Uta smiled at Marino. “Sea Buckthorn is such a misleading name. Its this lovely small shrub that grows high up in the Kalean Mountains. They have these neat little yellow berries that are good dried or fresh. We use the berries, leaves, and seeds of the plant. I’ve tried to get them to grow here, but it just isn’t cold enough…” She said thoughtfully. “It’s a very special ingredient. You can make amazing creams for the skin. It has healing properties on rashes, burns, and when people have skin that flake due to their own bodies acting out against them. We call that dermatitis. But its one of those foods that has everything in it. Legend says it was a gift from Rak’keli to high mountain barbarians to give them a steady food source filled with nutrients that allow them to stay healthy even when all there is to eat is meat, ground animals, and the goats and sheep they hunt at those high altitudes. She probably talked one of the other Goddesses into creating the plant just for them. Now it is widely used throughout Mizahar due to your people and how often they trade. They give dried fish and fish oil to the people of Kalea – which is another thing they need in their diets – and receive it in trade.” Uta said, rising up and beginning to pace.
She reminded Tazrae of someone who perhaps couldn’t sit still long periods of time.
“I never have enough on hand because I literally can use it in anything. Its very healthy to just flat out eat. It can really help people with bad hearts. It can also be used to treat people that have disorders involving sugars of the blood. It can make a weak child or a frail elderly person have a stronger body that fights off infection easier. I will often put someone on it who has a chronic condition they aren’t able to shake off like another person might. It helps against when a body has issues with their liver. I’ve used to to ease women through their natural changes as they age. I’ve seen it help older people with joint swelling. But most of all… it’s very precious for healing the skin and soothing the skin. The Sun here in Syka isn’t kind often. People don’t realize how brutal Syna can get. So, I keep it on hand. If your Lia has a good supply of it, tell her I will make her any medicines she might need to supplement her own apothecary on board in trade for the raw components. I’ll take as much as she’s willing to part with.” It was not a toothless boast. Uta was very good at her creams and salves, and just having her offer was a huge bonus since medicines made by someone skilled could last longer and be more potent than just a person following a recipe or dabbling.
Tazrae felt like she should be taking notes. She’d seen blank books for sale at the Mercantile and decided before bed she’d swing by and talk Juli out of one or two in order to take notes in. The information was too good to just be heard and later forgotten.
The future Innkeeper glanced at Marino. She had no idea he had interest in this type of thing. She wondered if he’d mix and grind with the best of healers or if he was only being polite by his questions.
The converstation moved on and Uta responded promptly to Marino’s questions. “The jungle is full of water. You just have to know where to find it. I will show you. It rains daily here, so the problem is not water, its more a problem of staying dry and warm especially at night. Here on the sea you don’t notice it, because we are so worried about cooling off. But deep in the jungle, the temperatures can plummet and if you can’t get dry and warm, you’ll get the chills that kill.” She said, speaking of hypothermia. “One of the best ways to shelter in the jungle is to get up off the jungle floor. The floor of the jungle is where the moisture gathers, where insects lurk, and holds easy access to snakes and predators. That’s why I often carry my hammock and cordage to hang it with. A hammock is a fast way that doesn’t expend energy to get yourself up off the ground where you can rest. If you travel with someone you don’t mind cuddling up too, a bigger hammock is the best because shared body heat can often get two people through the night. If you are trapped somewhere longer, I can show you how to build a shelter, but often with a hammock all you need to do is layer a lean-to over where the hammock is suspended and you can stay out of the rain. This is where an oilskin tarp is also handy. You can throw one over the hammock and secure it after you’ve slipped in… to keep yourself and your hammock dry. Also many hammocks hang down and rain can be directed to slip down your ropes holding the hammock and soak your shelter. I can show you how to redirect rain from washing down your cordage and doing this. Jungle survival is about the little things.” She added, making a lap of the living area, thinking deeply.
“In terms of water, you want to drink only from seeps and springs. I can show you where these are and what they look like. They are often found along rivers and streams as natural oozing water flowing from higher up on the bank or slope to trail down to join the main body of water. These are always the purest most filtered sources of water and you can collect and drink right from them. There are also trees you can cut down and hollow out the trunks and the basins there will fill with perfectly wonderful water. There is also water vine… it’s a vine you can gut that will stream water out of each section that is pure to drink and has a slightly minty flavor. It’s one of my favorites.” She added, smiling.
“Most of this you will need to actually learn as we go. Me telling you about it is not the same. But honestly the best source of water is rain. Drink from broad leafed plants that naturally capture rainfall… create a rain catcher that will gather your own fresh water. There’s all kinds of ways to get water. Water is easy in the jungle. Its…..what that’s hard?” She asked.
Tazrae perked up and answered immediately. “Staying dry and warm.” She chirped, having been paying attention and listening intently. Uta smiled and nodded. “Good.”
They looked over Uta’s gear and Tazrae shook her head. Then she emptied her own gear, knowing she lacked things, but had other things. “This isn’t fair. Juli supplied me with a lot of this and I had no idea why.” The Inkeeper admitted. She didn’t want Uta to mistakenly think she knew more than she did. Taz didn’t. She just listened and had packed what Juli had told her she would need.
