Somewhat confused and more than a little dazed, Kori finds herself laying in her bed and struggling to recall exactly what had happened leading up to that point, “Why am I in bed? Wasn’t I just in the workshop?” The last thing she remembers, drinking some tea made with her herbs, but those wouldn’t explain her current predicament. Her limbs felt heavy, her mind stuffed with fur, a musty taste of dirt and something else lingering on her tongue.
If I tried the herbs… Oh no… Did I try the mushroom too?
The more she thinks about it, the more she’s sure that she did in fact try the Drift Shroom… She experienced flashes of memories about chewing on the leathery dried cap, spitting it out, then nothing until waking.
I don’t think I hallucinated? But how would I know if I don’t remember anything… I do feel awfully fatigued, that was one of the symptoms, right? Oh no, am I going to be vomiting for days now?
Bracing herself as she edges towards the side of the raised sleeping area, hoping to avoid messing her bed, and preparing for the worst as her stomach gurgles and grumbles at her, a feeling of an empty pit disturbed as it roils.
“I thought I heard something, finally up, are we?” Ortik walking into the opening of Kori’s chamber, “That cap was quite potent, I’d expected you to be conscious yesterday evening.”
“Yesterday? How long was I asleep?” Some of the fur shrouding her thoughts shifting as she focused on Ortik’s words.
“I will excuse your lack of propriety this once apprentice, you’re likely still somewhat under the effects. You slept the entire evening and through the night.” Shaking his head, “I was about to check on you before leaving for the Elder’s Chambers for this morning’s meeting. I was starting to worry that something was wrong.” Leaning in to get a better look at Kori, “I will have to have the batch tested again to determine if it was simply your own lack of Vitality or if there is something exceptional about the specimen you prepared.”
“Apologies Spiritcaller Ortik.” She lowers her head slightly, finding the movement just a little easier than it had been. “I will prepare myself as quickly as I can for the meeting… As soon as I can stand without bracing myself on a wall…”
“You will do no such thing. I can’t have you falling on yourself in front of everyone. Remain here until you…” His words interrupted by the loud bubbling gurgle from Kori’s mid-section.
“Oh no…” Kori quickly lowers her head in anticipation of what may come, pointing herself away from Ortik’s direction.
“Ah, I suppose you did miss dinner and are late for breakfast. There is food on the table.” The closest thing to a smile on his face and in his words that Kori had seen to date.
“Food? I can’t eat, I’m going to be sick… Aren’t I, Spiritcaller Ortik?” The thought of food sending her stomach back into its motions.
“Why would you be ill apprentice? Your preparation of the Drift Shroom was well done. I checked it days ago and the water ran clear. You were not at risk of anything but a good night’s rest.” An outright chuckle escaping his muzzle.
“I wasn’t? Oh…” Sitting up from positioning herself in anticipation of sicking up, “Thank you, Spiritcaller Ortik. I guess I was worried for nothing.”
“Now, once you are recovered, I have laid out additional fresh moss and nettle leaves in the workshop, prepare them again, properly this time, and I will check when I return after the meeting.” Giving her an appraising look. “And clean your tunic, you should not sleep in it.”
With that comment Spiritcaller Ortik turns and walks out of her chamber, leaving her back to her own thoughts.
“I guess I didn’t mess that one up at least… Would he have still made me test it if I hadn’t?” Levering herself up to sit on the edge of the sleeping platform, “I think he probably would have… yeah…”
As soon as she could walk steadily without fear of her legs giving out, Kori made her way to the promised food, her stomach still loudly complaining, though at least now she was sure it was due to hunger rather than something worse. Finding that an exceptionally large portion of food awaited her, she digs in with abandon and a smile, enjoying the meal more than any she’s had in a long time.
“I think that’s the first time I’ve ever missed a meal… don’t want to do that again any time soon.”
With her immediate needs settled she finally pays attention to the little light of a notification that has been blinking at her since she awoke. Her typical ‘why?’ prodding it.
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Not what I was hoping for… But two points of vitality? Wow, either that shroom was really potent or my Vitality really is terrible.
This was not the first time Kori had seen such a message, she’d gained a point in Magic and Attunement both during her many attempts to direct her mana, but this is the first time she’s seen it jump by two points at the same time.
I should check my status.
