A Visitor Out of Thin Air, 12/10 Afternoon

[Deryni]

Marianne started awake - she'd been dozing at her desk. When the cold chill had hit, she'd set up a brazier near the window, which was the only part of the office that wasn't covered by shelves and books. She'd never chance precious parchment, vellum and paper to whatever weather might get through the glass! The heat of the brazier at her back, though, had made her sleepy, and that combined with a late night the day before (it wasn't her fault, but she'd had so much to do!) had made her drift off instead of work. At the knock, however, she rubbed her eyes and called, "I'm in here, do come in. Just be careful of the cat." It had become such a fixture in her office that Marianne had given up on shooing it away and had started feeding it instead. There was something very comfortable about having it purring on her lap.

Was she expecting anyone? No... So this could be any number of things she probably hadn't thought to prepare for. Well, she'd see soon enough, wouldn't she?

[mizukitsune]

Treespirit opened the door slowly. She wasn't sure what was meant by 'look out for the cat', but she thought that it would be safe to assume that she shouldn't let in out. Once safely inside, she shut the door behind her and introduced herself.

"Dean Valdane, I am Treespirit k'Shira, here about a Teaching position. I hope I'm not disturbing you." The Dean did look a bit sleepy. Treespirit liked her already though, her office had just the right amount of clutter. No plants though.

[Deryni]

Marianne considered the woman that had just come in. Well well, another Tayledras. And from K'Shira? Hmm. Not a Vale she knew - she was most familiar with K'Valdemar, having grown up at Kelmskeep. Mentally, she tried to draw a mental map of where it would be. "Ah, K'Shira... north and west of K'Valdemar. Quite the trip, you must be tired. Please, sit down." The tabby-cat would be obvious when Treespirit goes to sit down, having claimed one of the chairs quite thoroughly. The woman spoke Valdemaren quite well despite the accent, she must have practiced.

"And you're not disturbing me at all, Treespirit. Do you have any preferred forms of address, on that note?" The Dean got out some papers from a drawer and dipped a quill in the inkjar. "And what position are you looking for?" As she spoke, the cat stretched and yawned widely, then promptly curled up in its chair again.

[mizukitsune]

"I am a bit tired," she admitted, "But I came in a gryphon carry basket, so I can't feel too sorry for myself." She eyed the chairs in front of the desk, all of them looked inviting, well except the one with the cat in it. She sat in another chair, glad she had left Sophos in her room. Not a large owl, she might look at bit like a fun flying toy to a cat.

"Just Treespirit is fine. I don't put too much stock in formalities." she replied, flicking a stray crystal out of her eyes. "A friend told me that the Collegium is lacking a teacher of Herbalism. Since that happens to be my speciality, I thought I'd come and offer my services," she said brightly.

[Deryni]

The cat was far too busy sleeping in its chair - which had that perfect ray of sunlight from the window - to note the owl. Even if the tabby had seen it, it was far too lazy and comfortable to go after the bird. Marianne wasn't paying attention to her uninvited guest, more interested in Treespirit. "Gryphon, hmm? The palace staff are going to have a fit." The woman chuckled warmly, jotting some things down on the parchment. "Herbalism, hmm? Yes, we need one of those, although you aren't our first applicant. Old Sanek left a year ago and we haven't had a good replacement since... it's been making for some tricky class arrangements. How many years of experience do you have in your area? Have you ever taught before? If you have, how many people? Do you have much experience with children? What about teens? What do you think makes you suited to this position"

The questions weren't fast, but they were focused, and as she spoke, the Dean was clearing off her desk. Her smile was still friendly, but it was clear that if this woman wished to teach, she'd have to prove competent to the plump Dean. Marianne might be easy-going, but she wouldn't entrust the teaching of her students to just anyone. When it came to her teachers, she was downright picky. Once the desk was cleared, she began to set out dried plants - whole, leaf, or root - that she removed from another drawer. This would provide a good test, she decided. If Treespirit could identify not only what each was, but the uses, she'd be most pleased. The majority of them were common, but some were very rare indeed. First, though, she waited for her answers.

[mizukitsune]

"Yes, quite lovely creatures, but imagine they eat rather a lot." Treespirit wasn't fazed by the questioning, although she blinked once or twice, perhaps surprised that the Dean hadn't heard of her. Of course she considered herself to be a well-known expert.

"Well, I've been Healing since I was about ten. I suppose I was near to thirteen when I really specialized in Herbalism. I have taught before, both groups of children and teens one on one. In the Vale, young Healers are often apprenticed to older ones. But in any case, I think the Collegium could use more Tayledras, if they intend for out two cultures to grow closer, and I know of rare plants that only grown in the Pelagiris that have wonderful healing properties. It'd be interesting to try and grow some of them here."

