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Post by Bee on Dec 31, 2007 0:44:37 GMT -5
Soon she was fighting back the urge to tell Aderlass to give her more wine. Maybe twenty minutes had passed, but she was half-tempered to march back down to Snook's office and demand that he tell her Asaph's exact whereabouts, even though the margay probably didn't know where he was.
She might try talking to Aderlass. Small talk, rambling, something, anything. She could talk about how all the other plants in her jungle of an apartment were doing, but she didn't think botany would hold Aderlass's interest for long.
"The audacity of that little bastard to make me wait so long," she muttered. "He's a lackey, for crying out loud. When he finally drags his sorry ass back into the apartment, I'm going to get him to tell me where Lindi is, and then I'm going to kick him from one end of this sterile little room to the other."
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Post by Kasatsu on Dec 31, 2007 10:19:40 GMT -5
When she finally spoke he was glad to hear that she had finally managed to break the silence. Pouring himself another mug full of the cheep alcohol he listened as she started to rant.
He had to admit that Asaph was being very inconsiderate of his guest, even if he was not aware that he had any or that they were probably the people he most wanted to not entertain. If Mnem started to trash the place or threaten the poor creature he doubted if he would do anything to interfere. If this guy was indeed the person they were looking for then this mouse had no qualms with causing the poor fool pain or trouble.
“I do admit that this lackey is being most inconsiderate to his guest. Feel free to kick him from one side of the room to the next, I will even put things in his way if you so desire.”
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Post by Bee on Dec 31, 2007 23:47:36 GMT -5
Beating the living hell out of Asaph would indeed be sweet (especially in light of the wretched little twit's callous diregard for the fact that Mnem wanted her plant back, and wanted it back yesterday), but she supposed that in the end it wouldn't really be very satisfying. He was a lackey, after all, not carrying this out of his own volition; Mnem was a hundred percent certain that he was working under Donathen Lindi's orders.
"Very sweet of you to offer, Aderlass," she said, setting her now-empty glass of wine down on the coffee table. She glared at it rather bitterly. Not that the wine glass had offended her, really; she just needed to glare at something, and she didn't want to give Aderlass the impression that she was deeply annoyed with him. "Though the real person I would like to pound into a fine powder is Lindi."
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Post by Kasatsu on Jan 1, 2008 11:16:08 GMT -5
Deciding against better judgment, he leaned over and poured her another mug full of alcohol, probably putting more in it then he should have. Pouring himself more as well he pondered over what she had just said.
“Who is this Lindi?" He had never heard her mention the name before. Coming to his own conclusion he thought, It probably had something to do with the plant. It really surprised him for some reason that he did not really know all that much about the canine. They only had been working together for the past year really, so maybe the surprise was a little earned?
From the little he had grasped from her so far they might have more in common about their pasts then anyone would have thought – though secretly he hoped that that prediction would not come completely true. There were some things that he simply did not wish others to have to go through.
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Post by Bee on Jan 1, 2008 23:54:56 GMT -5
Aderlass was offering her more alcohol, which would certainly ease the way to answering that question. She still didn't plan on getting drunk, but a nice buzz would really help her nerves. She drank rather liberally from the cup before replying. It was not a type of conversation she had often.
"About nine years ago, I...left home. Became the apprentice of a woman who lived on the far end for the Gardens, a very famed botanist. I had admired her greatly as a child, for lack of better role models. Awful specimen of humanity, but very good at what she did. She was known for occasionally taking on apprentices. There were five of us, in the beginning, and after the first week there were two. Donathen Lindi and myself." She paused, sipped a bit more of her drink, and said, "We struck up a rivalry in short order. Things...escalated."
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Post by Kasatsu on Jan 2, 2008 0:58:49 GMT -5
He was a little surprised that she had given up such information so easily, not that there had been much there. She seemed like the type who would not let information about herself go all that easily. And she could not blame the alcohol for letting her lips loose – not yet anyway.
