We thought Pamplaxia would be a lull in the madness that seems to be either waiting for or following us since our meeting at the Sour Vintage. No such thing, but that’s something I’ve already written about.
The trip back though offered us a few days of respite, for each of my friends to polish their skills for the games, for me to look into the potions Moxena gave us. Hippofilius has been more than patient with helping me deconstruct it and figure out what may be in the vial. The books I have managed however to find seem to have only gotten me into more trouble. Some of the ingredients are easy enough to get: magical mullberies, mandrake root and chalk… save for the basilisk bile, which is not something easily found in a potion shop. Hippofilius reckons it makes perfect sense, the basilisks petrify their prey, but then have to turn it back to flesh when digesting it. Let’s hope there won’t be any need for this potion in the future.
The rest of the trip I seem to have inadvertently tried to poison the whole of the party. Belladonna. All of the books praised it for its many medical uses, so I tried to brew something from it. And all I ended up with is poison. Luckily Braz saved me from my own lack of knowledge and no one got hurt. I am disheartened, I must be honest. I tried to help but all I seem to be achieving is destruction and death. I should study more, but this has taught me I also need to ask the others for their advice, I don’t think I can do this alone.
Hippofilius has also shown me that you can talk to plants. The belladonna was not even remotely happy. Can’t entirely blame it, I took out too many of its friends for my experimenting. I am still so sorry, I never realised… But once its shrill scream stopped ringing in my ears I did manage to have an insightful conversation with some of the others and learned of their usefulness in lotions and potions. If only I knew so well what I can really help with…