• PM To Join • [Eureka] Growth.

[Faith Augustin]

14th Cylus 722

It had been a few trials since Dan had taught Common Sign at Eureka. It had been an interesting lesson for Faith, and she was very keen to make sure that everyone in Eureka had at least some, basic signs. They had a member who was deaf and who communicated via sign - a young girl - and so Faith wanted to ensure that everyone was able to communicate with her. It was the moral thing to do, but more than that, it was good practice for the efficient running of the community. There were all sorts of situations where being able to communicate quickly and effectively would be not just a good thing- but a vital thing, and so she had asked Dan to teach them and had encouraged people to attend. It would, she knew, build momentum.

It was Faith's goal to build Eureka into more than just a place of learning. Of course, it would always be that, it would always be a place where people came together and researched and learned together. But more than that, Faith wanted it to be an inclusive and safe place - a refuge. There was so much to be done and she knew that some of her goals were - at best - unlikely to happen, but it mattered that she tried, that she worked to them. Because if she didn't, then it would all be for nothing.

Faith had arranged to meet Dan in one of her favourite places. It was at the base of the mountain which their home was built into, where there was a small copse of densely-packed trees. Inside that copse of trees it was dark and damp, but just to the side of it, a short walk away, there was a raised herb garden and vegetable patch. She had a small box sitting on the floor, along with some other tools. The box was laying open and in it was some string, various coloured chalks some long and some short sticks, all bundled together in a small compartment. There were also small wooden sticks and other paraphernalia.

Looking up, Faith saw Dan approaching and she smiled broadly. "Hello," she said - and signed at the same time. "How are you today?" Alissa, her ever-present biqaj bodyguard was there with Faith and she too signed and spoke a greeting. "I thought we could do some gardening," Faith said, signing what she could -which was 'we be here, do this', but it was something. "And some field cooking?" There were things that Dan could use, tips for foraging and so on that she could maybe help him with. But what she could definitely do, she knew, was help him with cooking. She had cooked over a campfire many a time and Faith was quite sure that she had the teaching ability to help him.

[Dandelion]

Dan picked his way through the Cylus gloom with a lantern in his gloved hand. He was dressed for the weather in a heavy, quilted coat and overleggings over layers of linen and wool, furlined boots, and a snug hood. In a concession to this being supposedly a civilised place, he'd left his spear in his tent, in a way that he never would have if he'd been camped in the wild as usual. Its absence itched at him like a constant mild wrongness.

They were meeting at the foot of the mountain, next to a clump of densely packed trees. Good for sheltering from wind and weather, good for fuel and straight pieces of wood - densely packed trees grew fairly straight up and down rather than branching out into forks and twists and a rounder shape, which was useful if you needed something like a replacement tentpole.

He returned Faith and Alissa's greetings with his own. It was a one-handed gesture, so he didn't even need to put the lantern down to do so. Taking in Faith's signed explanation, and Alissa's more detailed translation, he blinked. Cooking on a fire? Yes, reasonable, and a good way to keep warm if you have the food and fuel available. But gardening? In Cylus, when nothing grew? What in the world was that supposed to involve? There was, he supposed, only one way to find out. He settled into a woodsman's comfortable crouch, one that kept cold ground or a cold seat from leaching the heat out of his body, and said, "Show me."

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"Signed words" Spoken words

[Faith Augustin]

14th Cylus 722

Faith saw that Dan wasn't entirely convinced, reading his expression easily. She smiled at that and wondered what he thought she was doing here. He must think her a little bit mad, she decided, to be here and running this place and then thinking that she - or anyone - could teach gardening in the depths of winter.

"In Scalvoris," she said, signing the individual letters which spelled out Scalvoris since she didn't know the sign for the name. "There are ice caves, sub-zero and deep underground. Things grow there," she said with a smile. "So, I plant them here, above ground." She gestured for him to come and see. There was, indeed, a small raised garden. Faith gestured to show him. "These are boxes Padraig made, arcs ago." Showing him the box, she explained. "Three boxes. Small and large are wood. Medium is metal." She spoke slowly, trying to let her hands catch up. She had to lift up a piece of wood over the top of the three of them, and she cautioned him. "Don't touch it. The metal is frozen. See, this sand." There was green sand in there, either side of the metal so that the small box was firm. "That is cool, always." She rummaged in a bag she carried, as though she had planned for this. After a brief moment, she brought out two small bags. "Green, cool sand," she showed him it, let him explore it. Then, when he was ready. "Orange, warm sand." Motioning with her head, she said. "I have warm boxes, too. These, though, are cold."

