Solo Just a Mutually Beneficial Arrangement

[Celeste Arumen]

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18th Day of Fall, 513 AV

After careful planning, Celeste had decided it was a better bet to go to the Dalafurgu than say, the Venenium, where Alakina would be loathe to let her use anything. She’d done some research on the various facilities of the Island, and while the Dalafurgu was more an actual greenhouse, she’d heard that the Nuit who ran it did a bit of philtering on the side. Perhaps with the promise of manual labor and unique access to the flora of the Prairie, she’d find a discreet place to practice her skills without summoning the attention of every other apprentice of Sahova.

And maybe, if Ronas agreed, she could perhaps offer up some interesting plants from the Bloodhills, too.

Celeste walked quickly, hood up, eyes down. Most other apprentices didn’t spend money on actual arcane robes, but the young girl knew better. From a young age, she’d learned that appearances were absolutely everything. So long as she looked the part, the Nuit would generally leave her alone. They were all too self-involved to actually glance at the color of her signet ring, let alone look her in the eyes. But it was better safe than sorry – scurrying about with her head down often kept her out of trouble. So she did, bypassing the Courtyard by a mile and circling around to the entrance of the Dalafurgu.

When she entered, a small gasp stuck in her throat.

There was growth from one end of the room to the next. The distinct scent of life nearly brought her to tears. It’d been too long since she’d smelled the scent of green, of nature, of all things wild and free. Further, it smelled of home, of freshly clipped basil and pollen and sage, the hot scent of the sun reflected from a thousand angles, half-shattered windowpanes magnifying the warm, joyful rays. Celeste felt as if she’d fallen into a dream.

”Can I help you?”

She wheeled around to where she’d just entered, suddenly facing a curious sight.

Elsene was not very tall, but not very short either. It was obvious she was a Nuit, but only by way of contrast to Celeste’s fiercely beating heart. The woman was well-preserved but not in a cosmetic way – but her soul seemed alive, even as she looked at Celeste with irritation. She seemed remotely interested perhaps in the girl’s emotional reaction, but it just barely touched her eyes, a fleeting recognition of kinship before it was gone.

”You didn’t just wander in here, did you?” Celeste had to work quickly to avoid arousing more suspicion. ”No,” she began in reply, ”no, I have a reason for being here.”

Elsene folded her arms, as if to say: ”Go ahead.”
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[Celeste Arumen]

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But they were just standing there, in the entrance. This was not how Celeste had imagined it to be. She thought she might have a seat and conduct it like an interview, perhaps. Instead, it was now or never; this woman was on the cusp of pique, and that would prevent all further dealings. Luckily for the girl, this was not her first trip to the Colosseum, so to speak.

”Lady Elsene, I am Celeste Arumen, Apprentice and Initiate to Riyana Sterder, Warden of the Prairie. I have a proposition to make.”

Elsene seemed faintly interested. ”Go on,” she said, betraying almost nothing.

”I am not just a morpher, but also a philterer by trade.” She held up the signet sing that marked her as apprentice. ”But this is more or less my own, well-kept secret. In order to continue seeking improvement, I must utilize my skills.” But that held no benefit for the other woman, which was apparent. ”Still, I have no expectation that you’ll be amenable to simply that, and there is a reason I am here rather than say, the Venenium Laboratory.”

Elsene shifted her weight. She was still listening.

”I’ve noticed that the wild djed around here often affects the growth of certain plantlife, mostly notably in the Testing Grounds where experiments are left to run amok. I thought perhaps that by exporting some of the more exotic plants and helping to research their properties, I could do some good for your facility without you having to take an apprentice.” From what she’d heard, this woman was notoriously against having company. ”I can also supplement what I use around here with manual labor, provided you need it.”

A long silence stretched out between them. The woman seemed thoughtful. Perhaps she was truly mulling it over.

After a good couple of chimes, she finally withdrew to give a reply. Elsene looked Celeste over appraisingly. ”It seems you know just what to say,” she said, eyes narrowing. ”You make a keen argument, child. Venenium would chafe to find I have access to those reagents. They however, would also find this arrangement in very poor taste. So poor they might just act against it.”

She gestured for Celeste to follow as she moved past, walking through the greenhouse proper. ”There is also the matter of you splitting time. You are both an apprentice and an initiate and now you wish to work here as well. This would be scraping you very thin, considering. Are you sure you’d be willing to make such a commitment?” And her eyes were suddenly narrow. Celeste felt peculiarly like she was staring down a hawk.

”I’m sure you won’t abide anything less than my best.” Celeste said.

