[Open] the one who survives by making the lives of others worthwhile

[meds4sale]

WHO: The Medicine Seller and Open!
WHAT: The Medicine Seller wants to get his bearings. Or sell medicine. Since he’s a medicine seller.
WHEN: Feb 2017/Guardian, 9:43 Dragon
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Open starters below - message me on this journal or at GreenRivers if you want a private starter.

A. Got A Remedy For That
The thing the Medicine Seller noticed about people was that they generally saw what they wanted to see so long as it fit their personal narrative of the world. Despite his numerous tells, he'd passed easily as human in his own world. He was the right general shape, and what words couldn’t explain away, a pretty face could certainly distract from.

Here, it was even easier to go unnoticed. Most had but a passing familiarity with the Dalish and their lore, so when they saw his pointy ears and facial markings, and assumed he was just some elf who'd nicked an Orlesian noble's bathrobe and was going for A Look, it made things quite convenient. And he wasn't one to deny people their assumptions when they benefited him.

Dalish may have had a stigma, but between that or being considered the very thing he existed to fight, the former misconception was infinitely less trying.

He didn’t have a stall set up, so much as a few planks of wood balanced together to make a crude, make-shift table. Which he had then covered with a cloth. There were bottles, flasks, vials, powder packets, small, colourful silk pouches and ornate lacquered boxes, bright and vibrant against the gray winter backdrop of the fortress. He’d set a few other planks down to sit on, sparing his knees the cold, winter mud.

He was out of the way of the main hubbub of the merchant stalls and there were no signs or boards with a list of prices, but the vibrancy of his attire and stock made him and his wares impossible to miss. If one was in need of a remedy, they could do far worse.


B. The Price of Knowledge
Being a stranger in a strange land was new to the Medicine Seller, but once the novelty of it wore off, it really wasn’t so different from home. People were people wherever you went - however different their appearances, customs, and cultures, they were still driven by the same emotions.

Still, customs were important, and moreover, he hated not knowing things. Especially things that could make him seem ignorant. It didn’t do to be ignorant if you could help it.

The library had proven beneficial. At the very least he had become acquainted with the Chantry’s version of Thedosian history. He doubted it was in any way accurate or removed from bias (which the historian Genitivi had at least admitted to in his writings), but it was still useful. The more he read, the more he understood the attitudes and inclinations of this society.

The books on medicine were also quite informative - elfroot seemed to go in just about every cure for any ailment which certainly made his job easy. Deep mushrooms also seemed to be a fairly common component.

He was not particularly neat with his research - books were scattered about his work space, some half open, others in haphazard stacks. His notes on Thedas’s medicinal herbs were just as erratically spaced, though his calligraphy and brushwork copying the illustrations was meticulous and quite skillful, if completely illegible to almost anyone in Skyhold.

Still, history and medical books could become a bit tiresome after a while, even for someone with the Medicine Seller’s boundless patience. He deemed a break necessary and went in search of some fiction, leaving his mess for now.

Hard in Hightown 3: The Re-Punchening sounded like some particularly delightful literary schlock. He returned to his spot, lit the tobacco in the bowl of his kiseru, and sat back, prepared to be thoroughly entertained.


C. Curiosity Killed The Cat
Skyhold was a curiosity in and of itself, and the Medicine Seller could hardly refrain from exploring the grounds. It wasn’t often one got the opportunity to poke around a fortress, and while there was work ahead of him here, he was rather nosy.

The ramparts offered quite a view of the chilly Frostbacks. The great hall was aptly named, altogether rather grand with its high ceilings and the imposing throne. The stables held a wide variety of peculiar animals. The gardens had all manner of botanical goodies. The place was absolutely huge and, if rumour was to be believed, quite a windfall for the Inquisition in its budding stages.

Such things were very interesting to the Medicine Seller. He’d move on once he was able to play by this world’s rules and pass through society without too much in ways of questions, but this was certainly ideal for the time being.

D. Wildcard!
Is the Medicine Man eavesdropping on your business? Did you spot him petting a good cat or talking to his weird sword? Did he sell you some faulty medicine? Anything goes!

Comments

[meds4sale]

The Medicine Seller hadn't really considered that point of view before. As far as he was concerned, he was an apothecary. His job was to mix and sell his stock. If it ran out, he'd seek a replacement.

"If I hoarded such things, they would merely rot and would be no good to anyone."

He carefully wrapped the goods into a larger square of cloth. He was sure the silver vessel would catch the eye of someone with sticky fingers if spotted.

"If the medicine does as it's supposed to, return to me and I will prepare more and we can discuss a ... proper table."

That would be nice. He'd also recognized that bit of elven - often he'd hear the elves slip bits and pieces of it into their sentences and sometimes, he could discern what was meant by context.

