Cooking It Up [Sanc Staff]

[Elem Bree]

Elem tried to calm himself and put his full attention on Serrif's words and actions. With his hands folded behind him, he listened to his teacher's words, absorbing them like a sponge. The process semmed to be practiced, but still open ended? Experimentation was the key with Philtering. Yes, okay, it was beginning to gel more. The setup before him was a configuration that Serrif was familiar with, or at least had decided on for the purpose of what he was doing. Yes, yes! there was no standard configuration. He would definitely have to do some experimenting on his own at some point. His mind filled with questions when they seemed appropriate.

"Could you explain the purpose of the heating procedure? Is there a particular stage of heat you are seeking? And why? " He knew that some cooking recipes called for different levels of heat, depending on the stuff being cooked and the flavors that would come out at the end. Maybe this was similar. "Oh, and I am not familiar with these mushrooms. Can you tell me about them? Where they come from, their properties and such? Mushrooms were not so plentiful in Zeltiva." He wished he had brought his own journal and a quill, but he would have to try to write it all down later. He did not want to miss any part of this process, now that it had started.

As for Serrif's last comment, Elem's face picked up a bit. "Yes, I am sure I will be blown away by Mura when I go. I surely will, but I think I will be in the area for a year minimum. I've only just started to learn all the things I want to. You and Kavala are all the education I need." He chewed on his lip a moment. That wasn't completely true. He needed to clarify. "Well, that's not completely true. I have many areas i would like to study in Riverfall, once I have the time. Different languages and cultures, archaeology. I joined the Antiquities Society and it is very interesting to me." His attention returned to the project, as he watched Serrif pour a mixture of water and alcohol in with the mushrooms, apparently to dissolve them into a liquid.

[Serrif Von Chatlyn]

“I’m just trying to get the liquid warm enough to boil the water and mushroom mixture. I would guess if the mixture gets too hot it would cause the mixture to warp some maybe producing something strange. It’s all delicate work as you can tell. A balancing act of sorts.” He shrugged and then smiled.

“These mushrooms are the main mixture to the sedative, the alcohol is used to cleanse the agents. I was introduced to them by my mentor Lym. But be aware this mushroom has a distinct cousin. The only way to distinguish between them is the pollen like dust that you can get under the hood.” He took one of the mushrooms off of the shelf and then rubbed the hood on his fingertip some. It produced a fine white residue.

“If it is white it is safe for a sedative, but if it were yellow…or even had a hint of yellow I would not use it. Otherwise you would produce a poison instead.” It was a simple lecture really, one that wouldn’t take much more explaining than that.

“Mura is wonderful just to see once; it is a peaceful place.” That was saying the very least. In Mura he found peace among the waves and the women. But above all the beach was what really brought him peace in this life. He found his footing there and now he was here teaching; he would have to tell Lym this some day. She would get plenty of laughter out of it…likely.

“But most of the best knowledge comes from very careful experimentation.”

[Elem Bree]

Elem watched the concoction begin to bubble. As he listened to Serrif speak, he started to wonder if he wasn't trying too hard. No, this was not the University. The University had a time tested direct approach to study and if one didn't ask questions, they may very well find themselves drowning in knowledge. Since this was not the University, though, it would probably be easier in a sense. He was using the alcohol to cleanse the agents and boiling the concoction. That was it. All of the mystery was purely a symptom of Elem's ignorance.

The note on the mushroom was important, however. Elem saw the white spore powder produced and remembered to himself, trying to think up some kind of memory device for it.

A hood showing white, have a good night.
A hood showing yellow, a sick looking fellow.

Mura sounded like somewhere Elem would definitely need to go, but it seemed very far away. He knew that was true literally. Based on maps he was much farther away now then he was when he was in Zeltiva. Beyond that, though, it still seemed ot be some mythical place. A white island of Konti and Goddesses, a story read in books and heard from others. His work at the Sanctuary and his life in riverfall were the real things. Hopefully nothing would happen to the island and its people, but it would most likely have to wait for some time until he could manage to go somewhere else.

" I understand, Serrif. I appreciate your taking the the time to help me. If i seem overly excited, it's because I am. Coming here has been quite a change for me and I really want to fit in and be an asset, you know?".

[Serrif Von Chatlyn]

“It is understandable. It is nice to be somewhere safe.” With that he watched the mixture begin to vaporize and collect along the long tube. As the evaporate did so it turned to moisture and then dripped steadily down to the flask at the end. An interesting process really; one again he had learned in Mura under the careful hands of Lym.