”Good,” Elsene replied curtly. ”You have a mind for politics. It’ll get you far around here, provided you don’t die first.” But she didn’t think that was true. Something about the way she said it. Elsene was sold.

”So here is my counter offer,” she said, sweeping toward the other end of the room, where a thin rectangular arch led toward the back. The aisles of verdant growth shuddered in the sunlit splendor as they passed. It was almost like the whole place was alive.

”Before I will agree, I need to know your true level of skill. Using the ingredients provided here, you will work to the peak of your ability, making something, anything really. I don’t much care what. If you succeed, you may keep what you brew, but in the future I expect to keep eighty percent of what you yield. That is, if you are up to my standards.” Celeste grinned.

”Next, you will not be seen coming or going from this greenhouse again, do you understand? This is for your own good. Find a way to disguise yourself or you’ll likely wind up dead.” Now that wouldn’t be too much trouble, either – the purple triangle seethed just below her ear. ”Like this?” She replied softly, turning a nearby alembic into a birdcage for a brief moment, before it shimmered back to its original state.

Elsene raised a tidy eyebrow.

”Jack of all trades,” Celeste explained. ”Interesting,” the woman said and for the first time, the young apprentice got to see her smile.

”Finally, I expect that for the time that you’re here, I own you. Unless you happen to be in the middle of a delicate procedure, I can direct your efforts any way I please. If you do well, you’ll be working with me on my research. If not, you’ll be elbow deep in manure.” Celeste nodded. That was certainly fair.

”If you become a true Wizard in your own right, I will open these facilities to you for free, no labor required, provided you continue to provide me ingredients for my work. This will be mutually beneficial, I feel. But you must prove yourself – to me and to this Island, or you will be eaten alive.”

And she knew.

”Thank you, Mistress Elsene.” She said politely. The woman softened for a moment, then suddenly glared.

”Just get to work.”

So she did.
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[Celeste Arumen]

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This arrangement was going better than she’d hoped. Celeste thumbed through the catalogue of ingredients, already seeking something specific. What she had in mind was simple but effective and in the process, she’d be killing two birds with one stone. Celeste needed to make allies, which would be quite difficult, considering her position in the Citadel. There was no hope for true loyalty outside of her fellow initiates. However, the girl was shrewd and she knew it. Cleverness seemed to be a trait the Nuit favored. If you killed someone but did it cleverly, they’d look the other way with a smile.

This would prove her to be valuable and shrewd.

So first, she needed to select her primary ingredient and her specific process. There were several ways she could go about it: distillation, expression, solvent, enfleurage and maceration. Of course, Celeste was no expert. While things like solvent, distillation and expression came easily, certain maceration and enfleurage techniques did not. Plus, it was about the complexity of the contents; she’d be going through the same process several times before combining the different extracts to create what she was aiming for.

So what to make, then? What would best disguise the moldering scent of rotting flesh?

She needed something strong to start, with more subtle aromas around it, so as to not be overpowering. Elsene had a very diverse collection of dried herbs and flowers, which gave Celeste plenty to choose from. Roses were a good choice – they were sweet, without being sickening and when combined with more subtle scents, perhaps they’d work.

While paging through the list, the word ‘cosmos astrosanguineum,’ caught her eye. Carefully, she approached the corresponding leather satchel and withdrew some of the tiny, reddish brown flowers. Ah! So they were chocolate flowers. She’d accidentally eaten some of the poisonous blooms as a child, while wandering through her Grams’ garden. They’d given her terrible diarrhea for a week. Celeste grinned and carefully withdrew a goodly amount. The light scent would mix well with the roses.

Two ingredients seemed enough. Three would be too many and Celeste wasn’t exactly skilled in perfume making. So next, she had to select a method. This is where things became more complex.

Her eyes ran along the sets of equipment until she found what she needed. Flasks for one – from the mount of ingredients she had, she’d yield at least a few of them. Next, she’d need a distiller. She could do it with just an pot and flame, but she’d constantly have to monitor the heat, among other things. Luckily, her eyes caught the very thing she needed. It seemed Elsene came well equipped.

Distillation was her best bet, because she’d get more of the essential oils from the petals. At a certain temperature, flowers degraded more easily, something she’d witnessed firsthand from trial and error. With steam, she could work at a lower temperature while still meeting her needs. Plus, the process was something she’d done before, just not with two separate oils. She’d never tried to mix them before. Just how hard could it be?

She loaded the roses first into the glass chamber of the copper distillation tool. It was large enough that she could finish all the roses in one sitting. This wasn’t meant as a large project, after all. Meanwhile, Elsene was somewhere, likely watching, though Celeste didn’t have time to care. She simply had to work quickly and effectively.

