If at First You Don't Succeed Tri, Tri Again

Drífa travelled south, farther south than she would have preferred but the rumors of exotic plants growing in the southern reaches of the continent had intrigued her as had Riva's description of Ginseng Root. Her one concern was that it might be a bit late in the year for the signature red berries to be noticeable. She wished she'd asked for more details as well as dosage information but it was too late now. She'd need to learn the particulars of this herb the hard way. A dried rabbit skin was slung across her back. She'd use it as a satchel to carry what she found so for now she resisted the urge to gather more common plants that she saw along the way. If she made her bundle too heavy her lower jaw would start to cramp and she'd need to take frequent breaks.

Drífa felt a shiver run through her as she crossed the land bridge into Auster. It had been a long journey and while she knew these new lands were not her home, there was something about crossing into the southern land mass that set her on edge. When she was a young healer they would sometimes lead expeditions into the southern lands to collect rare herbs. It was dangerous and sometimes those herbs had to be paid for in blood.

She was well within Auster before she suddenly remembered that it would be late spring in Auster, not late fall! Drífa groaned. She'd knew enough to know that the plant bloomed in summer and so she assumed the bright red berries that Riva told her about would be visible in fall… in Boreas. She felt stupid but she'd travelled all this way she certainly wasn't going back now. Sighing, she continued on her way. She continued southward when she arrived at a beautiful waterfall surrounded by cedars. There was a pool of freshwater there and she swiftly bent her head to take a deep drink of the cool water. She needed a break. Wincing she laid down next to lake and winced as she looked at the open sore on her left foreleg. She'd slipped going through the fjords and injured her leg. Of all the luck. And of course she had nothing with her. She'd cleaned the wound and hoped the scrape wasn't too bad but as she'd journeyed the throbbing only got worse. Drífa was content to take a little nap and cool off from the warmer weather down south when a large white bird caught her attention. She stared at it for a moment before realizing with a shock that it was a snow white raven! Now what was a raven doing this far south? She felt as if the bird was as misplaced as she was.

The bird seemed to notice it was being watched and it turned around to stare at her with its pale blue eyes. She felt suddenly embarrassed. "Oh, sorry!" she said. She hadn't really expected the bird to speak back at her. Only a few other species had a mastery of the wolven tongue. Yet, speak the bird did anyway. "Oh, it's alright, I'm used to stares. You have quite a thick pelt to be a native of these lands."

Drífa nodded. "Yes, I'm from the northern reaches of Boreas. I'm down here looking for ginseng. My name is Drífa. May I ask yours?" The raven hoped over to her and settled down not far from the edge of the water. She chuckled lightly. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Brynhildr and if you were looking for ginseng it can be found in eastern Boreas. What on earth are you looking for that plant for?"

"A pleasure Brynhildr. I'm a healer you see and I have reason to believe this herb has certain healing properties." The bird cocked her head to the side, clearly interested by what the wolf was telling her. "That's quite interesting. I had no idea wolves were so interested in plant life. I'm afraid it's best to collect it in the fall though. It will do you little good now."

Drífa closed her eyes. Just her luck! All this way for nothing! The bird seemed to realize her disappointment as she hopped forward. "If you like there's a rare plant I've encountered. It's quite lovely and I've heard tell it has uses. I assumed they were all wives tales. I'm afraid I don't know what it is for if anything, but perhaps it would be worth a look? The natives call it Trillium but I've always heard it called Birthroot or Bethroot. Even if you can't use it for healing it is a lovely flower that happens to be in bloom now. There's supposed to be some around here. Look for a bloom with three white petals." The bird took to the sky as Drífa took to her feet suddenly invigorated. She didn't know of many flowers with only three petals and the chance that it might have healing properties certainly peaked her interest.

It wasn't easy, she was searching for most of the day but it was enjoyable with a companion. She and Brynhildr gabbed as they searched well into the evening. It turned out the bird was from the northern areas of Boreas as well but she was visiting some family that had migrated south into Auster. It turned out they had a lot in common. Brynhildr was just regaling her with stories of their new year celebrations when Drífa spied a lovely plant with three white petals that curled back. "Brynhildr, is this it?" The bird flew down next to her and nodded. "Yes, that's it." Drífa leaned over and sniffed the plant, trying to match the scents to other plants she'd used in the past. What caught her attention was a particularly distinct odor coming from the base of the plant. Curious, she began to dig. She moved slowly and deliberately until she unearthed a reddish brown root that had a strong smell. She wrinkled her nose and jerked her head back. "Goodness!"

She eyed it for a moment, trying to decide what to do with it when a burning pain reminded her of the injury on her left foreleg. She'd been doing her best to ignore it but perhaps it was time to test how this plant did on a bleeding wound. She was a battlefield medic after all and trying topical applications first would be safer than just swallowing parts of a strange plant to see what happened. One thing Drífa had learned was that Brynhildr was particularly deft with her talons. She conversed with the bird and the raven agreed to help her put together a poultice. They mixed together some clay and fresh water from the pool in a large leaf. Drífa then scraped at the root with her claws, wincing at the smell as she grated an amount on the poultice base. When she was pleased with her work she applied it to the wound and waited, checking it every now and then. After an hour she looked at the wound and realized it was helping stem the bleeding. Overall she was feeling pretty good about the plant but she knew there were going to be issues figuring out the dosages. She could tell from the intensity of the smell of the root that it was a particularly strong herb. Did she dare to take it internally?

Drífa gently removed the poultice and got to her feet. She moved about and was surprised to find that her pain had been eased as well. A grin spread across her face. "This is a fantastic plant. It will need more study but this is a wonderful start." She wrapped the herb up in her rabbit skin to take back with her, deciding that she didn't care to press her luck and try ingesting any of the herb so far from her pack. She talked a bit more with Brynhildr and too her delight the bird agreed to accompany her back to Fyri.