It hadn't been too long since Solmar had taken it upon himself to see a convict he ran into to the town of Hosenka in order to go see his family and eventually turn himself in with the local authorities. With that part handled properly, the young mage to-be had made a decent sum of money, more than he really knew what to do with. After all, his humble lifestyle within the woods of Sakuramori meant that he hardly had a need for anything as all he really needed was the abandoned bear den he slept in, the ledge above the entrance that kept him dry when he was doing some cooking outdoors and his flying friend Fellis. Aside from that, he could catch most of the food they ate within the forest itself, though most of the spices he used had to be purchased from some of the smaller villages and towns that were relatively close to the woodlands.
On his way over to the local store however, he noticed a small building with a wanted sign covering one of the windows. Though usually not all that interested in such trivial things, part of him enjoyed doing something other than the things he normally did during an average day. Hunting, fishing, cooking, preparing for the next time had to go hunting, fishing or cooking, all of that was just fine with him. But while it was fine, there was no denying that doing the same things every other day made things feel a bit stale. Taking a closer look, he found out that the herbalist living in the building was in need of aid with some "experiments" and was willing to pay handsomely for someone who matched or exceeded the requirements stated at the bottom of the wanted poster. Technically being a mage, even though he did not really know how to control his magic yet, he did know a fair amount about flora.
As such, he entered the building without really thinking twice about it, giving this whole "job" thing a shot. The moment he entered however, he sensed something shooting towards his head, to which he responded almost instinctively by ducking a bit and putting his hand into the trajectory to intercept it. Before he really knew what was going on, he had his fingers wrapped around a plant-like tentacle attached to something he had never really witnessed before in his life. The plant that it was attached to had wide leaves containing sparkling colors, at least three other tentacles like the one that he was holding, as well as a large mouth at the center of it. Stationed within a large pot full of earth, he saw a small lady tending to the roots and handling the fertilizer. Though he knew that the woman had seen him enter, she did not really speak to him, instead only exchanging words with the plant that still had one tentacle struggling to break free from Solmar's grip.
"I'm here about the wanted poster, it said you needed a mage or someone who knew about the local flora. Well… I guess you could say I'm a bit of both."
Approaching the woman as he still held the tentacle, the plant screeched and squirmed as it tried to be released from it. When the little lady smirked and tapped her shovel against the plant with a soft thud, it stopped moving and gradually closed the large leaves up to conceal the mouth inside, almost making it look like it went to sleep. Releasing the tentacle as it retracted back into the pot, the young man walked over to the woman in order to figure out what it was that she needed help with. Apparently, she had at least three more of these troublemakers down in the basement, and only one magical shovel to put them back to sleep once they got hungry and antsy. Pushing the shovel into his hands, she said that the touch of magic would activate the calming properties of the gardening tool before sending him on his way to the basement. Making it clear that she wanted him to reach underneath the leaves and take specific sacs from there, Solmar decided to just go in and see how things would go.
Leaving Fellis upstairs with the old lady, he closed the door behind him and turned the basement lights on. As soon as he did, the plants started activating, tentacles swinging about and teethed mouths chomping hungrily as they reached for him or anything else they could eat. Using the shovel to knock the reaching parts of the plant away, he did not want to hurt it or even kill it by relying on his own magic, knowing it'd likely set the entire basement on fire. Using the blunt end of the shovel, he kept slapping the tentacles away until he got close enough to the plants to give them a good hard thump with it, thus sending them into a forced slumber. Finding that after the first one had been knocked down, dealing with the other two got increasingly easier. Dealing minimal damage to the carnivorous plants, it seemed that the hard part had been dealt with when the last of the three receded into a slumber.
This supposedly meant that he would be able to now just reach under the plant in order to harvest these sacs that were growing there, though having to remove them by hand meant he had to get very close to where the gaping maw of these plants was located. Keeping one hand free, he would set the damned things on fire if they were actually going to make a move on him, but only if they did. For now, he just carefully harvested as many sacs as he could find, figuring out at that point that they were about as big as an apple and that there could be up to as many as six of them down in the earth. Once he liberated the final sac from the carnivorous plants, he returned to the herbalist in the room above the basement, placing them all unto the table so she could inspect her wares. Putting them all into a kettle, she said that they had to first be hard-boiled, opened up and then roasted before they could be tested. Handing him his money for the job, she told him to come back in two days time.