Next, all it required was igniting the flint beneath the lower chamber where the water was held and pouring the aforementioned water inside. It took a few tries to get it lit – it was times like these she wished she was versed in fire, rather than airmancy – but inevitably she did, then fetching a kettle and pumping the water from one of the nearby irrigation stills.

When she collected the water, she slowly poured it into the lower chamber, where it would be brought to a boil. The steam slowly curled upward toward the plant matter, where the oil would slowly siphoned out. Celeste watched in fascination as the yellow liquid slowly began to pool outward, filling the glass on top. Refined equipment made simple processes so very nice. There were of course, a couple of moments where she had to quickly relight the fire underneath, but otherwise the process went smoothly.

After twenty minutes or so, she put out the flame and with a set of tongs, removed the top chamber in order to pour out the oils into each flask. She made sure not to fill them all the way, either. She kept each at two thirds full, so she might add in the secondary fragrance on top rather than mixing them after they’d had a chance to cool. Oil was far more tractable in the presence of heat.

Then she had to wait. It was irritating, but he had to clean the upper glass before proceeding, or she wouldn’t get a pure extraction. She cheated a bit, applying a bit of cool air through reimancy to accelerate the process, but not so much that the glass would shatter. The feeling of her djed ebbing out of her was strangely liberating, like a deep and lingering stretch from within.

When it was satisfactorily cool, she gave it a scrub in the basin, scouring it until clean and then drying it off. This was drudge-work and unfortunately, she was all too familiar with it. Grams had at least taught her well enough to clean behind herself.

She got everything back into place, loaded the tiny blossoms, pumped out a new kettle of water and lit the tinder. This batch took less than twenty chimes, too – there were less flowers to deal with. Again, she watched in fascination as the tendrils of steam rose upward, effectively drawing the life out of the withering petals, turning it to something new.
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[Celeste Arumen]

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When all was said and done, she had three large flasks of chocolate flower and rose extract. The resulting scent was decadent; it was sweet, without being too sweet. Celeste stood back with a smile of contented satisfaction. She wanted to sing. But of course, Elsene emerged from the background like a phantom, having watched Celeste every step of the way. There was no time for celebration just yet.

The woman blinked. ”Rose and cosmos extract.” She leaned in and uncorked a single flask. ”An effective combination, if one wished to disguise the scent of embalming fluid.” Celeste winced. Elsene cut right to the heart of the matter. ”Keen,” she said, but she looked at Celeste with a raised brow. ”Very keen.”

She folded her arms. ”You did well. You obviously are able to identify viable equipment. You also used my catalogue rather well, for the first time being here. You cleaned the equipment after its use and utilized other magical disciplines as a supplement. I did not suspect you were also a Reimancer.” She again, gave Celeste that appraising look.

”You’re playing a dangerous game, Celeste Arumen.” Elsene corked the flask and strode over to the washbasin, before turning again. ”I can see your logic, but there is a high measure of risk involved. Does your Master know that you plan to do this?” Now that was the question she’d been trying to avoid. ”No,” she said guiltily, eyes suddenly on the floor.

”That makes the risk even greater. Riyana will be not able to save you if Amaryllis decides your body is more useful than your mind.”

”She can’t save me either way. Only I can do that.” And she meant it. Elsene sighed. ”The Citadel is no place for a human. You’d be safer in a place like Zeltiva, you know.”

Celeste only smiled. ”With great risk, comes great reward. The time may come where I’ll need your help. Where I’ll need the help of the Wardens and gods forgive me, even the help of Amaryllis herself. But I have to prove myself, first. I have to earn that. Otherwise, I will be just another body.”

”Plus,” she continued, ”I can’t learn magic there. Not in the practical sense. They only teach theory, with no application.” Her eyes blazed. ”This is where I belong. I have something I was meant to do here. Now I just have to figure out what it is.”

But intuitively, in her heart of hearts, she already knew.

”Fine,” Elsene concluded. ”You’re good enough. Abide by my rules and you can stay here. Just don’t die.” And she looked so sincere in that moment. ”It’d be a terrible waste.”
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[Mirage]

Celeste

Rhetoric	+1
Politics	+1
Persuasion	+2
Philtering	+ 4

Lores :

• Elsene: Pseudo Apprenticeship
• Philtering: Basic Techniques
• Philtering: Chocolate Rose perfume Recipe
• Politics: The Game of Nuits
• Politics: Discontent between the Dalafurgu and Venenium
• Lore of Self: Sahova is where I belong

The Truth Hidden by a Mirage :

Good thread! It sets up a LOT of possibilities. Send me a PM and we will set up your thread with Amaryllis ^.^. If you have any questions PM me as well!