Glancing up at Alyssia, Faith tried to explain. "There is a stone, from Scalvoris," She signed, but more of it was spelling now, while Alyssa did much better. "It freezes anything it touches. I put one in there, against the metal box. The sand insulates and radiates the cold." They were big planter boxes, but Faith used this technique for many things. "The plants from the Ice Caves need it very cold, and no direct light." Which was why, of course, she had put it in this strange place .

There were a number of plants growing there, all neatly in rows with labels and so on. Faith liked to make sure that her garden worked at maximum efficiency so she considered things like that carefully. "I wanted to show you this," she said and showed him a tiny white flower "This is called White Heat. It makes cold food taste warm. It has no taste, just heat." She smiled and showed him it, the tiny delicate flower.

"I can show you these, and if you'd like," she said, gesturing to the box. "We can get some small boxes like this for you. So you can have a travelling garden." Looking at him, she raised an eyebrow and waited to see what he thought of the idea.

[Dandelion]

The answer, apparently, to what grew in the cold and the dark, was plants that liked the cold and the dark. They were plants from a long way away though, which explained why he hadn't come across them before. He watched, taking it all in as best he could, though when she told him not to touch the frozen metal, his expression grew a touch exasperated. "Please. I go ice-fishing in Zi'da," he pointed out, dry but still fairly patient, "with metal hooks. I carry a knife and a spear - both metal - even in the coldest weather that can freeze my fingers off - or freeze them to the metal. I know how to deal with frozen metal. I have gloves that can handle it." The sand was very interesting and he did pull off one of his gloves to explore it, letting a few grains run through his pinched fingers and back into the bag.

"The name-sign I know for Scalvoris," he spelled it out as she was doing, and then signed the combination of 'pirate' and 'island' specific to the name, "is this, but it may have changed. Name-signs tend to be descriptions or nicknames that are actual words or work as a description, so sometimes they change if the description changes. Mine is actually Dandelion." He made the sign and then spelled out the whole thing for once, rather than shortening to just Dan. "When I was little, people kept saying I look like a dandelion clock, because of my hair. I liked it, so I kept it. Your name is a word - Faith." He flicked his gaze at the assorted Marks, and her size. "One might say you were 'Of little Faith with much faith'. Or if you were 'Mouthy Faith' - that is the Faith who talks much with her mouth when she teaches - it might change as you learn more Sign. But it is your choice what you call yourself."

He studied the tiny white flower. "Are you saying that if I added a White Heat to last night's leftovers, they would be warm again?" He was definitely interested, but he didn't reliably have anywhere cold and dark to put them. Cold though, Faith could apparently create. "A travelling garden might be useful," he conceded, "as long as it can stand the full blast of Saun sunlight as well as Cylus dark."

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"Signed words" Spoken words

[Faith Augustin]

14th Cylus 722

Faith's silver eyes met Dan's as he looked at her with an exasperated expression and then explained what he did. A slight smile lifted her lips, but she shook her head, firmly. "I don't care what you do," she said. Her gaze was unwavering. "I would give that warning to anyone. And the stones in here are ..." she searched for a word and then signed all three. "Magical? Enchanted? Downright odd." Gesturing to the box, she explained. "When anything touches the snowstone, it freezes all of it, immediately. Much colder than usual freezing. I would be a poor medic if I did not warn of danger, would I not?" She was very happy to be over cautious and always would be. It meant, she was quite convinced, that she would live longer than someone reckless. Besides, it was a teaching moment, Faith thought.. "Plus," she admitted, "I teach. Always, when teaching, I emphasise safety. I would be remiss if I did not."

Watching what he did when he signed Scalvoris, she nodded. She shot him a grin, though, when he used a second example for her name. "Interesting example," she said, and chuckled slightly. His name prompted a smile from her, the idea of him looking like a dandelion was interesting. "Dandelions are very good plants," she said. "Full of goodness, if you eat them. Raw or cooked. The root, especially, is full of goodness which help you fight infections and diseases. Cooked on a camp fire, or made into a tea." She gave a slight shrug as she slowly spoke and signed with him. "A good plant to be named after. It is a strong ally in the quest for health."

The White Heat plant caught his attention and Faith listened to his question then moved her hand in a see-saw motion, suggesting that he was both correct and wrong at the same time. "If you add it to last night's leftovers, they will feel cold to the touch," she said. But then, there was the next bit. "When you eat them, they will taste warm, and they will warm you up, as though it was warm. Cold to the hand, warm to the tongue." Shrugging slightly she had to admit, it was bizarre. But, that was Scalvoris for you. "I have a good crop. It works dried, too. I can give you some, and you can grow more."

