Teach me about those Herbs. (Amon Torque)

by **Firenze** on November 1st, 2014, 4:19 am

7 Fall 514 AV

They approached the apartment where Amon lived. She paused for a moment, a wave of fear coming over her. Was she being stupid about this? It might be great to learn about something new and exciting, but do you really know this person? She looked over at him as he opened the door and let them in. Watching him walk in the door and disappearing around the corner, she was unsure of what she should do. Is he really going to teach me this stuff or is he trying to lure me into a trap? She didn't know completely, but there was only one way to find out and she didn't want to appear to be cowardice. Poor Firenze, the cowardly tiger. That did not sound appealing to her.

She took a chance and stepped over the threshold and into the small apartment. It was simple enough, a few books scattered on a table and some drying herbs hung up. She walked over to one of the herbs and sniffed it. It had a musky smell to it, she kinda liked it. She didn't know what it was but maybe he could tell her. She walked over to the table and fingered the pages of one of the books. There were a few drawings on the page of leaves and twigs. She noticed a jar sitting next to the book and opened it, a sharp smell wafted out of the jar and burned her nostrils. She slammed the lid back on top of it and rubbed her nose. She did not like that.

Turning around she inspected the rest of the apartment. Looking around at the different little pots and jars. She wasn't going to open them, she'd already learned her lesson. As she faced Amon she asked, "So, when do we get started? What are you going to teach me?"

by **Amon Torque** on November 1st, 2014, 10:41 pm

He looked behind himself to see her into the small apartment, then watching as she looked over his herbs that had just sprouted and concoctions he had made on previous occasions. "Oh don't smell th - sorry, little late warning eh? Flametoe, nasty stuff, but helpful." He made a small sympathetic smile, knowing how bad the stench was. She turned, asking what he wanted to teach first, to which he shrugged, "why not start with those berries, they should be an easy introduction."

He moved towards his desk, picking up the largest iron pot he owned and moving it to his hearth. Reaching through his pack he gripped his flint, striking it over the hearth with the blade of his kukri. It generated sparks that fell down upon the bit of lantern oil he used to light the hearth, igniting immediately. "Alright, we want to decoct these, then we will mash them and turn it into a jam." He poured water from his waterskin into the pot as he spoke, filling it just enough to cover the bottom of the pot. "Could you bring me one of those big plates from the table please?" He needed it as a lid, to prevent steam from filling the room, for the water was already beginning to simmer.

By the time she gave him the plate he had nearly finished pouring the brinetooth berries into the pot of simmering water, finishing the job with his hands, picking up each berry and tossing it into the iron pot. "Go ahead and put the plate over the top as a lid, we need to let them simmer and steam in there for at least fifteen chimes, then we will make some jam from them. Until then, would you like to know how to dry herbs? That could prove useful in the future."

by **Firenze** on November 2nd, 2014, 2:14 am

7 Fall 514 AV

Watching as Amon put the iron pot in the hearth and bending over to start the fire, she walked near him and bent down to try to figure out what he was doing. He'd grabbed his weird shaped knife, a flint and his lantern. He tipped the lantern pouring some of the oil on some wood scraps in the pit, grabbed his knife and flint, and ran the flint along the knife. A few sparks flew around the pit, striking it a few more times a little speck flew into the pile and caught the oil. She watched as the oil started the pile of wood and the fire crept along, it in it's orange and yellow flickering dance. It grew larger and he pulled a couple logs from the side and set them on the pile to help the fire grow larger.

Firenze stood up and walked over to the table, sitting in one of the chairs, she swished her feet around on the floor while flipping the pages of the book that was laying on the table top. Not really sure what she was looking at and unable to read, she just looked over the pictures. A leaf, a few different berries and different shaped bushes and plants, they were well drawn, she figured it was done so that whoever needed to use the book could spot the stuff easier when they were out looking for it. She heard Amon stand and walk over to grab something, though she didn't look up from the pages and just continued to flip them lazily, eyes scanning over the pictures.

He went back to the pot and glancing up, watched as he took the top off of his waterskin and poured water into it. The fire was already beginning to grow underneath and heat the metal above it. "Alright, we want to decoct these, then we will mash them and turn it into a jam." She leaned over and grabbed the basket from the floor and set it near the hearth.

