This was important, probably too much for Ophie to handle. But it wasn't as if she could say no now, not when part of the Armada's success in expanding rested on her very porky shoulders. She knew there were so many healers more skilled and capable than her, but she guessed that was the point. To put her through the ringer and work, to earn her keep like everyone else. And thus she'd have to gather some plants, scope out the land to see what grew here and whether it would be of use. She wasn't entirely sure what sort of plants grew along the beach but...there were plenty of cliffs about, surely plants had settled here and there, right? Better get to looking. Turning to those following her sausage paws, she bit her lip nervously. "I uh, let's have a sniff around for plants and stuff and see what we find. Try not to um..put it in your mouth before you know what it is, please. Oh. And if you have any questions I'll do my best!" She glanced about, brows knit as her gaze settled on the waves. What was that dark green stuff wriggling beneath the surface. Oh! She'd found something! "Oh look, seaweed. I heard its good for um...taking care of wounds, skin and burns. " Wading out into the water, her ears flicked back as a wave splashed against her, making her squint her eyes thin as she leaned down to pluck up some seaweed. Good thing there was plenty to go about.

At the request of her master to make herself useful, Lyre offered to accompany a group of healers and helpers to inspect a nearby beach that the pack might claim as their own. The woman was quiet, though she didn't keep her eyes downcast as she normally might. The striped fae had looped a rope in the handles of a woven basket and that basket rested against her shoulder. There were things on a beach that could be used, this she knew. If Azure wanted her to make herself useful, she very well would.

Once they reached the beach, the leader of their party mentioned the plethora of seaweed drifting in the waves. Seaweed was a useful thing. Olive colored eyes scanned the dunes and Lyre made a small sound of interest in her throat. "Sand Verbena," she pointed out, moving towards a blanket of plants draped across one of the dunes. "The roots can be cleaned and cooked." Obsidian dipped paws began sifting through the sandy soil, pulling up the plants and exposing the large, thick roots which she then placed in her basket.

"Lyre"

Aris didn't bother to hide her displeasure at Ophelia being given command of this herb gathering mission, her ears flattened to her head from the moment they'd gathered and she'd found out who was leading it. What a joke - Ophelia was no more a healer than she was. It was like they were being forced to give her respect since she had nothing going for her that would actually earn her respect. But they were supposed to take orders from a dirty smelly sausage on legs, just because she was put in charge of them?

Aris rolled her eyes at Ophelia's warning to not put their mouths on anything because apparently they were a gaggle of children instead of healers. If anyone needed to be warned to stop putting things in their mouth maybe it was Ophie, not them.

Grumpily she turned further up the beach, away from the rest of the healers and away from the tide line. It was winter, so she wasn't sure what anyone expected them to find out about herbs that grew here. They should have waited for at least spring, when everything was actually putting out new growth and they could identify things.

After a moment of letting her eyes sweep the terrain, she finally spotted a twisted shrub-like tree growing partway up a rocky slope. Her eyes lit up as she recognized it's evergreen needles and the odd berry like cones. A juniper! This late in the year, any cones that had fallen had long been devoured by birds and small mammals, but there were still a bunch hanging on the branches. Let Ophelia get her feet wet playing with kelp, Aris was going to go climb a tree.

She paused under the evergreen, planning her ascent as her claws slid from their sheaths. "Found some juniper," she called out, reluctantly informing the rest of the group of her find. She risked a peek over her shoulder, but the two she could immediately see were already occupied with their own foraging so she should be able to fill her packs before anyone wandered over hoping to take advantage of her find.

She was late! Gossamer scrambled down to the cove. She wanted to be there to support Ophelia in leading this herb hunting expedition. Considering it was still winter up north it would not be an easy task. Bounding across the sand toward the others she cast a curious glance at Mortis followed by a grin. "Hey Mort, you going to start taking up healing?" She looked to Ophelia. "Sorry I'm late. A coon got into the stores. No worries, he'll make a nice hat."

She set about hunting, knowing she had some catching up to do. Gossamer set out closer to the base of the mountains, not expecting to find much toward the open water. Her eyes scanned the trees soon noticing the grayish bark of a dormant ash tree. It twisted and bent toward the sky, its leafless form stark against the snow on the mountainside. "I have some ash here!" She called out. Uncertain if she should also state that the bark would make a decent astringent and a decoction of it could help with fever.

It looked as though everyone was playing their part, sniffing and snuffing to find the goods. Ophie felt better when Gos arrived on the scene, making her feel as though at least one Fatalis knew what they were doing! She was trying though, hoped everyone could see it... Anyway, moving on. She dipped her muzzle beneath the water and grabbed at the seaweed like a cow munching grass. By the time she pulled free, her whole face was dripping with water as seaweed dangled from her maw like a moustache. Putting it atop a rock to start drying, she got back into looking for some plants. More to add to the pile.

Looking about, Ophie felt a spike of nervousness when she realised she might not find something else. That they might all realise she didn't know what she was doing! Fortune was quick to shine down on her as she came across a smelly plant...worm something? It looked helpful though and she was quick to start gathering it, slowly, carefully.

Others arrived and began searching the chilly beach for anything useful. There was apparently juniper and Lyre's olive gaze flickered towards the smaller wolf to see exactly what juniper looked like. The fae was hastily shoving it in her pack but if there was any left, Lyre would take a bit as well.

