[Opal Temple] A lesson in herbalism

[Kiska]

6th Day of Fall of the year 510 AV, evening Kiska walked into the room, unwrapping a bandage from her arm. It had been six days since her arrival in Mura, and six days since she had started classes. Medicine was her first class of the evening, and then came herbalism. She couldn't say that she disliked either of the classes. In fact, she really liked them both, she just happened to really like herbalism more for some reason. Drae Sommers, her herbalism teacher at the Opal Temple in Mura, sat at her desk in the small room of the temple. There were five small containers filled with liquid-like substances, a small plant, and a pile of leaves on the desk in front of her. She looked up as Kiksa entered the room, smiling as Kiska approached. "Why hello there, Kiska. Ready to learn more about plants?" She said, getting a pair of mortars and pestles from the desk drawer. "As ready as ever, miss," Kiska said, approaching the desk. Kiska took a seat in front of the desk, still looking at the materials. She couldn't identify any by just looking at them, but she thought she might know a little about some of them if given a clue. "Aloe vera," said the professor, pointing at a small plant with spiny fronds. "Do you know what they're for, Kiska?" she asked, sliding it across the desk to Kiska.

[Kiska]

Kiska looked at the spiny plant, it looked familiar, but she couldn't figure out what it was. "I have no idea miss, what is it used for?" She asked, turning a leaf this way and that as she analyzed each part of it. She had heard the name before somewhere, but wasn't quite sure what it did. "The Aloe Vera comes from desert-like regions, not so unlike where your people come from," said the professor to the small Benshira. "It is a very commonly used medicinal herb. It can be used in many applications, gels, drinks, creams, and lotions. It helps to heal wounds and burns, and does wonders for your skin." She said. "Today we'll be learning how to prepare it for use by making it into a gel and then turning it into lotion. Take a mortar and pestle now," said the professor, scooting them closer. "What are those for then?" Kiska asked her, pointing to the small containers on the desk. "Oh those are for the preparation process," said the woman, taking two small knives from the desk drawer. She handed one to Kiska over the desk. "I taught you how to make each of those in our previous sessions, if you'll remember." She pointed to each one, naming them off, "sunflower oil, beeswax, almond oil, coconut oil, and lanolin. This is what we were making them for. And this," she said, pointing to the small pile of leaves, "is lavender. We'll be using that for fragrance. Now, the first thing to know about preparing Aloe Vera is to of course, harvest it. Cut the leave like this," she said, cutting the leaf at an angle with the small knife. "Then place it in an empty jar, she said, handing Kiska a jar that had been sitting on the edge of the desk. Kiska followed her instructions, cutting the leaf exactly how she had been shown. Drae had already placed hers in an identical jar, and was waiting for Kiska to do so with hers. Kiska did this, and waited for further instruction. "But that won't be enough dear, these are big plants, but we need about three leaves each. Go ahead and get two more and put them in the same jar," she said, cutting off two more leaves of her own. The plant was starting to look a little barren, but she supposed that this woman knew what she was doing.

[Kiska]

