Flashback I feel so Domineered, Part 4

[Ialari Pythone]

Continued From Here...

After having downed a few cups of tea, Ialari was left feeling awake yet irritably sore from the countless scratches and bites that covered her body. She had since donned her rather worn skirt though left the rest of her body devoid of clothing. Such extra garments only added to her discomfort as the fabric would only rub against her wounds. The unconscious, bound, injured zith lay nearby while she pondered her next course of action.

Though her wounds stung greatly, Ialari swallowed the irritation and stood from where she sat next to the zith. To herself she spoke, "Here you are in the middle of a forest. You've the sea to one side, more forest and grasslands to the other. Think you twit! All around you the land provides what you need." In response she thought, Ok, so I saw some Vyfox not far from here and some Brinetooth over there. So what else? Oh yeah, I think there is some Connal back at the pond and some Jile further inland. If I can get enough of all that, maybe there's a chance... Ialari then paused for a moment as some small amount of realization hit her. "I'm not only talking to myself but I'm answering my own questions? Ugh, I've been out here for way too long." It had been a great many days that Ialari had been in the wilds by herself. Even before then however, her only companionship was that of the undead. Between the dry, crusty nuit and her ghostly companion, Shalla, Ialari had actually started to forget what it was like to be around living, thinking, speaking beings. The whole experience was beginning to weigh heavily on her mind. When added to the rest of the immense mental stress she had endured in her adventures, Ialari's mind was not doing well.

Stepping over to the half-barrel of water nearby, she began to wash herself off the best she could. She wiped the drying blood from her skin, the sting of the water on open wound bringing more than a few grimaces to her face. When she was finished, she was still dirty, covered in a bit of filth and still quite uncomfortable. Despite it all, Ialari retrieved a few items from her poisoncrafting kit; a few small pouches, flasks and bottles from which to store any herbs and plants she could gather. Though normally used for collecting and processing poisons, it did have a few useful items for toying around with a bit of herbalism as well.

Turning again to the zith, Ialari took a quick look at the chain that bound its wrists and to the stone that the chain was attached to. Even if the zith were to wake, it would take a more strength than it was capable of to free itself, especially in its current condition. Satisfied, mostly, that her captive was secure, Ialari set off into the surrounding forest to find the herbs she felt would help her in restoring the zith's health.

She first walked over to the far side of the retreat where a tightly woven thicket of woody branches grew. Blue berries surrounded by ovular green leaves clustered throughout the thicket as Ialari examined it. She lacked anything suitable to cut the branches with so, with little caution needed, she used her metallic hand to pinch off a number of branches complete with berries. "If I remember correctly, these berries should help restore the creature's health. That's of course if I can heal the wound first." Ialari's herbalism training was rudimentary. She had picked up a bit of herb knowledge during her studies on poisons at the Silver Tower. The context had been herbs and plants that could help combat certain poisons and/or restore lost health or aid in the healing of wounds related to injury and poison. Though slight knowledge it was, she hoped it was enough to do what was needed. She took several branches and laid them in a pile near the rest of her gear next to the firepit while storing several clusters of berries in one of the small storage pouches from her kit.

With more yet to gather, Ialari placed her kit items in her belt pouch, strapped it to her waist and got underway.

[Ialari Pythone]

Harvesting the Brinetooth was simple enough however finding the rest was likely to be a bit more involved. Ialari recalled seeing what she thought were a few Vyfox plants growing in the opposite direction of the pond. She had only explored that area lightly since establishing The Retreat and remembered seeing the plants only in passing. Taking one more look at the unconscious zith, she proceeded on her herb hunt. "Remember, this is as much for you as it is for him", she muttered to herself as she walked to where she thought she saw the Vyfox.

