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fandomhigh2015-01-08 04:44 am
glacial_queen) wrote in fandomhigh2015-01-08 04:44 am
Entry tags:
History of Poisons, Thursday Per 2
Word had been sent around for students to meet in a Danger Shop, as well as a note taped to the classroom door (along with a handy map for the newbies), for those students who hadn't yet figured out email. Inside, the Danger Shop had been programmed to look like an elegant dining room, with enough chairs for each person to sit. On the table sat six pewter serving trays of different foods, a carafe of a deep purplish-red liquid, and a vase filled with lilies of the valley, but none of the chairs had plates in front of them. Their teacher sat at the head of the table, drinking a mug of coffee.
Hey, it was the Danger Shop. which mean it didn't count. If she wasn't supposed to be a role-model right now, her cup would likely have been filled with something a lot stronger.
"Welcome," she said, waving people in and gesturing for them to take a seat. "This is History of Poisons and I'm your teacher, Karla DiGlacia. Feel free to just call me Karla, I don't like standing on ceremony when I visit the island. I get enough of that at home. Anyway, welcome to our first class and, since it's Thursday, you probably all know what we're going to do today. You're probably all tired of introductions by now, but it's tradition." She shrugged then savored another mouthful of coffee. Oh, that was good stuff.
"Now, when it comes to history, poison has been around since our various ancestors first started poking at various fruits, vegetables, and berries they were able to gather. Not long after people discovered that eating the berries on that bush could kill you, poison has been used as a method of murder, execution, suicide, pest-control, sabotage, and even medicine, of a sort. Whether ingested, inhaled, or injected, all poisons effect the body in some harmful manner. That is, however, pretty much the only similarity among them. There are household poisons, industrial poisons, medical poisons, ...in other words, there's far more to the poisoner's art and its history than we can possibly go into in a single semester. We are going to focus mainly on plant-based poisons, both because they're the ones I am most familiar with and also the most likely to be universal, which is saying something when we're talking about all the different multiverses that touch here. It's not a guarantee, of course, but then again, nothing is."
Especially in a place like Fandom. "Since I'll be asking you all a few questions to learn more about you, it's only fair that I give you some information about me. Firstly, I'm not from this world, though I attended Fandom from my freshman year through graduation. My home is the Realm of Kaeleer, where I am the Queen of a Territory called Glacia. My people are called the Blood and we all have Craft, though most people around here call it magic. I'm what is known as a triply-aspected witch; I belong to the three different inborn castes. As I mentioned before, I'm a Queen, but that's not really relevant to this class, a Healer, which gives me a background in medicinal herbs and plants, as well as the Craft to Heal physical ailments, and a Black Widow, which is the caste of dreams, illusions, prophecy, mind-Healing and poisons." She was going to leave out the part where Black Widows naturally produced their own potent venom in a sac under their right ring finger nails. People could be so weird about that.
"But enough about me, back to the stuff that's really useful. Poisons surround us every day, moreso if you're from worlds or countries or times that are not as developed as America in 2015. It's not just the wrong unknown berry that can kill you, even foods you eat every day can be lethal if you eat them at the wrong time of year, or eat the wrong parts, or eat them when they haven't been prepared properly." She gestured to the items in front of them. "Several of these are poisonous, others are not. I'd like to go around the table and have each of you give me your name, class, and your best guess to what is the most poisonous thing on the table is. I'll tell you now, no poisons have been added, that's not something you have to worry about. These are all poisons you could stumble over in the wild. And don't worry if you can't tell apples from arsenic, just give me your best guess."
Hey, it was the Danger Shop. which mean it didn't count. If she wasn't supposed to be a role-model right now, her cup would likely have been filled with something a lot stronger.
"Welcome," she said, waving people in and gesturing for them to take a seat. "This is History of Poisons and I'm your teacher, Karla DiGlacia. Feel free to just call me Karla, I don't like standing on ceremony when I visit the island. I get enough of that at home. Anyway, welcome to our first class and, since it's Thursday, you probably all know what we're going to do today. You're probably all tired of introductions by now, but it's tradition." She shrugged then savored another mouthful of coffee. Oh, that was good stuff.
