Budding Connections [Attn: Gareth Asha'man]

[Kenneth]

Taesh the Weed Whisperer

Taesh Asha'man stopped just outside of the Tower's infirmary, smiling in remembrance of the days he had spent here as a Dedicated. He was not prone to accident or sickness, so it was not as a patient that he had come, but instead as a helper. The Atha'an Miere had discovered as a Soldier that he had a Talent for Plantweaving, the manipulation of flora through the application of the One Power. Lessons and practice with the Talent had led the then Dedicated to understand that the potency of herbs could be enhanced through the Talent. Nurian Asha'man of the Yellow Ajah had helped teach him that lesson, and Taesh had began to periodically come to the Infirmary to enhance and preserve the stock of medicinal plants kept there.

Once he had been raised to Asha'man, his activities in the Infirmary had ceased. Now that he was Head Clerk of the Ajah dedicated to mediation and harmony, the Atha'an Miere had decided it might do some good to begin working in the Infirmary again. His reasoning was two part; first he had so few chances to explore his Talent this days, with the demands of being the Head of an Ajah, especially one often sought after to preside over disputes. Second, he thought it would be good to make connections for his Ajah. One could never know how the winds may blow, and it was always good to have friends out to sea. It was a lesson he learned as the Sailmistress's son, but had just as much application to Tower life. Taesh wanted to make sure that as many connections as he could make within the Tower would be beneficial to his Ajah and their aims.

So the Asha'man had made inquiries to the Yellow, to see if his service could be used once more. He had received assent from Gareth Asha'man, with a message telling him the best day and time to arrive. Taesh had wanted to supervise a mediation happening at the same time, but decided that a dispute over a dowry paled in comparison to a potential tie between the Grey and Yellow Ajahs. With a deep breath the Atha'an Miere Plantweaver walked into the Infirmary, looking around to those in attendance, for a man who fit the description of Gareth that he had been given.

[Bella]

Gareth was not a hard man to find.

He was not the tallest man in the Grey Tower, nor the bulkiest, but he was almost without fail the biggest one working in the infirmary. It made him stand out. He towered over most who worked there, and had the breadth of the blacksmith life he had left behind long ago. His pale hair and pale eyes tended to add to an effect that people recognized but couldn't name.

At this moment, he was sat beside one of the main room beds that lined the infirmary. There were also private rooms, but patients were generally brought to the main room initially. He finished with a young Novice who had taken a nasty tumble down stone steps, having her rest and take some nourishment before leaving. Looking up, he spotted a new face.

This man did not look to be injured, and in fact matched the description of the Head Clerk who was due to work with him today. With a small smile at the girl, he rose and moved around the bed to meet the newcomer. "Taesh Asha'man?" he asked in his low, rumbling voice.

[Kenneth]

Taesh smiled in greeting to the Asha'man of the Yellow, nodding in recognition.

"Yes, and you must be Gareth."

Taesh looked around the Infirmary, smiling in remembrance of the work that he used to do for the Healers in the Tower.

"I am glad that I have found the time to bring my sails back here. Had circumstances perhaps been different, I may very well had been a member of the Yellow now." If Taesh had not chosen the Grey, he would've gone Blue, and if not Blue then Brown, then Yellow. Still, he was not giving a falsehood when he said he could've been Yellow. Gareth did not need to know how many other choices came before that though.

"I do not know if Nurian Asha'man or my messenger, fully explained what I was doing. With my Talent in Plantweaving, I can increase the potency of the herbs you use in Healing. I cannot do every herb, but I should be able to manage a few hauls before I tire out. Just steer me wherever you need me, and I will make myself of use" Taesh informed his fellow Asha'man.

[Bella]

Gareth inclined his head. "That was about the whole of what was explained to me, and I'm glad for the assistance. Any way to make better work of what we have is good by me," he said, gesturing for Taesh to follow him to a nearby bench. It was something of a hybrid between a bench and a table, narrow as the former but tall as the latter.

There was a shelf just above it that ran the length of the table, and the shelf was lined with numerous jars of glass, porcelain, and pottery, all depending on what was best for the storage of the herbs. Just above that was a flat rack lined with small nails, bundles of herbs hanging out to dry.

"I'm very interested in your task here today," he continued. "I myself am narrowly scoped in my abilities, defined to healing and that which is related. I have no talents in plantweaving or the like. I'm fascinated by the way that the two can intertwine." He smiled slightly, since he was never a man of extravagant expression, but it was sincere.

[Kenneth]

Taesh smiled at the Yellow as he faced the table. "I must admit that I am no expert on Plantweaving at all; but it was the first Talent I discovered I had as a Soldier, and I've had some time to practice it." The Atha'an Miere always remembered that moment in the Garden so many years ago fondly, even the trouble he had gotten in for ruining the perfection of the Gardens with explosive growth. He had gotten a lot more control since then, though according to his research he was no where near the power and finesse of those would were considered masters of the Talent in their day.

