First round is due January 30th. Each successive round will be a week. Let's actually get a healing lesson completed for once, yes?

Paladin 'Knight' Ancora

With Sterling on the mend, Paladin decided it was time to hold the birthing lesson he’d notified Solveiga of his plan to hold. Granted, it was a little later in Spring than he’d intended to hold it, but he had a large supply of herbs for this very purpose stocked up. He bustled around the cave system, sliding the birthing supplies from their spots in his carefully organized stocks in the walls and neatly stacking them on a larger hide to carry them all in. When he had all the herbs he needed, and picked up the sides of the hide, transporting the whole thing down the corridor to the open topped cave to the left. This cave was full of thriving herbs and greenery, and where plants didn’t grow, soft soil pressed beneath his paws before he leapt to the massive, flat topped rock that sat in the center of the cave, lit like a spotlight from above by the natural hole in the ceiling of the cave. He spent a full hour setting everything up, herbs lined neatly in a row for viewing and sniffing, then surveyed his work with a nod of satisfaction before he trotted back out into the main chamber with a glance in at Sterling, offering a smile if she happened to be awake before making his way out and down the ravine to the end, throwing his head back and howled long and loud for the healers of the pack. Two he didn’t expect to come—he hadn’t seen Kalliope or Etain in several weeks. It did give him a pang of regret that his cousin would have had to declare them missing, or removed from the pack due to lack of visible activity. It wasn’t an easy decision in the slightest, but the pack needed active members. Not idle mouths to feed. Kalliope and Etain hadn’t even shown up to the healing lesson Solveiga had held. He shook his head with a soft hiss of frustration as he lowered his haunches to the ground, waiting for the healers that remained to arrive.

Justice's ears flicked up, hearing a call from her brother echoing across the plains. Not for her specifically, but for all the healers, and though it was commanding it wasn't urgent. That meant one thing. A training session, finally. The fight training had turned out to be a surprisingly fun learning experience, but she had been waiting impatiently for one of the trained healers to remember that they were supposed to be teaching the apprentices. She'd never been assigned a mentor, let alone one specifically for healing, and she'd been gone for the only one that Regulus' mate had held, so she at least had never even gotten a single lesson. Well, it seemed that was finally going to change.

She wasted no time getting from the border to the cave system most of the Adravendis and healers stayed in, but she hesitated when she came within sight of the ravine. She hadn't been back since her mother died, avoiding the memories of sitting there with her wasting away and never responsive, the memories of being able to do nothing.

But Paladin was standing there at the end of the ravine and would probably see her shortly if he hadn't already, so she refused to show that hesitation and the mixed feelings that washed through her. Instead she fixed on a cocky expression and continued her trot up to here he was.

"About time," she snarked, poking a paw at his ribcage as she came up to her slightly taller, but slimmer, sibling. "I figured at this rate Regulus' rugrats were going to be adults by the time someone thought to do a healer's meeting."

Seabound and Aimless at Best

Dómari was settling into the new patrol rotation. He was working his way around the plains on a warm spring day and enjoying the change in the weather. He'd been feeling restless again and decided he would need to put his nose to the grindstone and do some serious searching to see if he could find one of his family members or maybe Diarmuid. He was sure the older man was probably still around. Shame he wasn't the best tracker.

Honestly though, he needed to start applying himself more to Celestial. He'd been lounging about after the raid to heal his wounds and with spring in full swing now was the time to work on his training. Well, fight training anyway. Dómari unfortunately had few lessons in healing and he wasn't the sort to just start randomly experimenting with plants. Thankfully it seemed fate had intervened.

Dómari was on his way back when he heard Paladin's call and he quickly went to answer it. He had a fair amount of ground to cover and by the time he got to meeting place Justice was already there. He grinned at her and dipped his head to her in greeting. Dómari didn't know her well but she was like a legend in his mind. The woman who maimed the leader of the invaders.

"Hello Paladin, what are we going to be covering today?"

