+5 make a garden of toxic plants (1/2)
+5 observe the plant life of a neutral territory(1/2)
+10 create a poison and it's antidote(1/2)

It was better when it was dark. The moonlight felt gentle against her eyes, much less harsh than the direct sunlight. Sometimes it even felt like it burned her skin, her pinkish hue unprotecting of her delicate body beneath. Well, sort of delicate, anyhow.

Dark paws had led her through the dark jungle, pale light filtering through the canopy as she made her way to the spot she had come to know, that she had worked on for some time to get ready. A patch of land, dug up and bare of excessive weeds, a odd dark color from the scummy water that went through tiny dug canals. A large elephant ear leaf held folded in her jaws a bundle of hemlock roots. For a while, she worked diligently, until half of them were securely planted. The snake around her neck had a streak of mud on his dark scales, looking out of place of his sleek body, though he did nothing to change the fact he was dirty. Not that he could.

Her paws hurt a bit, but she wasn't done yet, with there still being hours of moonlight, she had to make use of them. And so she made her way north, through the trees, a few yards away, where she knew exactly what she was looking for. Nightshade. Poisons.... She needed them now more than ever, with what was going on. She wasn't sure exactly what it was, but she knew something was.... Wrong. This was something someone of her class would do. But she couldn't prove shit. So she was prepared to kill.

Carefully, dark claws severed the base of the stem, gentle to not knock the crucial flowers and bit from the plant, and gathered them in her leaf, taking the back to the clearing where she had a turtle shell and a long rock prepared. Maybe.... Maybe she was doing some good. She wasn't bad for preparing to kill, right? What if she killed the wrong person? What if she had to watch as the wrong person suffered from nightshade of hemlock.... Maybe she should make a counteracting solution. Just in case.

@Iofiel

Code by Naya Image by Tippy

+5 Study the flora of a neutral territory
+5 Collect herbs

Despite Iofiel's large size the pale male was able to move with a quiet air about him. Growing up in the sands of the desert he had learned early how to distribute his weight. This also showed in the way that he walked more upon splayed toes versus the entirety of his paws. It helped in this landscape as well, rather than dry earth beneath one's paws it was moist instead but still prone to shift about.

Light seemed to refuse to penetrate beneath the cover of the branches overhead. While it was night it was a clear night with a bright enough moon overhead. One wouldn't know it once they had entered into the jungle. It was more a perpetual darkness that lingered beneath the canopy.

The large lion paused at a clearing, the first spot in which he could easily move without worrying about rubbing against one tree or another. It gave him breathing room to be able to study the flora of the area.

He dug at the base of a tree, getting at a bit of greenery there. Iofiel intended upon taking the whole plant, roots and all. But this was disturbed at the sound of another. Head turned to watch a lioness enter the area with a large leaf in her mouth.

@Arachnae

+5 make a garden of toxic plants (2/2)
+5 observe the plant life of a neutral territory(1/2)
+10 create a poison and it's antidote(2/2)

She hadn't noticed him for a long time as she worked, crushing nightshade's berries into a chunky paste, and then making a separate ground mash with the other part of the plants. It counteracts its own toxins, luckily. And so, she placed each into the own leaf, and tucked them near the base of the tree, walking back to continue her work on the her garden, digging small holes and gently placing each hemlock root into the moist ground, covering them back up so that they would hopefully sprout and grow in the coming months. The gentle movement of another finally caught her attention, and her gaze turned to lay upon a large male, collecting plants of his own. He seemed to merely know she was there, perhaps unbothered, maybe curious as she was toward him. And so she smiled, "Lovely night for plant work."

@Iofiel

Code by Naya Image by Tippy

The lioness ignored him and he left her to it. She was intent upon what she was doing and had no mind for him at all. Iofiel wasn't the sort to invade upon personal endeavors. So as she chose to work and not speak to him the large lion didn't break the silence either.

He turned his attention back to his work instead. Claws dug lightly at the earth, disturbing the grains and pulling them away from the plant without actually touching the plant itself. What it was he couldn't say, not until he could get it out into the light to be able to better study it's appearance. But just because he didn't know what it was right away didn't mean that there couldn't be a use for it. It was simply a difficult task to identify plants in the dark.

Lips move in a silent prayer to thank the plant for it's sacrifice once he finally had the roots removed from the soil. And then the lioness finally seemed to choose to acknowledge him, perhaps because she was done with her own work as well. Iofiel finished his prayer before speaking. "I find the morning best for plant work whence one might be able to identify what it is they are working with. This place doesn't feel to get a morning though."

