RP:The Exotic Emerald Vine
This is a Healer's Guild RP.
Synopsis Joan requests the help of the teenager dryad Clovelia with the search and hunt of a rare exotic emerald vine for the healers' guild use. They travel and meet at the docks in Rynvale before adventuring outwards into the wilds on their journey quest.
Damp Ground
Walking slowly through a winding path in this eerie forest you begin to notice the much beneath your feet appears to suck at your footwear with every other step. The ground here is obviously muddy, and damp and you can smell a filthy scent on the wisps of fog which curl around you, that remind you of dirty swamps or possibly some half-rotted carcass. The fog seems to be at its thickest here and you cannot really see much except for what is directly in front of you, anything below your waistline is completely covered in the damp foul-smelling shroud. As the path takes a long curve, and you presume this is so because of the thick foliage you cannot really see for the fog, it dawns on you that the only way onwards is south unless you want to return to the hill in the east.
Joan had sent off a quick message to the young dryad Clovelia that the vampiric healer had met recently, having helped the teenaged dryad find her way back home to Enchantment. The message asked if the young girl would help Joan on a quest for the Healers' guild that Joan was part of this adventure would be to track down this seemly elusive exotic emerald vine, Joan had heard it might be deep inside the damp wet environments of Rynvale. Since she was seemly lost of anything outside of the island outside of a few trips out to Leoxander's villa or the town's main tavern and healing clinic she had thought that the young dryad would be the best to ask since she is one with nature after all. Hence why Joan sent off the message, in it she said she wait at the docks for the teenager and let her guide her onward should she accept.
Clovelia had received her note, signed with the name of her new acquaintance and a small piece of mandrake leaf as a reminder of their previous encounter. It was a good thing since teenagers have flighty brains when it comes to adults. As agreed, the vampire and the dryad met at the dock. Two good days of travel on foot gave the travelers a good bit of time to get to know one another until they entered the fog blanket of the forest. Clove, having been lost here a few months ago, believed she saw the elusive plant that Joan was seeking or at least something like it. They cannot be sure until they find what Clove is thinking of. Off they wandered, more silent the deeper they progressed. “We should be close but be extra careful,” she whispered. “I hear something over yonder.” She could not smell the lycan home or the dragon den nearby as her nose was assaulted by dampness and decay, but she did gesture to the taller one in the direction she meant. “Are you able to move any of this fog so we can, see?”
Joan arched one finely arched dark amethyst brow upwards as she scented out the nearby Lycan den, and the dragon's nest not too far off. "Hmm, I kinda figured by the scents I'm smelling." She taps at the end of her pert icy pink nose, and she lightly pushes at this or that vine to the side, bat at various tree limbs and rather large ferns, as she travels behind Clovelia as they traveled further into Rynvale then the poor vampiric healer, uses too. 'Squish-squish' footsteps are heard as the ladies' travels through the muddy damp ground, her icy pale pink lips purse as she holds out her free hand before her, pushing out her mystical magic doing her best to push back and lessen the gathering fog. "I only need a starter, there is no need to cut the vine, you know to lessen any possible damage to the vine in the long run." She said in a kind conversation sorta of way.
Clovelia nods at the request given, her hair bouncing damp tendrils upon her shoulder. “You said it was a blue-green plant, right?” asked while inspecting what she could see on the ground. “A vine…” Clove paused suddenly when an idea came to her. Her bracelets, made of green briar, were also a vine. With all this fog hindering, she decided to use the chemical communication that naturally occurred to aid her as eyes under the shroud. Before crouching, one hand deftly plucked at her wrist, both untangled the object, then the right hand placed it upon the ground, gripping an end. She looked up at Joan, no hint of purple, violet, or plum as she was under the viscous fog. Back to her idea, the dryad started to focus on her bracelet. A long-thorned tendril snaked out across the ground. She could not feel the textures of the items it crossed but she could feel the pressure of her vine tugging, catching, and moving as she explored the lowest layer. Vibrations rippled, changing with textures. A tree with rough bark approximately four feet wide, a bush with its own snags, a roughness she couldn’t quite place but probably a dead log, etc. A radius was slowly being explored while she crouched, tongue out and eyes closed with concentration. “Shh.” she mumbled. More to the random wildlife than her partner.
Joan paused once the teenage dryad had stopped herself, her arms crossed under her vested small bust as Clovelia went down into a crouch stance, her other brow shot upwards as she watched the dryad work her own brand of personal magic. Those glowing voided light violet orbs had that tell-tale smoking aura magic trail out and disappear into the air around her head as she waited. Joan could feel a bit of what the teenage dryad was doing, but the vampiric healer would need to be completely barefoot to have a better connection to the soggy damp soil, and well...yeah, no thank you! Joan rather liked her stocking feet firmly planted into her leather shoes. The undead woman was quiet as the teenage dryad 'shushed' her. Her glowing gaze settled on Clovelia, but she would spare glances about her in this or that direction to keep a lookout for any wandering lycan or dragon, as this was still rather a dangerous area.
Clovelia felt around for what felt like an hour but only minutes ticked by. When she felt something that resisted, she tugged her wrist back a little, relaxed, and let her vine flow. This process repeated a handful of times until the vine’s tip curved around to return to her. This was no easy task as the forest floor had many obstacles to her extension and more minutes ticked by. Inherently, it was tangled. Frustrated, the rustle of her leaf dress announced her rise back up to standing level. “I’m stuck.” she announced in a low tone. “But we can follow this and see what it has collected.” Clove offered her end of the bracelet to Joan’s slender grip. “I was hoping to get it back with the briars catching examples.” She probably meant samples. Samples of leaves, stalks, bits of flora, anything that may catch on the thorns to see if the collected bit could be the plant Joan was searching for.