"Could you bring me on of those big plates from the table please?" Amon asked as he pointed in the direction of the table, his attention on dumping the brinetooth berries in the kettle. Firenze turned and grabbed a plate from the table and stood next to Amon, holding it out for him to grab. He set the basket down and grabbed the stray berries tossing them in the pot with the others, "Go ahead and put the plate over the top as a lid, we need to let them simmer and steam in there for at least fifteen chimes, then we will make some jam from them. Until then, would you like to know how to dry herbs? That could prove useful in the future?"

She set the plate on top of the pot, the steam wisping around her hand and arm, it felt hot and moist on her skin and started to make it hurt. She pulled her hand back and rubbed where the steam had touched it, making sure that she hadn't been burnt. As she turned around she responded to Amon's question, "Sure, what kind of herbs are you supposed to dry?" She sat back in the chair she had been in before and watched him move around the small apartment, gathering the things that he needed to teach her how to do his craft.

She went back to looking at the pictures in the book while he moved about, thinking for a moment while she scanned, I wonder if I could find someone to teach me to read someday. It would have to be someone very patient... Remembering the struggle she had when she had tried to learn it in the past. She just didn't understand how squiggles in ink could transform into letters, and letters into words. She sighed softly and continued turning the pages.

OOC InfoWord Count = 651

by **Amon Torque** on November 5th, 2014, 4:13 am

His hands climbed through his bag, finally feeling the course surface of the length of rope he was looking for, gripping it and taking it from the bag. He set it down on the table, also grabbing some of his plantain leaves from a basket off his desk. "Alright, lets start. You can dry roots, leaves, stems, flowers, and berries, depending on the type. You will want to start the drying process by cutting a some fibers from the rope to make a thinner string, and then tie the herbs bases with the string," he said, demonstrating the process of cutting a length of rope into a thin string, then twirling it around the small stems that branched from the bright green plantain leaves, tying a quick knot after doing so.

He didn't even think that she might not know how to tie a decent knot, which would be very reasonable but seemed so basic that it did not need to be mentioned. "Then you will want to hang them somewhere dry, warm and dry works best, but just dry will be adequate." He glanced to her face to look for signs of understanding, then getting up to grab a hanging bundle of the herbs as well as his mortar and pestle. "This is a mortar and pestle, you use it to grind or smash dried herbs or squish juices and such from other plants." The dried alfalfa was transferred into his small bowl. And he began to grind it with a circular motion on the pestle, "when powdered and put onto a wound this alfalfa will help stunt bleeding, a helpful tool. Dried herbs can also be put in a jar with grapeseed oil for around a week, have hot water poured over them, made into a balm, or boiled to extract the herbs medicinal properties."

His head cocked, looking toward her to see if she understood any or all that he said. He was prepared to go over everything again if she needed it, for he talked relatively quickly, and remembering methods would be a large task. "There is an empty page in the back of that journal your looking through, could you tear it out for me? Can you read? I am going to give you a diagram of each method, if you ever begin to use herbs, they will come in handy quickly." He grabbed the quill and ink off his desk, bringing them to the table at which the pair were sitting. He began to think of each method and realized if she couldn't read it would be nonsense. "Go ahead and draw yourself a small picture of what you can remember as 'drink', then hand it back to me. Make it small, we need to fit quite a few drawings on here."

by **Firenze** on November 6th, 2014, 4:28 am

7 Fall 514 AV

Amon moved to his bad, she stopped turning the pages and watched him, wondering what he was looking for. He pulled out a rope and placed on the table, sitting down and grabbing some leaves from a basket. "Alright, lets start. You can dry roots, leaves, stems, flowers, and berries, depending on the type. You will want to start the drying process by cutting a some fibers from the rope to make a thinner string, and then tie the herbs bases with the string," he grabbed a piece of the rope and started to peal it away from the main part. Taking the new piece of string he wrapped it around the bottom of the bundle of leaves that he'd taken out of the basket. He looped the string around and pulled on it. She tried to watch what he was doing but she didn't understand how the string was going to stay on the leaves, did the way he wrapped it around it make it special? she wondered to herself, continuing to watch.