She had been an apprentice? So it did seem that the two of them had more in common then he had ever perceived. It had been, what, four years since he had left his own apprenticeship to his master? That made it about nine years for him as well, for when he had started his apprenticeship. That put them to be close to the same age. He blinked at the sudden realization. Of course he had figured that they were not all that many years apart . . . he had just never really –realized- it.
“She must have been something of a fierce master, if your numbers went down so quickly in only the first week.” He replied hoping to have her keep the information flowing. He was interested to see what else he could learn. “My own only went down from three to one in four weeks.” It had been a tough trial bases, but something worth making it through for the skills learned afterwards were to be admired.
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Post by Bee on Jan 2, 2008 2:10:27 GMT -5
"Yes," Mnem said, tapping her glass thoughtfully. She remembered the slinky panther, mostly pink, with spectacles and a permanent scowl. She grimaced. "She was quite a task master. She made us handle ebony sumac on the very first day. We were harvesting it, and then being taught to burn it gently and use the ash product in poisons. I don't know if you're familiar with the plant, but the oil from the bark and leaves causes an extreme allergic reaction in most people. Rashes, oozing sores that don't heal, burst veins that leave the skin bruised. The smoke is worse, when it burns. All sorts of lovely digestive issues and breathing difficulties. Xanthe left that evening. The rest of us couldn't sleep for days."
She sighed, and finished off this glass. "Lindi and I were the only ones to successfully make the poison." She looked at him with a small grin, glad to have been given the opportunity to pass the conversational baton off to someone else. "You were an apprentice as well? What was your master like?"
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Post by Kasatsu on Jan 2, 2008 23:15:58 GMT -5
“No, I do not believe I am familiar with that plant.” He was pretty sure he was not familiar with the plant and it definitely did not sound like something to be considered fun. He eyed the canine with new interest. So there was something under that one sided appearance she gave. Probably something that was extremely close to something he had and admired in himself as well.
“I took an apprenticeship as soon as I turned of age to do so. Master Arjin was as kind as any, I suppose. Well maybe except for yours. I decided to train under him when I saw one of his works at a local shop. He offered me a bed and food as long as I continued to please him and worked hard.” He shrugged.
His Master had probably been one of the friendliest people he had met, yet had kept to himself quite a lot, before coming to the Capital that is. The man had been a very quite sort of fellow, keeping to himself. He had also taught him that there was a lesson to be learned from every experience – be it good or bad.
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Post by Bee on Jan 3, 2008 3:23:38 GMT -5
"He sounds charming," Mnem said, and meant it. "I assume you worked very hard indeed. Masters are terribly difficult to please. Mistress Irit ridiculed my salves for months. I was more interested in the poisons, you see. We made a mix that was supposed to ease the pain of severe burns. The effect needed to begin within two hours. My salves were consistently two-and-a-half. I wasn't terribly concerned; Donathen's took nearly five."
She frowned. "She still got after mine, though. In retrospect I think she didn't worry so much about Donathen because, well...he was a man, quite frankly. Whatever successes he achieved would not matter overmuch in the Gardens. She even smashed bottles and bottles of salves I had made--I wasn't allowed to touch poison again until I could make roughly forty different herbal remedies, and make them exceptionally well. Those were the three most frustrating months of my life."
Not that she hadn't enjoyed making the remedies, of course; it had just nagged at her constantly to not be able to touch her darling poisons, at all; not to be able to concoct brews to put people to sleep or make them vomit uncontrollably or just out-and-out kill them.
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Post by Kasatsu on Jan 3, 2008 21:48:03 GMT -5
He chuckled at what she said. He could see it taking her a while to get the ‘normal’ stuff down, her desire for the poisons coming first in her mind. He was actually a little shocked to know that she did healings as well as poisons. Though, if one thought about it the two did go hand in hand and were not that far off from each other. He would have to keep that information; it might come in useful later.
“Why did you head to the Capital after you finished your training?” he asked. He had headed here with higher goals in mind, but he honestly did not know what would have brought the canine here.
Apparently she was doing something, considering all the connections she had. Many of which surprised him and others having him trying to guess what he thought of them. She must have come here sooner then him as well. That or she was just able to obtain and make her connections better. He was interested in learning which.
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