The Bounties of the Forest Part 1

[Teryani]

Zi’da 89th, Arc 716
Location : Viden Academy

Karris Gorta wrote:
I'm in need of some fresh pelts. Any animal will do, so long as it's a medium size pelt. Anything smaller than a wolf's skin will not do. Go out into the White Pine Forrest and hunt the game there. Return with your victories and I will gladly skin the beasts for you. You may keep the meat, I have little use for it.

Reward Per Pelt: 15gn
Reward For Time: 30gn

Hannah wrote:
My baby sister is sick... She's got a constant cough, fever, and has been weak in bed for the past 7 trials. I fear her condition is growing worse, but I don't have the money to purchase medicine for her. However, there are herbs out in the White Pine Forrest that will help. I need someone to go and collect Elder Flowers, Yarrow Root, Boneset, and Peppermint. I'll provide pages of what the herb looks like if you do not know.

Reward For Time: 50gn

Teryani was biting her lip as she left her father’s office, wandering down the hallway. She was dressed plainly, in boots, a skirt, a blouse, and her cloak that she wore whenever going into the White Pine Forest, which was exactly where she was headed today. Slung across her body was her Masterwork bow- a gift from her father- and a quiver of arrows. In her hands was the bounty papers, as well as the pictures of herbs provided to her.

Wandering with her head down, Teryani was busily studying the papers as she prepared to leave the academy.

I recognize Peppermint… Father used to keep fresh Peppermint in his desk drawer, to make tea out of… But these other ones… Teryani’s heart skipped a nervous beat as her blue eyes studied the pictures of the plants. There were so many things that could go wrong if she picked the wrong ones. Plants weren’t her strong suit of research, and there were tons of plants that looked very similar, except for a few differences.

What if she picked something that was poisonous, and poisoned a girl she was supposed to help heal? The thought was distressing. Teryani- not looking where she was going, ended up a little too close to a bench lined up along the side of the hallway. Her foot swung forward in a step- only to be behind the bench’s leg, her ankle twistiing. With a yelp, Teryani tripped, falling flat forward.

As her tall, clumsy body collided with the floor, her papers and pictures flew from her hands, scattering on the tiled floors. Wincing, Teryani let out a soft groan as she moved to push herself up, turning her head to examine the damage of the fall. Her ankle wasn’t sprained or broken, though she was sure it’d ache later. With a sigh of dismay, she noticed that she’d managed to skin her knee as she fell, too, frowning at the blood sliding out of the tiny wound.

Great going, Teri. Just what my day needed. She thought with an inward sigh, her head down as she reached to gather up her things.

[Linika]

Linika scowled a she moved to the bench in the hallway. Her stockings were bunching inside her boots, and it was driving her crazy. She disliked this city almost as much as it disliked her, even during the best of cycles. But with the coming of Cylus, it was going to become genuinely dangerous to be outside, even with her cold-weather garb.

It only took the short walk from her unit to the Viridian Wing to bring ice crystals to her eyelashes. She was glad to be inside, but now she needed to wait a bit before going back out. Her legs already itched from the numbing cold wearing off as she stayed inside the hall. But if she went out before they readjusted, it would be much worse. It was not as though she went bare-legged in the frigid conditions, but the cold seemed to climb her legs like an Ellune pervert.

She was in the process of friction-warming her legs with her hands when she heard a soft cry and felt the waft of air current as a tall young woman toppled to the floor in front of her, papers fluttering like birds after thrown seed. She paused a moment to consider making a rude comment out loud, but decided to keep it to herself. Instead, she sighed and went after a few of the sheets that had ridden the air cushion for a good six or eight feet. It amazed her how physics worked like that sometimes.

She noticed some familiar plants sketched upon a few of the sheets. 'Yarrow,' she thought as she snapped up the nearest one. She knew it would be the root that a person would be after; the greens serving no useful purpose. The next was definitely Peppermint. 'It won't be as easy to recognize without the flowering tips this time of the arc.' she sneered inwardly, wondering if this girl would know that.

By now the young woman was gathering up the others. Linika saw an image of Boneset, complete with the clusters of tiny white blossoms, on one sheet that she held, as it flopped in her hand. She sighed with some mild annoyance and handed the papers to the girl, who towered over her by what must have been nearly two feet. "Here...Yarrow and Peppermint...I see Boneset there... I suppose you've got one for the Elder Flowers as well? Somebody sick?" she said calmly, this time out loud.

[Teryani]

As she hurried to gather her papers and pushed herself to stand up, Teryani was so flustered she didn't even notice the shorter woman in front of her who had grabbed some of her pictures. Not until she was standing and realized she didn't have them all. Looking up from her papers, her eyes landed on Linika. Almost immediately, Teryani's blue eyes went wide. The elaborate face paint and overall image of the woman before her was quite the sight, and a rosy blush showed on her cheeks as she realized she was staring.

