Shoot That Poison Arrow [Research/Solo]

[Capsule]

Muse:
Shoot That Poison Arrow

Notes:
Moar research.

Tags:
Capsule

Words:
829

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coded by benetnasch of ET

Today was supposed to be a typical one for the young Enchanter; she had rolled out of bed after sleeping that night (something she was trying to do regularly), and was in the middle of eating breakfast outside of her home. Unlike her first few weeks in this world, Capsule had actually purchased her current meal, rather than swiping it from a Lander merchant. She was doing quite well for herself lately. Her mental state had evened out, she was coping with the situation she was thrust into, and some irregular questing and potion selling had left the gold in her bank account overflowing. She could certainly afford better housing if she wished, but was content to stay in her current location. Besides that, her guild, Avarice, might need the money for guild housing and the like. So other than purchasing some better equipment from fellow Adventurers, Capsule was hoarding her stash like a dragon. Of course, gold was by no means difficult to acquire, and with little interest in spending it, collecting a large amount with the aid of interest was rather easy.

But the narrator digressed. Anyway, Capsule was lounging outside of the building she had partially claimed as her own, when wailing from afar sounded. Fiver, who was nestled near her feet and enjoying a honeycomb, perked his ears towards the sound. She followed suit, curious to see what all the fuss was about. Had someone started a fight and caused the guards to kill them? Or was the person crying for other reasons? Capsule, afflicted with the bystander effect, went back to munching her egg and cheese sandwich. Let someone else handle it; there were plenty of eager beavers desperate to prove themselves as the "hero". She, on the other hand, was perfectly content to work as the support in the background.

Although it was a rather simple affair, the sandwich she was eating was simply divine. It had been quite a while since she last had a hot meal, after all. Before coming into higher funds, Capsule would purchase base ingredients and put them together to form something tasty. It wasn't as satisfying as a real meal, but they did get her through the day and kept her from starving herself to death. Fiver and Duke's diets had also been somewhat affected. Since Duke had come to stay, the number of rats and mice in her home had diminished to zero, so now the small owl had to hunt outside. Fiver mostly ate the grass outside, as per usual, but now he received more treats, like the honeycomb she had purchased for him earlier. This was the good life, and she wouldn't trade it for anything.

"Oh, please! Won't someone please help me?! My son will die if he does not receive treatment! Pleaaase!"

Capsule looked away from her sandwich to the old Lander shuffling down the street, towards her. The Enchanter did everything she could do to look uninterested in the disheveled old woman's eyes, but the desperate often overlooked such indifference. "Oh please - you're an Adventurer! You must help me! PLEASE!"

It was hard to feign indifference when an old hag was latching onto you, even more so when a small crowd drew in close to observe. To Capsule's dismay, one of them recognized her and said something about her being a tier two Pharmacist. "Oh, just what I need! You simply must help me! There are no cures available for what I need-" The redheaded Enchanter found herself being tugged along by the bony (and strong) grip on her arm. "I cannot believe that no one has created an antidote for poison yet! This is completely unacceptable! I know that Pharmacists are immune to those kinds of status effects, but you should not be so selfish - spread the love, for Pete's sake!"

The murmur from the crowd favored the old woman's point of view, and lightly scolded Capsule. It was ridiculous; she was currently one of the few active Pharmacists, and had thus far contributed the only new recipes for her crafting class. How the hell could they call her selfish and lazy?! She objected to being manhandled in such a manner, but did not put up much of a fight. Helping the woman out would benefit her in the long run, and give people the much needed antidote they would need when facing poisonous monsters or concoctions.

She gave in to the tugging, otherwise she would have tripped and fell over onto her face. The Lander woman, now satisfied that Capsule would be following of her own volition and would not run, eased up on her grip. "You have no idea how glad I am to see that you are going to help me." Capsule rolled her eyes behind the older woman's back. She didn't care about the woman's sob story; she just wanted to see what was up with the kid so that she could heal him.

[Capsule]

Muse:
Destiny

Notes:
Homu homu~.

Tags:
Capsule

Words:
708

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coded by benetnasch of ET

The Lander woman, who Capsule soon learned was named Cecilia, led them (for Fiver had faithfully hopped along) out into the Savill Flower Grove. Cecilia told Capsule all about her son, Mavis, a rambunctious little scamp. Mavis was actually Cecilia's grandson, but had raised him as her own since his mother passed giving birth to him. The old woman had other children, but they had moved from the area some years ago, and the man that sired Mavis had long run off after impregnating her daughter. It was all very sad, and Capsule could even feel herself empathizing with the woman. This only emphasized that this world was no mere video game; the former AI had truly grown consciousness of their own, and had shaped up into beings worthy of being called human.

