Chapter 57: A Herbalist

The herbalist was an older elven woman (or perhaps half-elven like Leppie, Alcar thought).

She had very long gray hair that was braided and held back with a bronze clasp, and wore a bright scarlet dress and a knitted blue woollen jersey on top.

She greeted Alcar and Leppie like old friends when they pushed open the door to one of the largest wooden buildings in the village, and then hurried over and crouched down to stroke Brutus tenderly. “Oh, what a beautiful dog!” she exclaimed.

“Thank you,” said Alcar, surprised at the warm reaction. “And good day to you. I hope we are not interrupting?”

With one last pat of Brutus, she turned to the pair. “Not at all. Hmm... A human and a half-elf. Are you lovers?”

“Uh, haha... No, not at all,” said Alcar hurriedly.

“My current lover should be on his way,” clarified Leppie. “Ubund, the guide.”

“Ubund? He’s a fine-looking...” began the herbalist. “Well, I was going to say ’man’. But is he one, exactly?”

“I think ’man’ will do just fine,” said Leppie.

“I am sure,” said the herbalist with a wink to Leppie. “Well, please, make yourself at home. I am Gonida the Herbalist, and a patriotic elder of Riverhome Village.”

“Thank you very much,” replied Alcar, glancing around the room. It was very untidy – and couldn’t look less like the military tap room that they had recently stopped at. There was a mishmash of furniture, all of which was covered with jars, bottles, and books, plus a few half-eaten plates of food, one of which Brutus was soon licking and sniffing at. Two huge windows dominated the near side with views of the valley, and behind the herbalist were a pair of doors leading into the rest of the house.

“Is it right that you can provide a bed for the night?” asked Alcar. “So we were told by Ramiz.”

“Ah, that bloody stoner. So unreliable. I’d have nothing to do with him if he wasn’t such a good customer for my chorna leaf.“

With this, the elven woman went and picked up an especially large lidded jar, which Alcar saw was full of neatly rolled cigars of the type that Ramiz had been smoking.

“So you can’t put us up for the night?” pressed Alcar.

“Oh, it’s no problem,” she said. “If you don’t mind hunting around for blankets and such. There is a spare room with three bunk beds – take your pick. I don’t do breakfast, I’m sorry. But if you are cooking for yourself, I’ll gladly take some.”

“Very well,” said Leppie. “Though we’ll have to buy some food first.”

“The shop is directly opposite,” said Gonida. “The prices are fair, but you should appreciate that we can’t get as much here as you might in larger towns.”

“Of course,” said Alcar. “By the way, talking of supplies, would you be interested in taking a look at some things that I collected?”

“Oh!” said Gonida, her eyes lighting up slightly. “Selling, are you?”

“Possibly,” he replied, pulling a couple of jars from his pocket. “This one I collected in a valley on my way into Dathmir Province,” he said, holding out the jar of unidentified tree moss. “It grew on the trees near the goblin caves.”

Gonida took the jar, held it up to the light, nodded, then passed it back. “Right. This is called tatababa moss. It is fairly common. If dried, it can be useful to stuff pillows and mattresses. But I’m afraid you have left this too long in the jar.“

“Ah,” said Alcar ruefully. “It looked so unusual to me, I hoped it would be of some use.”

“Looks can be deceiving,” replied the herbalist. “But I will dispose of it for no charge.”

“Thank you. And as for this one,” continued the apprentice sorcerer, holding up the brown fungi. “I found it in a tunnel near the Great Swamp. Some kind of mushroom.”

Again, Gonida took the jar from him and peered closer at it in the light, but she took longer this time. “It can be difficult to say with fungi,” she murmured, and then seated herself, flipping open a book.

“Take your time,” murmured Leppie, “but it would be good to visit the latrines.”

“Round the back, dear,” replied Gonida. “And there’s a barrel for washing your hands.”

As Leppie left, Gonida continued to examine the fungi, taking one of them out of the jar and turning it carefully in her hands. Eventually, she looked back at Alcar. “Now, this is an interesting specimen, and well worth gathering,” she said. “It’s known as the Frimburger fungi, named after an old dwarven explorer.”

“Nice,” said Alcar, stepping forward.

“Wuff!” added Brutus, and moved over to Gonida, who placed the fungi back in its jar and then once more rubbed at the dog’s head and ears. “It’s said to be useful for fire magic.” She looked Alcar up and down. ”Are you a magic user? If not, I can give you five silvers for the lot.”

“I am apprenticed to a sorcer...” he began.

But at that time, Leppie burst back in excitedly. “Look who it is!” she called out, holding the main door to Gonida’s home open with one hand.

Brutus barked again and ran outside, with Alcar close behind. Looking out across the village, he saw the approaching figures of the three companions he had been expecting – Etienne, Olynka, and Ubund.

And with them was a familiar-looking lizardman warrior.

“Warlik’s joined us,” murmured Alcar excitedly. “But why is he by himself?”