Kiska took two more leaves from the plant, setting them in the same jar as her other leaf. "Now what do we do?" She asked after she was done. She was pretty good with plants that she knew about, and a quick learner with ones that she wasn't. She assumed that the leaves would grow back, as all of the inner leaves were still there. "We wait, it will take about 10-15 minutes until we can continue. We need to wait for the sap to drain from the leaves before we can do anything else," she said, pulling a book from her desk. She leaned back in her chair and opened the book. "You can just relax for now," she said, already getting into her book. Kiska relaxed in her chair, wishing she had a book too. She pulled out her journal, quill, and a small vial of ink. She opened the book and dipped the quill in the ink and began writing. Day 6 of the Season Fall of the Year 510 AV from the hand of Kiska Eyris, I've learned much in my stay in Mura these past six days, though nothing of the one I seek. Where am I to find them, goddess? Oh please help me, lest I be destroyed. I've met a friend here, an Akontak. Her name is Ero, maybe she can help me find them. For now, though, I am just to study. I've enrolled in classes in medicine and herbalism, and they're going well. It is for you I take in this knowledge. Today I learned how to wrap my own wounds if I were to be hurt, and in herbalism studies she is teaching me to make Aloe Vera gel and lotion. I wish to do your name justice. Your faithful follower, Kiska She closed the ink vial and wiped the quill off on a cloth before putting it back in her pack along with her journal. She looked up to see Drae looking at her. "Taken a fancy to writing, eh?" She asked, one eyebrow raised. "Oh, no, just my journal," she said with a slight blush. "Eyris knows I could never get anything done as a professional writer. I'm too serious for such things. Is it ready yet?" She asked, eyeing the jars. A good amount of the sap had drained from the leaves already. "Yup!" Said the herbalist excitedly, pulling her jar back towards her. "Now it's time to collect the gels. We won't be using this," she said, motioning towards the sap they had drained from the leaves. "Now, take your leaves and lay them on the desk. Cut the tip of the leaf off, and all the spiny edges. Discard those, we won't be using those either." She waited for Kiska to follow directions, having done so to her leaves as she talked.

[Kiska]

Kiska cut the tip off of the leaf and set it off to the side, then did the same to the spines of the leaf. She noticed that the leaf was more or less now in two sections, a top and a bottom. She looked back to Drae, who was watching her intently. "Right, now then, let's get that gel." She took one of her leaves and pulled it apart, laying each side flat on the desk. "Just scrape it out with your knife and put it in the mortar. Make sure you don't get the sap though, we don't need that." She showed Kiska how to do it, collecting only the gel from the leaves and placing it in her mortar. "We'll need to do that to all three leaves to have enough gel.” She took the gel from all of her leaves, discarding everything but the gel as Kiska did the same to hers. "Very good," she said when she was done. Kiska was still getting the last of hers from the leaves. "When you're done, we'll need to mix the gel, lanolin, and the sunflower oil together." She picked up a pair of wooden spoons and dipped out a spoon of two of the substances, both of which Kiska now recognized. She had made the two in the previous few classes. She wasn't exactly sure why they had needed the sheeps wool then, but it made sense now. Drae handed the jars to Kiska to do the same after she had gotten hers. Kiska followed directions, spooning out the ingredients into her mortar along with the gel. This reminded her of cooking with her mother when she was a child, but she doubted that this stuff would taste any good. "I'm guessing we mix it together now?" She said, concentrated on her mortar. "Correct!" Drae said, and began to mix the three substances together. "They need to be well mixed, until they appear as one substance instead of three." Kiska began to mix the substances. It didn't take long before they began to meld into one, but getting them thoroughly mixed took the better of ten minutes. Kiska was careful not to slosh any of the goopy mixture onto the desk, yet some still managed to escape onto her fingers which held the mortar in place. Kiska could figure from the lack of ingredients, and those that were left on the desk, that they weren't done. The sun was low in the sky by now, but it mattered not. Kiska was eager to learn. Drae stood up, taking the remaining three containers to a station at the side of the room. "Come here, girl," she said to Kiska. Kiska followed her directions, standing next to the station. Drae set the containers down and began to measure them out into a small black pot that was hung over a small pit of wood. "We'll both need almost an ounce of beeswax. I'm measuring my own, you can follow." She measured hers out and put it into the put, handing the container to Kiska, who followed her example. Then Drae took the jar of coconut oil and measured it out in a small cup. "About a third as much coconut oil as we had gel." She handed the jar to Kiska, who did the same, placing her contents in the pot along with Drae's. "Now we wait for the wax to melt. Keep stirring as it heats up." She took a candle from the window sill and lit the wood with it.