Capsule listened on in silence, and lowered her head in contemplation. Something like that had happened to a few of her classmates in high school, though none of them had died in the act. They were just the typical teenagers; irresponsible and willing to shaft their problems into someone else's hands. In this case it was unplanned and unwanted children, whom either fell into the care of their grandparents or were given up for adoption. Capsule would never have allowed herself to be caught into a situation, even if it meant getting an abortion, nor was she exactly in such danger. Sometimes it was a blessing to be involuntarily celibate. 'The best birth control is abstaining altogether,' she thought, a mixture between a smile and a sneer forming itself on her face.

That look faded away when Cecilia gave her an odd look. They had come to a stop in the midst of the winding path that cut through the grove. Capsule glanced around for Fiver, but did not have to look for long. The brown rabbit was nearby, sniffing at a small group of wild Frenmic Rabbits. Judging by the position he soon put himself in with another rabbit, Capsule guessed that they were a group of females. She politely turned her head away to give them some privacy, and was about to ask Cecilia what was going on, when the woman waved and called out to someone.

This "someone" was a young man about Capsule's age, who she almost mistook for a son or nephew. The way said young man held and kissed Cecilia made her realize that the two of them were either really good friends or lovers. Capsule wrinkled her nose in disgust as the former theory was proven to be true. She did not know many friends, especially with such large age gaps, who kissed each other open mouthed and with tongue in greeting. "Ew." Cecilia was old enough to be that kid's mother.

The kiss did not last long, thankfully, and the two stepped apart so that the man could introduce himself. His name was Caleb, and he had known the Lander woman since he was a small boy. '...I think I'm going to be sick.' That would have been impossible as a Pharmacist, but still. Romeo here was in charge of watching little Mavis while Cecilia sought help.

"His symptoms haven't changed since she left, but he isn't getting any better, either."

"What...exactly happened to him?" She was no doctor, but it would help to know what was going on with the kid.

Cecilia and Caleb exchanged glances. It was Caleb, rather than Cecilia, who spoke up. "He was stung - by a Hornet Soldier. It injected him with quite a bit of poison before he could run away. We've been treating him with health potions since then, but the status effect is stubborn; it won't go away." That was really strange; debuffs like that did not last longer than ten seconds at a time, so unless the hornet was continuously stinging him… There was definitely something that they weren't telling her, but she had no time to argue - not if she wanted to help the boy.

"Alright. I'll do what I can for him, but I'll need you two to continue looking after him while I gather materials and try to work something out." The clock was ticking, and she did not know for how long.

[Capsule]

Muse:
Destiny

Notes:
So close to show time.

Tags:
Capsule

Words:
613

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coded by benetnasch of ET

'Now, what should I use to combat the poison?' Capsule knew that in the case of poisonous animals, their venom was collected and used as "anti-venom". It was too specific, though, and would only work against the poison from select monsters. She would need a general ingredient, one readily available for the masses. Capsule came to a stop inside the flower grove and pondered, eyes shut to block out any distractions. Where did she normally pull her ingredients from? Herbs, right? And she was conveniently located in a flower field, though that was likely because the boy had been stung here. She might also want to steer clear of Hornet Soldiers. 'Excellent,' she thought with a bitter smirk.

There were many flowers that held health benefits or were good for ceasing ill effects. Yellow coneflowers were a viable option, but she had no idea if the plant was also native to England or could even be found in the game. There was another plant she was forgetting, but poison was never something she cared enough to read about in her old babysitter's book on natural remedies. Hell, if it wasn't for the Scribe she ran into a few minutes later, she would have just grabbed the nearest flower and tried to make do with that.

"...Ya know, if you're looking for remedies, you should not just grab whatever and take your chances. You could end up making things worse, ya know?"

"...I beg your pardon?" What did this guy want?

"Here. I'm a Gardener and I see that you're a Pharmacist. What exactly are you trying to do…?"

Capsule gave the man a brief explanation of the boy's condition and her need to cure it before he expired. The Scribe slash Gardener seemed suspicious of the cause of the boy's illness, but said nothing of it. Instead, he waved for her to follow him, and led her to a small patch of Touch Me Nots. She eyed the yellowish flowers with some unease; they were probably called "Touch Me Nots" for a reason. The man, however, reassured her that they would be fine - as long as they were used in moderation, anyway. "Be warned, though; like aspirin (which comes from the bark of Willow trees, beeteedubs), whatever can heal or ease discomfort can just as easily make you deathly ill, or worse, when the wrong dosage is used. For this reason, I must stress that you consult a botanist, or Gardener, if you are ever unsure. Here - take my card if you will, and contact me in the future if you ever require aid." The card he gave her was really no more than a neatly clipped piece of parchment, which bore an address and his name.

