[Opal Temple] The experimentations of a lone Philterer

[Kiska]

25th Day of fall of the year 510 AV, midnight

Shadows danced along the edges of the small room, cast out by the small flame, flickering on the wick of the half burned candle. The small Benshiran woman sat at her desk looking intently at a small kit placed upon the desk. The kit contained a mortar and pestle, a few small pouches of herbs and powders of varying origins, and some other equipment for the purposes of philtering. A jug of water sat on the desk next to all of this, as well as the small portable firepit that Kiska had bought from a shop in Mura. Magnesium chloride and ginseng. The two ingredients she had chosen for tonights experiments. She had gone through a large portion of herbs and other ingredients, mostly borrowed from the temple, in her experiments so far, none of which had gone right yet. She hoped that tonight would be the night that she would get a usable potion. Tonight she would try to create something to promote mental clarity, concentration, memory, and the like. She had worked with ginseng in her herbalism class before, and was sure the ingredients she had chosen would work well together, as their effects both complimented and strengthened each others. At least, they seemed to be pointing at heightened concentration, or something like it. Kiska picked up her retort and filled it with a precise amount of water, and placed it on the portable firepit, with a collection container beneath the lower end of the retort. She measured out a small amount of the magnesium chloride, which was a fine powder in front of her, and dumped it into the water, then she took two pinches of the ground of ginseng and placed it in the retort as well and plugged the retort. She took the candle from it's holder and placed in beside the pit to light it the small fire bricks. The water slowly began to bubble and boil, steam rising from its surface and into the neck of the retort. The steam made it's way down the neck, condensing into liquid form again and gathering in the small flash that was place below the opening. The liquid, once condensed, was an oddly brownish-tan color, pure of any of the herb or powder that had been put into the retort, yet possessing the color and hopefully the properties of the substances. Kiska kept a close eye on the retort, making sure that the firepit did not overheat the substances, and that the water in the retort did not run too low. It took a while for the liquid portion of the mixture to evaporate and condense again in the flask under the neck of the retort. Kiska removed the retort from the pit and placed it aside then blew the flame out and took the flask from the desk. The flask was still relatively hot, but not so much that it burned her hands. She sniffed the flask and quickly moved away from it. It was potent, and didn't exactly smell like anything she would want to drink. She poured it in a small vial and put a cork in it and put it in her sack, which she stoured all of her creations. She would let Ero try it out tomorrow, with any luck, it should produce the expected results. Kiska was just glad nothing had gone wrong this time, she almost burned herself numerous times, and started a small fire once before. Most of the potions she had attempted to make prior to this were failures, but she could tell that this one was correct. It didn't look discolored, it didn't explode, it smelled like a potion should (disgusting), and... Kiska took the vial from her sack again and removed the cork. One little test couldn't hurt. She put the vial to her lips and took a small sip, it didn't taste the best, but it wasn't as bad as it smelled. A dose so small would give her a taste of the effects, but surely they wouldn't last more than a minute. Within minutes, she began to see things with a heightened mental clarity. She was no longer tired, and felt as if she may be able to even make another potion if she wanted to, despite the late hour. Though it was normally easy for Kiska to concentrate, she felt a sense of determination to finish what she was doing, and packed the rest of her equipment away. By then, the effects had worn off and Kiska plopped down on her bed, tired after a long day of studies and a long night of experiments. "Clarity potion...that's what I'll call it," she said, already drifting off to sleep with a smile on her face.

[Kiska]

50th Day of Fall of the year 510 AV, midday

Kiska sat beneathe a shady tree outside of the Opal Temple. She had been given a pouchful of Thyme, a plant that generally grew in desert-like regions, to do what she wished with. Knowing Kiska would use it well for her studies, Drae had trusted her with the assignment. While what Kiska had in mind wasn't exactly herbalism, she thought Drae might be impressed anyway, especially since the winter would soon be to come. After all, Kiska was taking a course in medicine along with herbalism. She loved to help people, and making medicines was one of her favorite things to do, when she had the resources for it. Today she was going to make a cough syrup. She had brought with her a lit candle, a jar of honey, the pouch of thyme, a pot, some water, and a portable firepit. An empty jar sat next to her for her to put her finished product in, and a spoon sat near the firepit to stir with. She placed the thyme in the pot and filled it with water, making sure she got the right amount. She lit the small bricks in the firepit with the candle she had brought and took her journal out to write as she waited. 50th Day of Fall of the year 510 AV, from the hand of Kiska, I've been here for the better part of the season now, in Mura. I've lived under the house of the healing goddess, Rak'Keli, for 50 days now and have no yet once seen her presence. Oh how I do wish to meet her. I've seen followers of hers wandering the grounds of the temple or at work healing a patient many times during my stay so far. It is...amazing, how they can heal without tools. I long to be able to do this myself, and to someday take the oath of the healer myself, and gain the powers of the marked. Since my mother became very ill, it's always been in my interest to help people who are ill or hurt, so that they do not have to suffer like my mother did. I will do my best to help people with what I have now, being able to make material medicines and healing by hand and tool. Today I make a cough syrup, I'm sure they will be much needed this winter. Kiska. The water had begun to boil while Kiska was writing. She let it boil for a bit longer before she took it off the heat, stirring it. She blew the fire in the pit out and set the pot to the side to cool. She enjoyed the cool fall air around her, the leaves of the tree falling gracefully from their summer resting place. She watched the healers of the temple scurry from place to place as their duties called, and found herself dozing off beneath the tree as she waited for her mixture to cool. She awoke a bell or so later to find her mixture sufficiently cooled. She drained the mixture into the empty jar and set the pot off to the side with the herbs still in it. She poured the jar of honey into the greenish water until it was thick enough and mixed the two together. She closed the jar of the newly made cough syrup and packed her belongings. She headed to her room to store the syrup in the cold, where she knew it would be best preserved.

