KEEPS ME ALIVE — lesson [sage tryout]

[MYERS]

[align=center][div style="text-align:justify;width:55%;font-family:verdana;"]"Hello."

The Typhoon always seemed to go quiet, in the late evening. The usual hub of the bay shifted to beachgoers watching the sunset, and lanterns in windows began to flicker on as his peers - his family - retired for the night. When Goldie had announced that she was seeking a new medic, a distant flicker in the back of his mind had made itself present, and all the more pressing as the days went by. It was not the first time he had been reminded of these faded memories, and the flashback nightmares that kept him from trusting too many too soon began to show him images of needle points, scalpels. He felt himself swim under anesthetics without any drug seeping into his bones.

He decided that he had to channel this, some way, somehow.

And thus Ahab began to prepare. He was slow to each this decision, his hesitations many; but as he began to gather the materials he needed, the nightmares ebbed, flowed, pushed themselves back out to sea. They were manageable, at least. They would never leave him, he knew, but at the very least, he could show them who ran the show.

"I am going to be teaching a lesson in first aid for various poisons." The bear was not keen on speaking out, but he made a place for himself in a pleasant-looking alcove of beachside erosion. A few labelled containers lined the space between the wide berth of his paws, and a tray of vials sat just within reach. A spread of mushrooms were arranged on another metal plate. A bucket of seawater sloshed uneasily when he shifted in his seat. "We will begin with poisonous mushrooms, as foraging can be a very dangerous hobby. We'll end with dangerous creatures that are common to this region. Please take a seat."

[Mallory]

Mallory was still new to this place but learning some basic stuff sounded like fun. And if it wasn't, she would just leave. No point in staying unless she was getting something out of it. The black husky stepped forward, looking over the bear with yellow eyes. She then looked at everything they had laid out for this little lesson. Looked like they went through the effort of making this a bit interesting. Liking the visual lesson, in case she ever had to look for these things. Mallory took up a spot and sat down, eyes drifting back up to the lovely host. "Sounds interesting, I'd like to sit in."

[bubblegum]

[Keona.]

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If I fall, get knocked down, pick myself up off the ground

Some moons ago, the tiny Dealer had sat for a similar lesson, ears perked curiously as Séamus spoke.  Poison.  Well.  She knew her father took an interest in not just knowing about poison, but using it.  She... Only liked working with plants so much.  Learning how to identify them was enough for her.

She was still interested, however.  It was important to know what to avoid.  Quietly, the petite fae took a seat besides Goldie, tucking her paws beneath her chest as she prepared to learn.

✯ — keona sibéal ní faoláin. female. dealer of the typhoon. blind. rusty spotted cat.  ref. bio.

[roan ;]

[div style="width: 45%; text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -1px; font-family: times new roman;"]♡ — Although it had been a little while since he had held it, Roan was still rather happy with the lesson that he had held as part of his sage tryout. He had taught everyone about how to treat broken bones, and had even been willing to answer Goldie's questions without hesitation. He could still remember the anxiety that had gripped his young body when the leader and his cousin had initially started to inquire more deeply about his lesson. However, he could also still remember the joy that had rolled over him in an enormous wave when he had seen the proud look in the eyes of not only Goldie, but also his mama. He was still somewhat uncomfortable being around his mother now that he was back, worried he'd look up and see the larger draconic feline with hatred or fear in her eyes. He had to cling to those memories of her being proud of him, not sure he'd ever be able to see such a look in her eyes again. It was an irrational fear, something that would probably be obvious to anything adult that took notice of it, but to him? To him, the moment that he had lashed out and hurt Roxie, he had lost any of the decency that had been instilled in him from a young age. He shouldn't have even still been in the running for sage, if he even still was, right?

Closing his eyes briefly, the young feline shook his head from side to side before he approached, trying to wipe away the unpleasant memories that had been plaguing him so much as of late. Coming up beside Keona, Roan sat down and curling his tail around his paws, eager to listen to what Ahab had to say to them all. He knew quite a bit about medicine from all his frequent studying, but he didn't know too much about poisons, and he certainly hadn't bothered learning about poisonous mushrooms. Wings shifting upon his back, the apprentice dipped his head to Ahab, chewing on the inside of his cheek before he mumbled, "Hey, Ahab... that sounds good to me. I don't know too much about poisons." Even if he wasn't sure he was even able to help people anymore, bolstering his medical knowledge could make it so that if he needed to, he could.
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[MYERS]

[align=center][div style="text-align:justify;width:55%;font-family:verdana;"]ooc. obligatory warning i am an absolute beginner in mycology and any info i share through this character should not be used in lieu of medical/scientific information!!! if you forage, forage with a professional!

"...Sit, then." His blunt words had a tendency to betray the inner workings of his mind, his emotions; after the fact, he would hope that Mallory did not take his firm tone to offense. Most others were used to the gruff nature that seemed to form a wall between the bear and his surrounding peers. Roan, small and bright as he was in both mind and spirit, would take to the wall and pull bricks, stones from it in slow time. Even now, he approached fearlessly to a massive bear who seemed to ease at the sight of pseudo-family. A single eye casts downward, past the covered cups, and falls on the face of the child with a particular softness. "You're here, very good. But where's your mother? I told you about wandering around alone, you know." Roan would always be a kitten to him, no bigger than his paw; he'd think of the baby scuttling up to him on the beach for the first time, darting out from behind his mother's legs, and consider the fact that little Roan might not be so little anymore. A seriousness had fallen over him, a sense of deep concern that burned behind his eyes and fretted his mouth into a nervous line. Whatever Ahab had missed in his drifting, it had changed the child.

He steers himself away from a darker path of what and why and focuses, instead, on what he came here to do. It would require a substantial amount of effort and stamina on his part to make it through in one piece. "This is enough. I'll brief any others as they come along. So..." Filler words pepper his speech as he muddles through an introduction - something about mushrooms and poisons, he'd said at the last minute. Right, he was going to teach them a thing or two about deadly fungi. "Mushrooms, when identified properly, are a source of nutrition for omnivores. To human folk, they are a delicacy. But as a highly adapted kingdom, there are a number of deadly lookalikes that can easily fool the beginner forager. This -" Ahab plucks a reddish fungus from the tray, holding it up in his metal paw for the others to see, "- Is fly agaric. It's a very common poisonous mushroom that can induce severe vomiting and, occasionally, unpleasant hallucinations. There are little to no similar species, but the distinct shape makes agaric a perfect example of the defining traits we should consider when identifying a mushroom."

He's fairly sure he hasn't spoken this much in years - or ever, really. He's already tired. Ahab runs a tongue over his upper lip, pauses, and turns the mushroom over. "The stem grows out from a white sac called the volva. As you approach the cap, you'll see a ring of tissue that appears on most mushrooms, called an annulus. Its shape, size and sometimes color are distinctions that can tell similar species apart. Like the annulus, the gills on the underside of the cap or lack thereof can also define a species. You may see a spongy underside, or deep grooves as we see in the common morel. As for basidiocarps, the gills either run parallel, or connect and form a network. On top of the cap, you can see these little, white spots... Those are scales. And, uh... That's it. Those are the basic parts of a mushroom. Are there - Questions? At all?"

Some part of him is starting to wonder if getting up and talking in front of a crowd was a good idea.