The forest that surrounded The Retreat was less of a forest and more a large stand of trees. It was set back several yards from the coast and stretched over a square mile. The tree growth was thick in parts with patches of thick underbrush. With the coast on one side, the rest of the area was surrounded by rolling hills and grassy plains with a few scattered patches of trees dotting the landscape. The pond where Ialari gathered fresh water, bathed, and had her deadly encounter with the zith, was a quarter of a mile from The Retreat. Although the area had been absent of animal life for a long time due to the presence of the undead follower of Uldr, things had quickly begun returning to normal following Ialari’s dispatching of the foul being. As she set off further into the trees, evidence of normalcy was apparent all around her. The morning songs of birds filled the air as did the sounds of insects. While this had all started returning to the area awhile ago, Ialari couldn’t help but enjoy the strange feeling of peace that came with it. Of course with the good came the bad as the encounter with the zith had shown. Despite the potential dangers along with the stinging scratches and bites that covered her body, she was feeling somewhat content.

Late summer was quickly settling in to early autumn. The mornings were growing cooler as were the nights. The days were growing shorter and so Ialari’s time at the Retreat would soon take a break. Although she would need to prolong her stay away from Sahova in order to nurse the zith back to health, she hoped it wouldn’t take her too close to the rougher weather to come. As she walked, Ialari’s steps were careful and slow. Not wanting to miss anything of use, she took her time exploring. One particular point of interest was a large mulberry tree. Ialari stopped for several minutes to pick and eat the small, purple berries. The sweet, tangy flavor was welcome refreshment although after eating several, she cursed lightly at seeing her fingers were now stained a pinkish purple. Her displeasure was quickly forgotten when she noticed something on some of the leaves and branches of the tree. Although at first it looked like a spiderweb, closer inspection revealed several tiny worm-like creatures tucked into the silk. Although she hadn’t ever seen silkworms before, she had heard mention of them before. As she watched the tiny creatures twitch and crawl amidst the silk, she wished she had some manner of harvesting the silk and using it.

When she was finished watching the silkworms, Ialari continued on searching for the Vyfox. Parts of the area were somewhat familiar so Ialari took greater care in her hunt.

[Ialari Pythone]

Shortly after continuing her search, Ialari stopped in place. Although she had traveled far and seen wonders beyond anything the mortal mind was meant to digest, she never stopped to just listen, look and feel the world around her. As she stood, surrounded by nature, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to hear the creaking of the branches, a squirrel in a nearby tree chattering and the light rustling of leaves on the wind as it whistled its way around the tree trunks. The birds sang happily while the humming and churring of insects offered backup to the rest of the chorus. Listening further, allowing the sounds to sink in further, Ialari could hear the scrabbling of a lizard on the bark of a nearby tree, the ticking and tapping of branches and the ruffling of underbrush as an animal burrowed through it.

Opening her eyes, she looked all around at the sources of the various sounds. While she couldn’t see everything, she still took in the spectrum of greens and browns. The leaves, trees, branches, shrubs, flowers, moss and even the air itself seemed to crawl and move. Insects flying, skittering, crawling and shambling, birds hopping and fluttering and a snake burrowing out of the underbrush all filled Ialari with sights that matched the beauty of the sounds.

For Ialari it seemed life was moving so fast which was more than a little unusual for one with such a long life. She had discovered so much in such a short time that it almost felt as if it weren’t quite real; as if she were still in her Dominion surrounded by infinity curling in upon itself. It was a stark contrast from the terrible horrors she still kept bottled up deep inside; a parting “gift” to her from Amir Berliotz in the form of a life-time memories of madness, torture, death and insanity. It was those same memories however that contained priceless secrets, discoveries and forgotten knowledge. All of which Ialari was not yet capable of accessing without losing herself to Berlitoz’s madness.

As she continued to marvel at her surroundings, her eyes caught sight of a familiar plant. Careful not to walk through or step on anything overly dangerous, Ialari walked over to where she saw the Vyfox. A few feet away from the base of a large tree, Ialari found a small patch of it. A handful of straight, thin plants with long leaves formed of countless smaller leaves topped with flat combs of small white flowers, Vyfox, if Ialari remembered correctly, was relatively common yet priceless when used to help with injuries. She had only ever heard of its uses in a side lesson at the Silver Tower during her poison studies but figured it was worth trying to use.

