Herb Class! (Open)

[Jehaine]

Sariena Arkenrae sighed, looking over the next batch of Children she was 'requested' to teach. Not like it mattered much, she doubted they'd remember the lessons a month from now, but as long as it kept the Children off her back so she could keep her own little practise running, she didn't care. Being part of the eyes and ears network of the Children had the advantage of not being treated like a Tar Valon witch by every overzealous recruit that came along, and it was satisfying to see them get cuffed by their superiors if they did try.

 

Still, no need to get all negative, one or two might even show some sliver of potential. Not to mention the ones assembled here would know better than to accuse her of witchcraft once she'd have them mix some herbs on their own. It was always harder to accuse someone of witchcraft when you were capable of the same as well.

 

- "You lot are all i'll be expecting, i take it? Let's hear your names and ranks then."

 

Crossing her arms, she glanced over the troops as they introduced themselves.

[Shamaeso]

Essaul waited until his turn and spoke up, "Child Essaul". Hoping his responding to Sariena promptly would put him in a good light he then stepped back into line. Curious how studying herbs would fit in with his other studies he kept focus on the instructor.

[Kara_J]

"Child Edalia" She spoke clearly. She was intrigued at the thought of learning some herb lore. She wished she'd have known some when her parents had fallen sick, maybe then they would have survived. Edalia shook herself mentally to stop herself from going down that particular memory lane. She was determined to pay attention to this class and then hopefully she wouldn't have to watch someone else die like that whilst feeling so helpless.

[Dunbar]

Bert sighed. Herbs. He didn't sign up to learn about herbs. He'd signed up to get the ladies and kill the wicked creatures of shadow, but herbs!? Nay, they were far too green and mushy for Bert's not quite refined tastes. And the instructor for this class! She didn't seem awfully happy about this either, so it was bound to be a sordid affair. Mixing flowers and leafs into poisons, 'twas probably witchcraft anyhow. Stifling a yawn, Bert stepped out of the line to introduce himself; "Name's Bert, second squadman" he grumbled, before stepping back into the line. And then under his breath; "This'll be... interesting..."

 

[Erathian Avenger]

"Child Sylos" Sylos said, using the form that had been used to address him since joining. He knew enough about plants to identify them, but learning how to make something out of them sounded interesting. Poison made an effective weapon, but being able to put someone to sleep or dull their thinking was often far more useful than simply ensuring they would die. He knew that Amadicia took a rather peculiar view of herbcraft- and that practioners of it here were almost universally men- but Altara had a more typical view, and so he had no moral difficulties to deal with.

[Nynaeve]

Zoe yawned. Herbs. Herbal. Tea. Beverage. Sunny. Beautiful day. Away from the Fortress. Zoe was suffering from the usual lazy syndrome. She looked around her and sighed. Apparently closing your eyes real hard and wishing you were elsewhere didn't work in practice. Disappointing, yet expected.

 

Zoe winked at Bert teasingly and stepped forward. "2nd Squadman Zoe." Stepping back, she poked Bert's side, smiling as he flinched.

 

 

 

Zoe

CotL

[Jehaine]

Sariena nodded to herself, looking over the bunch of misfits Children she was supposed to teach today. No one of any real rank this time though, maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all. The officers were always the worst in getting them to listen to her, making her wonder on what grounds they were promoting them on.

 

- "Right then. Class is divided into three parts. And before any of you ask, no, they don't have names because i didn't feel like being witty."

 

Turning around, she moved into the forest, pointing out some of the herbs as she came across them. There would be more at the small cabin she was heading towards. During the entire trip, she not once looked around to see if her students were paying attention. Occasionally, she crouched down at some of the herbs in the forest, pointing them out as she went along, but overall they were being led in the same direction. It was clerar she was heading for something.

 

- "...And that over there is called flatwort. Great if you want to spend some extra time in the saddle, though i wouldn't count on keeping it up for long. It suppresses fatigue, but doesn't remove it. Ah, we're here."

 

In a clearing stood a small cabin, patches of herbs of different kinds growing in the front garden. Picking up a small bowl of various herbs from inside, she gave a different herb to each of the Children present before placing the bowl on the ground again. She herself was holding leaves of some kind, and put them in her mouth, chewing on them as she looked at her students. The herb tasted a bitter, but she paid it no mind. From her stance, it was clear she was expecting something from them, though she didn't (care to) mention what it was.