He held up the leaves and showed her what he had done, "then you will want to hang them somewhere dry, warm and dry works best, but just dry will be adequate." He looked at her briefly and then grabbed a weird looking bowl and fat stick. Reaching over her pulled a bundle of herbs off the wall and showed her the bowl and stick, "This is a mortar and pestle, you use it to grind or smash dried herbs or squish juices and such from other plants." She tried to tuck that away, mortar, pestle, mortar, pestle, mor..., chanting to try to make it stick. While she chanted that in her mind, he took the herbs that he'd taken off the wall and put them into the mortar, put the pestle on top of it and started moving the pestle around in circles.

"When powdered and put onto a wound this alfalfa will help stunt bleeding, a helpful tool. Dried herbs can also be put in a jar with grape seed oil for around a week, have hot water poured over them, made into a balm, or boiled to extract the herbs medicinal properties," trying to make sure that she noted what he was saying and concentrate on what he was doing a dull ache started to form behind her eyes. She wondered if she was going to get a headache. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands and continued to watch Amon.

He looked up from his task and his head tilted to the side while he studied her. She wondered what he was thinking. "There is an empty page in the back of that journal your looking through, could you tear it out for me? Can you read? I am going to give you a diagram of each method, if you ever begin to use herbs, they will come in handy quickly." She grabbed the book she had been looking at earlier and flipped it to the back, while the pages flew by she replied to his question, "I actually can't read, I had a hard time trying to learn it while I was growing up."

Grabbing the page and pulling it toward her, she heard the page rip from its seam. Amon grabbed a quill and small bottle of ink that was near him and set them on the table. He handed her the large feather with the blackened end on it, "Go ahead and draw yourself a small picture of what you can remember as 'drink', then hand it back to me. Make it small, we need to fit quite a few drawings on here."

She grabbed the feather, wrapping her slender fingers around the spine and stuck the sharp part of it in the bottle. She hoped that she was doing it right, but she figured it might be since the part she had dipped was already covered in ink. She looked up at him, to see if he gave any indication that she might be doing it wrong and he just continued to watch her movements. He didn't appear disturbed by the way that she was handling things so she continued. Putting the tip to the paper that she had just torn out, she tried to think of what a drink looked like to her. Drinks reminded her of cups, so she thought that she should draw something that looked similar to a cup to her.

She pulled the quill along the page, looped it around to go the opposite direction and then when the line was as close as she could get it to the length as the other, Fire pulled the tip back to the other line. It didn't look exactly like a cup, but she thought it could make due. She knew what it was supposed to be and she figured that's what really mattered. "Okay, I drew a cup. That's similar to a drink right?" She smiled at Amon, proud of her small accomplishment, "What is it for? Are you supposed to drink the Alf-Alf-ah?" She tried to mimic how he had said the word.

OOC InfoWord Count = 756
Image of Firenze's Drawing -

by **Amon Torque** on November 8th, 2014, 6:07 pm

He smiled at her drawing, simple but effective. "We don't drink alfalfa, but there are plenty of other things you can drink." His fingers landed on top of the paper, sliding it over to him. "Now, could you draw a picture of something you will remember as pouring hot or cold water over the plants? Or infusion, but that seems too vague to draw," he said, sliding the paper back to her. His eyes watched her delicate lines, smooth turns and quick flicks of the quill. It was as if her drawing followed the feline nature that seemed to embed itself into everything she did.

After the drawing was created he glanced over it, nodding in approval. "Now draw a line that connects the two pictures, because when you want to drink the medicinal properties of herbs this will be the method you use usually," he informed her, reaching out for the journal next to her. Fingers encircled the faded binding, pulling it close as he opened the book to the middle section, flipping through pages before stopping on one that read 'lemon balm' as the title. "Lemon balm is a great herb, very useful. I think it is something you could use pretty often. First off, it is a minor sedative, so it will help you sleep. Second, it helps with all sorts of disease when you drink it or use it to disinfect something. It won't cure you instantaneously, but it will get you better much faster and usually keeps the disease from getting worse if you drink the infusion right when it starts. Best of all it is common and pretty cheap." By the time he had finished he was out of breath, having forgotten to do so while he talked.

