Ultraviolence [S/R]

[Capsule]

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"Honey, I'm home," Capsule called out, a la Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns. "Oh, right. I'm not married…" She shook her boots off at the welcome mat placed inside the door, and hung up the fur lined winter coat on the small hook on the wall. Capsule wearily rolled her aching shoulders. In a bag slung over her shoulder was a series of herbs, including Mutavi and Conium (hemlock). The former was for an anti-elemental potion. The latter was for a paralysis mixture. Capsule was thinking something along the lines of a smoke grenade, but with a paralyzing effect.

She absentmindedly chewed on the sweet stalk of a plant she had found while out in Sarum. A child might refer to it as sweet grass, but it had a scientific name somewhere. Capsule would have to peruse her library later. For now, she had some business to conduct. After that, she needed to go out and mentor someone. Not even a master Pharmacist yet, and people were being redirected her way. Yeesh. Things would get awkward once she hit level ninety… which would be in eleven more levels. Leveling Animal Trainer would be nice, but with her crafting class not so far behind, it was better to focus on raising that up to completion.

A Goat Servant was already in the kitchen, setting up her tools and materials for her. All three of her servants were identical, but Capsule could tell them apart based on the subtle differences in their horn shapes and patterns, and more importantly, their temperaments. One goat was more voracious than the others, another more aggressive, and the third was surprisingly gentle. The gentle one was most often tending to the kitchen, leaving most of the yard duty to the aggressive and voracious goats. Capsule affectionately referred to the gentle goat as Meino. The others would remain nameless until suitable names could be thought of.

"Thank you, Meino." The massive goat bowed. Capsule found his height intimidating, since she had lost a whopping seven inches after indulging in the Appearance Reversion potion. La vie est drôle…

Since the paralysis research was just a souped up version of the smoke grenade, Capsule decided to start with it first. She emptied the bunch of hemlock out of the bag and onto the table, where it bounced a few inches before stopping. Hemlock was a strain of Deadly Nightshade. It was good as a poison, and she could possibly combine the paralysis and poisonous effects to create something deadly, or at the very least annoying. Yes, she liked that idea very much. It reminded her of her Corrosive Poison, of which she still needed to concoct a purer strain of acid.

One thing at a time.

The poisonous leaves were separated from their paralytic roots. To some, it would not make much of a difference if either components intermingled, but Capsule was thorough. She placed the leaves and roots in separate bowls, small, stainless steel bowls designed for Pharmaceutical work. It was too risky to use any of the instruments reserved for cooking.

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∝: 514
♫: Ultraviolence
✏: Boop boop boop DN~
@: Capsule

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[Capsule]

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In her mortar and pestle, Capsule took turns grinding and pounding the herbs into powder. In between each round, she went through the trouble of wiping down her tools. She could be too careful for her own good at times, but it generally paid off. These were not harmless herbs she was dealing with here. These could injure a person without the Toxicity Tolerance toggle skill.

She eyed the small piles of powdered flowers and roots in their respective bowls. There was a hint of pride in her eyes. Compared to when she first started two years ago, her work had greatly improved. From a simple sleeping potion to complex ideas such as Doppelganger potions and Soma Drops, Capsule had shaped up to be quite the Pharmacist. Assuming they returned to the old world someday, she could find work as an herbalist. Despite the many people who brushed off homeopathic remedies with scorn, there were still plenty who would make excellent customers.

Capsule glanced over at the mana shards. The method she used to make her smoke grenade involved liquefying the shards and funneling the liquid into a small tube, which she rigged to a string attached to the underside of the flask's cap. It was more complexed than simply channeling ones mana into the flask. And considering that only a small amount would really be needed to offset the contents… Such was the folly of a new experimenter. She would definitely be smarter and efficient this time around. The long route was only good for keeping idle hands busy.

"Meino..." She gestured at the small bowl of mana shards. Why did she insist of keeping these around, anyway? They were only truly convenient for Alchemists. Capsule had few uses for them, unless she invented some, as she had with her Lesser Mana Potion, or her first smoke grenade. Using mana directly from yourself completely streamlined the process.

