What Is Love? [Research/Solo]

[Capsule]

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610

♪ ♫♪:
What is Love Beato? (Absolute Perfecto!)

✏:
__

@:
Capsule

"A love potion…?" Capsule felt the color rise in her cheeks as she read over the request. That's right - Capsule was now taking requests via pigeon messengers. The idea had come to her while out one day, when she had decided to tear up her hunk of bread and scatter it about for the hungry pigeons lurking about. It was a practice that she figured had long fallen out of practice now, or rarely used if at all. It was also free labor, which Cap found to be the most attractive of all. A fellow Adventurer and Animal Trainer had had a similar idea, and even offered to help her out, in exchange for potions. Any "long distance" requests would be sent her way via the man's pigeons, and from there she would accept or deny and send a response back with the bird.

Today wasn't any different, albeit for the off the wall research request. She did not doubt the possibility of a love potion, but still it made her uncomfortable. What fool wanted to trick another into a fake romance? How selfish could they be? Why couldn't they just…talk to the person? Capsule had little idea of how flirting and courting worked, but surely there was a way to achieve what you wanted without trickery? And why "love," of all things? Certainly there were better research requests than a "love potion". Capsule double checked her small pile of requests again just to be sure, only to come up "empty". Her current requests were for those of potions in existence, chiefly the likes of healing items and poisons. There was no other research for her to go over. With a soft sigh, Capsule unfurled the scrap of parchment more to reveal more of the request. Depending on the reasoning, she might feel generous today.

'Damn it,' she thought as she read the next few lines. The letter seemed to be written by a younger person at first, but soon revealed the writer to be an older woman with an unsuccessful love life. She sounded so sad, desperate and lonely, which only made Capsule want to read on further. This was the kind of stuff she couldn't get enough of, even if it had a negative impact on her. "All my life I've been searching for the right man to pick me up and sweep me off my feet, to call me beautiful and make her feel alive again." Capsule plopped down onto her cushion to read further, shamelessly engrossed in this woman's sob story. "And then I found him - my guild captain. He's such a sweet and understanding-" Blah blah blah.

Capsule fell backwards, sprawling out on her back and raising her eyes to the ceiling, leaving the letter to rest on her small bosom. If the woman was expecting much, she would be disappointed in the results that were sure to be temporary. The potion definitely would not for a lifetime or even a few hours if she made it. It seemed more likely to last for a few minutes at most, which would be long enough for the woman to seduce and have her way with the man. 'Oh god, will that make me an accomplice to rape?' Proooobably? People could also say that her sleeping potion research resulted in liquid ruffies. She just hoped no one would think to use them in such a way. 'Fine. I'll research your stupid potion, but don't come bitching to me when it doesn't hold up to your expectations.' The letter she wrote to the woman in response expressed the same sentiment, albeit in a more professional matter.

coded by benetnasch of ET

[Capsule]

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∝:
519

♪ ♫♪:
Don't Move

✏:
Still nada. NADA!

@:
Capsule

The pigeon stared dumbly at Capsule as she attached her response to one of its legs. These pigeons were kind of rude and demanding, and this one was no different; it gave her an impatient peck by way of asking for a snack. Duke, who was nestled on his perch across the room, gave an angry hoot and fluttered his wings. The owl really disliked the loud and obnoxious pigeons, and often scared some of them off when they lingered for too long. This was one of those occasions. The pigeon was sent flying by the smaller owl, which raked at its back with a pair of small, sharp talons. Duke gave another hoot, this time one filled with self-satisfaction as he rested on the open windowsill.

Capsule left the window open and uncovered, allowing the room to be lit up by the light of the bright moon that hung outside. Her Magic Light hung near her shoulders for further illumination, and was constantly being resummoned every two minutes. There was a mana drain, of course, but not a major one. Besides - she had some food items that regenerated mana available for consumption, though it was highly unlikely that they would be needed. After she was done with work for tonight, Capsule would rely on the moon before turning in.

"Now, what kind of things would I need to make a love potion?" Fiver in his corner stirred slightly in his sleep at her voice. Asking Duke for help was just as meaningless. Capsule decided to settle on browsing through her store of herbs and flowers. There was bound to be something that related to passion amongst her arsenal. She picked up a loose leaf of parchment paper - one of many notes - and rolled over onto her bedding to scan through it. There were several aphrodisiactic plants listed, none of which were in her possession when she checked. "Gee thanks, Scribol." She rolled over onto her stomach. So, she couldn't use the suggestions she was given. This would complicate things, but she was sure she could make something up. Her first step would be to decide what herbs corresponded with "love," that elusive emotion she was unsure even existed outside of fairytales.