As she arrived at the plants, she found herself forgetting exactly what parts of the plant were most useful. It was either the flowers or the leaves. “I guess it could be both” she casually commented to herself. With time being the most important factor at the moment, Ialari retrieved the needed items from her Poisoncrafting Kit and set to harvesting. She carefully clipped off as many flower combs as she could carry which came to eight while she also bundled up dozen leaves. Although she still couldn’t remember exactly which was better, she knew the leaves could be used to make a tea and the flowers could be crushed to make a poultice with both offering enhanced healing properties.

Once she had gathered the Vyfox, she noted various landmarks to help her return to the area with ease. She then made her way back to The Retreat where she would use what she had already gathered to tend to the zith’s wounds before setting out for the other herbs. There was of course the need to clean up the mess at the pond. The last thing she needed was to leave a couple of dead, rotting zith to attract more dangerous threats.

[Ialari Pythone]

Upon returning to The Retreat, Ialari saw that the zith was still unconscious. It had only been roughly an hour since she had left on her herb search but she had no idea how long he would be out. Such an injury seemed severe to her and she could only imagine the pain that was knocking him out. She removed her gear and sat it nearby before settling in to take another look at the wound. Again she held her dagger at the ready as she once more lifted the tattered loincloth. The burned flesh where the creature’s testicles had been was quite unpleasant to look at but it did seem to still be doing its job of stopping the bleeding, at least for the most part. There was still a bit of seepage of fluid mixed with a bit of blood however it didn’t look like infection had set in yet. Thankful for that, Ialari turned to start work with her gathered ingredients.

She first grabbed a slab of stone from the nearby ruins, one flat enough to serve as a makeshift bench to work on. Roughly a two feet long, a foot-and-half wide and a foot tall, it would serve well enough. She also threw a few pieces of gathered wood on to the smoldering fire and teased it back to life in order to bring a bit of water to boil. From her poisoncrafting kit, she retrieved a few items for processing. There were a few small, empty jars as well as a couple small bottles of oil used in maceration; helpful when making pastes for poisons but now finding a different use. She also pulled out a small mortar and pestle and sat it on the slab. She then removed the Vyfox flowers and leaves and laid them out on the slab. The leaves she would need to smoke as to dry them quickly but that would come later. As for the flowers, she started with a single comb, put it in the mortar and began crushing and grinding it with the pestle. Periodically she would glance over at the zith who was slowly becoming restless in his sleep, a sign that he would likely wake soon.

Of the eight combs of flower she had gathered, Ialari found that one was rather wilted and unhealthy which she threw in the fire; irritated that she had made the mistake of gathering it in the first place. The other seven combs however were eventually crushed in the mortar. Then, taking one of the small jars of oil, she put the crushed flowers in it to macerate. It would take awhile for the process to complete but she hoped it would be good to use before sundown. She cleaned up the mortar and pestle and then pulled a few handfuls of the brinetooth berries from her collection and set to mashing them in the mortar. When she had mashed enough berries, she took some of the now boiling water from the firepit and mixed a little of it with the berries in a small bowl creating a paste. Known for its ability to help restore lost strength and vitality, the paste would be quite useful in helping to get the zith back to health. She scooped the paste into another jar and latched it, in all she had around eight ounces of it. Though not a lot, it would be enough to give the zith’s body a good boost on its way to recovery.