Aurielle Adravendi

Aurielle may not have been planning to go down the route of a healer, what with being the Future, but she had a high degree of interest in the skill. Who couldn’t with having a mother who was a healer, and a twin brother who was definitely going to be a healer? So, when her cousin’s voice called for the healers, she turned away from a clump of grass that held interesting smells of rabbits and took off like a shot. She wasn’t a healer, but it was important for a leader to learn and observe the various lessons held by their people. She came pelting up to the small group, skidding to a stop several feet away and clearing her throat before she broke into a statelier trot as she approached, smiling at the two unfamiliar wolves as her tail began waving. The bubble of nerves in her breast was shoved aside as she greeted them, emulating her father’s warmth-filled tone. “Hello, I’m Aurielle. May I join the lesson, Cousin Paladin?” Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Etain listened to the call for the healer's meeting with a little bit of uncertainty. Her mother hadn't been feeling well so she'd been at her side all the time lately. It wasn't like she knew exactly how to make her feel better, but with her father getting older and her mother not feeling well and her brothers still missing... It just made her feel better to have her parents in her sight as much as possible. Her ears flicked back as she gazed out of the entrance to the den, hesitating for a while as she considered what to do. Her gaze flicked back to her mother as Kalliope nudged her shoulder and told her to go. Etain was going to protest, but of course she had to go. Even if Kalliope couldn't right now. Etain slipped out of the den and shook out her fur, catching a glance of herself in the pool of water near by. Her fur was a little disheveled and she was on the thin side, but that wasn't new for her. She tried to hurry to make her way to the meeting since she had already wasted so much time with her indecision. She finally arrived in her unique hopping gait and gave everyone as cheerful of a grin as she could muster while she settled down in the most easily accessible open space. She quickly realized she didn't know anyone here too well, but the only way to change that was to socialize more so here she was to socialize. "Talk" "You" Think

Next Round due: February 7th. Those who do not post by that time will be skipped.

Paladin 'Knight' Ancora

First to arrive was his sister. Justice was her usual snarky self, but he had to wonder how much of it was genuine. His gradated eyes gazed deep into hers as she greeted him, black painted brow points lifting slightly. “Come now, they’re our cousins. Family needs to stick together, and these particular ‘rugrats’ are very, very bright. And quite the sight to behold.” He winked at this last hint. His tone was light, even playful, but the words within his response were a warning and a plea to stop distancing herself from him and her other siblings. Exodus had returned from his grieving. The three of them were all they had left here, as far as siblings went. His gaze released her as Domari arrived, and he returned the easy good humor with a smile, answering, “Birthing. I think Solveiga has Aramis out on a healing lesson of their own, and she knows and has experienced birthing herself, so we’ll carry on without them—oh! Hello, Aurielle.” His tone warmed greatly as the young Future came racing up, a grin parting his jaws as the girl checked her stride to a more dignified trot and approached. Her query was met with a nod. She was young, but ever curious, and eager to learn anything she could. It was an advanced topic, or at least, parts of it were, but he figured she wasn’t squeamish and would be fine. “Of course.” He drew a breath to fully introduce the shimmering pale girl to his sister, but the arrival of Etain brought a raised brow. She couldn’t have attended the lesson Solveiga had held, but now she was making an appearance? His gaze lifted to search the path behind her for Kalliope, but the blind healer wasn’t in tow, though he could smell the woman on the girl’s coat. There was illness in there as well. Something to check in on. He waited for several heartbeats before clearing his throat and announcing, “Well, since we’re all gathered, I suppose you should all know what we’re going to be covering today. Today, we’ll be covering birthing. Starting with the basics, and on to advanced information, such as what to do when things go wrong, and how to diagnose a miscarriage. I’ve set up our learning space inside, so, if you’ll follow me.” He rose to his paws and led the way through the ravine, keeping a pace that the young limbs of Aurielle and the hopping, three-legged gait of Etain could keep up with and led the winding way down the corridor to the cave he’d set things up in, hopping up onto the sunbathed boulder to sit behind the line-up of herbs, implements and hides he’d arrayed for the lesson. He waited for them to gather around before he smiled warmly at them and began the lesson. “Birthing is a beautiful moment. But it can be dangerous, as well. Things can go wrong, pregnancies can be lost. The most important thing for any healer or midwife to know is when do we step in to help, and when should we let the mother do her task on her own. What do we watch for, smell for, listen for, and feel for? What are the first steps to take in assessing a mother? What do we give her for the pain that won’t harm her or the new pups? These are answers I hope to give you today.” His eyes swept the three older wolves in the group before he asked lightly, “What do you say are the first real signs of labor in a wolf?” A test, right off the bat, to make the lesson interactive. He knew his young cousin was listening intently, and he gave an encouraging nod toward the girl, silently signaling to her that it was okay to voice her own guesses, too.