Things like rosemary and rose petals came to mind, but those were more of garnishments - she needed a base herb before she started chucking whatever around into a boiling pot of water. "Ok. A base herb that isn't seasoning or garnishment." Surely there was a romantic plant that met her qualifications. Surely. There had to be something. Capsule groaned softly as she rolled around on her pallet, raking her brain for ideas and coming up with nothing. Although she could send Duke with a question for the gardener, she did not want to have to rely on him too much. Plus, he was probably resting for the night, and she would like to get some work done herself. You know what? neep it. GINSENG. Ginseng would be her base ingredient. It was also an aphrodisiac, but whatever. It was semi related to love.

coded by benetnasch of ET

[Capsule]

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∝:
640

♪ ♫♪:
Don't Move

✏:
Stop squinting at me, you-know-who.

@:
Capsule

The ginseng root she had was in short supply, which should be more than enough for her research. It was also a pain in the butt to find, and gardeners and farmers alike had a tendency of overcharging for the rarer herbs. She clearly needed to find the sources of these plants herself, rather than relying on others and shelling out countless gold. 'This better be worth it,' she thought as she pulled two ginseng roots from her inventory. If this research turned out to be all for naught, she would demand compensation for the wasted materials, along with the price she charged for requests. The kukri she habitually kept attached to her belt was unsheathed, and the cutting board she had purchased for times like this was set down on the floor. One of these days she was going to buy a decent working table and chair. One of these days, but not right now.

The roots were easy enough to cut up; after doing this for months at a time now, Capsule had grown accustomed to this part of potion crafting. Outside of the game, she had eaten a largely unhealthy diet of microwaveable foods and snacks, which were cheaper to buy than the good old healthy stuff. There were times when she could score some fresh fruits and veggies, though those times were infrequent enough that each encounter felt new to her. Not only that, but being trapped within this world had taught her many things, all of which she longed to transfer with her if return was possible. She should also look into bettering her diet, which was no better here, either.

"Ah, this came out nicely." When she had first started as a fledgling Pharmacist, Capsule's roots always came out sloppily chopped. While slowly adjusting to her crafting class, her skills had increased to the point where she could neatly chop, slice and dice. The quality of her potions had increased as well, but that was a given. Levels accounted for much, though meant little when there was a lack of relevant materials.

Capsule scooted the finely chopped ginseng roots into the mortar and pestle she had received as a reward for helping out in Sarum. It was capable of upgrading from materials ten and below to level eleven to twenty, though she was unsure if that worked on research. She would be lying if she said she cared, anyway. Tools were tools, and this set was better than her slightly upgraded one. 'And now for the fun part,' she thought as she set the mortar and pestle to the side.

Now that that was taken care of, she could get her pot started on a boil - after adding a bit of water to it first. She poured in some fresh rainwater she had collected a few days ago, and left the pot to slowly bubble while she contemplated other ingredients. Should she add in the rose petals, or be a dick and use rose thorns instead? They were awfully prickly… She obviously needed to add in a dash nutmeg, and some rosemary wouldn't hurt. "Mint and a few lemon peels could work, too." This was going to be one fragrant love potion, wasn't it?

Fiver opened his eyes into slits, roused by the soft mumblings and fumblings of his master. The rabbit sat up on his small bed of straw, and lazily scratched behind one ear with a rear paw. She was being so noisy to his sensitive hearing, and was even ignoring his curious nosing around. Capsule lightly flicked the rabbit on the nose when he reached over to nibble at the small pile of mint. "Oy. That doesn't belong to you. Go back to sleep." Fiver, in the ultimate act of rebellion, stretched himself out on Capsule's pallet and dozed off.

coded by benetnasch of ET

[Capsule]

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578

♪ ♫♪:
Hayling

✏:
Fwee.

@:
Capsule

Capsule was humming softly to herself as she moved around the pot to grab her mortar and pestle. The water had yet to rise to a roaring boil; it was still in the state of forming little bubbles near the bottom of the pot. She dumped the ground ginseng in, and stepped back to collect her small collection of herbs. The powdered ginseng clung to the top of the pot in a gloopy mess at first, but slowly spread out as the water began to come to a proper boil.

The nutmeg was sadly in whole form, so while the ginseng boiled, Capsule took out one, along with the grater she had purchased a while ago. Apparently the entire nut was to be used, as one did not remove the outer shell. She had learned this by making a full of herself and trying to crack a nut open in front of someone who knew what they were doing. That chef had a little too much fun at her expense, but had stopped laughing long enough to tell her to find a grater. And now that she was actually grating one, it felt pretty damn weird. It wasn't like cheese, which was softer. To grate the nutmeg, she had to apply more pressure than she would have for cheese. It felt weird and wrong in so many ways.