"Uh..." She stammered, before seeing that Linika had some of the pictures. Giving a small smile, Teryani took the pictures from her with a nod. "A little girl. I’ve been tasked with getting these for her… though to be honest, I know very little about medicine.” She hesitated before asking, curiosity seeping into her voice, “Are you a healer?”

It would make sense, she thought, for this peculiar woman to be a healer. Teryani wanted to learn a little healing, someday, but for now, it was the one thing she knew next to nothing about. The more she gazed at Linika, she more curious she was. Biting into her bottom lip, she had so many questions brimming that she wanted to ask. It’d be weird to interrogate her here though… Ooh! An idea popped into her mind, and Teryani couldn’t help but blurt out, “Would you be able to tell what these herbs were in the wild? In the forest?”

[Linika]

The naer cursed herself for her indecisive answer; stammering between a mild general disdain for healing, and the suddenly realized opportunity to make an ally in this city, one of a favored race. "Wha-? Uh...of course...not! I mean, no, I do some healing...know some healing. Uh...But that's not the job they let me do here. And yes, I know these plants. I'm an apothecary primarily. But yes I do assist the healers, when they can stand my presence, that is..."

She said this last with a somber tone as she tipped her head down slightly. She was going to get a crick in the neck if she had to keep looking up into this woman's face anyway. She HAD to be half Ellune, tall as she was. But lacking that rough ice look to her skin, she could not be full blood. But even a half ellune was more favored than a full naer. She let just the hint of bitterness tweak her features, before acting the part of shaking off the gloom to accept reality with a positive outlook.

"But yes, certainly I could identify them. And they are not all going to be found in what would truly be called "forest". The thick canopy of an old-growth forest does not allow enough constant light for Yarrow to thrive. You'll do better finding it along an open rocky slope. Peppermint can grow there alright, but mostly on the edges, where morning sunlight will reach under the canopy. The same with the Elder Flower, though you may actually think it's one of the trees you're looking beneath. The Boneset will do the best of what you have here in the deeps of the forest, though not so far as to where there is virtually no ground cover."

She surprised herself at her own elaboration on the subject. Had she really just volunteered all this? Any more and the woman would not need her help at all. She realized she was still holding the sketches, and handed them back, hiking up the hood of her Zi'Da jacket, and re-wrapping her thick scarf. She'd already seen to her stockings and was in the process of pulling on her gloves, "Well, it's getting late enough in the arc to where there will be no true sunlight at all. Then the plants will go into stasis for the cycle, and possess none of the benefits you need, so we'd best be going. My name is Linika, by the way."

[Teryani]

Teryani had tried not to smile- really, she had!- but hearing the Naerikk stammer and stumble over her words was too adorable. Teryani herself, being a linguist, usually spoke quite clearly. Biting the inside of her mouth, she had to fight not to giggle as Linika attempted to answer her. So she’s not a healer, but she is the next best thing. She knows herbs, probably quite well. What she didn’t understand was the woman’s last comment- about if they could stand her presence. Using deductive reasoning, Teryani studied her with bright blue eyes. Humans are welcome in Viden, as are they everywhere, so she must not be human. She doesn’t look to be a Sev’ryn, nor does she have the red hair of an Aukari. Her eyes don’t seem to change color so she’s obviously not a Biqaj. A race that wouldn’t be welcome in Viden… She must be a Naerikk! At the realization, Teryani gained a large grin.

“You are Naer! Oh wow, I never thought I’d see… o-one of you, here! My name is Teryani, and I’m... very p-pleased to greet you!” Teryani spoke, in unsteady, broken Grovokian, under the assumption that- coming from Augiery- the Naerikk woman would at the very least recognize that it was Grovokian.

She listened intently as Linika began to explain the plants, trying to absorb the knowledge if she could. Though to be honest, Teryani was quite lost. She knew now that, should she go alone, she would be lucky to find even one of the herbs for the sick little girl. So it was to her great relief that Linika seemed willing to help.

Adjusting her bow on her body, Teryani watched Linika getting ready to head out into the cold, giving a smile. “Thank you so much! I could most definitely use the help. That’s one of two bounties I have. I also have a bounty to collect some animal pelts- of course, you don’t need to stay around for that! But the herbs will be a huge, huge help.”

As they walked off though, making their way down Viden Academy’s halls, Teryani found herself talking to keep silence from falling between the two, “But, out of curiosity, do you hunt at all? Are you from Augiery? Did someone teach you herbalism or are you self taught? And…” So her mouth ran, question after question, Teryani more than curious about her newfound acquaintance.

Leni | Grovokian | Cerke | Xanthea

[Linika]

It was exceedingly difficult to decipher the girl's attempt at the native Augierian tongue. But Linika could not have said whether the fault lay with her new companion's speaking of it, or her own translation. But she knew enough to act as if it was all in the girl's speech. Linika could tell by the hesitant presentation of several words that this girl was not fluent herself. The fact was there were several words that may have been her name. But the age-old press of her hand to her own chest as she said "Teryani", left little doubt that this was it.