-End of Job-
On his way over to the local store however, he noticed a small building with a wanted sign covering one of the windows. Though usually not all that interested in such trivial things, part of him enjoyed doing something other than the things he normally did during an average day. Hunting, fishing, cooking, preparing for the next time had to go hunting, fishing or cooking, all of that was just fine with him. But while it was fine, there was no denying that doing the same things every other day made things feel a bit stale. Taking a closer look, he found out that the herbalist living in the building was in need of aid with some "experiments" and was willing to pay handsomely for someone who matched or exceeded the requirements stated at the bottom of the wanted poster. Technically being a mage, even though he did not really know how to control his magic yet, he did know a fair amount about flora.
As such, he entered the building without really thinking twice about it, giving this whole "job" thing a shot. The moment he entered however, he sensed something shooting towards his head, to which he responded almost instinctively by ducking a bit and putting his hand into the trajectory to intercept it. Before he really knew what was going on, he had his fingers wrapped around a plant-like tentacle attached to something he had never really witnessed before in his life. The plant that it was attached to had wide leaves containing sparkling colors, at least three other tentacles like the one that he was holding, as well as a large mouth at the center of it. Stationed within a large pot full of earth, he saw a small lady tending to the roots and handling the fertilizer. Though he knew that the woman had seen him enter, she did not really speak to him, instead only exchanging words with the plant that still had one tentacle struggling to break free from Solmar's grip.
"I'm here about the wanted poster, it said you needed a mage or someone who knew about the local flora. Well… I guess you could say I'm a bit of both."
Approaching the woman as he still held the tentacle, the plant screeched and squirmed as it tried to be released from it. When the little lady smirked and tapped her shovel against the plant with a soft thud, it stopped moving and gradually closed the large leaves up to conceal the mouth inside, almost making it look like it went to sleep. Releasing the tentacle as it retracted back into the pot, the young man walked over to the woman in order to figure out what it was that she needed help with. Apparently, she had at least three more of these troublemakers down in the basement, and only one magical shovel to put them back to sleep once they got hungry and antsy. Pushing the shovel into his hands, she said that the touch of magic would activate the calming properties of the gardening tool before sending him on his way to the basement. Making it clear that she wanted him to reach underneath the leaves and take specific sacs from there, Solmar decided to just go in and see how things would go.
Leaving Fellis upstairs with the old lady, he closed the door behind him and turned the basement lights on. As soon as he did, the plants started activating, tentacles swinging about and teethed mouths chomping hungrily as they reached for him or anything else they could eat. Using the shovel to knock the reaching parts of the plant away, he did not want to hurt it or even kill it by relying on his own magic, knowing it'd likely set the entire basement on fire. Using the blunt end of the shovel, he kept slapping the tentacles away until he got close enough to the plants to give them a good hard thump with it, thus sending them into a forced slumber. Finding that after the first one had been knocked down, dealing with the other two got increasingly easier. Dealing minimal damage to the carnivorous plants, it seemed that the hard part had been dealt with when the last of the three receded into a slumber.
This supposedly meant that he would be able to now just reach under the plant in order to harvest these sacs that were growing there, though having to remove them by hand meant he had to get very close to where the gaping maw of these plants was located. Keeping one hand free, he would set the damned things on fire if they were actually going to make a move on him, but only if they did. For now, he just carefully harvested as many sacs as he could find, figuring out at that point that they were about as big as an apple and that there could be up to as many as six of them down in the earth. Once he liberated the final sac from the carnivorous plants, he returned to the herbalist in the room above the basement, placing them all unto the table so she could inspect her wares. Putting them all into a kettle, she said that they had to first be hard-boiled, opened up and then roasted before they could be tested. Handing him his money for the job, she told him to come back in two days time.
-End of Job-