"Just point me to the herbs you want me to work with and I'll do the rest. I'm not knowledgeable about Healing myself, but from my understanding you need a lot less of the plants that I've used the Talent on to achieve the same result, so that's something."

Taesh had never really stuck around to find out what the plants he had enhanced were used for, but he had heard. The stock of his plants lasted a lot longer than the others, because it was a lot less used in each application. The Atha'an Miere was happy that he could be of some use to the Infirmary and its attendant Yellows.

[Bella]

Gareth listened and nodded, something which he had developed as almost a Talent-level skill over the past few decades. As he finished talking, the Yellow turned to the shelves and reviewed the items there. He contemplated the ones that were used the most often, or treated the more difficult illness and injuries.

"Does it matter if they are fresh, newly dried, or long dried?" he asked, pale eyes still looking over the lot of them.

OOC: Sorry it's so short!

[Kenneth]

"The fresher the better, once they are too dried, there is not much I can do. Not at this moment at least." Taesh admitted, sounding just slightly disappointed.

Truth be told, Taesh was still developing his Talent in Plantweaving. It was hard to write down much about the One Power and how to use it, wielding saidin or saidar was something that needed to be experienced. Without a male channeler who could also Plantweave, Taesh was basically teaching himself the Talent. He had done well so far, with what little outside help he had garnered, but he know, from reading accounts of Plantweaving feats of the past, that he was not quite done learning. Still, at least being able to do what he could was helpful in someway, and it gave him even more chances to utilize and finesse the Talent.

The Atha'an Miere channeler stretched, settling into a more comfortable but solid stance. Continued use of the Talent that manipulated flora was draining, he often had to rest for some hours afterwards. The more comfortable he could be, the longer he could ignore the taxing demands the Talent put on his body. Not that it gave all that much of a difference, but an extra minute meant a few more potent herbs for the Infirmary.

[Bella]

Gareth nodded thoughtfully, realizing that it entirely made sense. He should have been able to figure that one out on his own, but with no talents heading in that direction, such things were not at the forefront of his mind.

With that in mind now, he looked over the shelves and racks. He found several bundles of herbs that were newly collected and, in fact, only bundled together and placed to dry that day. This meant that they were practically just from the garden and hadn't really had any time at all to dry. They were the closest thing to fresh that he had.

He took them and placed them in front of Taesh on the table. "These are the freshest I have, and among those we need to replace the most often. We go through the quickly." He paused. "We maintain a garden in the Tower of them, if you could strengthen them while still growing and let it be maintained after harvest..."

[Kenneth]

Taesh opened that part of himself that could reach saidin and felt that moment of exhilaration and fear at the touch of the male half of the One Power. it took mere heartbeats now for the Atha'an Miere to wrest the power to his will, but it always felt the same, that same moment of awe came. Afterwards the feeling of right as he viewed the world through saidin enhanced senses.

"I can strengthen your herbs right before harvest, but I can't do it from seed and have that carry over to the flowering plant. I need a bit more study and practice, but the demands of the Greys keep me rather busy" the Atha'an Miere responded as he began working on the herbs that Gareth had placed before him.

When a young Soldier Taesh had discovered the Talent of Plantweaving, he had learned that all five Powers, Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit were necessary. Plant life survived thrived off of the essence of all five of the Powers, but with the Talent, increasing one Power over another changed the state of the flora. More Earth made rigid and hard plants, more Water had the opposite effect. Too much Air or Fire simply destroyed the plants, but Spirit, had a different effect all together. Taesh wove a net of the Powers that settled over the assembled plants. The Yellow Asha'man had been correct, there was still life in the plants, enough for Taesh to work with. He pulsed Spirit through the net, the Power that enhanced the properties of plants. For good or ill, whatever uses could be created from root, leaf, stem, or flower Spirit made it much more potent.

Outwardly the herbs went through very little visible change, just a shift in vibrancy. However, the leaves that were used to create the medicine that the Infirmary used sheened with oil. Where before it would take a handful of the plants to get a usable amount of the medicinal oil, now one plant would suffice, and that medicine would be much more potent for longer than usual.

[Bella]

The change was very subtle, but to a man who spent almost all of his working time using these plants--looking and studying and preparing and utilizing--he could see even that little change in the vibrancy of the greens. He pulled it closer and looked it over, fascinated by what the Grey had been able to do.

With an ability like this, it was almost a shame that the man had chosen the Grey instead of the Yellow. But, of course, there was no telling if the man had other Yellow talents.

"That is an impressive ability you have there, brother," Gareth said with sincerity. "I would be interested in your further aid in the garden during harvest time, were you amenable to it. This will go a long way to helping stretch our supplies even further, as we always seem to be running out of this or that at inopportune times."