She tucked the card away as she thanked him. The guy might actually be an actual botanist outside of the game, for all she knew, and could give her the hints needed to complete later research. 'Thank you, Scribol.' She was in the process of picking a large bunch of the flowers, when she came across Fiver and his new friends. The lot of them were sniffing around the Touch Me Nots, but strayed away to argue over a few cowslips.

After taking her fill of the flowers, but being kind enough to leave enough for others to take, Capsule neatly tucked the bunch into her magic bag and set off for the edge of the flower grove, leaving Fiver to enjoy himself with the wild bunnies for just a moment longer. It was not often that they came to the flower grove, after all, so he usually went weeks without seeing another rabbit.

[Capsule]

Muse:
Love Song

Notes:
Showtime~!

Tags:
Capsule

Words:
503

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coded by benetnasch of ET

Capsule, longing for a series of walls or some other structure, set up shop just outside the large field of flowers, near where the Landers were gathered and waiting. Having an audience for this made her uncomfortable, mostly because she was not the type of person who enjoyed being the center of attention. She also disliked having other people oversee her work and apply criticisms or suggest "better" methods. Seriously; if either of those two tried to come over here and backseat potion craft…

The redheaded Enchanter silently fumed as she set her tools of the trade out along a patch of flattened grass. She had made a poultice several times before, but this would only be her second time doing so in the game, and she would have to be mindful of the dose. Scribol's words were still echoing in her ears; it would be horrible if she used too much of the Touch Me Nots and poisoned the child even further. Regardless of whether or not the child was a People of the Land, she would feel terrible if her carelessness brought along his death. At least an Adventurer would revive, but this kid… Capsule's hands were trembling so bad that she dropped her mortar and pestle. 'Meike. Get a hold of yourself, woman.' Meike. That name had absolutely no reason to be used here. In this world she was Capsule, not Meike, capable of doing things her old self was unable to.

In truth, it was little more than beating herself up, but by doing so Capsule could talk herself into concentrating on the task before her. A simple poultice would suffice, of which the even simpler means to make one was to chew and spit it out, though that was likely unwise with this particular plant. The longer and harder way would be Capsule's path. A potion would take even longer, since she would need to boil the plant and extract the juices, which would only dilute the properties. 'I need it strong and fine.' she thought as she used her kukri, Volkova, to neatly cut up some of the Touch Me Nots. She had neglected to ask Scribol which part of the plant was best to use, so she took a chance and excluded the stem of the flowers. Surely the remedy was stored within the leaves?

As a precaution, however, Capsule did not throw the stems away. She placed them into a pile to the side, and picked up her mortar, which she carefully cradled in one hand. With her other hand she scooped up the leaves and deposited them into the bowl of her mortar. There was a soft rustling sound from behind her, from one of the swines in human clothing Lander adults. "What is that?"

Capsule flashed a glare in the man's direction. "The cure," she said coolly. She hoped they would have enough sense to withhold their impatience and not further disturb her from her crafting. And maybe pigs would learn to fly.

[Capsule]

Muse:
Lila Wolken

Notes:
And that's done...

Tags:
Capsule

Words:
515

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coded by benetnasch of ET

Capsule had learned much from taking the Pharmacist crafting class, and one of those things included making the "patient" feel more at ease by spicing up her research a bit. Instead of simply pouring a bit of water and mashing up the contents of her mortar, Capsule first set the bowl aside and pulled out several bottles from her magic bag. These were simple things, such as honeyed water and an extract of mint. She poured some of the honeyed water into the mortar, and added a dash of the mint. These would help to not only mix and mash the ingredients, but soothe the site of irritation on the victim. The boy was no doubt in pain from his stings (if what the adult Landers had to say was true), and should be enough to lessen the inflammation.

She stirred the mix a bit with the clubbed end of her pestle, and then began mashing and grinding. A little lubrication went a long way. It also caused her to grind the ingredients a bit longer than she would have liked, though this may have been due to pouring a bit too much of the honeyed water. Capsule solved this by adding in a few of the stems, which crunched nicely under the force of her pestle. The new mortar and pestle she was using was just great in general. Her old starter set would have taken her twice the time to complete the mixture, whereas her current set made time her bitch. 'Ah, the beauty of quality ingredients~.'