"So next time you are out in the market ask for some and purchase it, for it will help later," he told her. Amon stood up abruptly, turning to the boiling pot where steam was slowly wafting from the pot. "I think it is done," he informed her, lifting the plate off and hurriedly setting it on the ground. He looked inside at the wrinkled skin of the berries and nodded, it looked done to him. He gripped the top of the pot and brought it from the hearth, setting it onto the counter. He reached for his large jar containing sugar, opening it and pouring a heaping amount into the berries pot. "Now we mash it," he told her, remembering this step from when his mother made jam. He walked to his pack, enong it and reaching through until he found his herbalist's kit which he promptly opened amd took out two large wood spoons.

Amon handed one to Firenze and kept one himself, reaching in with it and mashing the berries with small circular motions. The berries sometimes popped and other times simply fell apart, at one point Amon's face was the target of some stray juice that came from the popped berries. "Alright, when we finish this I need your help brining it back into the fire."

by **Firenze** on November 13th, 2014, 4:12 pm

7 Fall 514 AV

Placing the paper back on the table, smile still etched on her face at the excitement of her creation, Amon told her that she couldn't drink the alfalfa. She was still admiring her work when he asked her to draw some more pictures. She tried her best to best to follow his instructions, making some more scribbles on the paper. Her tongue peeking out slightly between her lips in concentration as she slid the quill across the paper. She didn't know how she was going to draw water over a plant. She thought about it for a moment, plants have leaves and sticks and stuff, that might work for the plant part. Water.. how do you even draw that?!

She sat in frustration for a moment, unable to figure out how she was going to do as he asked. Pour water over the plant... hmm. Maybe I could draw rain? Rain is water, if you pour water it kinda looks like rain? She let out a long sigh, and started to draw what she thought looked to be rain on a plant. She wasn't sure if this was going to work, or if it was even understandable, but Amon seemed pleased with what she had done so far.

Propping her elbow on the table, she placed her head in her hand and tried to concentrate on the quill and making it do what she wanted. She thought about how to draw the plant and decided she could just draw something that looked like leaves, twisting the quill she made two loops sticking out from each other. She stopped for a moment and realized something might be missing, she made a line coming from the bottom of the loops to show the stem of the plant. Firenze's felt satisfied that it looked something like a plant and set to work on making some scribbles to look like rain.

Trying to think of what rain looked like, she remembered when she was younger sitting in the orphanage, starting out the window when it was raining particularly hard one day, the fat little drops pounding against the windows. Tracing her fingers along the pane, trying to follow the path of the drops as they left trails along the glass. She dipped the quill back into the ink well, replenishing the ink on the sharp tip, and placed it back onto the paper. She drew more loops similar to the leaves but upside down, like they were dripping along the paper.

Satisfied, she looked up to see Amon watching her draw, nodding at her, "Now, draw a line that connects the two pictures, because when you want to drink the medicinal properties of herbs this will be the method you use usually." She drew the line and looked back up to see what else he needed for her to do. Kind of hoping that she was almost done scribbling on the paper as her attention was starting to wan from the task.

Amon grabbed a book from next to her and flipped it open and showing her a page that he'd been looking for. There was a leaf in the middle of it and some writing that she couldn't decipher. "Lemon balm is a great herb, very useful. I think it is something you could use pretty often. First off, it is a minor sedative, so it will help you sleep. Second, it helps with all sorts of disease when you drink it or use it to disinfect something. It won't cure you instantaneously, but it will get you better much faster and usually keeps the disease from getting worse if you drink the infusion right when it starts. Best of all it is common and pretty cheap." She nodded, keeping her eyes on the page, trying to study the leaf. It looked like every other leaf that she'd ever seen except that it seemed like and upside down heart, the edges were kind of jagged and it was rather small. She wondered if she would ever be able to actually find the leaf out in the wild, just as he was telling her that she should be able to buy it at the market. It sounded pretty useful, she hoped that should remember everything he was teaching her.

