Althea the Herbalist's page

Lyla

"Hmph." Althea grunts, not looking up from her latest batch of antiplague. "Alrighty then--I'll make sure your other half is safe and sound by the time you come back."

Tellingly, she has no reaction to being told that you're going to rip your skin off and leave your body behind. Either she's only half-listening or she really is that jaded.

Raksi's potions are potions of water breathing, and yes, they are on the Alchemist formula list.

Althea nods appreciatively at everyone. "Thank you all kindly."

As she and Lyla begin working on sewing the dead Gaekhen back together, it becomes clear that Althea has a great deal of practice with a needle--every single one of her movements is made with precision. Every stitch is evenly spaced and neatly snipped off to ensure there are no stray threads.

She lets Lyla sew Gaekhen's arm back onto his torso while she busies herself with reattaching the Shoanti boy's head to his body. "Normally, the Shoanti just cremate their dead from what I've heard. Somethin' about being the only way for a warrior's spirit to rejoin with nature or some such. Honestly, I don't really know the details."

With Demitri & Ortik holding the boy's torso to the side, Lyla & Althea are able to stitch the entirety of Gaekhen's hips and legs back where they belong. The whole process takes a long time--just long enough for Nalun to return in time with the clothes.

Althea solemnly gets up and goes looking for her needle and stitches. "Well, this a first for me... usually, when I break these out, it's to stitch up a boy's skinned knee or someone's head after a bar fight. First time for everythin', I suppose."

As Lyla digs out Gaekhen's body parts and arranges them, Althea turns to Demitri and the others. "Would you be so kind as to hold the bits steady for me while I stitch them back up? Reattaching the legs to the poor boy's torso is going to be the really difficult part of it."

"Of course, of course. Just gimme a minute." Althea stands up and walks over to the boy's parents, holding some packets. The boy takes a drink of his tea and winces. "Now, make sure he drinks one cup of these every day. I know it tastes horrible, but as long as he drinks it, his throat will be better in no time."

"Now, on your way then. Go ahead and keep the cup." The parents collect the boy and start walking past the party out of the shop. After they exchange thanks, Althea sits back down at the table. "So, now what is it ya need?"

The occupants of the shop turn as Demitri and company enter. A weather-beaten brown-haired man and a thin wisp of a blonde woman sit in chairs near the door, and a sandy-haired young boy with a serious cough is sitting at a table next to Althea. She's busily mixing up some sort of tea.

"--now, let that be a lesson to you, young man. Don't ever go putting something in your mouth if you have no idea what it is. Just drink this herbal tea every day for a couple of days and your throat ought to be all better, right as rain." She chides the boy as she slides the teacup over to him.

She looks up as Demitri enters with Lyla in tow. "Oh, hello again, young man." She waves with a smile on her wrinkled face. "And my little Lyla too, no less. What brings the bunch of you in today?"