. He would examine them later. If it tasted like cold, which sounded unusual to him, it was possible that they could be used for something.

„And ...?“ he asked expectantly as Vanos tried a raspberry. From the look on his face it seemed as if the Isur liked it, but he wanted to be completely sure. As Vanos told him that it tasted good, the Symenestra smiled lightly. „I like them best when they are fresh, but they are also great as juice or with a bit of milk. I know that some humans also use it for a cake.“

As the Isur asked if poisonous berries tasted bad – at least Veldrys assumed that had been his question, his Common was hard to understand sometimes – he shook his head. „Not all poisonous berries taste bad. Some of them can be quite delicious from what I’ve heard. So you should be careful and familiarize yourself with the berries that can be found in a certin area or not eat them at all.“

„Probably, yes“, he agreed as Vanos said that berries would be the least problem he would have in the wilderness. „Mizahar is a dangerous place, and you can quickly get lost. In fact you should avoid leaving the city alone if you can. There are things that could kill you within the blink of an eye. I always travel with others and on a ship if possible. The ocean is less dangerous.“

The next question made the Symenestra frown. Veldrys had no doubt as to what it was that the Isur meant. The Harvest. The abduction of women from the surface that were then forced to bear their children. There was no way he would answer Vanos‘ question truthfully though. Even though the Isur seemed a bit slow every now and then, they were getting along comparatively well. He didn’t want to ruin everything. He didn’t want Vanos to see him as a potential murderer.

„They collect certain things because they need them to survive“, was all he said.