Name
Kori
Class
Locked
Level
N/A
Race
Kobold
Tier
N/A
Race Level
7
Job
Locked
Job
Locked
Job Level
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N/A
Job Level
N/A
Statistics
Health
150
Mana
205
Stamina
205
Physical Ability Scores
Mental Ability Scores
Might
21
Wit
36
Agility
32
Cunning
49
Finesse
24
Attunement
34
Endurance
27
Magic
31
Vitality
16
Perception
27
Serendipity
12
Racial Traits
Darkvision
Lvl 1
Rapid Growth
Draconic Ingenuity
Class Abilities
Class Perks
Titles
Emberscale Inheritor
Pick of the Litter
Skills
Stealth
Lvl 1
Basic Staff Mastery
Lvl 2
Mana Sense
Lvl 2
Basic Mathematics
Lvl 1
Basic Poison Resistance
Lvl 1
Not bad for just 7 months. Still a ways to go to get all of the skills Ortik wants for me. I was really hoping I’d gotten herbalism…
With breakfast completed and her place at the table cleaned, Kori checks in the workshop and sees the herbs laid out as Ortik had said. Thinking back to yesterday’s criticisms about her previous attempt she gets to work. This time remembering to set aside some of the moss to create a poultice with. It doesn’t take long for the moss to be drying over a low heat in the hearth, the leaves set out nearby getting flipped and turned occasionally to keep everything even.
“Now, the poultice. That’s just mashing the moss in the mortar and pestle and adding some water to get it to the right consistency, I think? It doesn’t last for long though… I don’t want to let it sit and have Spiritcaller Ortik,” Not even noticing that even by herself she’s using his title now, “Say it failed because I let it sit and spoil. I’ll have to do that right before the meeting ends.” She gathers everything she needs and waits, going over the results from the Drift Shroom.
That was certainly more potent than I had expected, I’m glad I didn’t end up messing that one up. I had assumed that it was called a drift shroom because of how its spores drifted… But maybe it’s more for its effect of causing people to drift off to sleep…
Spending her extra time practicing on her slate as the herbs dry, making sure to check them frequently, the morning passes quickly and quietly for Kori, the moss already dried and cooling to one side, the leaves will take several more days. Soon it’s time to prepare the poultice to hopefully redeem her earlier efforts.
I wonder if I get all of these right if I’ll get the Skill?
Setting up her space with the remainder of the fresh moss and some water, she recalls just before it’s too late that she was supposed to use boiled water for the poultice, setting a kettle to boil she begins to think about what she’s doing as well as the comment about the tincture made with the dried moss being used to treat bandages. Unsure if it’s a good idea to go outside her given directions, but her curiosity peaked, her thoughts turn to what would happen if she were to use the tincture in the preparation of the poultice.
It seems like it should be a good idea… I wonder why they don’t do it that way… They have to have thought of it before, right?
“No, if I do it differently then I might fail whatever test this is… But I really want to try it with the tincture…” Debating with herself, she knows that she is going to talk herself into trying it. “Okay, how about instead I’ll make it twice. Yeah, that works. I’ll make it right and while I’m grinding the herb with the pure water, I’ll steep some of the prepared moss I made earlier and then make another batch with that. That way we can test both!”
Following through on her little experiment took very little time, her first batch made and stored in a clay pot awaiting Ortik’s approval hopefully, while she cleaned out the mortar and pestle and started again, this time using the steeped water, strained to remove the particulate, she gave it a quick taste to compare to her previous efforts and found it much closer to Ortik’s sample, though still slight differences in the flavour of cave wall she apparently just licked…
As she grinds and mashes the paste within the mortar something about it just doesn’t seem quite right, the colour, texture and everything else seems to be the same as her previous creation, but something about the product before her seems lacking. Like it could be more than it is, if only this one little thing wasn’t wrong. Unsure if it’s something about the consistency or if she needs to grind it harder, she keeps going, dribbling in a little extra fluid to turn it into a smooth paste.
Focusing in on whatever wrongness she feels with her work, Kori doesn’t even notice as Ortik enters the chamber. Initially, he’s displeased that she hasn’t completed her task, but as he sees the first batch of poultice sitting on the work surface in an open clay pot and that she is dribbling the water in through a filter even his curiosity is peaked and he settles in to watch without interrupting her.
Kori keeps working the substance, pushing against that obtrusive feeling as she goes, slowly it begins to feel more right, like she is correcting whatever absence exists within her work. A little light begins to blink in her vision, interrupting her work and she looks down realizing that the finely ground paste that she’s created, more an ointment than a poultice at this point, seems like it’s finally completed.
Looking up from her work she spots Ortik hovering nearby, giving a squeak of surprise and nearly toppling over her own feet as she jumps back.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing apprentice?” His tone inscrutable once again.
“Uhh, Spiritcaller Ortik… I didn’t hear you enter…” Nervously she looks around seeing that there’s no one else and Ortik is more focused on her work than on her, “I was just trying something with the moss, I thought if the tincture was good to prevent infection, then perhaps a poultice with that instead of just water would be more effective?”
“It’s been tried, it doesn’t change things much unless a wound is already heavily infected. I meant what exactly were you doing with your mana, why were you trying to pour it into the poultice?”
“Mana? I wasn’t using mana Spiritcaller Ortik…” Checking her status however showed that she in fact had been, her mana sitting nearly 30 points down from it’s maximum. Thoroughly confused she checks the notification waiting for her to see if it could provide any insight.
<
“Oh… I guess I was…”