The whole process of preparation took roughly another hour to complete during which time the zith was stirring ever more. “The last thing I need is you waking up in the middle of all of this.” She said quietly to herself. Then, going against her better judgement, Ialari pulled a small vial containing a blue liquid from her kit; Blue Whinnis, a mild poison that brought on mild weakness followed by unconsciousness. Although normally she wouldn’t take issue with poisoning someone already wounded, she was trying to save this creature and the thought of poisoning it wasn’t exactly a good thing. That being understood, the zith wasn’t near death and the poison itself was pretty mild. It would however help prolong the time she had to finish her herb collecting and preparing and maybe even get it all applied before the zith woke up.

The vial held four doses of the poison and she figured she could use two doses of it on the zith without causing any permanent, serious harm that may be detrimental to its recovery. The only issue was that the poison could only be effective if delivered through injury. Picking up her dagger in one hand, the open vial in the other, she shuffled over to where the zith lay. With the dagger, she sliced a small cut on its leg just above the knee. She readied herself in case it suddenly awoke yet hoped the closer proximity to the existing wound would help mask the added pain. When the zith didn’t wake, she proceeded to pour around half of the poison onto the cut. If it worked, she estimated roughly another six hours or so that the zith would remain unconscious. “Now, if we’re lucky, this will keep you out long enough for me to finish fixing you up. Then, when you’re awake, maybe we can have a little talk.” She said softly to the zith as she watched its leg muscle twitch and spasm showing that the poison was having some effect.

She waited several minutes as she monitored the zith for any abnormal reactions to the poison before preparing the rest of her collection gear. This next time out she decided to look for not only the desired herbs but also other types of seeds that she may be able to plant. One of the things she had read in the Dominion Scrolls was that one of the best ways to control what was in the Dominion was to bring it there yourself. She figured that if she planted some seeds that maybe she could get some plants to grow. Also, she was going to have to do something with the two dead zith at the pond. Burying them would take too long and she didn’t really want to burn them at the pond. This left her deciding to bring the bodies back to The Retreat and disposing of them there; perhaps working with them in her Dominion so as to not destroy any potential taming of the still living zith by allowing it to see her dismembering and destroying the bodies of its kin. So she gathered a bit of rope from her salvage to help her with gathering the bodies, grabbed her pouches and harvesting tools and set off back to the pond.

[Ialari Pythone]

On her way to the pond, Ialari paused several times to gather other things. While the idea of growing trees from seeds brought with it obvious issues concerning time, it would be an experiment if nothing else. So Ialari picked up several handfuls of acorns from a small but healthy oak tree as well as a large number of odd looking seeds with flattened tails on the end, from a few maple trees. From the rotting trunk of a dead, fallen tree, she tore off a few moss covered pieces of bark. As she continued toward the pond, she also gathered a number of different seed pods and flowers from various shrubs. When she finally reached the pond, she saw the two bodies of the zith laying a few yards away along the edge of the water. Both were laying close together, one with a bloody hole in its throat, the other disemboweled with a bloody hole in its head. With a heavy sigh, Ialari began using the rope she brought and looped it around the upper torso of each corpse, just under their arms. She left enough slack to tie the ends of each length together so that she could drag one body with each of her hands. She tested the crude slings by pulling the bodies away from the water’s edge and leaving them side by side a few yards away. Dragging them back to The Retreat wouldn’t be fun but at least she could get them away from her source of water.

Leaving the two bodies for the time being, Ialari began her search for the Connal plant. She recalled seeing something that resembled connal growing on the far side of the pond, a few yards away from the water. She had used the plant in the past in a bath to help sooth her body after a long journey but that had been a few years ago. Her main purpose for looking for connal though was that its roots were good for making a tea that helped with sleep. She walked around the edge of the water toward the far end where she thought she had seen the connal. It was a short plant with wrinkled leaves and a leafless stem that sported pretty yellow flowers with a red center. The coloring of the flower is what caught Ialari’s attention before. As she walked along the edge of the pond, something occurred to her bringing her pause. “How am I going to feed that damn thing?” She asked herself. She turned her head to the pond. There were fish there, some of them being a good size. Unfortunately she hadn’t been able to catch any thus far. She imagined that a couple of them would make for a good meal for the zith and perhaps help reduce its desire to eat her. “Ok, first things first.” She continued her search which brought her to the far side of the pond.

