A Taste of Etzos (Nightshade)

[Ohua]

75th of Ashan, 718

“Being a Tunawa in any city but Desnind was something of a curse and a blessing. Their tiny size made for good spying but that same size paid them no favors in a city filled with people who never looked at the dirt they scuffed across. If Ohua had been able to speak she would have given every big footed, fod-sack a piece of her mind as she tore into their fat, fleshy ankles with her teeth to see how they liked being injured.

As it stood Ohua kept along edges, mentally cursing the flat city that must have been made specifically to torture her. There was little to hide her aside from the fact that people rarely looked down. When she could hide the Tunawa paused in the the weeds that hadn’t yet been ripped from the ground and pitied their stubbornness knowing that in a city so far removed from nature they would never last. It made her happy the trials task too her to her as close as possible to the outskirts of the thrice damned city, in the thrice damned weather, in the thrice damned morning.

Yet for all the grumbling Ohua was pleased to be off leash, regardless of why, when or how, and even more pleased when her small steps took her closer to the river. It brought a cooler breeze that rustled her leaves pleasantly and meant good things for her hunting of plants. It her time eating plants she’d found if it grew in the dark, in the murky waters, in the cool weather, it made sickness to match the darkness it lived in. Which only helped Ohua as she set herself to looking along the cracks and crevices of the rivers edge, peeking around till she found her first test subject.

Or would have if she could reach it. The weed was was stubbornly just out of reach of her finger tips, allow her to brush the leaves but nothing more.The more she reached for it the more furious she grew, normally she would simply find another plant but this was just another slight against her height and Ohua refused to let the spiteful little plant elude her. Nearly fully infuriated the pee-wee sized woman had an idea.

She looked around for a sizable rock then pushed it towards the edge of the river walk, laid on belly and scooted herself off the edge. Her ankles she locked around the rock, using her hands to brace herself in the weird little upside climb she made. But it worked! Ohua grinned viciously at the plant and bit off a piece, chewing thoughtfully at the taste before the familiar feeling of of fuzz began to rest in her stomach.

[Nightshade Eld]

There was still a good amount of time left in Ashan, but the air was starting to noticeably warm. It wouldn't be long before the hot seasons started to take over. Even though it was still a ways away, the half-breed could already feel a certain dread in the pit of her stomach at the aspect of Saun. Cylus she could handle. She hated the darkness by all means, and yet, the dark season was something she could handle. But Saun? Oh, that was something that went against the entirety of her being. It was always bright, always hot, and the presence of Faldrun was always looming. The disgusting natured hothead who had so effectively captured her ire nearly as much as Syora of Lissira. And that was an accomplishment in and of itself! But the way the hot season always threatened her very existence, making the air feel heavy and unbreathable. The way it threatened to parch the whole of Etzos into a desert within 40 trials. She was already dreading Saun. As luck would have it, it was still only Ashan. For the time being.

The half-breed meandered through the streets not entirely sure what to do with herself at present. There weren't any pressing matters to which she really had to attend to, and she'd already finished all the work she'd need to for the trial. If anything, the half-breed was wandering the streets looking for something that could count for entertainment. Or help her better her goals. She could always practice with some of her new weaponry, but she felt so worn out after everything she'd been putting herself through this season. She would take a nap but she knew she wouldn't sleep. Insomnia was a pain at best. Without any clue about what to do, the half-breed decided to just let fate drag her wherever it bid her to go. When all else fails, after all.

So far nothing interesting had sparked her attention. It was warm and bright out which meant people were either lazing about or shopping, and for the most part that meant people were boring. There were certain kinds of weather that tended to put a damper on conflict. This kind of warm and lazy weather wasn't hot enough to raise tempers and wasn't cold enough to encourage people to find unconventional means of warming themselves up. The half-breed had no desire to shop unless it, again, helped with her future goals. And that, for the most part, wasn't going to happen given the area she was in at present. She had no need for more weapons. She almost shivered thinking about the cartload she'd somehow gotten inside The Roost.

As the woman wandered she took note of a strange movement in the corner of her eye, her attention turning to a little creature that definitely wasn't of these lands. A Tunawa? She'd read about them before but she'd never met one face to face. The only things about them she could conjure from memory was the fact they were basically mini plant people. Did that mean they were good with plants? Curiosity got the better of her and she meandered towards the little creature, a question on her mind. The half-breed had slowly been building up a knowledge repertoire about poisons, as well as a resistance to them. Perhaps there was something she could offer in exchange for information?