The girl lacked a good pot as well. But she did have a Survival kit with prepared tinder and the fishing stuff needed, though she hadn’t thought to bring it. She hadn’t packed her hammock either, but the backpack had her slicker in it. The Survival kit that Juli had gotten together for her contained the basic essentials for a surviving in the wilds of Mizahar. It included a simple first aid kit, flint and steel, 2 simple snares, a waterskin, and a simple tent. It also contained a small compass, a small roll of fishing line and 6 basic fishhooks, 2 candles, a blanket, a needle and thread, and a small, simple knife. Tazrae also had a small blank journal and a few lead sticks to sketch with in case she wanted to take notes. It was wrapped in a bit of hacked off oilskin tarp.
She looked over her gear and frowned.
“I need to get together something for prepared tinder, bring my hammock, and I feel like I might need more medical supplies than I have… which is nothing but insect repellant and burn cream.” She said thoughtfully.
Uta nodded. “All and all, you two aren’t bad. If we do this more than one day, I expect tomorrows bags to be packed better with everything you need. Marino, I see Taz has a hatchet and machete. You’ll need something like that… either or both… as well.” She added.
She took the spice box Marino indicated, examined it closely, and nodded. “That should do nicely. A coating of wax on the inside and along the seams will make sure you have it as waterproof as possible. Blubbery wax is the best… “ She added, then turned to the group.
“We’re starting off simple today. We’re going to go get coconuts for the coconut oil and cocao beans for cacao nibs to make cocoa butter with. Both those things we will need. And it’s a bit of fringe jungle travel for all three of us that doesn’t require you to bring those bags since I’m going to use you as pack mules to carry back the coconuts and cocao fruit with.” She said with a grin. “So repack your bags, leave them here, and take these mesh bags.” She said, gesturing for them to clean up their strewn out messes. “Take your waterskins only, the mesh bags… and follow me.” Uta said happily, waiting until they’d repacked their stuff to set out.
“One last thing as we go… footwear. Always wear tall boots that cover your calves when we go into the jungle. Snakes are everywhere and you want your calves, ankles, and feet protected. If you are going to get bitten, that’s where its going to happen. The rest of it, I will instruct you on how to not be in danger of getting bitten any other way.” She said thoughtfully as she set out.
The Herbalist lead them from her abode upstream along a trail that wove in and out of clearings that were somehow planted with tended crops of herbs and plants. Tazrae recognized some of them – namely mints – and a few cultivated berry plants and other things she didn’t recognize. Deeper jungle looked to be ahead, but Uta stopped before the trail grew smaller and went into dense vegetation fringed with a small new bamboo patch.
She gestured to Tazrae and the hatchet on her belt. “This bamboo here is great. It’s fast growing and it makes for a good walking stick. Cut one for yourself and Marino.” She said gently.
Tazrae nodded obediently and pulled the small hatchet from its sheath. She looked over the bamboo, tested it for strength and selected two tall lengths just slightly smaller than her wrist. She cut one, handed it to Marino, then cut another length. Uta borrowed her hatchet for a moment and cut a third.
She gestured with it after she returned the weapon. “The jungle soil is slippery. It’s often wet and prone to mud. Having a walking stick is helpful, the taller the better. It can be a weapon and a useful tool in the rules I’m about to give you. The first rule is simple. Touch nothing with your hands. Wear gloves if possible. Use the bamboo or whatever walking stick you have to move brush out of the way or touch things. Plants here have thorns, poisonous secretions, and literally every stinging insect and biting snake looks like the vegetation around it. If you use your walking stick to balance yourself as you walk and move aside vegetation, you are giving yourself an added level of protection against bites, stings, highly toxic plants and potential injuries from falls.” She said, then moved out leading them deeper into the jungle.
“Now… when you walk, don’t walk like a human. It doesn’t help you navigate the jungle any better. You need to loosen your hips, undulate them, bend and twist with the vegetation, and slide through it. Walking upright will just make you have to work harder to clear a wider swath with your machete or hatchet.” Uta demonstrated by ducking elegantly under brush, bending around branches that hung over the trail, and basically moving in ways Tazrae hadn’t seen anyone move before.
She tried to practice what the Herbalist was showing them, loosening her joints, thinking as if she were water undulating around the growth. She found the movement through the verdant green easier, more smooth and actually a whole lot faster than if she would have plowed straight through. Sometimes she simply had to duck right or left, but often she’d drag her walking stick for a moment as she bent under something at a crouch and kept moving.
Uta was right. The trail was slick and more than once she was thankful for her walking stick. Once, Uta halted them and gestured just off the trail at what Tazrae thought was a fallen mud-colored vine. It turned out to be a rather large snake basking in a patch of speckled sunlight.
They walked for a good quarter bell before Uta brought them out into an opening that looked like it was a grove of strange trees she’d never seen before. It was a clearing in the jungle over looking the sea. Taz had no idea they’d climbed for part of their walk. She could identify coconut trees among the other strange grove… a grove that looked planted there deliberately but was surely far older than the Settlement. Tazrae was momentarily confused by this, and thought to ask.
“Is this deliberately planted? It looks like an orchard of these trees ringed with palms… carved right out of the solid jungle.” The future Innkeeper said. Uta nodded.
“It is… and these trees are hundreds of years old. I stopped here because these are cacao trees and we need their fruit… and we can get coconuts here. Plus there’s a new windfall at the end of the grove I want to show you… it exposes the jungle without fringe vegetation. “ She said, beckoning them to follow her. She led them across the grove to where two huge palms had fallen and taken out the underbrush leaving what looked like a slice of jungle exposed.
“Tell me what you see looking at this… and up this…. if you are to survive in the jungle, you need to understand it.” She said, taking a break to let them talk… before showing them cacao trees and how to harvest the fruit and how to acquire coconuts.
Word Count: 2440