[Ialari Pythone]

She remembered seeing the plant from her vantage point on the rock in the middle of the pond. Using that position as a guide, she walked over to the general area from her memory. The plants in that area were smash bringing to mind that it was where one of the zith had fallen out of the tree after having been hit with the large rock. Cursing to herself, Ialari kneeled down and began sifting through the ruffled grass and shrubs. A hint of yellow caught her attention as she uncovered the now crushed connal plant. “Well, the flowers are useless. I wonder if…” She thought aloud as she reached down to dig at the base of the plant. Clearing away the dirt, she uncovered the roots of the plant which were intact. She pulled the plant out of the ground by the roots and tucked it into her belt pouch. Once cleaned and dried, she could use them to make the tea.

With the main object of that part of the search acquired, Ialari turned back to the pond and considered how she would go about catching some fish. Her mind was getting rather foggy however from the lack of sleep and physical exhaustion which caused her to take a few more moments to gather her thoughts. She didn’t have any fishing gear with her and even back at the retreat all she had was some tattered netting. No, if she was going to get any fish, she was going to have to get wet. The thought wasn’t all that unpleasant though as she hadn’t taken the chance to really clean up since her encounter with the zith. Two fish with one stone? She thought to herself.

She returned to a spot near the two bodies. Removing her belt pouch and skirt, she placed them in a pile while keeping her dagger; she wouldn’t make that mistake again. She then moved closer to the water’s edge and slowly and as quietly as possible, began to stalk her way through the reeds. Sometime previously, she remembered seeing some movement in the water along the edge of the pond deeper into the reeds that grew from the shallower parts. Some of movement came from frogs but she hoped that there were fish there as well. Of course there was also the chance that there were water snakes there but she felt oddly at ease with that thought.

As she neared the first thick patch of reeds, one that extended out from the water’s edge into the pond shallows, she slowed and looked closely for any signs of movement. She also looked for any bubbles in the water that may signal the presence of something living. She stood still for several minutes before seeing the ever slight movement of water just beneath the surface. It didn’t look like a snake as they usually swam along the surface and it was too big to be a frog, unless of course it was one of the large bull-frogs she had spotted a few nights ago. Either way, if she could get something, it would be better than nothing. She watched a little longer until she saw more movement. With that she dove upon the spot where she thought there was something. There was a big splash of water followed by no small amount of thrashing. Ialari had a hold of something though she knew not what. It was big enough that it took both arms to hold on. She tried to be careful as to not crush whatever it was with her metallic arm/hand but it was slippery and difficult to get a good grip on. Ialari was quickly feeling what grip she did have begin to falter. At that she ceased trying to hold on and worked to position herself better for what came next. Getting her legs beneath her, she lunged out of the water while throwing whatever it was she had toward dry land. As she shot out of the water, let loose from her arms was a very large fish, a catfish.

The fish fell to the ground a short distance inland followed closely by Ialari. Though soaked, she was at least cleaner now as she quickly dragged herself out of the water. She knelt down to where the fish was jerking and jolting about. It was roughly two and half feet long and likely weighed around 10 lbs. Though not huge, it was larger than she expected and would hopefully serve as a nice meal for the zith. While she would have liked to have a bit of it herself, she still had some smoked sea-bird left over. She didn’t want to kill the fish before offering it to the zith but had to figure a way to get it back to The Retreat along with the zith bodies. Realizing it would be too much; she decided to make two trips. Getting a better grip on the fish, she carried it back first. When she made it back to The Retreat, she placed the fish in the half-barrel of water in hopes of keeping it alive for at least awhile. Checking on the zith, it was thankfully unconscious and from the looks of it, deeply thanks to the poison. Ialari then returned to the pond to retrieve the corpses. With one sling grasped in each hand, she pulled them both behind her, dragging them along the path she had created from her many trips to and from the pond.