As she came upon the creature she noticed it was chewing on a plant that had most likely come from the water. The half-breed had seen it before. Maybe? Possible in one of her visits to Alex. The Yludih was a poisoner and often had a lot of poisonous plants around. The half-breed wished truly she was still around for reference. She couldn't put a name to the appearance but she knew the plant had to be local. Which brought about curiosity. Why was this little creature eating it? Were they not affected by poison like more protein-based humanoids? That was an option. So the woman put words to her curiosity. "I'm fairly certain that's a poisonous plant. Is there any reason you're eating it?" The half-breed asked with a tilt of her head. Her tone wasn't condescending or snippy, just curious, her expression vexed but interested.

"Common"

"Ith'ession"

[Ohua]

The Tunawa had heard the clomping of feet before she seen the figure, but like all things large they were loud and usually ignored her, so it still made her almost let go of the edge when it spoke. Barring her teeth she glared up at the woman then ripped off another piece that she held between gritted teeth before hauling herself up over the edge. The plant was damp enough that Ohua splatted it in top of her head, keeping the piece for later use while she digested the one she’d already eaten.

On more even ground, and not about to fall into the water the Tunawa took proper stock of the nosey voice. The first thing catching her eye was the wings. Wings. Her eyes narrowed, she knew that kind, her owner hated resembled them but without the large wings or any other useful ability that Ohua could think of. She could only imagine how much easier their travels would be if her owner had skills that were more useful than his secrets. After her blatant once over the Tunawa thought of ignoring the woman, it was none of her business but her wings could be useful and if she already knew some poisonous plants she could be useful to the days business.

With a put upon purse of her lips Ohua pointed to her throat and shook her head before signing as slowly as possible, watching her fingers to make sure then moved correctly and nodding her head for emphasis.

Yes. I know. She paused and cocked her head in thought before continuing, Need for…be no sick.

Unsure of the last few words, the Tunawa sharply signed out the letters, she needed to find someone to help her finish learning or it was a pointless skill to have. Not to mention she needed to know more because she started the damned attempt and she wanted to finish it. It didn’t entirely matter to her if the other woman understood, someone else’s ignorance as not her problem. But it was thought of gaining more knowledge from the bird-woman that prompted her to mime being sick then making an ‘X’ with her arms unsure of how else to explain what she was doing.

It was a long shot that she would understand though, and Ohua had no patience for any potential confusion make her look around for something to write with and Fates help the woman if she couldn't read. But there was nothing she could see immediately, leaving her to wait impatiently with a tap of her foot for the other womans' response, if she wasn't helpful and just nosey there was always more things to be done.

Player Note: I'm so, so sorry I took so long to respond, I thought I'd done all her replies already! Always feel free to message me if I slack off too long, poke me until I reply!

[Nightshade Eld]

The half-breed watched the moment of the fingers carefully. It was a bit harder on such a small creature, and the half-breed was already iffy on her ability to understand Common Sign but she was able to get the two important piece of information across. She Tunawa already knew it was poisonous and... "You're using it like medicine?" She questioned to try and confirm what the little creature was signing. That was a curious thought, but not entirely unorthodox. The half-breed knew that a lot of poisons could be used as medicines in small doses, especially to get rid of parasites or other equally nasty things. Similarly, any kind of medicine in too strong a dose could be used like a poison. Though, that was a thought she often tried to keep at bay as it didn't really help her fear of doctors any, nor her blatant distrust or any medical procedures being done on her. The only time she'd ever really fully trusted a doctor was Alex. And Alex had turned out to be a Cauldron member... If anyone asked she could always just blame Alex for her fascination with poisons, as well as building up a resistance to them.

The half-breed reached around in her pocket until she found what she was looking for. Carefully she placed down a piece of scrap paper and a small vial of ink onto the ground. The perks of being a Cartographer. Even if she wasn't working she always had some kind of paper and ink on hand, which was useful since if she didn't take notes her thoughts could become scattered. She didn't really have a Tunawa sized quill, so she reached up and plucked out one of her tiny, soft, downy under feathers. The underfeathers weren't as important to flight so she could easily pluck or shed a few without feeling the effects too terrible. She that she placed all three items in front of the Tunawa. "I understand you're likely busy and if you don't have time to explain then feel free to tell me to buzz off, but if you wouldn't mind indulging me for a couple bits, how exactly are you using it? I thought those kinds of plants didn't have any medicinal uses. Not to mention they've got a rather similar look-alike that's highly toxic."

The half-breed knew a couple of the basics to the plant that the Tunawa was looking at. After all one of the first poisons, the half-breed looked into were the ones that grew abundantly in Etzos. She'd decided that this plant was a little too dangerous not only for her skills with identifying which one was the highly toxic one, but also her abilities with resistance incase she did end up taking a bite out of the highly toxic one.

"Common"

"Ith'ession"

OOC: Same goes to you XD