Joan clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, a loud 'tisk' coming from between her icy cold pale pink lips, she had thought with the help of a dryad, one so connected to the earth would be able to pull off this task with ease, but then...Clovelia did say she was young for one of her kind. Joan gave a rolling shrug of her vested shoulders as she took the offered bracelet end from the teenage dryad. "Okay, so...lead the way, yeah?!" She'd try to get a feel from the vine-like bracelet, but she was dead or undead after all, feeling for living vines was sorta outta her reach, but she would follow where Clovelia led them, trusting her with the task at hand. She did search out the quested vine with her gaze as her magic still fought to clear out the collecting spreading mist.
Clovelia was close enough that she could see Joan’s brain overthinking through the expression on the woman’s face when the botanist loosely attempted to feel her brand of magic. She giggled softly to herself. “Follow me along the rope.” Clove rested her hand on a portion of her vine, then started walking. She waited a moment to see if Joan would follow. “Can you roll that up as we go, please?” Amused at a highly intelligent person struggling at such a simple idea that seemed obvious to the youth, her fingers lightly gripped the thorny string that was leading them deeper. A few steps in, she felt something hooked on. She plucked it, put it to her eyes, then offered the leaf to Joan knowing it was not the right color.
Joan answered, "Yep, no problem." She was already following after the teenage dryad, so when Clovelia started walking forward Joan was almost right behind her a step or two. Her stride was larger as she was much taller than Clovelia, and as the teenager paused Joan about stepped on the heel of the youth before her. "Oops, careful there almost stepped on you." With an unladylike grunt, Joan drew up short, having rolled and coiled her end of the dryad's vine-like bracelet, she knew she needed to do it without being asked. With a shake of her head in disbelief the vampiric healer would voice a soft, "Nope, try again. It's a beautiful bluish-emerald color. Nice try tho."
Clovelia and her companion continued in this fashion until reaching nearly the end. It was there her green vine had become tangled with another vine. Part of the new one snaked off to a tree, but the bit tangled was at the base. “Here is the problem.” Clove deduced. She tugged her portion firmly a couple of times to loosen the snag. Snap! It was not her vine that broke but another with a dark tone The rope kinda flung itself with the sudden slack, bringing up an arm-length tendril with a few attached leaves. Clove reached into the air and caught the combined ropes, paused for inspection, and passed to Joan. “Is this it?”
Joan had rolled up her end of Clovelia's vine\string bracelet as they traveled, ready to pass off her gathered part to the teenage dryad once they seemed to pause once more. The much taller woman looked over the dryad's shoulder to the vine she had in hand. "You are the one with the plant magic, what is it saying to you?" It did look like what she was told to look for, but she wanted the dryad's positive identification.
Clovelia pulled the now broken darker vine to her eyes, unaware that Joan was trying to teach her. Knowing Joan had her greener vine secure from the fog’s consumption, she let go to twist the darker until a leaf bopped her on the nose. It smelled musty, sweet, tangy, and sharp. A little odd combo that mustered its way through the heavy dark fragrance of this forest. The color looked mostly green to her with an undertone of blue. “Emerald bright” she declared, neglecting to mention the blue hue. “I think we’ve got it!” She waited to see if Joan agreed before performing her version of a happy dance which included spinning in a circle. She almost tripped but caught herself on the rough grey bark of the tree next to them. “What’s it for?” For some reason, she never questioned why Joan needed this particular plant for her friends.
Joan tilts her head slightly as she gives the teenage dryad a tried but amused look, "Let me see...it was written that it had to be a rare jade vine that is a beautiful bluish-emerald color. As for what it's supposed to do, it is to prevent skin diseases." She waited for the dryad to heal the vine tendril, she needed the base...the roots were important to get a good planting start that the botany department could replant and start growing in their guild greenhouse.
Clovelia smiled. “Clears up acne, got it” she simplified though she was sure it was far more useful than something like that. “You said on the boat you needed a complete piece, yeah?” Without a reply, she crouched down and fiddled below the fog line. What Joan could make out is a small shimmery brightness sourced from magic. As she did for the mandrake when they met, Clove worked on cloning two specimens. Once that was complete, she gave a little push of magic to strengthen the plant she had damaged. Her escort mentioned it was rare, it’s important to keep it healthy and growing. Nourishment pushed into it causing some rapid growth. Single vines branched into twos and threes. Up the tree, a few feet crawled some of these new offshoots. “There” she announced when standing. “One for you and one for you.” Clove passed the clones to Joan, one for the plant aficionado and one for her friends. Clove decided to keep the broken section of the vine that she inspected for confirmation. It was this piece she would use to learn about its appearance, how to best identify it for next time and to experiment to see if it would grow as a clipping. Since it was so far away from enchantment, she intended to share it with others for their study as well but only after she was done with it.
Joan took the two she was given and gave a hearty "Thank you Clovelia." She'd open her low-slung magical storage satchel and flip, in she would carefully place her two vines and give a full smile to the teenage dryad, "Alrighty, I'mma gonna head back to the mainland, see you later." With that she turned and walked back the way they came, her magic still pushing back the fog so she could easily track their muddy footprints back the way they originally came.