"Now, when it comes to history, poison has been around since our various ancestors first started poking at various fruits, vegetables, and berries they were able to gather. Not long after people discovered that eating the berries on that bush could kill you, poison has been used as a method of murder, execution, suicide, pest-control, sabotage, and even medicine, of a sort. Whether ingested, inhaled, or injected, all poisons effect the body in some harmful manner. That is, however, pretty much the only similarity among them. There are household poisons, industrial poisons, medical poisons, ...in other words, there's far more to the poisoner's art and its history than we can possibly go into in a single semester. We are going to focus mainly on plant-based poisons, both because they're the ones I am most familiar with and also the most likely to be universal, which is saying something when we're talking about all the different multiverses that touch here. It's not a guarantee, of course, but then again, nothing is."
Especially in a place like Fandom. "Since I'll be asking you all a few questions to learn more about you, it's only fair that I give you some information about me. Firstly, I'm not from this world, though I attended Fandom from my freshman year through graduation. My home is the Realm of Kaeleer, where I am the Queen of a Territory called Glacia. My people are called the Blood and we all have Craft, though most people around here call it magic. I'm what is known as a triply-aspected witch; I belong to the three different inborn castes. As I mentioned before, I'm a Queen, but that's not really relevant to this class, a Healer, which gives me a background in medicinal herbs and plants, as well as the Craft to Heal physical ailments, and a Black Widow, which is the caste of dreams, illusions, prophecy, mind-Healing and poisons." She was going to leave out the part where Black Widows naturally produced their own potent venom in a sac under their right ring finger nails. People could be so weird about that.
"But enough about me, back to the stuff that's really useful. Poisons surround us every day, moreso if you're from worlds or countries or times that are not as developed as America in 2015. It's not just the wrong unknown berry that can kill you, even foods you eat every day can be lethal if you eat them at the wrong time of year, or eat the wrong parts, or eat them when they haven't been prepared properly." She gestured to the items in front of them. "Several of these are poisonous, others are not. I'd like to go around the table and have each of you give me your name, class, and your best guess to what is the most poisonous thing on the table is. I'll tell you now, no poisons have been added, that's not something you have to worry about. These are all poisons you could stumble over in the wild. And don't worry if you can't tell apples from arsenic, just give me your best guess."
Re: Talk to the Teacher - NFB from here, please!
Re: Talk to the Teacher - NFB from here, please!
//Little unnerving, isn't it?// See that wall Jono had up before slam even more thoroughly into place. //Suppose just assuring you that we've got the situation under control isn't going to help you relax at all, hm?//
Re: Talk to the Teacher - NFB from here, please!
Re: Talk to the Teacher - NFB from here, please!
//We're keeping an eye on the silence, I mean.//
This was not actually inaccurate.
Re: Talk to the Teacher - NFB from here, please!
Re: Talk to the Teacher - NFB from here, please!
Semantics were a beautiful thing.
Re: Talk to the Teacher - NFB from here, please!
Karla had met you, Jono.
Re: Talk to the Teacher - NFB from here, please!
Morton's, in fact!
Who was probably going to be worse than Jono about this.
//But really, I've kept you in the loop for things that will come back to bite you,// he pointed out. //Handed you the files on that one aristo whose body I investigated, and I've been keeping you informed from there, haven't I? Even took a break once it started getting to me.//
All of these things were true!
Re: Talk to the Teacher - NFB from here, please!
Re: Talk to the Teacher - NFB from here, please!
He wasn't going to gloat over winning the battle of semantics, no.
Especially not when he had to resort to using that case in order to do so.
//I'll work on being better about it, though, if you're worried,// he said, instead. //Lord knows, I can always use more work.//
This was also the truth.
Re: Talk to the Teacher - NFB from here, please!
"Jono, this is the first time in months you haven't looked like you're on the verge of a breakdown," Karla said. "I'm pretty sure the last thing you need is more work. You're already teaching, running the store, and dealing with Court."
Re: Talk to the Teacher - NFB from here, please!
That was... actually a legitimate complaint that had nothing to do with him trying to misdirect Karla away from what he'd been up to. Oddly enough.
//Easier to block out with your Court than at those aristo functions, though. It's that much worse when they're all thinking loudly and more than a few of them are doing so about me. But running the music shop is more play than work, you know. S'where I go to get on the level again. And I haven't had a class this semester yet, so teaching wouldn't be a factor anyway. Bring that one up with me again after Friday, I might think differently.//
Re: Talk to the Teacher - NFB from here, please!
Re: Talk to the Teacher - NFB from here, please!
Really, that about said it all.
Re: Talk to the Teacher - NFB from here, please!