Thinking about the point he made of the box needing to deal with the heat of Cylus, she nodded. "The sand is naturally cold, the metal is very frozen," she knew it worked, because she'd done it herself, many times. "You will just need to be careful, when you open it."

Gesturing to the garden, she looked at it, then him. "I would say this might be useful, too," she looked around at the plants, and considered. "With limited space, there will not be room for many of these. We have medical plants, water storing, and flavour adding." Considering it, she thought that was a good summary of what was left.

Then, touching or pointing to each one, she gave a one-sentence summary of each one, things like "This tastes like bread, this stores water," and so on. She spoke slowly - as required by her signing skill, and the need to point also. Then, looking at him, she raised an eyebrow. "Which would be more useful to you?"

OOC Note

What she has growing there is a good garden of each of the flora listed from Biqaj Tree up to and including the Cavernous Sundrop, but rather than go through a whole list, I thought I'd let you choose!

[Dandelion]

When Faith explained that she would have warned anyone, no matter their skills, Dan shifted his shoulders in the way that signaled an apology and added simply, "A childhood of being treated like I was really stupid left its mark. Sorry." He listened to the explanations and nodded. He could be careful, both in using and in opening the box.

Asked to pick a few, he took the time to consider. Some of them were beyond his skill to look after and maintain, and he didn't want to waste or disparage the gift of these odd plants by asking for something that would only go wrong in his care. "The one that makes cooking oil," he began at last, pointing to it. "A reliable source of oil will make all the difference in what I can cook. Rabbit's a lean meat, and fish isn't much better. It'd be nice to be able to do more with eggs than just boil them, and more with plants than stew and salad. The one that disinfects wounds, I get cut and scratched a lot out there." He paused, thinking further, thinking of wants as much as needs. Thinking his way through what he could be as much as what he was now. "The one that makes silk." He smiled ruefully. "I'm good at working leather and fur. I could easily keep myself clothed with that if I needed to, but it's mostly because leather and fur is what I've had available. It would be good to have an alternative. Since I can't spin ribbons of silk out of my backside like a spider, I'd settle for a plant that can make it. And..." He sighed, almost wistful, "if there's space, the one that tastes like bread. Just because I miss bread, and I can't stop and build a whole new oven every time I'd like some."

OOC Note

In order of priority, from highest to least, he's referring to:
Cavernous Sundrop
Winter's Breath
Fernfern
Baker's Wheatwort

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"Signed words" Spoken words

[Faith Augustin]

14th Cylus 722

Dan apologised and Faith smiled and shook her head. There was no need to do more, they just moved on. . He listed four of the plants, and Faith nodded. "Those are sensible choices," she said with a smile. "We'll do this in two boxes, I think. Oil and salve in one, bread and silk in the other." There were tricks to this, and Faith gestured for him to come over as she began to work. "Rather than water them, I put ice in the earth," she said. She showed him how she did that, digging a central well in the middle of the earth and adding in either iced water, or normal water which she then touched a snowcrystal to.

"It seems to like ice more," she said, with a smile. The oil one was the most difficult, so she showed him that first. "You need to get the oil off it. Drop the leaves in boiling water, cover them," she would show him if he needed it, but she didn't think he would. "The oil will float to the top. You can also put a leaf in a pan, it will oil it. But take it out before eating." As for the plant itself, "Light harms it. So, avoid opening your box in bright light, or open it under a cloth."

For the Winter's Breath, she showed him it and named it, signing out the name. she thought that might be the best companion to the more delicate Cavernous Sundrop. It would also provide some shade to the Sundrops should the light get in there. "Here," Faith said, "I'd put these around the box, at the edges. Like this," She demonstrated it to him, showing how the Winter's Breath covered the cavernous sundrop - and a few others - in her own garden.

Next was the FernFern and Faith showed it to Dandelion in it's plant form. It was rough and dull and looked like a normal fern. "I use this to cover the Baker's Wheatwort," she said. Both of them needed a moist environment, and the size of the fern covered the small wheatwort well. She gestured to them in her garden where, Dan might notice, they were both very carefully contained. "A box will be good," she said. "You need to be careful, in case they end up taking over. But that's true of both of these, so your box with them in will do well," Baker's Wheatwort would grow anywhere, it seemed, so would FernFern - Faith explained that only one of the boxes needed to be cold, so that worked out for him.

