Evaliir’Tel’Quessir

[darkenwood]

Leal stirred to consciousness, still not quite use to such settings as she looked about the room they rented in the inn. In the distance she heard the sound of rolling thunder, a little late in the season for such a storm but not out of the realm of possibility. She looked over the sleeping form next to her and smiles slightly, for about a week now they had been hard traveling. This was not a problem for Leal who was use to such things but to the one next to her, the rest was needed and she knew it. 

She carefully raised from her position not to the disturb the one next to her and moved to collect her leathers and hooded cloak, she slowly got dressed. She grabbed her knapsack but left the rest of her gear in the room, she wasn't planning on going far. She left the room quietly and headed down to the common room. The innkeep stood behind his desk going over what was no doubt his ledger book. She would give him a nod as she headed to the door when he spoke up. "Hope you are not thinking of traveling far tonight, you won't want to be caught out there when the storm hits".

Leal would stop at that and look the innkeep and smile slightly, "just getting some air, would it be possible to have a pot of boiling water ready for my return?" Leal would move to the bar going for her coin purse. The innkeep would nod to her but wave his hand as she went to pay him, "your traveling companion paid enough for the room and food for the two of you". "Of course she did" Leal thought to herself as she looked up the room a moment and shaking her head slightly as she nooded to the innkeep and headed for the door.

She stepped out into the cool autumn air, hearing the sound of rolling thunder moving slowly closer to her. It took her low light vision a few moment to adjust as she saw a few commoners moving quickly around the hamlet, no doubt trying to finish what ever business they had before the storm hit. The dragon who was on watched moved slower than the rest, most likely not being happy to have the watch this night.

Waymoot, they called this place. "Interesting name" Leal thought to herself with a sense of irony. A druidic term in truth, meaning a meeting by the way. She couldn't help but shake her head because as far as she could tell from her lunar cycle here, was that there were no other druids around. Thanks to the help of her companion, she had traveled the full length of the forest and if there were any druids around they didn't advertise their presence. Not even to one of their own.

Leal pulled her hood over her head as the rain began to fall. Gently at first, then harder until it finally began to fall in slanted sheets as the wind picked up. She would remain outside for a few more minutes, enjoying the fresh air before having to go back to her room. Leal doubted she could ever get use to such living, but it will have to do for now. She made one last passing glance at the no doubt grumbling dragon and she returned to the inn.

Leal entered the inn and shook off her rain soaked leathers as she moved to the innkeep to retrieve the pot of boiling water. She would leave a few coins for him in return, regardless that her companion had payed for it already. She returned to her room as quietly as possible, placing the pot of steaming water on the table then removing her cloak and hanging it to dry. She placed her knapsack next to her as she sat down at the table.

She opened her pack and retrieved two small pouches, a very thin piece of square cloth and a small string. Leal opened the first pouch and placed of a few generous pinched of its contents onto the cloth, which she then bundled it up and tied with the string. She would place the bundle into the pot and let the water steep. It didn't take long for the pleasant smell of apples and spice to fill the room. She inhaled the smell deeply and then retrieved a small package from her pack, along with a small clay serving bowl.

She opened the package and removed a small leather bound book, a quill and some ink. After a few moments she would open the second pouch and take two carefully measured pinches of its contents and placed them in the bowl, and then poured in the tea. She would wait a few moments more before she would pick up the bowl and take a small sip of its contents. A small wave of euphoria would enter her mind and a slight relaxation of the muscles would follow, though the effects would only be momentary but still quite pleasant.

Leal let the effects pass by before she began to write. The names of the herbs, roots and seeds used as well as the portions needed she wrote in druidic. She did this for security mostly, she knew if she ever lost the book or if it was stolen, it could be used to cause much malice. The rest she wrote in a mixture of common and elven, not for any reason other than how she was feeling at that moment. "Effect: momentary feelings of euphoria and a slight relaxation of the muscles. Side effects: light sensitivity due to pupil dilation and impaired motor responses. Other Notes: no noticeable physical or mental compulsion to continue usage."