@Arachnae

+5 study the plant life of a neutral territory (2/2)

Arachnae nodded at his words. They made sense, and often she wished she could do the same, but over time her eyes had learned to be much better in the darkness, and her nose much better at smelling the scents of toxic plants that she found herself collecting. She had almost given up being an assassin completely, having found herself no longer wishing to live that life, but now it seemed there may have been a use for it, so it would take second place in her life for now. She really just wanted to learn about spirits, talk to them, and know the lives they had lived and the amazing and terrible things they had seen. But as for now, she tried to make out what plant he had dug up. She didn't recognize it's scent as something she used, but as he had said, in light she probably would recognize it. "Sadly, sunlight hurts my eyes, so I'm forced to work in the dark. And you are right, sunlight filters through very little in this spot, makes it good for hemlock. But when the sun hit the canopy just right, it gives them just what they need to grow." She noted. "I'm Arachnae, and this is Rawkshi- if you can see him, anyways. He won't bite though, I promise."

@Iofiel

Code by Naya Image by Tippy

"Alshuwkran." He spoke the name that he knew for the plant. "Small white flower, grown in clusters. Triangular leaves, feathery in nature." It wasn't a desert plant, not that there were very many desert plants, but something a trader had showed him. Of course the plant had been dried rather than live and full of vitality. But then most plants taken to the desert had to be dried to survive the trip.

"It can be used as a sedative to put one's mind at least. Helps with joint pain as well. Dosage has to be monitored very carefully. It is best to use another alternative if one can be found." And if not then one simply made due with what one had. One couldn't afford to be picky in a desert situation and so Iofiel had learned to use what one had. Of course this was no longer the desert and there were plenty of other plants that might be chosen.

Whomever Rawkshi was the large lion couldn't begin to say. His mind went immediately towards them being a Rwh, an unseen spirit, rather than being a living creature of this realm. "Well met Arachnae and Rawkshi. I am Iofiel Nimri." Proper respect was given with the words as he dipped his head down. He didn't wish to risk angering a Rwh and risking their wrath. "Have you considered a mixture of aloe and water to alleviate any eye irritation?" Granted he didn't know that she had a condition and was only offering a solution to help with the pain which she said she experienced.

@Arachnae

Arachnae listened to his words as he described the plant she tended as he knew it. He was a healer, clearly- while she was the opposite. But that's how it was between her and her friend from long ago. She would never hurt anyone who didn't do terrible wrong she cared for.

And so he shared his name, and she dipped her head in respect. "Most are off put by me having a mamba around my shoulders. I am glad you do not find me at fault for having him." She smiled- not the slightest clue he hadn't ever seen the snake there. "Thank you for the suggestion, I'll try it. It's kind of you to offer advice. I don't know if it will work, as it was something I was born with, but perhaps it would at least ease it more than taking the brutality of the sun on its own."

@Iofiel

Code by Naya Image by Tippy

Mamba? Oh... Yeah, now that he stared there was a rather unfortunate lumpiness to the lioness's neck. The darkness of the territory plus the darkness of the serpent made it an unseen companion should one not know to look for it. But now that it had been pointed out Iofiel couldn't help but to see it.

"Admittedly I hadn't known he was there. I am afraid my night vision is lacking." Not that he couldn't see, simply that all the details were not there. There wasn't enough light coming in through the trees for him to see with more accuracy as it felt almost pitch black in the area to him. He was more relying upon smell and hearing more than sight while in the area.

Ah, a birth defect. Not much could really be done for those then. It was something that one just learned to live with, should they be allowed to live even. "Aloe is great for any number of irritations." And it was something that had grown in the desert so it had always been in abundant supply for him to use.

@Arachnae

Arachnae flicked an ear, hearing he hadn't seen the snake. She wondered what he had greeted before, then. Maybe just the idea there was someone with her? She glanced to where a few of his scales danced in the moonlight.... Grey. Not the bright shining reflection they are in light. He wouldn't have been able to see the mamba, nearly as dark as the night itself. But she took sleight that he didn't find offense from learning there was one there. "Ah, yes, the dark." She chuckled at her own silliness. "I've always used aloe paste as a base for mixing whenever the plants are always dry. I never knew they had medical purpose." She had also eaten them when she lived in the cult, as they and cacti were of the few edible plants in the Egyptian dunes whenever true food was scarce. That, and the rejected children. "Where are you from, @Iofiel?"

Code by Naya Image by Tippy

"Aloe is one of the most varied use plants that I know of. When water was hard to find in the desert it was the one plant that could be counted upon to quench thirst. It can used for burns, irritants, and to promote healing of wounds. It is a most hardy plant as well, able to survive in extreme conditions." If it could grow in the desert then it had to be acknowledged as an amazing plant.

"Andal Oasis." The pale male stated when it was asked where he was from. He assumed that she was inquiring after what pride he was in. It wasn't as if he had done anything to mask the scent of the desert from his pelt. But then the humidity of the area might have dampened it some. "Do you hail from some particular location?" The question was asked in reverse.

@Arachnae