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[bloodypath]

Name: Hubert von Vestra | un: hvv
Date: 9/18 (backdated
Format: Text

For alchemists, medical professionals, fauns, and the botanically inclined:

Nearly half a year ago, the expedition northward to establish the Wilder outpost brought back plant specimens that produce an unusual sap, which can draw out and contain slight Cwyld infections if applied immediately. It also proved effective on the invasive algae underground.

I've been experimenting with these plants for some time now. The sap creates a... sort of false magical signature that the Cwyld is drawn to—bait, essentially—but the sap is quickly overwhelmed by stronger traces of Cwyld.

With experimentation, I've found a potential way to refine this sap that should fortify the substance's ability to draw in and entrap infection; from there, it could be processed into a medicine. Unfortunately, supply is an issue. One of the ingredients is rather rare and I'm still researching the best way to source it. The other is the plants themselves.

With aid, we've cultivated more of them, but it is a limited operation; this process requires a far greater quantity of sap to work with. I'd like to request help from experienced botanists, gardeners, fauns, or any other interested party in cultivating far more of these plants, and if possible, selecting for the pitcher plants with sap that displays the strongest resilience to Cwyld. From what I've gathered, it should be possible to breed this trait to greater potency.

I can share my formulas with interested alchemists, and keep you informed when production becomes available. If this project comes to fruition, I'll certainly require the hands.

Comments

un: eisner

[hegemonwings]

I'm happy to help with cultivation, of course.

[bloodypath]

I'm glad to hear it. Your assistance will be a boon.

[hegemonwings]

Of course. Do you have a space in mind for them? I would be open to transplanting my projects in the garden somewhere else to make room...

[ buuuut a communal project sounds like something hubert would prefer to do somewhere away from the house, typically? so what's the deal, fill her in.

and byleth likes her garden hubert :( ]

un: LHG

[bergamotrose]

I knew you were working on something interesting, but this has a far wider application than what I had imagined.

You'll certainly have my assistance on this matter, if you are agreeable to it.

[bloodypath]

Very well. Growing space is the next greatest issue behind labor and expertise; we've collected seeds from the few we have you may cultivate if you can afford the space at your dwelling. The recently opened communal garden might be leveraged, as well, if we can't get greenhouses at the Coven.

[bergamotrose]

Space is the one priviledge I have in excess anymore, Hubert. Without Lapis Lazuli, my homestead is astonishingly dull with just Claude the Younger and myself.

Of course, this means that there is plentiful room in the yard to tend to your project.

What manner of plants are these? What are their preferences for soil, moisture, and light?

[bloodypath]

And here the information I can provide is limited.

I was told they were found in a forested area in the Wilde; glean from that what you can. From what we've found they actually seem to favor somewhat poor, loose soil, as they seem to get more nutrition from their carnivorous nature. They'll likely require a shelter of some sort or to be brought in doors once oncoming winter begins to drop the temperatures. More moisture seems to be better for them than less.

Not as precise instructions as I would prefer to provide, but this is also why I'm calling for more experienced hands than mine. Without Her Majesty's aid I'm sure these plants would have died on me long ago.

[bergamotrose]

Carnivorous, you say. Like the pitcher plants that someone kept planting in the green house at Garreg Mach? The soil and moisture requirements are easy enough to meet, but will they be requiring a steady supply of fertilizer or... food, as it were, during the winter months?

Un ma text

[stopfen]

I can try growing some.
Though I mainly grow crops for food and herbs for remedies.

[bloodypath]

I've experience in tending neither, so I can't attest to any similarities; regardless, I have a hard time believing that your experience will not be applicable.

We have a very limited plot at my residence, so any you can take for yourself will be a boon. We've seeds, and a small number of sprouts.

[stopfen]

I'm not sure with some of the plants here. I had a berry bush where the fruit would attack.

There's that new garden that opened too.
Though you might not want to put anything important there.