Leal spent the next hour or two curled up in her chair enjoying the drink and it's effects before finally attempting to return to her reverie.

[darkenwood]

The First Of Four Flaws

When attempting to discuss "The Balance", it is first important to know and understand the fundamental flaws to what we now know as "Civilized Society". It is a often thought, and wrongfully so to think that cities and settlements have to exist outside the harmony of "The Balance". As a druid it is our duty to try to return the "Civilized World" back to the community that is "The Balance". The problem is that many believe that these "flaws" as I will call them are fundamental to the systems success.

The first flaw, is the extermination of all competition. This is something that never happens outside the community of "The Balance". It is acceptable in "The Balance" to defend ones territory, it is also acceptable to defend ones kill that is for food. They may even leave their own territory and venture to their competitors in search of a kill. Some might even include those that are in-fact their competitors as prey, but never once in "The Balance" will you see one hunting another for the sole reason of removal of all competition.

This is not to say that in the community, one is not allowed to defend themselves. Some species are even known to band together to fend off a predator, but in the absence of said predators they will never band together just to search for one. "The pack may go look for food, but the pack will never go looking for is their predator". When animals hunt, it is for food not to exterminate competitors.

If all in community acted like the farmer who seeks to remove wolves from the land, then there would be no competition at all in the community. There would just be only one at the peak and the rest are its food. This would make for a very fragile community and could easily be destroyed due to famine or drought.

[darkenwood]

The Second Of Four Flaws

The second flaw of the "Civilized Community" is one that most druids know and focus on. That is the destruction of their competitors food supply, to make room for their own. One only needs to walk into any farm land and see this and it's effects. Nothing like this ever happens in the community of "The Balance".

For this reason, it is of vital importance to a druid to ensure that if there are farm lands in their sphere of influence that they ensure the farmland is productive and only as large as it needs to be to ensure a stable population. Many younger druids or those who follow the furies of the Elementals will see this is an unjustifiable compromise, and some may even actively work to ensure that crops and farms fail with little or no thought to the greater picture.

Food supply is always tied to population growth. If there is an abundance of food, the population will grow and thus require more food which will mean more land is needed to sustain said population. This is of course one of the greatest fears of all druids. A population out of control and leaving little to nothing for everything else. 

To attempt to keep a population in control, is to benefit the entire community. To war over it should be used only as a last resort. Teach the farmers to "take what only is needed, and leave the rest be", as this is a fundamental law to "The Balance". 

[darkenwood]

The Third of Four Flaws

To deny access to food is the third flaw of "Civilized Society". In the land of Cormyr for instance this flaw is flaunted to the up-most. Not only will the nobles of the land claim that a deer in the forest is theirs, but in-fact they claim all the deer in the forest as theirs. This is in direct conflict with the law of competition. One can say that the deer they just killed is theirs to eat, one cannot say that all the deer are theirs to eat. This does not happen in harmony of the balance. 

When it comes to farming and this flaw opinions will vary, in this writing it is not my attempt to give my opinion on the matter, just to point out the differences in viewpoints on the subject at hand. When a farmer raises a herd of cattle, some will say that it is alright for the farmer to claim the herd for his since the herd would not be there without him, as long as the farmer doesn't claim all the herds to be his. The same can be said with crops. 

Of course, some will disagree with that opinion, and will state that even though the herd is technically not a "natural" herd the law of competition still applies and to deny competition to the herd is to break the law of competition. This of course is a matter of opinion and conjecture. I struggle with this point myself at times.

[darkenwood]

The Fourth of Four Flaws

It is the policy of "Civilized Society" to claim that every square foot of Toril is theirs. It is at the core of their very belief to think that, if they were to put it all under cultivation, then everyone and everything else is just out of luck. It is their policy to deny access to all the food in the realm and claim it as their own. 