“Now what is good to note is how to divvy this sedative out. It isn’t wise to distribute it raw to someone. The taste is unpleasant to say the least. And if the person is in need of it they likely will not be able to stomach something as strong as this sedative alone. I’ve found that mixing it into teas or anything else that is pleasant to the tongue is good.” He had done this many times in Mura with Lym. She seemed to distribute medicinal teas all the time. They were always more than just simple herbs in her teas. There was always something lurking under the surface. Some reason she was giving the individual the tea.

“You also need to make the mixture per the persons weight. The sedative gets spread throughout the body so it is important to have a good guesstimate of the individuals weight before you dose them with it. It is also important that they take in the mixture slowly as not to shock them into a coma. Or even worse convulsions.” He had never seen any of this first hand; nor did he intend to.

“The body is in very delicate balance Elem, it is important as healers that we heed this.”

[Elem Bree]

E

Elem watched the process occurring inside the glass tube. The contents were turning into gas and escaping into it, slowly condensing back into a milky white liquid. The process of distilling, before only words on a page or from a lecturer's voice, now became fact as he witnessed the process firsthand. He smiled as he continued to observe. Serrif was explaining how to best distribute the sedative, once its distillation was complete. A moment of clarity came to Elem, as he now had something to add.

"Ginger wouldn't be a terrible thing to add, either. I used it often in the Infirmary, for its properties as far as the effects of nausea. It doesn't taste too bad either. If tea isn't available, of course. That is a fine idea, however, to use teas in that way. I had never considered it." Next was the subject of weight and the proper doses in which to medicate the patients. Comas? Convulsions? It did make sense that such a thing could happen. What a horror it would be to injure someone you were trying to help!

"Balance. yes, I see. Any tips on how to gauge the proper doses? Does it change with each type of solution? I guess one would almost have to experiment on their own body to get the right mix. What a terrible way to live." Surely there had to be a kind of standard. He would have to look at the library to see if there were any examples. If not, he would have to make his own notes in the future and hopefully add them to the annals of medicine.

[Serrif Von Chatlyn]

“Yes…measure…” Serrif said as he looked around the lab and found a glass stirrer. It was a straight piece of glassware nothing fancy about it in any way. It had no tip and appeared almost to be a glass pencil that hadn’t been sharpened at all.

“The way in which to measure. It isn’t that complicated.” This stirrer though had small little minute markings on it. Like tidal markings only evenly spaced out up the stirrer itself.

“You see these markings. What I do is I make the sedative then I dip this glass stirrer into it. Each marker up the stirrer represents twenty five pounds. So if you weighed let’s say one hundred and seventy five pounds I would measure up seven marks and submerge the marker that far in the liquid. Then draw it out and whatever sticks to the glass is your dose. It isn’t exact but for the purposes of this mixture it is close enough.” He handed the stirrer to Elem and nodded.

“There are other things to take into consideration, if the person is usually sensitive to sedatives you should be careful and dose at half of what they need, if they have never had sedatives before give three quarters of what is marked there. Basically nothing is ever fixed in stone Elem. Just use your best judgement.”

[Elem Bree]

Elem listened to Serrif and examined the small glass rod he presented. It made much more sense and the Zeltivan was awash with knowledge, understanding more and more how open ended this process could be. he did not allow his mind to wander too far, however. In the present case, if he were to produce sedatives for more than one person, a greater amount would be needed, especially in this region. Most men were well fed and conditioned. especially in the case of the Akalak, where an entire process's dose might be used on one subject. it was clear why work needed to be done often to keep the supplies up.

As Serrif explained other factors, Elem nodded, understanding this part quite well. "Yes, it is part of the question asking process when diagnosing the patient in the first place. I did plenty of that at the Infirmary. Now, what cases are best for the use of sedatives? Since we are Rak'kelians, even the basic mark allows for some calming of the body and mind. I realize many are not like us, however." He felt sorry for those without a marked healer present. "What kinds of ailments or injuries are best served by the use of sedatives? Is it mostly mental cases? To calm the patient?"

Elem examined the stirrer more, careful not to leave traces of the seadative on himself. " I believe I am understanding this process more now, Serrif. Will we be making any other concoctions today?"

[Serrif Von Chatlyn]

“Sedatives can be used for many things, calming a patient down is a good use for them but they can also be used for a sleep aid in very low doses.” That was what he remembered Lym telling him back in Mura anyway.