 

 

Sariena

Waiting

[Erathian Avenger]

Sylos looked at the herb in his hand, studying it to see if there were any indications it was poisonous. He didn't think his instructor would try to kill him, but he wasn't familiar enough with plants outside his home region to say if this was poisonous. Mentally shrugging, he put the small herb leaf in his mouth and began chewing it. If this turned out not to be what she was expecting- well, he had been called a number of unflattering things by his teachers growing up. It would be nothing new. The herb had a sharp, acrid taste to it- which was not something he usually associated with poison- but he did his best not to let his distaste for it show.

[Shamaeso]

holding the bowl in his hand Essaul glanced over at Edalia before taking a pinch of the herb and chewing it up. It had a minty taste and was coarse to chew. Still watching the others he wondered if they all had the same herb but the different reactions soon indicated differently.

[Nynaeve]

Zoe's eyebrows rose as she was handed a bowl with an herbal mixture in it. It seemed familiar in a way, yet sniffing it provided no actual information on it. Never the less, Zoe found the whole thing absurd. What was she going to learn by consuming an unknown herb? Being told the effect verbally was equally educational. Besides, she didn't trust the instructor even one bit. She could easily be a Darkfriend trying to poison them all. What? It could happen :P

 

But after she saw two other trainees chew on or consume the herbs given, she came to the conclusion that if she refused she might get into trouble. Taking a long sip, she dropped the bowl, the taste exploding in her mouth. She spit whatever she could but she had already swallowed part of it and the god awful taste hung on to her mouth, refusing to go away.

 

She grabbed her water skin and drank. Then resorted to opening her mouth and just pouring the water down, half of it splashing on her uniform or to the sides. When she finished all the water, she fell back on the grass, muttering and cursing furiously, giving the instructor the look of DEATH! We'll see who has the last laugh...

 

 

 

Zoe

Pissed

[Dunbar]

Bert looked carefully at his herb. He examined it carefully, examining in turn the leaves, the trunk, the shade of colour. After some time of due consideration, he concluded with that this was a plant. It clearly had a green hue to it, and it looked like it might grow from something. He might've seen it before. But then again, he might not have. Hmmm. Seeing as how the instructor had eaten hers, surely that was a sign that he was to eat his as well? Why else would she do something like that? She wouldn't trick him, would she? Bert eyed her suspiciously, and smelled his herb some more. It didn't really smell like anything, but he got a leaf stuck in his nose.

 

After thoroughly cleaning out his nose, Bert was ready to taste. Opening his mouth, he slowly moved the herb towards it. And then Zoe spit herb on his shoe. "Oy!" He exclaimed, but then he noticed that she was looking rather angrily at someone who wasn't him, and decided it was best to keep it that way. And, in addition, he now knew that some of the herbs might be dangerous. So, he did what any responsible child of the light would do, and balanced the herb on the top of his head.

[Kara_J]

Edalia listened to the lecture avidly, wishing she could have time to take notes, she was sure she wouldn't remember half of what she was told. When handed the herb she studied intently, glancing around at her colleagues too and seeing that some had risked tasting theirs and one had, bizarrely, put it on his head. Lifting her herb to her nose she sniffed delicately trying to determine if the smell it gave off could be construed as poisonous.

 

Not able to draw conclusions from that, she studied the physical appearance, it had soft hairs along the stalk and on the leaves. Surely if it was truly poisonous the lecturer wouldn't have given it to us...unless this is a test... Edalia reasoned.

 

So she tore a tiny piece of leaf and rubbed it between her fingers awaiting any physical reaction on her skin from the juice that seeped from the crushed leaf. Nothing appeared to happen, so very delicately she touched the tip of her tongue to the liquid and tasted it. It tasted sweet at first but quickly became bitter, so she spat vigorously.

[Jehaine]

Sariena nodded to herself as the last student of hers had finished examining the herbs she had handed out. Much as she expected, they hadn't paid enough attention to what she had told them, nor did they seem to have a reasonable degree of common sense. Well, half of them didn't.

 

- "Very well, that concludes the first part of class: Awareness. Something i fear is still lacking in some of you. Now, you'll have undoubtedly noticed that i handed out different herbs from the one i was eating just now, something that this poor girl here just found out as well."

 

She smirked, gesturing at Zoe as she still tried to get the taste of rannel out of her mouth. Edalia did as well, though to a lesser degree for only having tasted part of the herb she had given her.

 

- "Now, two people actually passed this part of class, being Bert and Edalia. They didn't know what the herb i gave them was, so they actually used their brains and tried to find out if it was going to hurt them. They also applied the first rule of Herbology: When in doubt, leave it alone."

 

She moved towards Edalia, placing a hand on her shoulder as she named the herb she had been given, before walking to Bert and Zoe, placing her hand on their shoulder every time she named the herb and the side-effects it had.