A bee will deny one access to the hive, but will not deny one access to the apple on the tree where it made its hive. That is not to say though that storage of food is a flaw of "Civilized Society". Some may say that a wolf kills a deer and eats it, it doesn't kill a second and save it for tomorrow. This line of thought if wrong, every living creature in the balance stores food, the bees do it in their hive, most others do it in their bodies. 

The grass stores food for the deer, the deer stores food for the wolf. When the wolf dies it becomes food for the plants and so on. This cycle is dependent of the law which I have defined, and the four flaws of society as we know it that break them. It is this law that makes the community of the balance work.

[darkenwood]

The Art of Mundane Healing

Appendix A

The art of healing through the mundane can be a valuable trait for any adventure when divine healing is either not available or not practical. There is nothing at annoys me more then when one goes running to the nearest priest for something as common as a runny nose! In this short outline I will speak of a few common terms that should be known when dealing with using Herbalism as a practice of healing. 

One of the easiest way to administer a mundane remedy than to add it to food, and indeed this is one of the most well known. It is often the practice of a mother to do such with a child who is fickle about the taste, or as we say in the healer circles "plate fright". This is called "Comestible", to put it simply anything you eat. The most common practice of this is including the remedy into jams or wafer cookies. 

The art of "Infusion" is indeed a dangerous one, and one that takes much practice to master. That is using an "awl" to administer a remedy straight into the blood. An "awl" is a tool used by those who paint there skin in permanent ink, but was quickly adopted by natural healers for it's ability to administer remedies directly to the blood. The benefits of doing such is that the effects are almost instantaneous, but at the risk of loss of blood if the healer does not know what he or she is doing. It is also important to note that those mundane remedies with qualities of compulsion of use will be amplified when using this method. Use as a last resort unless having the proper training. 

There are many herbs, roots and seeds that while poisonous to eat, or infuse into the blood still hold healing qualities. One way to harness the properties of such is to use a method called "Inhalation". The most common form of this is to boil the remedy and then have the patient breath in the vapor coming off of a boiling liquid. Smoldering certain herbs and roots can also have the same effect. Certain minerals can be used as well in this manner to wake one from unconsciousness.

To use an "Ointment" is to infuse the remedy with a benign oil, like an oil used for cooking. Once the remedy has been infused, which usually takes sometimes up to a day, is rubbed onto the skin. This is a common method used for rashes and burns. There are several methods of skin application which I will get to further on but none should be confused!

A "Poultice" is much like an "Ointment" except that is applied to the skin via a medium, that could be anything from a soaked cloth or even a leaf off a tree. Again this method takes time to prepare as the healer needs to ensure that the remedy has been soaked into the medium. 

A "Potable" remedy is one that is drank. A common form of this is tea, which is my favorite method cause often times the unpalatable nature of certain remedies can be ignored by adding other things to it to please the sense of smell and taste. Tea is not the only form of this though, as many juices and even alcoholic beverages can be uses for such a medium, the later having an added quality of relaxation and pain relief!

A "Salve" is akin to an "Ointment" or a "Poultice" except that it is thicker and takes the form of a paste. Such is usually made in a pestle and mortar and ground down till the right consistency is found to bind on the skin on its own, usually due to the natural oils and liquids in the ingredients. A unique quality of a "Salve" is that it can be sometimes used for a dual purpose, certain herbs and roots when ground down can be added to the upper lip to those who suffer from both a cough and congestion. The salve while meant to ease the skin around the nose and mouth will also be inhaled which gives the benefit easing the pain of breathing!

The "Tincture" method is one used to immerse the remedy in a solution that stabilizes it for use later. The most common stabilizer is alcohol, which is then saved to be added to something "Potable". The benefits of this is that the alcohol acts as a preservative. This liquid can then be kept for extended periods of time for travel, though relative temperature can affect its effectiveness!