The divide for activities had been pretty quick, we agreed that we would use 3 days to enjoy ourselves in Rosepebble, of which we divided into teams of two. Jax had voted on the bar games, however Kaelen and the others, still mad at his spending on the thumbs had him tag along with Kaelen on his Volunteer work with the Copperleaf. Both Liora and Selene were very excited about the Forge-a-lot for very different reasons.
"They have full body massages, so you know how long it's been since I got to deep clean my feathers!?"
Liora has yelled with excitement as she read the pamphlet over.
"T-They even let you assist and learn the forging process, I always wondered how they incorporated different parts to metal weapons."
Selene had said as the two jumped up and down like teenage girls told they could have a sleepover together.
That left Thalia and me, and while I was unsure of what to pick Thalia had been silently reading over the Bloom and Brew pamphlet, and while a part of me wanted to say that I knew what I needed to about herbs and stuff Will chimed in.
"To be fair, we know a lot about forest and field herbs, mountains, cave, and more herbs are mostly an unknown, plus we might even learn a potion recipe or two."
I didn't have an argument for that logic, so I nodded as we started to look for the Bloom and Brew.
"Are you having a conversation with your skill at this very moment?"
Thalia asked as we turned a corner and passed by a group of children running in a small race.
"Does pointless comments count?"
I asked as a twinge of pain shot through my head.
"Bitch we would be dead without me."
Will said, giving me a middle finger as Thalia gave me a look as she slightly cocked her head.
"You seem to be pain, I must assume that your skill is annoyed with your comment?"
"Something like that."
I said shaking my head as we approached the Bloom and Brew. The shop itself was rather interesting, seeming to be made from a wide tree growing between two other buildings there were stairs and ladders that lead up to several hanging platforms with tables and chairs suspended like hanging plants.
Near the roof of the cafe seemed to be where a group of around 19 or so people were gathered and seemed to be chatting and discussing, jars of herbs were laid out on the tables as several people walked around them.
As we made our way over, I saw that Thalia was looking the jars over with a curious interest as what seemed to be a large branch with a larger than normal woodpecker stood.
"So, in terms of what herbs specialize in, there is a variety of aspects that must be considered, for example, what environment they were grown in may change what they are good at."
The fullblood woodpecker turned and reached into a jar with their beak and placed a stalk on the table.
"Can anyone here, Identify this herb?"
I took a moment to peer at the stalk. It looked to be a small branch, bunches of small green leaves grew in parts, and a set of yellow flowers hung at the very end of the stalk.
"That looks like a stalk of Golcorone."
I said holding my chin with my hand.
"Yes, very good sir, and do you know what Golcorone does?"
The Woodpecker asked as I nodded.
"It assists with suppressing jitters and shakes, its often used by archers or ranged fighters who need to hit a target from a distance."
The woodpecker seemed surprised I had answered so well as he took a moment before he asked.
"You seem very knowledgeable about this, by chance are you a gatherer?"
I raised an eyebrow as I shook my head.
"I'm actually an alchemist, even ran a shop for a few years."
The woodpecker went silent for a moment as one of the others in a seat said.
"Huh, not a common class for adventurers, respect bro."
I wasn't sure how to respond to that, but Thalia saved me by asking.
"You mentioned that herbs gain properties for a reason, can I ask how this applies to herbs like Golcorone?"
The woodpecker seemed back in their element as they nodded.
"An excellent question, to answer that question I have one for you, why do plants grow flowers?"
Thalia seemed confused as she took a moment to think before she shrugged.
"Its because they are trying to draw the attention of pollination insects like bees, however bright colors are not only seen by bees and the like."
The woodpecker turned to a blackboard and to my surprise using skillful flying and a small leather piece they poked their beak into they flew around and used chalk to draw on the board to give a simple diagram of a drawing of the Galcorone stalk as he passed it around for people to inspect.
"Now Galcorone has 2 defense mechanisms it uses in nature, can any of you guess what they are?"
I raised a hand, surprised by how well the woodpecker was drawing me in and getting me invested as he pointed a wing to me.
"Their small leave that limit the size of what will eat them."
"Yes, nature is all about understanding of effort, a predator often will not attack if they believe the effort for the meal isn't work the effort it would take to acquire it, so if your a 13ft tall herbivore, why would you take time to pick leaves from a plant like a little Galcorone when there are trees with much bigger leaves at head height, but there is another mechanism, a hint is that its related to its helpful properties."
Thalia took a moment to think before she raised her own hand.
"Its the suppressant property, for larger creatures it won't even register, but because only smaller animals eat the leaves the suppressants act like a paralytic to them."
"We have a winner"
The woodpecker said in a sing song voice as he turned back to the board and began to explain how those properties appeared in nature and more, but I was a bit distracted by the commotion in the street. I saw an oddly familiar looking wolf running down the road only to get tackled by a familiar looking priest elf.
"Quit complaining, I've been asked out to dinner 13 times, and you don't see me complaining."
Kaelen yelled as he sprinted after Jax.
"Why are you complaining about that?"
Jax yelled as he was tackled by Kaelen, both rolling to the ground. A group of two muscular guys ran behind Kaelen and grabbed Jax as they tried to wrestle him into a rope.
"Its just charity work, it will make you feel better about yourself."
Kaelen said as they lifted Jax like a tied up hog to go on a spit as they carried him.
"Screw feeling good, happy feelings don't settle my bar tab!"
Jax roared as he struggled and failed to break free of his bindings while they dragged him back to the construction site. Both Thalia and I shared the same neutral disappointed expression as we watched the scene.