Justice shrugged entirely unrepentantly. "Pups are pups no matter who gave birth to them. Being an alpha's kids doesn't change anything. They're still wormy little jellybeans when they're born and squeaky little rugrats when they're running around later. Besides, at what point is a blood relation so far away that it doesn't count as "cousin" anymore? Are we still related to Domari here then? Hi there, Cousin Domari," she added with sarcastic humor as the older male approached with his own greeting. She grinned back at the other paladin, drawing him in to the conversation.

Paladin's answer to Domari's question caused her to wrinkle her muzzle in disgust, though, faintly shocked. Birthing? They were going to learn about... birthing? Females pushing gross little packets of baby out of themselves? THAT was what they were going to learn about? The thought set off a faint queasiness in her stomach, and Justice shuddered. Of course they couldn't have had a lesson about something more immediately useful to her and Domari's rank, like injuries or sickness. No, it's was... babies. And birthing. Pregnancy. She wanted to learn everything about healing eventually, she really did, but... birthing. Ew.

One of the aforementioned rugrats came pelting up to the group, and sharing her expression only with Domari she rolled her eyes expressively towards the child's use of cousin and attempt at adult bearing. Her first time having seen the kid, she couldn't help but squint suspiciously at the wavy profusion of iridescent hair the pup sported and the sharp little canines poking out from beneath her lips. Granted Regulus was bright red, but this was a little much. Still, she kept her unflatteringly sarcastic commentary to herself, knowing that her stubbornly virtuous sibling would probably be offended by an unkind comment about a kid. For some reason he seemed to actually like them, though as far as Justice was concerned they were just one of those things you had to put up with.

Only one more wolf showed up, one of Regulus' actual first-cousins who'd been born crippled. Justice knew of her, but frankly didn't really know her despite having been in the same pack at birth. That family seemed to keep to themselves and outside of meetings she'd never really seen them around. The mom was supposed to be another one of the pack's adult healers, but didn't appear, nor did Solveiga. Paladin's earlier explanation of Solveiga having her other pup out on a private lesson didn't sit well with Justice, nor the flippant brushing off of whether or not she would already know all the information since she'd given birth herself. Justice had been injured before, but that didn't mean she automatically knew how to treat infected wounds. Solveiga should be held to the same standards as the rest of the healers regardless of who's mate she was, and if the one pup was old enough to be allowed to sit in on a healing lesson they were both old enough that they should be training with someone other than their mom anyway. But she couldn't blame Paladin, who wasn't any higher of a rank than Domari and Justice were and didn't have any more of a say in who'd have to show up, so it wasn't any use complaining to him about it. So she shut her jaws on the snarky 'but we aren't all gathered' that she REALLY wanted to say, and made a note to herself to track down the alpha and say something to him about it if no one else did. If they weren't going to call him on his mate getting more leniency than anyone else in the pack despite her higher rank, she was.

She followed Paladin into the caverns, trying to ignore the uneasy feeling she knew perfectly well just came from bad memories that she associated with these caves rather than anything actually being wrong. He led the way into a cave and hopped up on a boulder, while Justice eyed the herbs and other implements. He started in on his lesson, and posed a question to them all. She glanced up from the herbs to her brother with a sardonic expression. "When she says 'oh no, I think I'm in labor'?"

Seabound and Aimless at Best

Fidgeting from paw to paw Dómari mentally ran through the very few herbs he knew of, their uses, their doses. Spirits he hoped he wasn't getting them mixed up! A pup that Dómari dimly recognized as one of Regulus new brood showed up for the lessons. He tried to return her smile but couldn't help shifting his focus back to the task at paw. She was followed shortly by a three-legged young woman and it seemed that was it for the group. Dómari frowned as he looked at her, she looked like she could use a healer to be honest. As she grinned though he swiftly tried to turn his frown upside down so he could return the smile.

Dómari realized he'd some how landed in the middle of a conversation between Justice and Paladin. He'd missed Justice's earlier remarks and the talk of pups was going right over her head. He blinked quizzically at Justice as she referred to Dómari as cousin, grinning at him while he just grew more and more flustered. What on earth were they talking about? "I- what? Cousin? No, we're not cousins, are we- OH…. sarcasm." He winced. "Sorry, I was trying to remember what Agrimony is for."