 

- "In case anyone was wondering, i had Foxgloves. Commonly clears up acne, but it freshens the breath as well. Now then, what did i give you? First off, Edalia. You were given Marshwhite. Though it has a bitter taste, it actually helps to soothe a painful stomach. Next is Bert. He was given Heartleaf, which commonly prevents pregnancies... in women. Zoe here got Rannel, which is a less commonly known alternative for Sheepstongue Root. Annndd..."

 

Rather than walk over to Essaul and Sylos, she instead headed for the door of the small cabin, motioning for the others to follow.

 

- "Though Essaul and Sylos failed the first part of class, they can however still pass from the extra credit they've earned by volunteering for the second part of class: Application. Stomachs starting to feel a little upset yet, boys? No need to worry, i've got some herbs inside that'll counter the mild poisons you two just ate."

 

She walked through the door, waiting on the others to follow. Inside was a large room, with various herbs of all kinds shown there. This included the ones she had just handed out. Sariena was standing in front of a table now, with six different herbs lying in bunches on it, along with three sets of camping gear to make tea with.

 

- "Right. Imagine one of your fellow soldiers ate something he shouldn't and is coming down with an upset stomach, and you need to brew a tea as part of a cure. On this table are six herbs. Red Fennel, Sunburst Root, Chainleaf, Marsin, Andilay and Bluewort. All of them are used to cure one thing or the other, but only three of them cure an upset stomach. Bert teams up with Essaul, Edalia with Sylos and Zoe and I will chip in if things threaten to get out of hand. You may begin."

 

With that, she leaned back against the wall, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Though she was sometimes criticised as being too hard on her students, she felt that forcing them brew their own antidotes was necessary. They would all become Children of the Light eventually, and having them brew herbs themselves would reduce the chance of a fellow herbalist being denounced an Aes Sedai for being too good at what they did. While they may not be too happy with them after this, it'd hopefully drive the message home that herbs and channeling were unrelated... unless they'd want to imply they could 'channel' as well.

 

With a sigh, she looked at the five students in front of her, watching to see how they did.

 

 

Sariena

Waiting again

[Erathian Avenger]

Sylos sighed, but was not particularly surprised. 'I thought it tasted a little like those poisonous roots I accidentally ate in Tarabon. I should remember that taste for future reference.' He said to himself. As he followed the instructor into the cabin, he listened attentively and smiled as she explained what it was they were to do. He might not have enough common sense not to eat strange herbs- he had been told as much by his mother enough times that it hardly bothered him- but growing up with three brothers and four sisters, he would have been stunned if he didn't know at least one common remedy for an upset stomach. He made a mental note to question the instructor about just what it was he had eaten, also for future reference.

 

Red fennel and bluewort he knew were both a sure shot to cure an upset stomach, but the third he could not have named. Since the goal was to brew a tea, however, he suspected it wasn't necessary to know just yet. The instructor had said to brew an antidote, and he decided that meant the brewing was part of the test. Since red fennel needed only to be ingested, he took the bluewort instead. He looked around briefly for somewhere to acquire water, and finding nothing, turned to the instructor.

 

"Where we would we find water to heat, sir?" He asked the instructor as respectfully as he could. He knew he had been assigned a partner, but if she was anything like the average student, he suspected she wouldn't mind too terribly if he cured himself. She might also not care if he didn't cure himself, but that was not the point of this exercise.

[Kara_J]

Edalia flushed with the knowledge that she had almost failed that particular test, but followed the instructor meekly into the the classroom. She listened to the instructions and eyed up the person she was paired with, never having seen much of him before beyond the odd passing in a corridor.

 

Moving over to stand by his side and trying to get the taste out of her mouth when she though no-one was looking, she studied the herbs laid out on the table. Light if it tastes this bad with just a brief taste, poor Zoe must want to wash her mouth out with soap! Edalia eyed her partner warily, wondering when the poison he'd ingested would take effect and if so, what manner of effect it would be.

 

Motioning him to stay where he was, she went to where the instructor indicated and fetched enough water to boil in a pot. Sylos seem to know a little of what he was about so she was content to stand back and watch. Hopefully she could learn something beneficial from this class without getting another nasty taste in her mouth!

[Shamaeso]

Essaul was humiliated at the instructor's words he had failed the first test. Course who knew the minty tasting herbs would give him a bout of nausea. Following the instructor into the Cabin he suddenly lost his stomach and splattered the boots of everyone..

 

Edalia would never look at him the same. Looking around he noticed her moving over to Sylos and with a crestfallen sigh he waited for the instructions to finish. Hoping the others helping him could find a quick remedy was foremost in his mind as he felt his stomach churning again.