When she returned, she released the slings long enough to open the door to her Dominion. When the door swung open, she was greeted by the familiar sight of a ledge stretching out from the side of a mountain overlooking an alien sky filled with light, chromatically colored clouds. Picking up each of the slings, Ialari pulled the bodies into her Dominion.

[Ialari Pythone]

Once inside her Dominion, Ialari breathed in the sweet, almost sugary air. While she wished she could get a handle on the changing landscapes, she understood that her bond with the place was not yet strong enough to combat the unpredictability that flowed around her. She pulled the bodies the rest of the way inside and leaned them against the rocky wall on either side of the doorway. She turned to look back out to the mortal realm. Her gathered herbs were either processed or processing and even though she still had more to find, she had the essentials. The zith would likely be out for a few more hours which left her with a little time to finally relax. She had to be careful as to not allow sleep to claim her though.

With sleep out of the question, at least for awhile longer, she decided it was best to keep moving and not let herself calm too much. A little communion with her Dominion was long overdue and sounded like a good way to reenergize a bit. She knelt down on one knee on the rocky ledge. With her metallic hand, she parted the stone beneath her fingers and sunk them in almost to the center of her palm. As far as Ialari was concerned, there was few better ways to fully connect physically with her Dominion.

She tasted the air once more and held it in for a moment before exhaling. The smell, taste and feel of the air was really indescribable. Try as she might, Ialari simply couldn’t find the words in her known languages to truly convey the right meaning. Even the stone that her fingers now rested in felt different. With mundane medals, stone and wood, she could almost feel the patterns of djed that made up each material in various forms. With the stone in the Ukalas, the feeling was much more pronounced. The feeling of the patterns and textures in the stone sent thousands of tiny shocks through her fingers, into her hand and up her arm. They were far from unpleasant though as it was more like running ones fingers through the softest silk while being lightly tickled and left with trails of loving kisses down ones neck.

As Ialari allowed her Dominion to fill her senses, she spoke her thoughts aloud. “Am I doing the right thing? I mean, I could’ve and probably should’ve killed that thing like I did these two. Why spare it? Why nurse it back to health? What’s happening to me? Not long ago I would’ve gutted it while it still breathed just to study its reaction. Maybe I’m growing soft.“ She paused for a moment before continuing. “No, I was going to do just that. I was going to make it suffer for what it did. If not for seeing that mark, I would’ve made the thing cry out for death. So what now? If I am able to keep it alive what’s to say it won’t just try to kill me and eat me or worse? If it doesn’t, then what? What use do I have for a zith?” She paused again. It wasn’t as if she were expecting an answer since she knew there would be none. At least not from the outside.

“It’s a creature of survival; a beast suited for this wild and dangerous world. You could learn from it. Remember the stories of how they could hear the beating hearts of their prey? Of their ability to hunt in the blackest of nights and thrive even in areas where everything else fought for life? You can learn from it. Besides, you could use someone to talk to that isn’t a ghost or a non-sentient pocket of space, even if it’s something that would otherwise dine on your flesh and gorge on your entrails.” The madness of the discussions she often had with herself escaped her conscious perception as it had for some time now. Ialari was lonely and regardless what her rational mind wanted to tell her, she would not listen.

“What will you do with him when you return to Sahova? You can’t take him with you. Do you leave him here? Then what? You can’t keep him chained up until you return and what else would keep him from simply flying off?” As she talked with herself aloud, Ialari missed the subtle movement on the rocky wall behind her. The wall rippled as if its surface was made of water. Though unknown to her yet, her time spent with her Dominion, feeling it, breathing it and sharing herself with it, was forming the very bond she had hoped to create. As she continued sharing her thoughts aloud over the course of the next hour or so, the changes to the Dominion began to grow even if only a little. The temperature had lowered a bit becoming more like the cool, crisp air found in the tunnels in and around Pitrius City in the Kingdom of Sultros. The brilliance of the surrounding clouds shifted somewhat, growing slightly darker and thus more comforting for an isur who normally spent their lives underground in the absence of bright light. Even the stone on the wall behind her changed its texture somewhat to resemble the rock composition of the mountains of Kalea. Though the changes were slight, they would soon become much more noticeable the more Ialari spent time in her Dominion. With every breath, ever touch and every word, Ialari was increasing the strength of her bond and with it increasing her awareness of what was possible.