When Paladin answered his question Dómari couldn't stop from making a face. Ew! Birthing? "I… should I be here? I mean should a guy be… I don't…." He couldn't process his words and they died in a whimper. He didn't know anything about childbirth! Not to mention he'd never looked at a woman's er… naughty bits before and the whole thing was making him feel terribly uncomfortable. Couldn't they start with something simple like minor cuts or colds?

He sighed and begrudgingly followed Paladin to the learning space in the caves. Resigned to at least trying Dómari did his best to listen while feeling completely out of his element. Paladin asked about the first signs of labor and Dómari stared at him dismayed. "Uhhhhh… heavy breathing?" He had no idea. Justice answer caught him by surprise though and he grinned, biting back a chuckle. Her humor helped settle his unease.

Etain hesitated from the look that Paladin gave her when she walked up. Honestly she didn't have an understanding of just how long she had been absent from whatever was happening with the rest of the pack. Had she really been caught up in caring for her mother that long? She had to assume that was why Paladin seemed kind of surprised to see her here. It made the spotted girl a little self conscious, but she was here now and she figured it was too late to go back now. There was only a few others here so at least it wasn't a big crowd to deal with. She followed along at the back of the group as Paladin lead them down to where they were going to do the lesson. She didn't have a problem keeping up with them, but it was just more comfortable to not be in the main line of sight. Considering that their topic was birthing she was a little surprised that a pup was here, but of course she wasn't that old herself. It was something her mother had briefly taught her about already anyway. It seemed that the other adults that had come to the training weren't to thrilled or comfortable with the topic - at least that's what she gathered from their responses to Paladin's first question. She for one was actually excited to know more about birthing than her mother could teach her. She finally spoke up herself, her voice fairly quiet even though she was kind of sure of her answer. "Pain and contractions around their sides and stomach." Maybe there was some other kind of sign that came before that, but it was the earliest one that came to mind right now. "Talk" "You" Think

Aurielle Adravendi

Was it… normal for healers to be so reluctant to learn? She couldn’t help but notice the sense of resignation from the male, and the outright dirty look from the woman – who, from her markings, matched the descriptions Paladin had given as being his sister, Justice – she received, as well as the visible shudder at hearing what they’d be learning today. The look she had merely returned with a bland, level gaze before greeting the three-legged young woman with a smile. As they settled in the cave, and Paladin began his opening presentation, Aurielle listened closely with interest. It was unlikely she would ever need to use anything she learned here, but she wanted to know, just in case. And she was happy to see that Paladin would let her bring her own guesses to the question he poised. It was the sardonic suggestion, and the sense that her cousin was restraining a growl under his breath that sparked a soft huff from the girl as she glanced with dismay at the older wolves. So, she trawled her mind through the memories she’d built up over time, between Paladin’s discussions with her mother about what should be discussed for this very meeting, and what herbs to use, and her own mother’s gentle voice running through the uses for several herbs. Oh, there we go! She paused as Etain gave her guesses, which lined up with what she recalled. At least Etain seemed eager to learn. Paladin had never shoo'ed her away from learning, not even about the things that older wolves might have said were too advanced or grown up for one her age. It just wasn't how Nomads taught their children. And so, he taught in the same way. If they wanted to learn, then they would learn. Any mistakes or parts they didn't quite understand would be revisited at a later date where they were able to understand better. She voiced her own guess calmly, looking to Paladin as she did for clarification. “Elevated breathing, anxiety, light, uneven contractions, because her body’s preparing and moving the pups into position. She’ll be uncomfortable, and may be restless. Loss of appetite, too, maybe?” The last bit was voiced as half a question, ears perking as she looked up to Paladin’s features, though with a quiet sense of satisfaction, she saw that the underlying aggravation had died away. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Next Round due February 14th! (Cause I couldn't resist putting it on Valentine's Day :P)