As Amon turned to tend to the pot that was starting to boil, Firenze stood, unsure what to do with herself. Watching as he pulled the pot off of the fire, he set it to the side, dumped a bunch of sugar into it and walked over to his bag, he grabbed a couple of wooden spoons from his pack and handed one to her. "Alright, when we finish this I need your help bring it back into the fire," he instructed her, sticking his spoon into the black pot and stirring the now mushy berries. He had handed her a spoon as well, so she mimicked his actions, sticking the spoon into the pot. Shoving the wooden piece up and down, popping the mushy little tart berries, spraying juice all over.

Blue spots of liquid jumped out of the pot landing on her and Amon's faces, hands and fingers, dying the color of their skin. A little too enthusiastically, spurred on by the dance of the droplets, she started swirling her spoon all over the inside of the pot, at times whacking the spoon Amon was using to stir. He placed his hand on top of her's stilling it, in an effort to say that she may be having too much fun or that he was tired of getting covered in the hot liquid.

After a few chimes they grabbed the pot and placed it back over the fire, and sat down to finish the drawings and herb lesson. She could already start to smell the mingle of sweet and tart coming off of the berries. She'd not had this kind of jam before and she was excited to try something that she'd actually made, never having really cooked anything. Of course she had a lot of help, but at least now she kind of had an idea of how to go about doing things. Her mind wandered as they sat at the table, thinking that she might be able to start having other foods that are cooked, if they would taste different then when they were raw and if she would like it.

OOC InfoWord Count = 1070

Firenze's Drawing:

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by **Firenze** on November 30th, 2014, 8:05 am

7 Fall 514 AV

While they waited for the Brinetooth berries to finish thickening, Amon showed Firenze some more pictures in the book, pointing out various herbs. She was having a hard time following, trying to remember the pictures and not let the words that were scribbled on the page cause her to become distracted.

She drew a few more pictures on her paper, a few of the pictures showed the process that he had already walked her through with how to cook the Brinetooth berries in order to create a jam. He also had her draw the picture of the berry and it's leaf, so that she might be able to find it while she was out hunting and eat it if she needed. She drew pictures of raspberries and it's leaf, blueberries and the leaves from that bush and then finally blackberries and it's leaf.

There were so many different types of plants and berries, it started to confuse her. The toll of trying to remember all the different types and learn how to make the jam was starting to get to Firenze. She needed to figure out a way to get some of the jam for herself and then politely excuse herself so that she could go home and tuck her paper away for safe keeping.

She watched as he went over and checked the pot, confirmed that it was indeed ready to take off the fire and start ladling into pots. He went over to one of his shelves and grabbed a few decent sized pots and one of the wooden spoons they had been using before. He instructed her to help him ladle the jam out and put it in the pots. She grabbed one and took her spoon, dipping it into the bubbling goo.

Fire set to the task, going back and forth between scooping up the jam and then dumping it into the pot. Once they'd reached the bottom of the kettle and were scraping for the last of the jam that clung to the sides he let her know that they were set. He placed a stopper on top of the jar and let her know that one was for himself, and that she could have the other because she'd helped to pick the berries and make the jam.

"That's so kind of you!" Excited to have learned some new things and also be taking home some of the sweet jam. She'd have to get some bread that she could smear it on later. "I hope you don't mind, but the lessons for today have kind of worn me out. I very much appreciate the jam, it's such a kind gift. As well as the information that you shared with me today." A smile crept across her face, glad to have made a new friend with someone as kind as him.

Grabbing her cloak she wrapped it around her shoulders, tucked the piece of paper with her scribbles and doodles on it, the jar of Brinetooth berry jam sitting snuggly in the crook of her arm. She made her way to the door, gave him a small wave and left.

OOC InfoThis was previously plot out and considering the circumstances I used our previous discussions to help to push the plot along.

Items Acquired:

One paper with doodles of berries and processes to make jam and steep Brinetooth tea.
One medium sized clay pot of Brinetooth berry jam with a lid.

Word Count = 524

Others | Firenze | Thoughts

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by **Vanari** on January 7th, 2015, 6:37 am

Firenze

Observation	+4 XP
Intelligence	+2 XP
Interrogation	+2 XP
Wilderness Survival	+1 XP
Herbalism	+2 XP
Drawing	+3 XP
Socialization	+1 XP

Lores :

Notes :

Closed Teach me about those Herbs. (Amon Torque)