• Solo • Small Talk about Fleas

[Zemos]

1st of Saun 721

Akoko and Zemos were well on their way, traveling off the beaten path on the way to Viden. The warmer months allowed such travel. Although Zemos' power as a Yithnai allowed himself some protection against cold, it did slow him down. Slowing down was not a great state of affairs, with predators on the prowl, as there were in the wild spaces of Viden's wilderness. Zemos had some protection in the form of Akoko, but that protection was not absolutely fool proof. He couldn't fight off a bear, for instance.

Even then, larger threats were only half the worry when it came to travel. As they passed under boughs and foilage in the more wooded areas of the foothills, it was inevitable to find ticks falling on them. The accursed arachnids, servants of their mother, drove the Egg insane when Zemos spotted them. So he'd taken to trying not to check for them on occasion. Then there was a constant problem of fleas, that they attracted due to their poor bathing habits.

Akoko stopped in his tracks, as they walked along a matted path on a wooded mountain face. The auri scratched its neck with its hind leg, whining slightly as he did so. Zemos turned his head, and quirked his brows. "Trouble, Akoko? Do you have..."

Eight eyes on eight legs,
Little Neices and Nephews to the Hive Mother.
The Manipulator's spawn!

As was often the case, Zemos didn't know what the Egg was muttering about. He wondered if there was ever a point, beyond that white void that obscured his past, when he ever did. Had the Egg bothered to speak to him before? He could scarcely remember when Sybil was his master, a time when the Egg spoke to him. Perhaps Zemos was going mad?

Akoko cut through his reverie, with an answer, "Fleas."

There was a pause, then the Egg chimed in,

What is fleas father?
How many legs,
How many eyes,
How many spies?

Zemos ignored the Egg. "We need to handle that... I wonder... If I could poison them. You'd have to not lick a part of your fur where I apply the poison."

Akoko quirked its own brow, tilting its head at him when he recovered from his scratching fit. "You will not be applying any form of poison to my fur, thank you very much.... Will it harm me?"

Zemos thought on that. He wasn't sure if he could tailor a poison to a specific organism. Usually such selective infection was the province of diseases. Zemos didn't have the knowledge to target a specific thing. He could just about make a poison that was deadly to insects, though, and harmful to people.

Idly, Zemos fingered the pain button that was stitched into his shirt. He wondered if such a substance could be used to harm a flea. As far as he knew, the little insects ate blood. Likely, any open wound that they created would only exacerbate the pain Akoko felt with the activation of his pain button poison. He didn't want to cause his friend discomfort.

So that brought him to the potential for necromantic destruction of the little creatures. Was he powerful enough to sap the life from an entire set of beings? Even such small ones? He wondered at the possibility.

"I don't like it when you get quiet." Akoko said, paranoia evident in his voice.

[Zemos]

"I have an idea." Zemos announced.

"I like that even less." Akoko stated, yet he fell in step as Zemos made his way. They walked down toward the farms on the outskirts of Anther's Ettyne.

Zemos knew something of plants, and how they affected insectoid life. He knew that insects tended to avoid Tobacco plants. It was rare, after all, to find a bug dining on the leaves of such a plant. And so it was a simple matter to surmise that tobacco had some compound or property that repelled insects or even killed them. He had a mind to acquire some of those leaves and see if he couldn't devise a new toxin or repellant from them.

Akoko had meanwhile left him on the outskirts of Anther's Ettyne, not quite comfortable with joining him in civilization... yet.

He arrived at the farm, a flax-farm primarily was what it was. Zemos had worked there before, retting flax that would be used to craft linen fibers. It had been a rewarding experience and had a feeling he could convince the farmer to part with some of his raw leaves. If only Zemos could convince him that he was helping him with farming, rather than taking a valuable reagent that he needed!

He approached the farmer and waved smiling. "Fair summer days, father! Do you need help with your tobacco crop?" Straight to the point.

The farmer quirked a brow and scratched the back of his neck. After a while, he nodded along with the Yithnai, and said, "Yeh, kin use some help with suckers and pruning the leaves on some of my plants... Ye got gardenin experience?"

Zemos nodded despite the lie. He didn't have gardening knowledge or experience per se, but he did know how to treat plants in the wild. And he figured a domestic plant was no more difficult to treat than a wild one. And all he really needed was a few leaves. How hard would it be to prune them?

The farmer seemed to sense his lack of confidence about the matter and shrugged. 'Kin teach ya how tobacco cultivation works round here. C'mon."

So saying, the farmer led him into the enclosure, and toward the fields where his northern tobacco crop was on rotation. There, Zemos felt the egg stinging his consciousness, and so he knew this was a place that his insectoid brethren avoided. He knew he was on the right track!

The plants were beautiful, for all their menace and monstrous hunger. He could almost sense their voracious appetites, as they flowered in the summer air. There were little green flowering buds, and leaves within the center of the plants, besides the already blossoming flowers. The farmer tsked at them.

"Got to get rid of those flowers and suckers. They take all the good stuff and nutrients that the leaves need to grow larger." The farmer remarked. "Just cut the flowers and buds, and maybe prune the smaller leaves. Think ya kin do that?"

Zemos nodded his assent, and took a bone knife from his belt. He was ready to get about the business of farming these tobacco waste products. As he approached the plant, the Egg vibrated in protest, but he mostly was able to ignore it, and get what he needed.