Finally, after almost two hours spent in her Dominion, she slowly pulled her hand from the ground and looked around. It was then that she detected the small change. The dimming of the clouds wasn’t what drew her attention though and the feel and smell of the air was only noticed after she turned to look at the wall behind her. Standing back on both feet, Ialari walked over to the wall. She reached out and touched it with her metallic hand but jerked it back as soon as it touched the stone. She struggled with the almost overpowering feeling of home. Slowly, she reached out again and touched the stone. It felt exactly like the rock walls of the tunnels back home. While part of her started to wonder how it was possible, the other part knew what was happening from her study of the Dominion Scrolls.

“…By just living there, breathing its air, and sharing thoughts with the environments, the wizard's nature will slowly influence the land upon which they stand.”

Even so far away in distance and time from her home, a large part of who Ialari was remained grounded in her people, their history, culture, faith and values. Her love for her people and for her home was being reflected in her Dominion. With a wide smile spreading across her face, she wanted nothing more than to lose herself in her Dominion. Unfortunately, there was still more to be done before she could do such a thing. The smile faded somewhat yet remained as she stepped back out into the mortal realm, shutting the door behind her.

Continued Here...

[Gossamer]

Character: Ialari

Experience: Cleaning +3, Planning +5, Herbalism +5, Observation +5, Foraging +5, Philosophy +2, Medicine: +2, Poisoncrafting +1, Land Navigation (Wilderness) +1, Fishing +1, Bodybuilding +1, Dominion +2

Lore: Healing Berries: Identifying Them In The Wild, Medicine: Utilizing Poisoncrafting knowledge And Herbalism To Assist In Healing. WS: Noting The Signs Of A Season Changing, WS: Noting The Usual Signs Of Birdsong, Observation: Noticing Silkworks In Trees, Foraging: Eating Berries, Herbalism: Finding Vyfox in the Wild, Herbalism: Finding Brinetooth In The Wild, Self-Awareness: Reflecting On One’s Life And How Far One Has Come, Self-Awareness: The Bottled Horrors Within, Herbalism: Smoking Flowers To Dry Them Quickly, Poisoncrafting: Macerating Flowers, Brinetooth Berry Paste: Useful in restoring lost strength and vitality, Blue Whinnis: Used As a Mild Poison, Poisoncrafting/Medicine: Using Blue Whinnis to sedate, Poisoncrafting: Observing The Reactions To Deliberate Poisoning, Planning: Growing Poisons and Herbs In Her Own Dominion, Disposing of Bodies, Herbalism: Finding/Harvesting Connal In the Wild, Self-Awareness: Learning From One’s Mistakes, Fishing: Noodling Catfish. Dominion: Taking The First Steps To Influence One’s Dominion.

Loot: One castrated zith slave, various seeds and berries, Connal root, Brinetooth, Vyfox.

Additional Note: This was a nice thread. There were a lot of elements in it. It was really great to see your PC dealing with everyday life of survival and attack, even dealing with a captured slave. She delved into medicine heavily, though I don’t think that was your intention. But when you mix Herbalism and Poisoncrafting in the way you did, that’s basically what results. With your inherent love of noodling, I was wondering when that would come to play out in one of your threads and low and behold, there it is! I gave you bodybuilding for dragging Zith bodies and Catfish in two trips back to your retreat. I gave you philosophy for always talking to yourself about philosophical things and for the parts where you communed with your domain.