Practical Herbalism (Leila)

by **Tsaba** on June 3rd, 2013, 4:21 pm

9th Summer, 513

Tsaba bunched her right hand into a fist, taking note of how the little finger refused to curl with the rest. She was pretty much used to that. But the black spots under the nail... it was too early for that to be happening. That might be a side effect of simply stitching severed appendages right back on; it was a little too early to be sure. It might also be a side effect of living in Zeltiva. And if that was the case, she might not have time to experiment.

Pausing a moment to steel herself, Tsaba pushed open the healer's door. She had healer friends, but this one, she'd been assured, was different; this one was a specialist in herbalism. One step into the shop told her that she had no reason to doubt that information; the place was crowded with little pots and vials and above all, plants. Plants everywhere. A glance over the little label cards on everything told Tsaba absolutely nothing, since she didn't understand any label more esoteric than "poppy seeds", but she didn't have to; that's what she was seeing a specialist for.

On impulse, she leaned forward and pulled air into her unused lungs, taking a deep breath from a leafy plant. Either it had no smell or her pickled nose was too far gone to pick it up. Ah well. Treating the plants with all the care she would a botany experiment on Sahova, she carefully made her way to the counter and waited patiently to be noticed.

by **Leila** on June 5th, 2013, 1:28 am

Leila was working on a recipe for a sleep aid. She had many customers coming to her as of late complaining of that issue, so she wanted to make a recipe that she could call her own. She was looking through her book, trying to remember anything her papa had told her of this. She knew Valerian could help and was common around Zeltiva, but she wanted some others to increase the potency. Flipping through the book, she came across a plant known as Passion Vine.

"The Passion Vine is a curious plant. Several varying species of it can be found all over Mizahar. It has a strange fruit that wrinkles easily and only species in tropical regions have fruit that is worth eating. However, its leaves, fresh or dried, can be made into a tea that helps one to sleep, especially in cases of insomnia.

That sounded promising to the auburn herbalist, but she needed something else. Maybe some sort of relaxants, something to soothe instead of just putting to sleep. But before she could begin looking into that, the door to her shop opened, when a strange woman walked in. She looked older, and looked like the furthest thing from healthy. Maybe she just never got outside to see the light of day. Leila watched her sniff at an aloe plant, and made no reaction, unsurprisingly. As she approached the counter, Leila popped on her best smile, "Hello there! Welcome to my shop, I'm Leila, Leila Hughes. How may I help you today?"

by **Tsaba** on June 5th, 2013, 3:13 am

"Well, uh..." She cleared her throat awkwardly. "I'm guessing you don't get this sort of question very much, but, um... I'm looking for... preservatives." She frowned at the tip of her finger. "My current supplies are not quite satisfactory."

Tsaba glanced up at the healer... Leila... and returned her smile. Perhaps she should have gone to someone she already knew after all; they could've spoken to Leila for her if they thought it was worth her time. But it was too late to worry about that stuff now. "My current preservative techniques depend a fair bit on keeping dry which, as it turns out, is really hard to do near the ocean. I was mostly wondering if you had some... alternative method to compensate. I don't know if you get a lot of Nuit here, but..." Great, I'm babbling. Tsaba stopped talking and watched the healer closely for any reaction.

by **Leila** on June 9th, 2013, 7:16 pm

Leila couldn't figure out why the woman was acting so nervous. While she didn't have much experience with preservatives, she knew it wasn't too difficult, depending on what needed preserved. Leila had no idea what a Nuit was, perhaps it was a person from a faraway city or something like that. Didn't matter to her, a customer was a customer, and a person in need, needed her.

"Well what exactly do you need preserved? And what are you currently using? I have many different things that could take care of the job, but the more specific you are, the better I can help you out."

Leila moved past the strange looking woman, over to a shelf, and began plucking things off it. A jar of golden honey, a pouch of seasalt, a pouch of oak sawdust, a few more pouches of various dried herbs, and brought them all back to her counter. "These are all common preservatives, sometime used in tandem. Honey is great for preserving fruits or anything else that goes bad in air. And it makes it taste better. Sea salt is good for preserving raw meats for a long journey, sailors will often barrel up fish in it. Sawdust is good for keeping water out of anything you need, but usually has to accompany another preservative. All of these herbs can aid the processes of these other preservatives, extending their use and making the food taste better. Does any of this suit your needs miss...?"

by **Tsaba** on June 10th, 2013, 7:05 am

"I'm trying to preserve meat," Tsaba clarified, "and I've had success with salt and embalming fluid in the past, but the Zeltivan air is rather more damp than I'm used to. It sounds like most of this stuff is about keeping the water out of something; do you have anything likely to work for a long time in the open Zeltivan air?" After a moment's thought, she added, "Something that doesn't affect the texture and flexibility would also be good. Taste is not really an issue, nor is maintenance; if it's something that needs to be freshly applied every week or every day, that's not a problem."

Tsaba rubbed a leaf of the plant she'd sniffed earlier, noticing the waxy exterior. "Even a, a barrier against moisture would be good. Or should I be looking at animal fats for that sort of thing?"

by **Leila** on June 12th, 2013, 7:06 pm

"Applied daily? Do you run a butcher's shop or something? The easiest way to preserve meat is to either salt it, or smoke dry it. If you can't do that, I'm not sure what you'd have to do. Maybe something similar to the pitch they Shipwrights use to seal their ships? I've never made it before, but I've been told it's made from pine resin. I could give it a try, but I can't promise anything more than that. What exactly are you trying to preserve?"

She saw the woman was inspecting her aloe plant. She wondered if the woman was thinking of something akin to the waxy cuticle of the plant. "Interesting idea, but I don't know of any means to extract the wax from the leaves. That's beyond me, maybe someone at the university could help with that. But it would ruin the meat for consumption. And it would still rot from within. Same idea with animal fats, and that would attract bugs like nobody's business."

by **Tsaba** on June 12th, 2013, 7:19 pm

"Only if rot was able to take hold withing," Tsaba countered reasonably. "I meant. coupled with standard embalming procedures... although I guess it would also stop the flesh drying out if water did get in... hmm, maybe there's some way to create a barrier that can be selectively turned on and off." Someting easy to wipe on and off, perhaps? But nothing like that would be water resistant...

"Like I said, I'm trying to preserve my meat," Tsaba said, holding out her right arm for inspection. She angled it so that Leila would see the little dark spots on her little finger. "The Zeltivan air doesn't seem to agree with me; I think it's because of the ocean." That would explain why the Sahovan docks were staffed with golems, at least. "This isn't a problem right now but it's starting to break down a lot faster than I'd hoped, and it doesn't seem like fresh bodies will be all that easy to come by in Zeltiva, so anything that could help would be greatly appreciated." Tsaba watched Leila attentively, hoping that her explanation would help the woman give more applicable advice. She didn't think smoking her flesh would be that good an idea, not if she still wanted to be able to move afterward, and pitch would cause its own problems. "What about... about something like candle wax, or the wax they shine surfaces with? Would that work, do you think?"

by **Lullaby** on July 23rd, 2013, 6:04 am

Here is your reward!

Tsaba :

Leila :

A quiet song to soothe the heart

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out.

Completed Practical Herbalism (Leila)