Shadows of the Past

It's with quiet dread that you approach the traders. While they apparently live from nothing but haggling about the value of things, you've never done something like that in your whole life. Five pots full of plants you bring to them, carefully harvested over the course of the last month for this exact purpose. Your master didn't forbid you from making your own trades as you have learned some hunters do, but he was quite adamant that you may only trade things gathered on your own once your days work was done.


Luckily, you stumbled over a whole field of Itztuahyatl plants and managed to process them all in time. You honestly don't know how much the pots of it are usually worth when Mahuizo trades them, but you will just have to take your chances. As you approach the young man standing next to the pen with his pack llamas, he seems almost ready to send you away before he notices your necklace. Even now he chews one of those leaves the traders and their guards are rather fond of. A good sign for what you intend to offer him.

"Your master want something from me, girl?" The two guards protecting the pen throw you a short look when they hear him speak and instantly dismiss you again.

"No, I'm here on my own." You put down the pots in front of him and untie the lid of one. "This is Itztuahyatl powder. Good against fever, coughs and keeps you awake and alert. Should fetch a good price if you sell it off, or you can use it yourself."

He takes a pinch of the red powder and rubs it between his fingers before giving you a curious look. "I guess I don't need to bother to fetch your master to tell me that this is good?" You can't quite keep the annoyance off your face at the implication that you'd try to sell him lackluster goods or worse, try to cheat him. He just grins in response, apparently sufficiently reassured. "And what do you want from me for this?"

Truth be told, you would love to get one of the bronze daggers you know him to carry, yet you are painfully aware of how many pelts some hunters offered for the same and where still rebuffed. Something more modest will have to suffice for now. "You have obsidian blades, right? A long dagger would be fine."

"Should I be worried about a young girl like you playing with something that dangerous? Or maybe you wish to gift it to some dashing young man?" Two years ago, you would probably have reacted to the teasing, but this man couldn't hold a candle to the huntress.


He just shrugs and turns to the packs laying in the pen. "Not my concern. Bring the pots over and pick one. I'll even throw in a good sheath."

You quickly do as you are told and what feels like a few heartbeats later, you hold your prize in hand. A blade as long as you palm from gleaming, midnight black stone. The blade is slightly wavy, from the process of how it was made you are told, and it feels wonderful to run your fingers over the smooth surface to feel the pattern. The handle is made from animal bone like your old knife, but this one was carefully polished and a pattern carved into it that resembles the old art you've seen in the ruins. This was worth every second of work.

Gained Obsidian Dagger.

---

It's the middle of the night and you are honestly not sure why you couldn't have done this in the camp, but Mahuizoh was quite insistent that this needed some privacy. For once, neither Atl nor the huntress accompany you on this trip. This is supposedly nothing for those not inducted into the secrets of a shamans trade or those not yet skilled enough to handle the matter, and Atl apparently needs a bit more seasoning before learning this.

"Could you maybe tell me why we went all the way out here with that many herbs?" Many is probably an overstatement. It's just a few pots worth of different things and not all that much in volume, but lugging it all the way to this clearing in the darkness for no apparent reason has you a bit on the edge. It's not that safe to go out at this hour in such low numbers, something you are painfully aware after all the knowledge you've gained.

"Patience Yaxkin. Patience. You've shown so much of it so far and today I intend to reward it. It's been a long while since I've taught this to someone and never at quite such an tender age as you." He is currently busy cleaning off a flat stone in the middle of the clearing. Occasionally, he throws some ash on it from a large bag of it you've brought, and then immediately brushes it off again. The cleaning seems to be about more then just getting off some dirt and moss. "Look at the sky. What do you see?"

Knowing when plants grew and when to harvest them needed you to be able to track years and months. The cycle of the moon was not really as reliable to measure time as you've always thought, since it shifted in relation to a greater order that was given by the sun and stars. On the other hand, spirits were greatly influenced by the dance of stars across the nights sky. Take the two matters together and you got a good reason to learn all about what you could see up there, so it was not that hard to answer his question.

"The moon is full. The serpent sinking in the west and the archer stands in its zenith. The red wanderer is rather bright tonight." That was the facts that you could observe and yet you know that you are missing something. "What should I see?"

Mahuizo just chuckls and motions you to sit on the opposite side of the stone. "A good question. I will tell you. That the time is right."