[bloodypath]

...You make a valid point.

In an area as densely urban as Aefenglom, greenspace is at a premium, so I may be forced to cultivate some there if I cannot pry space from the Coven's gardens.

The other option is to take them outside the wall. Easier as it might be to feed them out there, it's an even less controlled environment as the community gardens.

[stopfen]

Growing some outside the wall might help anyway. With finding the more hardy plants.

text | un:wwxwashere

[weiward]

i remember that! it was all snotty and nasty but it really did work.

i think we still have the one plant that hiccup gave me. would it help?

[bloodypath]

That... certainly is one way to describe it, yes.

Though I'd rather more people began cultivating more of them, if you have neither the will nor expertise nor space to do so, I would gladly take the donation. Since this is an experimental venture, I expect a number of the plants to fail.

[weiward]

experimental?

[well, since you put it that way...]

i can try. and i always have lan zhan to help me, he's been taking care of it all this time.

[bloodypath]

Yes, experimental. The alchemical process is the more obvious piece, but growing these plants into stronger specimens is the other.

The sap seems to only neutralize so much Cwyld before it is... overtaken, we shall say. I believe it possible to treat it like a toxin, gradually feeding it more to increase its resilience. The plants that do not succumb are then bred with others.

Not that I'm asking you to take on that part of the project if you are in any way uncomfortable with it. Having more plants to work with is simply aid enough.

[weiward]

[it sounds like slightly grim work.

but to a former necromancer, it sounds easy.]

do you provide the cywld or should i go get my own?

text; un: hiccup

[thisisamazing]

i'm not exactly botany-inclined, but i've been keeping a window box full of these plants at the Phoenix Tear's clinic. i got them during the trip and my bonded sorted them out at home, luckily they don't seem to die too easily...

but. they've started to sprout some new ones in the box, so i could donate some of my bigger plants if you need them?

and... if amounts are an issue, i could go out and source more. i remember where they grew.

[bloodypath]

A donation I would gladly welcome, particularly if you kept nurturing the sprouts.

And sourcing would be a boon indeed. I'm not one of the Wilders, nor was I on that fateful expedition. And perhaps this would be too much to ask, but do you have enough information to map their natural habitat? I would be willing to compensate you for accurate work, of course.

[thisisamazing]

of course, i can spare about a dozen fully grown ones at the moment.

i'm not a wilder officially but i was on the expedition, and i'm out past the wall a lot anyway. it's no trouble at all to organize a trip out to find more. i can give you my notes from feoveuer and brush them up when i go back.

no compensation necessary, i'm just curious, when the medicine is done, will you be providing any out in the outer city? i know some locals who might feel better about something like this than going to the coven for treatment. it'd be nice to see them start getting better.

[bloodypath]

A dozen? Excellent. I look forward to your results.

Quite honestly, I haven't thought through the logistics that far. There are too many variables. The quantity of the yield, the resource supply and costs, what the final treatment is best administered... and for that last variable, I'd rather consult a physician. My expertise is alchemical, not medical.

To say nothing of any potential side effects, or if this experiment is a success at all.

[thisisamazing]

i'll re-pot them when i get home. should i bring them by somewhere or can someone pick them up?

oh that makes sense, it all sounds really complicated! i was just curious, you know? it seems like a really helpful project regardless! something good to look into. i'm happy to help as much as i can, at least with acquiring the pitcher plants.

un: ALPHYS

[textsfromhotland]

oh wow that sounds really fascinating! i'm kind of new at gardening but i'm a faun so i can help if you need more hands on deck!

[bloodypath]

I admit it was an idle project, at first—I wasn't expecting it to become so central to my work.

I would welcome your aid, then. A faun's natural magic would help speed the growth, and I would like to hope it might strengthen the plants, as well. If I aim to breed them to be more adept at disposing of Cwyld, they will need the strength so we do not lose too many.

Do you have a place you can cultivate them?