[Kiska]

60th Day of Fall of the year 510 AV, noon

The air was chilly outside despite the high noon sun. Winter was fast approaching. This place was much cooler than the deserts of Eyktol, where Kiska had come from. The winters were sure to be much cooler, though she had heard from many Konti that they weren't so cold. She assumed that she would still be shivering through the winter months, as she had been for the past four years away from the deserts. Kiska sat on a bench near the path to the library. Her pack sat next to her along with her sack full of vials, bottles, and flasks, full and empty. She also had her herb pouch and select pieces of equipment were already out on the bench beside her. Today she would be trying to make a general get-well tonic. She had brought her mortar and pestle, a bottle of apple cider vinegar, and the herbs licorice root, dong quai (which she had only learned of recently), and ginkgo, and her knife, as well as a jug to store them in. Kiska took equal parts of the three ingredients the ginkgo in leaf form, and the other two in root form. She chopped the leaves up into smaller parts and placed them into the jug. It was a small jug, maybe half a gallon, and the leaves took up about a third of the space in the jug. She then took the licorice root and ground it up using her mortar and pestle and placed it in the jug root after root as she finished grinding it up. She did the same with the dong quai and placed it in the jug. The jug was almost full to the top of dry ingredients, now for the liquid portion. The ginkgo leaves were going to be used for blood circulation. She had heard they were good for the respiratory system as well, so maybe that would show in the tonic. The licorice root was to be for an immune system boost, so that those who drank the tonic would be less likely to get sick, and the dong quai root was also for an immune boost, as well as for pain relief and antibacterial properties. She took the bottle of apple cider vinegar and poured it into the jug. It filled the rest of the jug. Kiska stored the empty bottle in her pack, she would use it for something else later. She put a lid on the jug and placed all her excess materials back in their places and stood up to leave, shaking the jug of newly made tonic as she went.

[Kiska]

92nd Day of fall of the year 510 AV, night

Kiska sat at her desk rubbing her temples, the jug of tonic she had made about a third of the season earlier sitting in front of her. She knew it was time to test and bottle her tonic, and what better time to test than when one has a curable symptom? She had her identification kit, a pot, a bowl, and an herb press (from her philtering kit), and five dark colored eight ounce bottles on the desk. She shook the jug one more time before opening it. The liquid was a murky brown color, full of herbs. It smelled interesting though, as if it wouldn't taste so bad when drinking. That was more than could be said of most tonics she had ever tasted. She placed a small filter bag in the pot, which was set under the press, and pressed the herbs down into the pot, separating the liquid portion from the herb portion of the mixture. She then poured the liquid portion into the bowl, separating it completely from the herbs. She set the pot of herbs off to the side and brought the bowl over to her. She dipped a vial into the mixture, wiped it off with a cloth, and set it down on the desk in front of her. Using a dropper from the identification kit, she took a sample from the vial and dropped it into her mouth. This was probably a risky method of testing anything a philterer makes first, but it was her preferred testing method. If she was going to give anything to anyone else, she should have to test it first. If her mixtures were dangerous, she couldn't inflict them upon anyone else. It tasted well enough, and didn't cause any violent reactions. The small headache she had had before was quickly vanishing. So it was good for that at least. She watched for any other effects, but knew that they wouldn't be something the patient could feel instantly, but would affect health over time. She did, however, feel as if adrenaline were rushing through her veins, and a slight tingling in panties, followed by an even slighter wetness. Kiska's eyes widened. So, there would be that small side effect, but overall, she judged the tonic to be usable as a medicinal tonic and pain reliever. Kiska conducted few more tests to prove whether or not the tonic would actually help the immune system. All tests came up positive. The tonic was a success in pain relief, immune system boost, and increased circulation. The only side effect seemed to be sexual stimulation. She funneled the tonic into four bottles and sealed them tightly before placing them in her medicine sack.

[Alice]

Kiska Experience: 5 Philtering, 1 Writing Lores: Making and Testing Clarity Potion, Uses of Clarity Potion, Season Change on Konti Isle, Making Cough Syrup, Making Get-Well Potion, Uses and Effects of Get-Well Potion Items: 1 Vial Clarity Potion, 1 Jar Cough Syrup, 4 Bottles Get-Well Potion Comments Interesting thread. I especially liked the lengthy description in your first post and Kiska’s second notebook entry. Your writing instills a feeling of peace and quiet studying that’s quite fitting for the Konti society.