[Nynaeve]

Zoe kept opening and closing her mouth sporadically, as it seemed to elevate the remaining of the awful taste in her mouth. A taste that seemed to refuse to go away. She wasn't sure if she should be miserable about her choice of herb or feel fortunate that she wasn't one of the ones who got poisoned. The only thing she was certain about was that their instructor was completely out of her bloody mind. Another thing she was rather confident about was that she will pay one day. Oh, she surely will.

 

Standing next to the awful woman, Zoe tried to convince herself that strangling the woman would probably hurt her career in the CotL and would probably end up being a bad idea, driven by nothing but impulse and dislike. No, that had to wait. She tried to pay attention to the woman's words, but her head was still half swimming from the mind numbing taste and she was finding it a bit difficult to concentrate. She was relieved when she was assigned to stay with the instructor, but made sure to keep a fair distance from her.

 

Peering at what the others were doing, Zoe took special interest in what Sylos and Edalia were up to. She moved next to them to snoop around and watched the happenings intently as boiled water was brought and one of the herbs was chosen and added to it.

 

 

 

Zoe

CotL

[Dunbar]

Bert beamed. He was right. He had actually been right. He had been complimented. For putting something on his head. A herb. On the head. Head. Herb. Correct! He felt somewhat giddy, and was hard pressed not to show it, at least before Essaul got sick on his boots. Patting his sudden teammate on the back, Bert lead himself and his partner in crime towards the mixing area. "Now," he started, jovially. "I hope you know more about these green things than I do, it would certainly be a plus, eh old chap?" Essaul gave him a tormented look. "Ah, I see... Well, if you don't want to talk," Essaul groaned, "I could always hold up some herbs for you to look at? Just... er.. Grunt once for yes and twice for no!"

 

Bert looked at the table. Infont oh him were laid out 6 different herbs. They all had distinctly herb like qualities to them, in that they all looked like herbs. "Now," bert started, "let's start with this! A... Er... Sunburst Root?" Essaul looked at it. "Grunt Grunt". "I see... This one then?" Bert picked up an oddly shaped herb with a slight hint of blue to it. "Bluewort it is?" "Grunt Grunt" "Oh dear." After having gone through three more plants, a confirming "Grunt" finally made it through Essauls hardly pressed lips. "Ah, yes the... er Chain... No.. Red.. Andiroot? Andilay! Yes! Certainly!" As Bert started churning the herb into a mush, Essaul gave him a queer look.

[Jehaine]

Sariena nodded to herself before she walked to the table, picking up the herb she had called Chainleaf. Looking at it for a while, she then moved over to where Bert and Essaul were standing, the latter trying to hold down some tea. Getting some more water, she crushed the herb in a mug before adding hot water, using the time the tea needed  to properly mix with the water to explain something.

 

- "Overall, you did well. The correct answers were Bluewort, Red Fennel and Chainleaf. To those that got it wrong, don't worry, there are no poisons this time around. Andilay is used to cure fatigue, Marisin is a light sedative and Sunburst Root relieves pain from bruises. Here, you might find this more effective."

 

Sliding the mug over to Essaul, she waited for him to drink the tea before continuing. She knew the way she had treated the poisonous herbs earlier that mild nausea would be the worst they would go through, and these antidotes should be more than effective in driving it away in the space of a few minutes.

 

- "Now then, some of you may ask why i held class the way i did. The reason is simple: For you all to realise that what you don't know can kill you. There are herbs that may paralise the muscles until you die, poisons used as blade coatings by assassins. If even some of you will know better than to underestimate a herb in your future careers, i consider this mission accomplished."

 

She moved over to the door, carefully sidestepping the mess Essaul had made when he had sicked up. It made her smirk though as she was well aware she only had herself to blame for that. Still, putting the tea sets in plain view outside would have kept them from eating the herb, thus costing her her examples for the next part of class. Oh well, it was an acceptable loss compared to what she had wanted to achieve.

 

- "Of course, after what i've made you all go through i could hardly make you fail this class. Come on, i'll show you how to get back to the Fortress, i'll return later to clean the place back up. It's the least i can do. If there are any questions, you can ask them on the way back."

 

And, hopefully, not look down on herbalists too much in the future, she mentally added, though she was careful not to say that out loud. Even with being one of the Children's eyes and ears, it was still annoying to be glared at as if she was a Darkfriend by some of the less knowledgeable Children who were unaware of her rank. Still, what they didn't know wouldn't hurt her, and if they decided to press on their accusation they'd find out she outranked them anyway. Events like that were quite satisfying, especially since she was the one that got to chew them out for it.

 

 

Sariena Arkenrae

1st Lieutenant

Whisper of the Light

[Nynaeve]

bump