Still, it was a simple matter to be sure. Linika made as if coming out of some introspection and turned with the appearance of new focus, responding in common, "I'm sorry, did you say your name was Teriyani?" going on to clarify, "I'm afraid I'm really not that great at the home tongue myself." Here she adopted a meek, sad smile, "You see, I'm an exile from Augiery. I honestly can not claim to know the language better than you. We are...well...they are very focused in the city and my focus was apothecary, not linguistics. Nor hunting, I'm afraid. It was actually part of my curriculum to learn common, so that I would be able to learn from many sources, as so many are translated into common. I speak considerably better common than I do Grovokian."

As usual, half-truths served better than outright lies. It was true that she'd been instructed to learn common before her mother tongue. but this had little to do with concerns over the language of apothecary text books, and more with accommodating infiltration. DShe maintained her feigned melancholy as she continued, "I imagine that were I truly aligned with the politics of Augiery and Gr-...Audrae, you would not be seeing me here now. I half expect to be arrested and dragged before a magistrate every trial I wake up." She did a better job covering her grimace at her slip, that in having nearly said 'Great Mother Audrae' in her last remark.

"I mean, surely you know that we naerikk are despised here, due to the ellune's accusations against Audrae." It was delicate ground here. Nothing would be gained by an outright denial that her Matron Immortal had maimed Treid. but she also knew that it was not something that could truly be proven in this day and age. It would be one word against another. The primary matter was that she was so greatly outnumbered were she to try to gainsay the accepted version. The other, of course, being that she believed it true as well, and honored Audrae even more for having done it. But she could still act as though it was something that had at least a sliver of doubt.

Obviously, the thing to do was take it a step further. With her head still slightly lowered, she murmured, "I suppose my own belief that the accusations may be true are what laid the groundwork for my dismissal and exile." She let herself appear to brighten then, "But hey, we don't need to speak of such things. They are behind us now." It was important to slip in 'us' and 'we' to her side of the conversation now. Let the impression of camaraderie find purchase in the trial's efforts.

"I tell you what..." she said now with some genuine homesick eagerness, "If you'd like, we can see how long we can go speaking Grovokian before we become hopelessly confused." She burst out into light, clear laughter as they stepped out into the brisk, bright cold of late Zi'Da in Viden.

"Lead on." she said in Grovokian. It being one phrase she did know.

[Linika]

They took no more than a dozen steps outside before a self-important squad of academicians cut them off, with looks of suspicion towards Linika, whose expression flattened into a look of disgusted anticipation. She was not disappointed as the obvious leader interposed herself between them, an air of dismissal to the naer who was now excluded from the circle forming around Teryani.

"You are Teryani?" she said, not waiting for any real confirmation before introducing herself and her companions. "You wished to aid the one who scribed this request for herbal aid, yes? We are taking that same bounty. You are welcome to join us. it will make us more likely to succeed." She turned a disdainful squint to Linika, "Certainly better than you have going off with this one....Alone." She added as if it was likely that the naer intended foul play.

Linika did not wait to see if her brief companion appeared discomfited by this rude interruption. She could see that this party was better equipped to collect the things listed on the bounty than she and Teryani alone were. It looked as if Teryani was torn between defending Linika's feelings and acknowledging the far better likelihood of success this group represented.

For her part, Linika did not add to the girl's dilemma. As an obvious half-Ellune, Teryani would suffer more social backlash than a human for associating with a naer. So at the point of a briefly achieved eye contact, Linika allowed just a slight smile and nodded her head to show that it would be a better idea to go with this group.

"After all, I had not come here with any initial intent of going on such a mission. You'd probably just find me a hindrance. Best of luck to you all." She turned her back then, to miss what may have been an even more guilt-ridden look on Teryani's face, and one of even increased suspicion on the newcomer's.

'Probably figure I'm only doing it to make them all feel bad. Can't imagine I may have simply liked to go out and about for something different to do.' she brooded silently as she headed back into the Academy building. 'Can't give me the benefit of the doubt. And they wonder why we dislike them so.'

[Incubus]

Linika

Knowledge
Field Craft: Friction Rubbing to Build Body Heat
Field Craft: Light Socks Bunch Up Inside Heavy Boots
Gardening: Recognizing Flowering Plants When They're Not Blooming
Medicine: Finding Boneset, Elder Flower, Peppermint and Yarrow
Physics: The Aero-dynamics of Air Cushions
Sociology: A Half-Ellune that Will Talk to a Naer is Worth Talking To
Sociology: Offering Helpful Information Just to be Included
Story Telling: The Story of Your Exile From Augiery

The Academy: Bounty Jobs are Available
PC: Teryani Shenandoah: Half-Ellune

Loot: N/A
Injuries: N/A
Fame: +1 General Good Deed
Devotion: N/A

Points: 15

Comments: Teryani, I have not given you a grade since you have not requested one with our new system. However, feel free to add a request and PM me or another reviewer about it at any time!

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please let me know.