Ash was called out and Lyre inspected the tree in question. She wasn't sure what ash was used for, but she wouldn't ask right now. Instead, something else had caught her eye. Thick, hardy dune grass. The long blades could be dried and used to weave baskets. Taking a small blade, Lyre clipped a good portion of the grass at the base. Later she would lay the grass out to dry and would spend her spare time making baskets for storage.

"Lyre"

Bark was useful for it could be gathered in a variety of seasons. At least in winter she didn't have to worry about pests as much though it would weaken the tree against the cold. Gossamer used her fangs to dig into the ash bark and then pry of small sections. She took a little here and there from multiple trees so as not to leave an eggregious wound on one in particular. Once the bark was gathered she continued on her way, again scouting the shrubs and trees that grew in the area.

An eight-foot tall guelder rose shrub caught her eye and she pranced over to it. Barberry didn't often grow this far north but perhaps the effects of the ocean air altered conditions just enough for it. "Cramp Bark" would come in useful for a number of ailments. She trotted over to it before turning and shouting toward Ophelia. "Found some cramp bark! Would it be helpful to share what we know about the plants we find?" She wanted to share her knowledge if it would help but she didn't want to cause any disdain from just rattling off information everyone else already knew."

Flexing her feline claws out Aris carefully began her climb. It wasn't a particularly tall tree but sturdy enough for her light weight, and she made her way up the trunk with her claws like a kitten, until she could reach the first cones. Setting her other claws firmly into the bark she dislodged one forepaw and reached out to pluck one off the branch closest to her. Though they were called "berries" they were actually evergreen cones, which is why they had survived so far into the winter despite all the freezing and snowstorms. There weren't nearly as many hungry critters willing to pry the seeds from cones as there were those who would devour actual berries or easier to eat seeds. She would be willing to bet that once summer came the dunes would abound with wild roses, but this late in tahe season there was no point in looking for the bright red rose hips because they would all be gone already. Too bad, they were really good for you. She did - as she scooted further up the tree to strip another branch - see a looping tangle of thorny looking vines along the far edge of the beach that she thought might be a particular climbing wild rose species. She would want to come back inthe late spring to check it out - if she transplanted some in places on the border it could make certain areas inaccessible to trespassers I'm addition to giving the pack a source of medicinal rose hips.

One saddlebag pack was nearly full, so she reached back to slide the buckle shut to keep the juniper from falling out, and opened the one on the other side, careful to set each foreclaw back in place with a confirmed grip before she released the other.

Turning to her big sister, Ophie nodded eagerly. It was obvious to everyone around she didn't know what she was doing, no use in pretending and if Gos was willing to share her know how then all the better! There was a lot to gather, maybe they could all learn something today! "Oh yes please!" She called back, feeling put on the spot to find something else for their growing collection. Uhhh ummm...Gosh this was far harder than she'd like, had to resist the urge to toddle away with her fat tail between her legs. "I'm look over here...near these rocks..." Out of sight, mostly. Till she spotted a pretty purpley-blue flower growing nearby...vipers something?Buglose? Bugloss? Either way the smell was kind of familiar and she vaguely recalled Sedna telling her it could be used to treat headaches, fevers and colds. Sounded real useful to her! "Found vipers...buglose" She muttered, not wanting to incorrectly say it too loud, but was quick to busy herself plucking the stem right out of the ground

Gossamer worked to gather some of the bark, wincing a little at the bitter flavor and strong odor. The greyish brown bark was useful but not terribly pleasant to gather if one had to use their mouth. Her ears perked up as Ophelia gave her the ok to share a little bit about cramp bark. She hoped the others would share so she could learn about new herbs as well. "Cramp bark, as you might guess, helps with cramps, spasms and convulsions. I find it best given as a decoction or tincture." She fancied the tincture herself to help mask the bitter flavor.

Once satisfied with her haul she continued looking about, pausing as she heard Ophelia mention something about vipers. "Vipers?! Where?" She bounded over towards Ophelia wondering if her sister had found a hibernating snake in the sand but instead spied an interesting plant. "Oh, nice find, what's that?" She was surprised to see a plant flowering in this bitter cold.

As Lyre worked, she listened, ears moving to catch the different voices. She learned about cramp bark and what it was used for, which interested the striped fae. Once she was done in her section, she moved over and harvested a bit of the plant in question so that she might know what it looked like in the future. She did the same with the seaweed, the wormwart, and the juniper, but only once the purple marked lady gave up her claim on it. Lyre had noticed how greedily she began collecting the plant and didn't wish to step on any toes.

Lyre continued to look around, but didn't find anything terribly useful. It was the wrong season for finding useful herbs. Instead of continuing her search, the slender woman moved along beside the others, helping them collect their findings and generally just assisting where she could.

"Lyre"

Aris continued to scramble further up the gnarled trunk, collecting all the juniper berries she could reach, but the branches were beginning to bend far too precariously even under her slight weight. She reached for the last few she could possibly get to, and since everyone else was talking about what they found, she called out as her claws gripped the cone, "Juniper is a method of birth control and an abortifacient. Good have around so we don't end up with any more mouths to feed while we get set up, right?" She chortled to herself as she buckled the second pack, then worked her way back down the tree trunk.