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∝: 318
♫: Ultraviolence
✏: Bluh bluh notes.
@: Capsule

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[Capsule]

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Capsule sifted the main powder (the poisonous herb) into the flask first. She gingerly shook the bottle around until the powder was neatly and evenly distributed. It was not quite perfect, but that was what final touch ups were for. From her pile of scrapped herbs and roots, Capsule picked up a few crumpled leaves, and added them to the flask. These she moved around until they were neatly arranged over the powder, proving a thin blanket that would serve to separate the poison from the paralytic mix. The leaves would easily crumple and ignite when touched by the inflamed powder.

Next, she poured in the paralytic root powder. Unlike the first layer of powder, Capsule did not shake the flask. Instead, she gently tapped at the sides of the glass until she got the desired effect. This was so much quicker and less worrisome than fooling around with a tube of mana, and rigging it to a string and the cap… She uttered a soft yawn, and brought her arms up to stretch above her head.

The redhead was not tired in the sense of needing a nap, but fatigued from scrounging about in the field for so long. The Mutavi was not so hard to find, but hemlock… eh. She had to actually wade around in streams and a river until she could find what she needed. Her pants legs needed to be rolled up all the way to the knee, and she could not keep her boots on, less she get stuck in the mud. Beneath the table, her toes wiggled, attempting to knock away grains of sand still trapped between them. She had washed her feet as thoroughly as possible, but those grains were persistent. A proper bath would eliminate them entirely.

Now, how should she go about naming her new creation? Something simple, like "poison smoke grenade" or "paralytic smoke grenade" simply would not do. The title needed to a little fancy, but not too pretentious. 'I could always just refer to it as "Deadly Nightshade".' There was a thought, but she preferred to keep item names as easily understandable as possible. It was also good organizational skills, but hm…

In the end, she decided to go with Deadly Nightshade. She had always thought the term had a romantic flair about it. That could be potentially attributed to the lyrics of a song she knew. Ultraviolence…

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∝: 401
♫: Ultraviolence
✏: Deadly Nightshade end
@: Capsule

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[Capsule]

[attr="class","solcap"]

As usual, Capsule saved the best for last. This was where the Mutavi herb came in. This research idea was something she was borrowing from another Pharmacist. He was (allegedly) so up to neck in paperwork, that he could not afford to work on his research queue. She had no idea what he could be working on. Was he the master of a lesser known guild, an accountant, or secret rumormonger leaking the latest and hottest details to the press? Who knows, but it sounded exciting! Capsule could not envy this elusive Icyferno, however. All work and no play made Jack a dull boy.

She likely never would have attempted something like this, otherwise. An anti-elemental potion was just not her thing, but she could definitely see why it would be useful. About a week ago, she had had a few encounters with the Halloween themed monsters. Aside from the Ripper Jack, which just chucked knives, the Frost and Flare Jacks specialized in elemental damage. Neither attacks were effective on Capsule, who was too high leveled for their antics, but it would be a bitch and a half for a low leveled player to fight against.

Capsule picked up one of the Mutavi herbs. It was freezing cold, utterly devoid of warmth, despite the heat radiating from the fireplace in the living room. Contained within this plant was the ice element. Somehow, she had to lure out the element without losing or wasting it. The usual methods of dissection seemed dangerous, so she might have to resort to extracting. She assumed that boiling would be safe, and maybe even cutting would not be too bad.

"Hm… Maceration is also a thing." Maceration was the process of soaking an herbal mixture in a solution of liquid, typically alcohol. The next step was to succuss it; vigorously shake. Capsule was pretty sure that those methods were best reserved for potions you did not ingest, or maybe just poultices? Eh, boiling and extraction might be the best way of going about this.

She twirled the frigid herb around in her hand. It was frozen solid, and colder than a witch's teat. From what she knew of these strange herbs, they would shrivel up and die when placed in sharply contrasting environments. Boiling suddenly seemed like a bad idea, but what else could she try? "Hrrm…" She stroked her upper lip with the side of her forefinger, her other hand rolling the herb around on the table. Would she even be able to cut it? "Tch." There was only one way to find out.