Treespirit eyed the herbs on the desk, she knew them all, some of them well and some only from books, but she knew she would have no trouble identifying them,, if it came to that. So she smiled, feeling, as usual, confident and calm.

[Deryni]

Marianne watched Treespirit as she answered, noting things down as the Tayledras woman spoke. Although she gave little sign of it, the answers given were only part of what she was paying attention to – a great deal of her observation lent itself to the way the herbalist reacted. She’d been surprised – probably had assumed Marianne knew of her, which meant she was either well known (and the Healer would need to contact her sister to find out for certain) or a tad bit egotistical (it was probably the former) – and gave off clear signs of confidence. As well, it was obvious that she had a vain streak by the fact she’d put so much effort into looking good, although that wasn’t uncommon among the Tayledras. However, her answers were satisfactory, extremely so, and she showed all the signs of being a decent person that wouldn't be troublesome for the children. Marianne herself was interested in seeing if some of the Pelagiris plants could be grown in the area – she knew several herself and valued them better fresh than dried.

“Alright," she said as Treespirit finished, jotting down a couple final things. "I want you to identify and explain the uses of each of these, as you would to a class. Assume that with the common ones, you’re speaking to younger children of ten to fourteen, and with the more uncommon you’re speaking with fifteen to seventeen year olds. With these four,” at that she tapped the rarest ones, “You’re addressing eighteen to twenty year olds with a strong interest in herbalism.”

((If you want, Kit, you can just say that she does it, and describe how well she does – no need to come up with/create twenty-seven plants and their medical uses))

[mizukitsune]

Treespirit smiled. It would feel good to exercise her mind a bit after the long trip. "All right." She picked up each plant one by one, explaining its uses, depending on preparation, and how to identify it in the wild. She thought she'd done well, and was rather proud of herself for recognizing kitten's paw, since that only grew in Karse, though it was a common headache remedy there. For the last four, she went into more detail, describing the best way to prepare and store each one, and going into more detail about the exact effects of each preparation. She hoped she would get an oppurtunity to teach older students. It was nice to be able to share her passions with students that appreciated it.

Once she was finished, she smiled. "Also, I think you should know, I'm a decent earth-witch. I don't know how common that Gift is here, but I'd be happy to help with that as well."



((I'd thought of it...but 27 is a little extreme ))

[Deryni]

Marianne didn't bother to hide her pleasure as Treespirit finished. The woman had done well, extremely well, and hadn't faltered at all. She showed a healthy interest in the field (although that was to be expected) and seemed to enjoy presenting each in a teaching manner. The Dean had begun to despair of finding anyone to replace their last herbalist - perhaps she'd been too picky, but she didn't feel that any area of study should be less than thorough for the students. A few more notes went down, then she looked at Treespirit. "Earth-sense? Hm. Not unheard of, but not as common as among the Tayledras. I recommend you spend time with our Mages as well as the Healers, in that case - I think we can put you to use in that area when you're not working."

The plump little Healer sat back in her chair, expression thoughtful. "As with all those who just begin, you're on a sort of trial period - I don't expect we'll have any problems, though. You appear more than capable of handling the job. This year we don't have any aspiring herbalists, although they may yet change their mind before summer, so you'll be teaching the beginner classes and some intermediate. You may also want to work with our Salves teacher - in the past, some of our teachers have created interesting combination classes. We're nearly done the fall term, so you have until the next term to come up with an outline of your course. When you finish it, please bring it to me to look over, but that's simply that I have an idea of where your students will be, training-wise." She couldn't help but remember that rather angry boy... oh dear. "Otherwise, feel free to be creative."

And with that out, Marianne sighed and smiled brightly at her. "Now that business is done, I'm happy to have you here. We've needed someone with your skills, and I think it'll be interesting having two Tayledras Healers in here. Do you have any questions?"

((Kinda thought it would be. Save your creativity for your classes))

[mizukitsune]

If Treespirit had been a bird, she would have preened in response to the Dean's pleased look. But she wasn't, so she merely beamed. "Well, of course I'd be glad to help them if they need it." In a technical sense, earth sense was her strongest Gift, but most mages didn't really appreciate it. She mainly used it to help her grow the delicate plants she used in Healing, as well as to aid the problems left over from the Mage Storms.

"I hope I'll be able to inspire some into taking up my craft. But it is a slightly obscure subject." In Treespirit's mind, that only made it more wonderful. And she was confident that there were those in the Collegium perfectly suited to herbalism, so it didn't bother her that she'd be teaching mostly younger students to begin with.

"Oh, there is another Tayledras here? Mind if I ask who it is?" she asked, her curiosity piqued. It wasn't someone from her own Vale obviously.