By the time she was done with the nutmeg, there was a small pile in her mortar, and the pot was now at a steady boil. Capsule poured the nutmeg into her palm and sprinkled it into the pot, which she stirred with a long handled spoon afterwards. The air around her smelled lovely, a scent she could only attribute to the freshly ground nutmeg. It was not often that she wished for her room to smell strongly of ingredients or concoctions, so it was quite a pleasant turn of events.

The heart lifting odor increased as she added in the freshly pulled lemon peels and rosemary. The rose petals she threw in last did not seem to have much effect in the scent factor, but then those flowers never smelled like much to begin with. Capsule was dancing lightly around her pot as she stirred, thankful that there was no one around to watch her commit such shenanigans. This stuff smelled really good - she wanted to roll around in it, bathe in it, drink it-.

A sharp nip to her lower leg snapped her out of it. This turned out to be Fiver's doing. The rabbit glared up at her, his beady little eyes filled with annoyance and exhaustion. Geez. If he did not want to be disturbed, why didn't he just skulk about in another room? Capsule resisted the urge to bop the rabbit on the head.

The rabbit may have ruined her light buzz, but at least her senses were clearer now. Was this how her would be "love" potion worked? It felt more like an injection of caffeine than something that would make you swoon over another person - unless that was how love actually worked. Capsule lacked the experience to say for sure, so she could only speculate. 'I'm going to need a guinea pig.' The effects would obviously be better tested on hostile opponents, right? Fiver was already fond of her, and although Duke often acted indifferently, he still cared. 'It looks like I need to go find me a decent cavy, then.'

coded by benetnasch of ET

[Capsule]

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∝:
756

♪ ♫♪:
Floating Free

✏:
Done and done.

@:
Capsule

The potion was left to simmer for fifteen minutes, during which Capsule took an eye dropper tool and slowly filled a vial less than halfway. It was a little too late at night to go traipsing about, so she elected to search around for some rowdy rats. The ones that had once inhabited her commandeered apartment were long scared off by the presence of Duke, so her excursion would take her outside into the streets. Fifteen minutes was more than enough to complete this task - there were plenty of street rats to be found running about at this hour, mainly in back alleys or near overfilling trash cans. Capsule left the job of guarding her home to Fiver and Duke, and shimmied her way out of the window in the adjacent room, the vial tucked safely within her giant squid plush.

The Enchanter pulled up the hood of her cloak to obscure her facial features from prying eyes, and set off down the darkened street, the faint light of her Magic Light illuminating what the moon failed to cover. There were very few people wandering about tonight, and most of them were either searching for a corner to slump against for the night, or busy crafting or bartering.

Capsule ducked into a alley that was currently occupied with a couple of fox tails, doing god knows what behind a pile of rubble. The little cry of "help" a moment later shown some light on the situation, but Capsule did not stop to assist. If there was an issue, the Royal Guards would come to set things straight...right? Besides, she would rather not get pulled into someone else's mess. 'Sucks to be you, I guess.'

Further down the alley, something large and furry scuttled across her foot. Capsule instinctively kicked out at what she assumed to be a rat, but her foot connected with something much larger instead. "Uh." Either that was a rat pumped up on steroids, or a dog. The soft growl and a flash of white teeth a moment later only confirmed her suspicions. 'Uh.' Feral dogs were apparently a thing here, which she gladly tried to leave behind by doing something foolish: sprinting. Forget not drawing attention to herself. She was sprinting as fast as she could, and almost tripped over one of the fox tails as a result.

When the fox tail made a grab for her, Capsule reached into her squid plush and pulled out the vial of untested potion, and then proceeded to chuck it out behind her. There was a small yelp of pain as the glass vial shattered on one of the life forms, followed by renewed growling and her shoulder being released. The feral dog had lost interest in her to attack the fox tail, who was now doing his best to fend it off. 'Please tell me that worked…' The dose thrown on the dog was better suited for something smaller, like a rat, and there was no telling if it was just aggressive to everything or if it liked - no, it definitely liked squishy and redheaded Enchanters, as it suddenly lost interest in the fox and bounded after her.

Had Capsule not been too busy running for her life from a rather large and mean dog, she would have used one of the many movement restricting spells at her disposal. But that would have required a rational line of thinking, and hers was too busy being filled with gratuitous use of the word "neep". For the time she spent running from the alley and outside of her apartment, Capsule felt that she was not in a video game but in the real world, where dog attacks were fatal and revival from death was not possible.

When the dog seized her by the end of her cloak, Capsule kicked at it as if her life depended on it, and scrambled up the pipe that led up to her apartment once she was free. Fiver had the sense to move out of the way when the woman staggered into the room and slumped onto her pallet. 'The things I do for love.' She would have stayed there for the rest of the night, had the concern of the potion being set out too long not prompted her into action. Only after she had collected the potion into a full vial and set aside to send off later did Capsule turn in for the night. Dogs and bitter rose thorns were the theme for her dreams.

coded by benetnasch of ET