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∝: 430
♫: Ultraviolence
✏: Elemental resistance
@: Capsule

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[Capsule]

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THWOK!

Striking the from Mutavi herb was like… well, cutting through ice. It was unbelievably tough, this tier three crafting material. Her usual knife would simply not do, nor did she suspect that your normal kitchen tool could put so much of a dent in it. Nope. Capsule went straight for the ice pick and the accompanying hammer, both of which she had used to knock down a few of these popsickled herbs. Had she not seen them up close, she would have mistaken them for mere icicles. Up close, they looked like frozen flowers, pristine and alluring in a way that demanded touching. She had not expected them to be easily removed, but the unmovable force that bonded them in place caught her off guard.

And so began her destruction of Mother Nature. The flowers gave off a false frailty that made her wary of striking too hard, so she acted with the precision and care of an ice sculptor. She was doing the same now, but more for the sake of not having the pieces randomly go everywhere and get lost in the kitchen. "Steady as she goes -- ack! Fuu..."

A thin red line formed on her cheek, just under her left eye. That first chip sent a small fragment flying, and would have struck in the eye, had she not attempted to dodge. It was like getting scratched by Jack Frost himself, though nothing life threatening. Capsule wiped at the small cut, and pulled her hand back to check for blood. It was little more than a smear on her finger. Note to self: wear safety gear.

She did not resume work until her hands, face, and other exposed areas were adequately covered. Remember, kids: safety first. Now when the chips went flying every which and way, she could barely feel them when they struck her. Capsule chipped away at more Mutavi herbs, until her hands started to grow numb. She gathered up the large fragments, and relocated them to a bowl.

The not so fun part was incoming: extraction!

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∝: 344
♫: Ultraviolence
✏: Bluh bluh notes.
@: Capsule

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[Capsule]

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One by one, Capsule inspected the pieces for traces of tiny veins or a hint of oozing liquid. A vein was easier to find. It took her longer to realize where the liquid was contained, as it froze almost immediately when it came in contact with the exterior of the plant. "Interesting…" She turned the fragment around in her fingers. Meino inclined his head to the side in curiosity. He probably had no idea what it was or what she intended to do with it, but Capsule held it up for him to observe. «See, it is not all frozen. It is mostly the outside that is effected, due to the environment and the ability of the Mutavi to absorb an element.» She allowed it fall into her palm, where she began to bounce it.

«All of the nutrients and plant matter are buried safely within, in these well insulated pockets, or veins, I guess you could call them. Capillaries? It is all the same thing, really.» Meino nodded along, though it was hard to tell if he was actually following or not. Goats did not have very expressive faces. «I considered making a potion, but I have no idea how much I will be able to extract, and what little I do manage to get runs the risk of being too diluted. So I may have to resort to using an ampoule. I mean, it is efficient and all…»

She poked a needle into the vein of the fragment. A tiny bit of transparent ooze was swiftly hardening into ice. Capsule closed one eye as she wrestled the icy cold goodness from the hardening vein. The liquid was gingerly ejected into a vial, which she quickly capped. Exposing the mutated plant matter to air was too big of a risk. Slowly, the vial filled near to the top. Capsule shook one of the remaining fragments for a few seconds, before tossing it into the pile with the others. They were all spent.

Capsule prepared a simple solution for the extraction. She was going to separate a sample of the Mutavi into a Petri dish, and add two drops of the solution (a mixture of water and solvents) to it. «The way it works is simple. The plant is designed to protect its internal qualities with a tube- like container that keeps the liquid chilled, but preserved. If it gets frozen when it leaks out, it freezes the nutrients, rather than allow it to waste. I imagine the other strains work differently.» A water based Mutavi would have droplets of water that congealed like blood, and earth… rocks? She had no idea.

The thick liquid sluggishly moved from side to side in the ampoule. She did not envy the person who got to inhale this frigid psyche. Capsule could not imagine that it would be very pleasant. On the bright side, it would greatly boost resistances to one element, in exchange for becoming somewhat weaker to another. Capsule considered this to be a fair trade.

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∝: 505
♫: Ultraviolence
✏: End.
@: Capsule

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