Paladin 'Knight' Ancora

Paladin was a patient wolf. You had to be when lives relied on your level thinking. Patience was needed to calm hysteria, or to explain the facts to irascible patients. But he had to admit, Justice was trying that well trained patience enough to get a sharp look from his gradated sapphire and amethyst eyes at her flippant prodding. His features remained calm and unflappable, but he did let an archly spoken response slide free as he studied her. “Amusing. And yet, it is the cousins separated by a mere four or five generations that have treated us better than the ones birthed by our great uncle Gargoyle. Or do I need to remind you of whom it was that led that gods-forsaken raid against our pack?” At Domari’s reaction, Paladin gazed steadily back as he answered, “There are male midwives all over the world. Aurielle and Aramis I helped into the world myself. Sometimes we have to when there are no other healers experienced in the matter available to help. Paladin, Cleric, straight up Healer, this is a topic you are all expected to be versed in, whether you end up putting that knowledge to use or not. Or would you rather be stuck in an emergency, the only wolf who could have helped her, having to watch her weaken and die with her children because you didn’t think you needed to learn this part of your Craft, or couldn’t stomach it?” The words finished with a hard bite to them as he turned away and eyed Justice, making it clear that he’d spotted the shudder. As they gave their guesses, his patience threatened to wear thin. With Domari, at least his fellow male made a real attempt at a true guess. But his own sister? Coolly, he corrected, “Not all wolves have had the luxury of having someone tell them what to expect when they’re expecting. New mothers may be prone to panicking when they feel the pains, because they do not know what they mean. Instinct may know, but the mind doesn’t always follow what instinct tells it to. It is down to the healer to diagnose what they are for those mothers and to reassure them. More experienced females are easier, as they have been down this road before, but the older the mother, the closer you must watch her for problems with her whelping.” To Etain, Domari, and Aurielle, he nodded. “Those are all good signs. Aurielle, you are correct. Well done. Yes, a mother about to go into labor will lose her appetite for food, and may even vomit to clear her stomach, out of instinct or discomfort. This is the best time to give her something for the pain. Now, I’ve laid out quite a few implements here for you each to learn about. Many of these plants you’ll probably have heard of for use in birthing—Motherwort is one of the most commonly used, as is Trillium. But I’ve also set out some less well-known plants for this subject.” The snow-based Cleric bent and nudged both the Trillium and the Motherwort forward, stating calmly, “These two are Trillium and Motherwort. I was quite lucky to find a late-blooming Trillium plant, so you’ll have an excellent example of what to look for when you’re looking for them. Trillium is used to facilitate labor, and get it going if it’s gone on too long and the mother’s tiring or her contractions are weak. As well, it can also be used externally to treat insect bites and stings, as well as gangrene.” His eyes flicked to the gathered wolves, the intent look on Aurielle’s face telling him that she, at least, was taking this seriously. He paused for several beats, letting them absorb the lesson so far before he turned to nose the Motherwort. “Motherwort is a two-pronged herb. It should be given to an established patient the week or so before her due-date. It helps relax her body as it prepares for labor over the last few weeks of gestation. It also helps prevent miscarriages and soothe false labor pains. It helps ease the pain, and will also help soothe her anxiety. It is a mild sedative, as you might have guessed by now. It will also lend her strength to push.” He let that sink in before he set a paw behind the pile of herbs to his left. “This is Anemone, also known as Prairie Smoke, Twinflower, or Windflower, to name a few names. This is a plant that has quite the repertoire of uses, and among them is stopping bleeding, sedatives, and pain reliever. Like Motherwort, it relaxes the muscles, and stimulates the uterus, which makes it far easier for a mother to birth her litter. You can also use it to help with depression and anxiety in unrelated cases, as well as to break a fever. The list goes on.” Finally, he fell silent, his nod to the array of herbs in front of him suggesting they each take a good look at the ones he’d indicated, and clearly welcoming them to ask about the other implements he’d laid out but had not mentioned yet.

Etain glanced at Aurielle with a little surprise as the younger girl gave a very detailed answer. It made her wonder who she had been learning from and how she knew so much already. In a way she wished she had been given better lessons already, but she knew her mother had taught her as well as she could so she couldn't fault her for that. Her light blue gaze shifted back to Paladin, soaking in the lesson like a sponge. She usually tried to be so bubbly and friendly, but with how her parents had been and feeling alone without her brothers... she just wanted to be more serious and really pay close attention. The two common herbs he explained were the two she was fairly familiar with, but she liked hearing the other uses for them. It was neat to hear a more detailed explanation for the herbs that she had seen several times before. Once Paladin went on to the unfamiliar herbs was when she really got sucked in. She didn't care if only her and Aurielle really cared about what Paladin was teaching them. At least she was learning. She leaned down closer to the Anemone so she could get a good smell of it and memorize what it looked like for later. "Are there any side effects? For any of them?" she asked curiously. Anemone especially seemed like some kind of wonder herb with all the things it could do, but she wondered if she needed to be careful with it at all. "Talk" "You" Think

Seabound and Aimless at Best

Dómari had no idea who Gargoyle was or anything else Paladin had said to Justice. He also wasn't familiar with the family relations between Talis and Celestial though it didn't take much to guess. He knew that Justice and Dragon were family. He focused on a butterfly that was flitting from flower to flower, uncertain if he was supposed to be listening in on a family matter.

