Halo or Horns? [LYDIA]

Lydia listened intently as Ankaios described the landscape and she nodded. They would head to the east then but first they would take a detour to gather some lavender. She followed the man to the farthest corner of the garden where fronds of lavender were waiting to be gathered. "Thank you!" She moved in to help herself to the herbs. Deftly she snipped fronds of the plants about six inches below the flowers so she'd have some nice stalks to carry. "There we go. Now for the Valerian root." She gently set the fronds of lavender in the scrap of deer hide, folded up the two corners and took off toward the east.

Lydia picked her way expertly through, ears alert for the sound of water. Once she heard it she began searching. Her keen eyes riffling through various plant materials until at last she saw the towering stalks of the Valerian plant. Moving swiftly toward them she set down her bundle. "Here they are! It's the root we want so we'll have to dig." Autumn was the ideal time to harvest the rhizome but on the cusp of summer crossing into autumn Lydia felt the crop would be decent enough. She set to digging, her paws working furiously through the moist soil until at last she had freed one of the roots. Snipping through the stem with her teeth she added the root to her bundle. She eyed the flowers and steam. She was not as familiar with their properties and she had only a limited amount of space. Settling for more Valerian she took back to digging, becoming absorbed in her work.