He could sympathize a bit with missing your own language.

"Dōitashimashite," he said, lowering his head.

[nadasharillen]

She raised her eyebrows and nodded slightly, acknowledging the point. What good was medicine that went unused, after all. Irreplaceable herbs were precious but so was life--which was just as irreplaceable.

Nahariel lowered her head in return, a smile ghosting her lips to hear a new language. And then remembered how it had felt to be in Skyhold the first time, stuck in the middle of a cacophony of culture, none of it hers, until they'd carved out a space in the garden. Sina had been like a lodestone, and then there had been the Ashara, but the rifters had no-one. She wondered if the apothecary had had a family.

Oh, the garden!

She straightened up, eyes flashing brightly again with the idea. "You don't have seeds or live cuttings, do you? We've still some space along the garden wall, and a few pots unused. And if you wouldn't mind helping to restock the healing tents, I'm sure there'd be no problem if you were to want to experiment with what we've got growing here." The lopsided smile reappeared. "I mostly just turn the dirt, but Sina knows what they're all for."

[meds4sale]

The Medicine Seller straightened, resting his hands on his knees.

"Unfortunately, I have no seeds that would grow. Though I know there are plants here similar to those of my home, their names are not all known to me."

If the Medicine Seller could sound anything beyond a constant deadpan, then he sounded resigned to the limitations of his stock. He was quiet for a moment, and then, a thought occurred to him.

"...Ah - pardon me a moment."

He opened one of the two smaller top drawers and, with great care, began to take out a number of books.

These were... not proper books. In fact, going by the covers consisting of women and attractive young men in loose garb falling haphazardly off the shoulders, these books were downright dirty.

And quite dusty, the further he dug. Just how much could that pack hold? He left them in small piles, haphazardly strewn about. He may have been neat when it came to his work, but he was a bit of a disaster about everything else.

Eventually, he seemed to find what he was looking for - it was a book, though it certainly wasn't as interesting as the ones he'd been rummaging through.

It seemed hand-bound, and well-worn. Bits of aged paper marking pages or folded diagrams had bloated the thing to the point the covers were warped.

"It has been some time since I have needed this," he mused, gazing at it with whatever passed for fondness.

"Do you know someone who is familiar with botany who may have some time to spare?"

[nadasharillen]

The elf's eyebrows inched up at the... illustrative cover art--although she made no comment--and they did so again at the sheer volume of books that issued from the pack. Nahariel tilted her head and watched the progression intently. Had it just been packed tightly? Some exceedingly useful magic from another world?

Her curiosity was interrupted by the appearance of the hand-bound paper stuffed book and the subsequent query. Nari nodded, her smile a true and warm one this time. "My clansister, Sina. She's the best hand with plants I know. She knows everything we have growing here and what it's used for, and a few others that we haven't been able to find in this area besides. And--" the smile dimmed slightly, her eyes flicking to the side for a moment. "And she has time. She's not well enough to go out on assignment unless it's something only she could do."

[meds4sale]

The Medicine Seller watched the smile fall away. It was an expression he was well-acquainted with in his work, and in circumstances like these it managed to evoke what little sympathy he had left.

The implications of Nahariel's statement were not lost on him.

"Is Sina the one who you are purchasing the medicine for?"

[nadasharillen]

On some level it was strange to her, that even after more than a year her throat still caught when talking to someone new about Sina's illness. Rather than reveal the roughness she knew would come out, Nahariel simply nodded as answer.

And then she swallowed it. Much like stuffing volumes of books into a normal pack, the sorrow didn't quite fit, but she nevertheless closed the flap on it, smile reappearing. "You'd be welcome to stop by when the market closes, sometime. I bet she'd be happy for the diversion. And to talk herbs with someone who doesn't have such a black thumb," she finishes wryly, her shoulders lifting in a half-shrug.

[meds4sale]

"A gracious offer. I cannot ensure the quality of my thumb," he said, holding up his exquisitely manicured hands, as if to say he'd never properly gardened in his life. The length and cleanness of his nails more than made that evident.

"Traveling afforded little time to grow my own stock after all."

But this might have been a temporary end to his days of meandering wherever his feet took him. The shard seemed to dole out a great deal of pain if he wandered too far, and that left him in an unusual position.

There was no sense, then, in not using his new found free time to learn a few tricks.

"Still, I will endeavor not to be too exasperating."

[nadasharillen]

"Something I've never tried," Nahariel replies cheerfully, teeth flashing white against her skin. She reached to take the small precious pile of medicines as if picking up gold, a wounded bird, her own heart, and held it with both hands close to her body despite the perfectly acceptable satchel at her side.

"We will see you in the garden then, I hope," she said, ducking her chin courteously, and then turned to cross the courtyard, her stride a little longer with purpose than before.