By the time she was done with her mix, Capsule was humming quietly and happily to herself. It was just oddly soothing to her. 'Perhaps the fumes have gotten to me,'[/color she thought with a soft laugh. That was a joke, of course; these kinds of herbs did not give a "high." They were more for calming the subject down. In Capsule's case, she was just pleased with the monotonous movement of her pestle. It allowed her mind to wander a bit, though that might be dangerous, given her current location and situation. "Hm. I think it's finished now, though." She still had no idea how the poultice would turn out, but that's what the human guinea pig was for, right?

Right after she had given her soft outburst, the rustling behind her increased as Caleb crept closer. "It's done, you say?!"

Capsule nodded, not bothering to look the young man's way as she quickly shoved everything but her mortar and pestle back into her inventory. Possessions supposedly returned to your bag after being unattended for a projected hour or so, but she did not trust passing players to avoid (accidentally or not) crushing her belongings or absconding with them. "Yeah, it is, but I need to be sure that it works. I've never messed with these kinds of plants before." She was also wary of accidentally killing the boy, but that could hardly be avoided now. Capsule was making a gamble regardless of what she did, but hopefully the lad was hardy enough to endure.

[Capsule]

Muse:
Too Shy

Notes:
And scene~.

Tags:
Capsule

Words:
755

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coded by benetnasch of ET

The boy Capsule was led to looked anything but hardy. He was a boy of small stature, and seemed ready to crumple and die at any moment. He was placed on a makeshift pallet, made of leaves, muds, and sticks. His small chest was bare, swollen, purple and pulsating. That was the sight that caught Capsule's attention first, and how could it not?! "Jesus," was all she could say. The boy's face was not any better; although he appeared to be unconscious, his mouth and brow were contorted in pain. A stick had been shoved into his mouth, perhaps to keep him from biting his tongue and bleeding to death.

Capsule placed a hand to her mouth, trying to resist the urge to turn her head and vomit. It wasn't the sight of the boy's state that was to blame, either; it was the god awful stench that rose from his infected wound and fouled the air back here. 'Well, no wonder he isn't getting any better! He's got an infection and appears to have suffered a severe allergic reaction to the hornet's venom." That of course did not mean his grandmother and her little "boy toy" were in the clear, though. They had done a really shitty job of helping young Mavis recover. "Get out of the way," she snapped at the adult Landers as she edged closer to boy writhing in pain at their feet.

Mavis' eyes shot open, revealing a pair of red streaked orbs. He opened his mouth - or at least tried to; there was a thin string securing the stick in his mouth. Capsule shushed him and placed a gentle, comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's going to be alright, kiddo. Just stay calm and lie still." She had no idea if the boy would live or not, but these kinds of lies were necessary, ne? 'Ridiculous,' she thought as she took out the honeyed water and a rag. There was no way she could apply the poultice with the kid in this state. She needed to clean the infected area, first.

Mavis groaned and whimpered at her touch. He muttered something that sounded like "It hurts!" when she dabbed at his chest with a corner of the water soaked rag. "I know, little man. It hurts right now, but it'll feel much better once I clean you up." She glared at Cecilia, who was nervously fluttering about. "Do you mind? I can't focus with you helicoptering over me." The old woman sighed and sat down, cradling her head in her heads as she sobbed over her failures as a parent. Capsule rolled her eyes at the ploy for Caleb's sympathy, and went back to treating the boy.

He had calmed down a great deal since she had cleaned his wounds, and was even allowing her to apply the poultice, which was certainly chilly against his hot and feverish skin. Mavis' eyes slowly closed and his breathing grew regular as the poultice took effect. It was miniscule, but Capsule noticed a slight health regen from the application. 'Maybe it really does work.' She tore Mavis' discarded shirt into strips, and used them to trap the poultice and bandage his wound. "I'll leave some of the poultice here. I want you to remove his bandage in a few hours, clean the area, and replace the poultice and bandages, alright?" She was certainly no doctor, but it was standard advice.

"Oh, thank you so much! He looks better already!"

"Just doing my job, ma'am. No need to thank me." Now she felt like a doctor. "Goodbye, Caleb." If the boy heard her, he made no sign of it. He was sleeping, this time peacefully. Capsule scooped a large hunk of the remaining poultice into a jar and handed it to Cecilia, keeping a small portion for herself in her unwashed mortar. That little bit would be donated to "science" when she got back to London.

"Fiver!" Cecilia was too wrapped up in examining the jar to notice, but Caleb gave her a funny look when she called for the rabbit. Fiver's brown ears peeked over the top of the flowers he was hiding under, but he did not immediately dart towards her. She considered calling for him again, but in the end gave in and decided to let him linger for a bit more. It was a beautiful day, and it would not hurt her to stick around for a while. She might even check up on Caleb again before leaving.