“There are likely other uses but again medicine is usually always evolving.” Wasn’t that the awful ugly truth of the matter?

The process was continuing giving them a good amount of the sedative, not as much as Serrif would’ve liked but it was enough for them to label and store away in the clinic for a time. Truth be there was always more to do around here. More to make and more to explore, and now he was going to change subjects for a little while. It would be important for them to exercise caution here.

“Yes find me the mushroom much like the one you cut up only with yellow powder under the hood instead of white.” Seemed they would be making more than just medicine today.

The setup for this next philering session was a little different. He took a boiling beaker and set it aside. He would be making a mixture in it that consisted again of oblideration grade alcohol and water. Then cut up the mushroom pieces into very fine pieces. Once this was done he would put it all into the beaker and bring it to a slow boil. This boil would be needed to draw out the properties of the mushrooms. The alcohol helped with this as well ripping apart the mushroom and separating the pieces.

“Poisons are just as important as medicines. In a way medicines are poisons as well. Too much of a medicine can kill someone; keep this in mind.” He wasn’t sure the man would be comfortable making a poison, but such things were needed here in the Sanctuary.

[Elem Bree]

Elem listened to the explanations and realized further that he was not so far off from Serrif in knowledge. It's just that they had completely different realms of experience. Serrif had primarily worked with a mentor among other healers in a laboratory environment whereas Elem was more accustomed to hands on patient care, from sniffles to sutures. it made neither better, rather it gave them both skills to teach each other.

His ears perked when he was instructed to get the yellowish tinged mushrooms. he had not considered the idea of making poisonous concoctions, but it wasn't completely useless. "I suppose it is always good to create a poison so one can discover the antitoxin. Probably pretty difficult to do so without knowing of the original substance. If not impossible." Elem was very careful with the other batch, scraping them off the table into a bowl after gathering them, dabbing his fingers in the previous washing solution. He soom returned to Serrif as the elder put a new setup together.

This one consisted of a single boiling beaker. Elem brought the water and alcohol to him after deliviering the bowl. Serrif was the expert in this case and elem would not make any amateur mistakes, especially with something that could cause them both harm if not handled properly. His point about too much medicine being posionous certainly made sense as well. It was true across the herbal world. Elem simply watched, offering questions as they came to mind.

"I imagine it is important to cork this stuff once it is boiling? Are the spores a problem while they are dry if inhaled? I am sure we can cover any accidents, but I'd rather not have them in the first place, you know?"

[Serrif Von Chatlyn]

“Creation of an antidote would indeed be tricky without the actual poison present. Not impossible if you were somehow able to know exactly what poison was used, but so many poisons act similarly in the human body. It would be difficult to pinpoint which poison was acting before the patient died.” The small fire was started and he watched it gain heat. The tables were made of stone which gave Serrif a good amount of comfort. If they were wood extra precautions would need to be taken.

“Well something needs to be boiled away in this mixture…” He started thinking in the case of the other mushroom it was the final product gas being condensed that was the sedative. So in this case the same was likely to be true.

“One moment.” Serrif looked through his notes again from Mura and tried to find something that mentioned this. He had to have some kind of notes detailing this. He remembered doing it and that there were some precautions taken…But couldn’t remember what exactly.

“You are correct something needs to be done…but I can’t remember what.” A few pages were flipped over and over as Serrif skimmed them carefully looking for the information he wanted.

“Yes….here we are.” He tapped the notes he had taken and then nodded. “I must have lapsed some. This setup needs to be identical to the one we already have.” He picked out the correct glassware and then a small bucket of water for the final mixture to be made in.

“Now what is important is that we know which is which.” And with that said he took a wax pen and drew a giant ‘P’ on the poison that they would be making. “That outta do it.” He said with a nod as he then set the wax pen back down and gently from the bowl took the mushrooms that Elem had just cut up.

Elem had done a very admirable job so this made things easy for him. The mixture was concocted and then put into the glassware. Then all that was needed was time. The mixture came to a boil and as they both expected the sealed system condensed at the end with the final mixture…slowly but it did look far different than the other mixture they were producing.

The sedative was indeed somewhat cloudy, but it was clear and had a slight yellow tint to it. Serrif knew that mixture well and that it had to be refined in order to be used properly. The poison looked slightly different; it was a heavier yellow that didn’t appear like it would buffer out when they filtered it further. “We’ll have to put these through a scrubber of some kind…fine sand would likely do and is in abundance here with all the building that we do.” Fine sand was after all a byproduct of Kavala cutting all these rooms out of the earth.