After making sure it was clean, Faith offered him some Baker's Wheatwort to try. "What do you think?" Faith asked. Then, she smiled slightly. "I can teach you how to make flatbread, using hotstones. If you want? But this... " she took a nibble and grinned. "This tastes like real bread." She gave Dan a smile and waited to see if there was anything else he wanted to grow.

[Dandelion]

Dan paid close attention to the explanation and the demonstration, occasionally offering signs to replace long spelled out words. When Faith told him how to extract the oil from the plant he nodded. "I have a similar set up for making boiled leather," he replied in response to the description of how to use the boiling water to free the oil and let it float to the top. "I can set something up for that too." Boiled leather was useful in that it came out of the water incredibly soft and flexible, able to be moulded into any shape you pleased, as long as you did fast, and then as it cooled and dried it set hard and stiff. It meant that you could make things that fitted like a second skin, if you chose. If she was interested in boiled leather, he would offer to show her some when they got somewhere warmer - he had a belt buckle made from it and a few other pieces as part of his leather armour.

The Fernfern and Baker's Wheatwort were, apparently less fussy about where they grew, and didn't need to be so cold. When she offered him the mushroom, he took it and nibbled carefully. He closed his eyes to better savour the taste. It really did taste like bread, and a smile of sheer pleasure curved his mouth and he swallowed. "I can make flatbread, when I have the flour for it," he said, opening his eyes at last. "But since I can't exactly wander out into a forest and pick a bag of flour off a tree, being able to make rather depends how recently I've visited a town. Sometimes it's been a while, particularly when the weather is bad." He didn't particularly like being in the larger towns, but that was very much a side matter. "These will make all the difference, but I think four is enough for now. Thank you."

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"Signed words" Spoken words

[Pig Boy]

Faith Augustin

• XP: 15
• Knowledges:
  • Linguistics: Use basic language to get a message across
  • Gardening: Give a plant what it needs, in order for it to grow in entirely the wrong place.
  • Teaching: Explain why you're over cautious in order to ensure people can choose to be safe
  • Gardening: Give a plant water in whatever way it prefers
  • Gardening: Identify what's difficult about each plant
  • Gardening: Understanding the weaknesses of the Cavernous Sundrop
  • Gardening: Put hardy plants with more delicate ones to help your garden be less complex
  • Gardening: Use a plant's environment to support its growth - and to help it enhance the growth of plants around it
  • Gardening: Put plants with similar requirements in terms of moisture close together
  • Gardening: Contain fast growing plants in order to ensure that they don't take over

Dandelion

• XP: 15
• Knowledges:
  • Woodworking: choose trees that have grown as close to your final shape as possible
  • Field Craft: crouching/squatting keeps you warmer and drier than sitting/kneeling
  • Athletics: squatting on your heels
  • Gardening: there are plants for every kind of condition
  • Gardening: White Heat
  • Cooking: frying eggs
  • Cooking: hardboiled eggs
  • Cooking: Baker's Wheatwort, cooked or raw, tastes like bread
  • Gardening: Cavernous Sundrop: Bright yellow plants which prod
  • Gardening: Baker's Wheatwort: A cute little mushroom that grows bountifully and tastes like fresh baked bread
  • Gardening: Winter's Breath: A pretty white plant with natural antiseptic qualities.
  • Gardening: Fernfern: A very mundane looking fern which can be harvested and turned into exquisite silk
  • Logistics: lack of access to the source can cut off access to supplies
  Loot:small supply of Cavernous Sundrop, Winter's Breath, Fernfern and Baker's Wheatwort

Skill Review: All Skills used appropriately to PC's level

Notes: This was a fun little joint crafting/teaching session. I enjoyed the fact that the sign for Scalvoris is 'Pirate Island' I may use that sometime now knowing the sign for Scalvoris.

The discussion on plants and materials that could warm and cool were interesting to be sure, and their application in various forms of cooking and preserving food and gardening must be great, as illustrated by Faith's explanations.

I think Dandelion would benefit greatly from a source of silk. Silk twine is a lot sturdier IMO than plant fiber twine or wool. It'd be good for his leather working.

Good job guys!

P.S. Dandelion, thanks to Faith's teaching skill (Which is GM) you can claim 4 more knowledges than you already have. Let me know if you would like to do that in a pm and I'll add them to your review.

Faith, you are also entitled to 3 more knowledges if you wish. Let me know if you'd like them added.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this review, feel free to PM. Enjoy your rewards!