[Deryni]

Marianne stifled a chuckle at the clear pleasure the other woman demonstrated. Well, it was good to know Treespirit hadn't been put off by the work and conditions she'd just dictated. "It would be nice to have some interested in herbalism - it's a subject that can be most useful. And I don't mind at all - his name is Stormwind k'Sheyna. Healer and Trondi'irn. We also had another in here, but she was... more the bearer of bad news. Stormsong k'Treva." The Healer made a displeased sound, tapping her fingers on her desk, then shook her head. "Anyway, you'll probably see Stormwind teaching or with his adoptive brother, the gryphon Ashevri. We also have the Healer Ferwlla, a kyree. There's a dyheli in the fields, as well, but I haven't caught her name." This time the chuckle wasn't stifled. "Once upon a time I thought it was odd to hear a voice in my head, but these days I'm baffled when I don't hear one."

The Dean thought, then, "If you'll come with me, I'll show you your working area. Sanek was quite picky, you'll find, and no one's been in there since he left except to clean or retrieve a handful of things." She stood and went to the door, holding it for Treespirit.

[mizukitsune]

Her face took on a thoughtful expression. Stormwind? An enticing prospect indeed. Treespirit's mind began to wander upon this subject when she heard the Dean speaking about her new workplace. "Oh, yes, I'd like to see it. I'm going to want to start getting my plants settled right away, and I have quite a lot of seedlings that need planted."

Treespirit stood up, brushing the wrinkles out of her robes and she touched Sophos with her mind. {Are you ready to do some exploring?}

{Yes. Bored. Lonely.}

{We're almost done. You're wlcome to come and find me, but you might get lost.}

{No...you come get me. I will wait.}

Treespirit shrugged and and made her way through the door, thanking the Dean for her courtesy with a smile, and waited to be led.

[Deryni]

Marianne headed down the halls until she reached a door at the end of one hall on the ground floor. This had been a combination effort, and she hoped the Tayledras would understand the amount of work that had gone into it. As she opened the door, the smell of spices and herbs wafted out. There was a stillness to the room, a sense that it hadn't been used for a while but wasn't old yet - no dust had been permitted to settle, and everything was in the same neat and ordered fashion as when the last herbalist left. Several wooden tables with a couple stools occupy the room, as well as shelves and cupboards filled with jars, vials, books and scrolls. Two doors can be seen, one directly across from the entrance, and one to the right.

Marianne went to the one on the right first, "Now, this room is your main working area, and where you'll have your advanced students once you get them - a proper classroom will need to do for the other classes. This..." She opened the door, and it was clear that there was no natural light in there except for what came from the open door, "is your darkroom. We've a couple mage-lights that just need a touch of energy in them again to get them working - they brighten and dim at whatever commands are set into them when the energy is placed."

She closed it again, and went to the far one, opening it. Heat washed out, "This is what our Artificers are calling a 'hot house'." The small building off the side of the Healers Collegium was made of glass - taken from the old ekele when no one had moved into it again. "With a bit of magic and some use of the sun, it stays warm year round. There's curtains that you can move so that certain plants can get more shade if they need it." And it was one of the pride and joys of the Collegium, but that was to be assumed. Quite a nice bit of work from Healers, Mages and Artificers.

[mizukitsune]

Walking around the room slowly, Treespirit suppressed the urge to clap her hands. This was far better than she had expected, and meant that she would have to use less magic for growing things than she had expected. "Oh, this is wonderful! Its got everything I need....well except all my plants, but I'll take care of that."

"Thank you for showing me around. I hope I'm not taking up too much of your time." Now that she knew where to go, Treespirit was ready to get to work, her hands itched to be in the dirt. And that hothouse was amazing, it was almost as good as a Veil, as would let her gorw a lot of rare things in seclusion.

[Deryni]

Marianne chuckled, recognizing the look on the other woman's face - she herself wore it whenever someone needed Healing or a new technique was found. "I have some free time right now, don't worry. About the hot house, until now, we've been using it for our own stores of herbs, and we'll ask that you share what you grow in here with the House of Healing - some herbs are difficult to get in the winter." She considered, then, "There's one more place I'd like to show you, then I'll leave you to your work and planning. Please follow me." She smiled at the Tayledras, and left the room, waiting for her out in the hall. The Dean had seen the suppressed reaction, and was smiling to herself - in many ways, it was as promising as the interview.

She'd have to make sure to mention to the other Healers that they should make a point of meeting their newest peer, and half-hoped that when they visited the Healers Library that there'd be one or two there, and she could leave Treespirit in their care. While she had time to spare, she also knew that by the time she got back to her office there'd be an unhappy Trainee curled up in a chair wanting to cry on her shoulder or a Healer that had just needed to explain that they couldn't fix everything. It didn't take Foresight to know that, and she didn't know who it'd be, but there was always someone that needed a bit of comfort and came to her for it - and she was happy to provide.