That... didn't actually answer any of your questions. Now he had started to dump little piles of ash on the carefully cleaned stone, which raised even more. "Any man can learn to gather herbs and grind them to pastes and powders. This is not what it means to be a shaman, even if it's what most people see in our work. To be a shaman means to see beyond the concerns of daily life and ponder the mysteries that surround us." You are watching in rapt attention as he spreads the ash around. No. He is drawing with it. Circles and ellipses. A triangle in the center connected three of the circles. All the while he speaks and you carefully listen to every word, since you just know that it is important what he has to say to you today.

"Sometimes we fail in those duties. The world is not parting with its secrets willingly. And sometimes we succeed and can find something grand. You remember the clotting-salve you've asked me to teach to you?" You nod once. Half a year ago, a hunter was carried to the village with a chunk of his thigh just missing. Something had mauled him and the wound was bleeding terribly despite the attempt of the other hunters to bandage it. Mahuizo had taken one look at the wound and brought a small, specially-marked jar and smeared the salve directly into the wound. The bleeding just stopped then and there. Obviously you wanted to know how something so potent could be made, but so far, he just told you to wait. "This is how I make it."

With these words he takes three small clay vessels full of herbs and places them into the outer circles, before placing an empty one in the center of the triangle. "Place your hands in the ellipses. We will do this together and maybe you can do it on your own later." There are a thousand questions on the tip of your tongue, but Mahuizohs calm smile tells you that there will be time for them later. So you place your hands where they are supposed to go and wait for all of this to make sense again.

Then it suddenly happens. It's like a small tug on your arms, but nothing is there. The old shaman still smiles at you, so you squash the small mote of fear that begins to form as the tug turns into a steady pull. Your skin is prickling all over and somehow the stone that was cold just a few moments ago is becoming steadily warmer. Everything seems to start happening at once now. The carefully made paths of ash are suddenly illuminated by ghostly flames, yet give off no heat. The jars with the herbs seem to glow with the same otherworldly light and you can see how their contents just liquefy before your eyes, green branches collapsing like wet clay and turning into lightly glowing liquid.

You nearly tear you hands away, but the face of your master makes you keep them where they are. Under your still stunned gaze, the liquid in the outer pots ignites into more fire and seems to burn away, while at the same time the central vessel fills up with more liquid that seems to come from nowhere. The pull you've felt at first is still all over you and easily ignored in between all the other strangeness. Was this why Atl wasn't learning this? Because he still sometimes shied away from things, even when Mahuizoh told them they are safe? You have little doubt that interrupting whatever this is wouldn't go well for either of you.

At last whatever strange work you just did comes to a close. A sudden and most certainly not natural gust of wind scatters the ash and extinguishes the flames, marking the end of whatever ritual you just aided with. The outer jars are empty now and the central one filled with a milky cream you have been wondering about for some months now. This was certainly not what you expected to be the secret behind it.

"What... what have we done?"


"We made something from these herbs, but not with our hands. We didn't just cook, dry or mix them, but something greater. This art was once called Alchemy and it can make something not out of things that are there, but out of what they could be." He just grins broader at your puzzled expresion. "Ask away Yaxkin. This is certainly a lot to take in and you have many questions. The night is still young though, and we shouldn't waste these fruitious constellations. I will show you how to make a few more things. You will find them most useful."

What did you make that night?
Pick up to 5 products. Can pick the same one multiple times.

[] Numbing Brew
When drunken, this brew purges the pain and troubles of injuries from you. You can ignore the penalties from being wounded for some time after drinking it.

[] Clotting Salve
A thick, white paste. When spread into a bleeding wound, it immediately makes the wound scab over and stops the loss of the blood.

[] Mosquito's Bane
A light oil that repels insects from any who rub it on their body. The odor is quite strong and makes it easier for animals to track you by scent, but it can keep away even the nastiest insects without fail.

[] Graves Kiss
This dark red liquid can either be used as a medication or a poison. When carefully given to a patient in small doses, they fall into a death like trance and will feel no pain or distress when a shaman treats the most grievous wounds, but a full dose is lethal.

[] Purging Sludge
When a person eats this green sludge, they will start vomiting within moments. This expels any poisons they have in their body, even if the poison was injected instead of ingested.

[] Jungles Scent
A heavy cream that covers up the natural scent of a person and makes it blend into the surrounding scents.

---

AN: Truth be told, I was fully expecting you to fail here and was planning to give you a flint stone knife (still an improvement over the bone thing), but the dice insisted that you get what you came for. Enjoy your little murder knife. It's actually pretty damn lethal all things considered.

In other news, I'm hoping you like your secret shiny. You will be able to make more of these things coming next turn, but whatever you pick now will be available for your ruin diving. Plan format for this vote please.