When Paladin addressed him he shrank back from the man's words and gaze. He could see the other's point but did he have to be so sharp about it? The lesson continued and Dómari tried to stop his mind from wandering. He felt like this was a rather unfair test. To ask them questions they didn't know the answer to. In part he felt like this was an attempt to shame the older members. No one had bothered to take Dómari aside to teach him anything apart from a small lesson from Solveiga. Did Paladin really expect him to just pull an answer out of thin air? He ignored Aurielle. Perhaps he should have been impressed but he had a feeling someone had actually taught her before on the subject at hand. Regardless of her age it was hardly a fair comparison.

He was surprised though when Paladin nodded at him. Heavy breathing was a sign? The only 'labor' Dómari knew of was hard physical labor and he'd guessed based of of that. That was lucky. He was relieved when they moved past the quiz part of the lesson to the actual teaching. Plants were a great curiosity to Dómari and he shuffled forward to get a better look at the Trillium and Motherwort, trying to burn defining features of each into his mind. When Paladin had finished Dómari crept closer and took a good deep smell of all the herbs. Each had a distinct scent and Dómari found that when it came to gathering herbs he had much better luck pinning them by their scent than their appearance. Some healing herbs looked far to close to poisonous cousins.

He withdrew to let the others examine the plants and he nodded at Etain's question. "That's a good question, I was wondering to how do you determine how much to give a woman? What happens if you give them to much?"

Justice snorted sharply. "Do I need to remind you who punished that cousin for his betrayal? A lot of wolves who aren't related to us haven't betrayed us," she retorted in the same tone. "And Regulus' family is nice to EVERYONE in the pack, it doesn't make me feel all warm and special over him treating us well."

Domari's stuttery confusion earned a sly, teasing grin from the stocky female. Adorable. Well, now that she'd flustered him once, the poor thing wasn't safe from her sniping and teasing. He'd be 'Cousin Domari' forever now.

Paladin's speechifying about how they'd all be expected to learn about it, et cetera et cetera and so on, typical Paladin fashion, ended in him making a sharp comment that was clearly directed at her, suddenly fanning her temper til it flared white-hot and she bristled, and had this not been a lesson and both packmate and brother, she would have rolled him right then and there. He thought she didn't have the stomach to deal with a stupid birth? She could handle a stupid birth. She just didn't see why it was so much more important that they learn it when there weren't even any pregnant females in the pack. Injury and disease was so much more likely than running into a random pregnant loner giving birth that it was ridiculous, yet they would all be required to know it? She didn't see the point to it, and she was frustrated and annoyed that Paladin was putting an undue amount of emphasis on the subject and taking their disinterest so personally.

Her annoyance with the lesson wasn't much helped when the little princess just happened to come up with the perfect, exact answer. It was ridiculous enough that she had the suspicion the girl had been coached on the answer to show the rest of them up. Well, she hadn't had the benefit of having someone bothering to train her like Paladin and apparently the princess had, so how the hell was she supposed to know the signs of labor? Or Domari, who'd stuttered and blushed so prettily just at the idea of playing midwife? Irritated and bordering on furious, Justice sat stiffly with jaw clenched to keep from responding the way she dearly wanted to.

She glared at the herbs as they were named so hard that they should properly have burst into flame rather than just sit there innocently. She could have walked away - she'd have gotten into trouble, maybe kicked out of the pack, most likely lose her rank, but she COULD have - but she really did want to learn healing, so instead she stayed and glared at the hapless herbs instead while she memorized the way they looked and smelled, and mentally added to the picture the uses Paladin named. Trillium, motherwort, anemone. She narrowed her eyes as she added the uses for the last two. "If motherwort and anemone are both sedatives," she said aloud, her voice still curt from her irritation but her desire to learn overcoming her frustration with the situation, "would there be a problem using them together? It seems like using more than one sedative could maybe cause an overdose even if you used the correct dosage of each herb."

The Easter Bunny hops on by!

On her way through, she drops an egg at the paws of Justice.