When he was done, he'd acquired what leaves and buds he'd need for his experiment. But he needed equipment, equipment that was only available (as far as he knew) in Mervani's laboratory in Viden.

So Zemos bartered for the waste products of tobacco, rather than charge him for the work he did. It was a good trade, labor for what waste products of the plants he'd need.

[Zemos]

A few trials later, Zemos arrived at his professor's laboratory in Viden. He'd managed to pay the amount necessary for his access to the facilities, as he was planning on pursuing his certificate in Toxicology. Excited and apprehensive in equal measure, he set about the work he'd need to do, in order to devise his new toxin.

The waste tobacco, the suckers, and small leaves would need to be strained several times over. Boiled in water, and then let to sit. Much like crafting tea, however, this was a different process, as the leaves and suckers were fresh. Unlike tea-leaves. It was a simple chemical procedure and one that Zemos was confident he could accomplish with little fuss. Boiling water wasn't an advanced process, after all! He was sure he could do that much.

So the leaves and suckers were left in a pot to boil. Meanwhile, he managed to gather a few other ingredients he'd need for his experiment. Just small amounts, nothing that would really be missed by Mervani. Or so he thought. Besides, he felt his professor was warming up to him in recent days. He'd even visited him in the wilderness once! Of course, then he'd set a thrall to strangle Zemos, but that was just a way of teaching him a lesson. Lonely-Hands was a friend, in Zemos' mind. Or swiftly becoming one.

Zemos gathered an inhibitor, a weak one, and a catalyst. He plucked a flea from his hair and squeezed its body gently into the catalyst. The saliva was what he needed. he didn't need to kill the thing. But when he was done, he tossed the entire body into the catalyst, just to be sure that he got enough material.

The poison would trigger upon exposure to flea saliva and the irritants that were present on their legs. Although it might harm Akoko if he licked the poison from his fur, it wouldn't be fatal to an animal as large as him. Besides, he would plan to give Akoko strict instructions not to clean the portion of fur that he treated.

Zemos managed to mix and grind the catalyst and inhibitors together, using a binder. Then he mixed it all up with some flax-seed oil he'd purchased from the farmer. This done, he went to check on the water and the tobacco. It smelled sickly sweet, almost repulsive to him. It would work!

But it needed something extra. It wasn't enough to make the flea's jump off of Akoko, he had to make sure they'd die when they sampled the poison. So he took off one of his pain buttons that were laced into his shirt and dropped them into the boiling fluid.



A few breaks later, when the fluid was boiled down to a thicker consistency, Zemos put it into an alembic. Thus began the slow distillation process. He had his catalyst, inhibitor, and binding concoction already gathered in a small vial of flax-seed oil. This he placed beneath the nozzle of the alembic.

Soon enough, some of the amber fluid began filtering out the essential oil of tobacco. He could feel the Egg buzzing in revulsion. That was the confirmation he was looking for. He was sure it would work!

So, having distilled as much of the essential tobacco he could, he cleaned up after himself, making sure the laboratory was put back to rights. Once everything was in its place, he took the stopper and corked his vial of flea-toxin. Thus were their flea problems solved!

[Doran]

Zemos:

Knowledge:

Skill Knowledges
Fieldcraft: Plantlife that hasn't been touched by insects may indicate that it's toxic to them.
Gardening: Tobacco plants require constant pruning to prevent the exhaustion of nutrients in the soil.
Medicine: Poisons: Concocting a simple flea-poison.
Medicine: Poisons: Larger animals might not find one concoction as deadly as a smaller one.
Medicine: Poisons: Producing a contact poison with a catalyst.
Medicine: Poisons: Using binders, inhibitors, and catalysts and mixing them in essential oil.

Loot: Bought some flax-seed oil. Also created an average quality flea-poison/medicine (4 doses).
Lost: Deducted 1 dose of Pain Button.
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: -
Magic XP: -
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 10

- - -

Comments: I was a bit amused when I read that the ticks drove the Egg insane, I have to admit. I suppose that not even Yithanai (or Eggs) like all kinds of insects though!

The Egg's comment were entertaining to read, as always - and I enjoyed his interaction with Akoko as well. Zemos never seems to have any idea what the Egg is muttering about, but the Egg seems to be quite wise to me.

I love that!

And I approve of Zemos' idea of poisoning the ticks wholeheartedly. I would never have considered using tobacco!

That was clever!

Zemos' Socialization skill is a little low in my opinion (0!), but there is always work to be done around a farm, so it makes sense that the farmer let him help, especially since he just wanted the waste products rather than money as payment.

I'd be careful when it comes to borrowing reagents from Professor Mervani though. He won't miss anything this time as Zemos only used very little, but he might if it becomes a more common occurrence!

That being said, I wonder if Zemos will keep his new flea toxin to himself or share it with others (or even try to sell it). It seems like quite a useful creation to me, provided that it works as intended. Lots of things have fleas!

Enjoy your rewards!

P.S.: I would have added "Socialization" to the list of skills used as Zemos convinced the farmer to let him help out, and maybe “Deception” even though his lie wasn’t very convincing.

P.P.S.: Please deduct the dose of Pain Button you used in this thread. You still have all four doses in your inventory!