[Kiska]

Kiska stirred the contents of the pot as the fire heated up. It took a minute before the fire got hot enough to melt the wax. It took only about half a minute to melt the beeswax as Kiska stirred it. When it had been stirred and mixed, Kiska looked to Drae. "It's melted," she said, waiting for further instructions. "Okay good," Drae said, picking up the other jar. "Now it's time to add the almond oil. We'll need slightly more than twice as much of this as we had cocounut oil. She measured the oil out into the pot and handed it to Kiska who did the same. "Mix this together with that and let it heat up a little bit longer before we take it off." She watched as Kiska added her portion of oil and stirred the mixtures together. She waited only a few seconds before telling Kiska to remove the melted substances from the fire. Kiska reached a hand towards the fire to grab the pot, but Drae was faster, slapping her hand out of the way. "What is wrong with you, girl? Use something so you don't burn yourself," she said, handing Kiska a piece of cloth to remove the pot with. "Now bring it over here," she said, and walked back over to the desk where the Aloe Vera Gel was left sitting. Kiska did as told, using the rag to remove the pot and carry it over to the desk. She didn't set it down because she thought it might hurt the wood of the desk, or burn it. She stood there with the pot, waiting for Drae to tell her what to do. "Well? We need to stir it into out gel mix, pour half of it into yours and give me the other half. Make sure you don't get too much in either." Drae tapped her foot on the floor in mock impatience, smiling as she did so. She was probably the silliest teacher Kiska had ever had. "What if I do pour too much in?" Kiska said as she poured half of the mixture in her mortar and half in Draes. To her amazement, she got the right amount, and set the pot down on the desk beside her. She watched as Drae picked up her pestle and began to stir the mixture together, and followed the example, picking up her mortar and pestle as well. The mixture began to thicken up quickly. "Well, you don't have to worry about that, it seems. The mixture has the perfect amount. This will turn out to be a fine lotion, your skin will probably never be smoother than when you use this. Helps for sun burns too you know." She said. "Take these now, four should do. We're going to grind those up into the mixture now." "What are these for?" Kiska asked curiously? She took the four leaves and added them to her mixture, gringing them against the mortar. The mixture was now a thick, pale greenish-yellow goopy mass. It reminded her of the herbal teas her mom had made when she was a child. They had never been good for drinking either.

[Kiska]

"Oh why, to make it smell good of course. You can't put anything on your skin that doesn't smell good. It also helps to soothe you and cure head pains. Some say lavendar will make people fall in love with you too, but how can you prove that?" She pulled two bottles out of the drawer with corks to top them. "When you're done grinding those leaves into the lotion you can put it in here, and we're done." She was already pouring hers in her own bottle using a small funnel she had pulled out of seemingly nowhere. An extra lay by the empty bottle for Kiska to use. Kiska worked her mixture a little longer then started funnelling it into the bottle, scraping every last bit of it out of the mortar. It filled the bottle almost to the top, with just enough room for her to put a cork in it. She held the bottle up for Drae to examine. "Very good, Kiska. You learn fast. You'll be a master herbalist in no time, judging by how fast we're going. Most students can't even get past the first two lessons by this time, so many mess-ups here and there." She sighed and looked at her own bottle. "Let that cool before you use it by the way, it won't do much for burns if it's causing them." She smiled sweetly at the girl, "We're done here now Kiska, you can go home now." Kiska cleared off the table as she left, leaving her mortar and pestle where they lay. She figured the woman would do the rest, as she didn't like to waste plant material unnecessarily. She watched as the woman took the Aloe Vera scraps and put them into a small sack and into her desk drawer. "Goodbye, miss Drae. I'll see you tomorrow," Kiska said as the left, waving to her teacher. The sun had set a while ago and the wind was chilly on her skin as she left the temple headed towards the south tower. Fall had just set in, but she could already tell that winter was soon to follow. As she walked she smiled to herself appreciatively, satisfied with another fulfilling day of gaining new knowledge.

[Alice]

Kiska Experience: 1 Observation, 5 Herbalism, 1 Writing Lores: Uses of Aloe Vera, Harvesting Aloe Vera, Producing Aloe Vera Lotion, Mixing Herbalism Ingredients, Melting Wax, Carrying a Hot Pot with a Cloth, Uses of Aloe Vera Lotion Comments I enjoyed reading this thread, the work process and the interaction between teacher and student. Especially the part where Kiska nearly burns herself is original. If you’re unhappy with your xp or feel that a lore is missing, please contact me.