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fandomhigh2015-03-05 07:49 am
glacial_queen) wrote in fandomhigh2015-03-05 07:49 am
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History of Poisons, Thursday Per 2
Another class, another visit to the Danger Shop. This time, the class stepped into dusk, the sun lowering on the horizon and the sky turning pink and orange. The air was still very warm and the drone of bees came from somewhere nearby. Karla waved to them from her seat by a small campfire, burning merrily near towering shrubs covered in small pink and white flowers. Under the trees were the makings of a cookout: bottles of soda chilling in a cooler, unshucked corncobs roasting over the coals in aluminum foil, and a thick sausages waiting patiently next to a pile of sharp sticks, already peeled for their convenience.
"Hey there," Karla said, gesturing at them to sit down. "Come in and settle down. Help yourself to something to eat, there's plenty. The corn should be just about done and there's plenty of butter and salt to eat it with." Thank the Darkness for the Danger Shop, where even Karla couldn't mess the food up--so long as she programmed it right.
She waited until everyone had settled in and seemed comfortable before starting in with her lecture. "So, today we're talking about nerium, otherwise known as oleander. It's a common flower in warm places, often used as ornamental shrubs in people's yards. It's known for its pretty flowers and lovely scent," she gestured at the trees around them, "as well as being virulently poisonous. In fact, there's a cautionary tale that makes its rounds every few years, about a group of students who find a pretty flowering bush and strip it for branches so they can roast hot dogs. That bush was oleander and the poison is so virulent that everyone who eats the roasted hot dogs die from the toxins that leeched into their food." Karla kept roasting her sausage, showing no great concern. "That story, at least, is a myth. While it is possible to get very sick from eating food skewered on oleander, death would be much rarer and would most likely happen to those who already tend to be vulnerable to such things: the very young, the very old, and people with weak hearts."
She nodded to the pile of sticks that had been waiting for them. "Relax. They're not oleander. I'm not one for poisoning my students even in the Danger Shop. Oleander sticks are kind of rubbish for roasting anyway--usually they're too thin and gnarled." The more you knew, kids! "However, just because that story is exaggerated, that doesn't mean that oleander's danger is. Every bit of the shrub is toxic, from the nectar to the flowers to the branches, if you were to chew on them. If anything, the people in that story would be in more danger from accidentally catching the sticks on fire and inhaling the smoke. You'd be hard-pressed to die that way, but an armload of oleander wood dumped into a fire could leave you feeling dizzy, lightheaded, flushed, and with a rapid heartbeat. Like the lily-of-the-valley from our first class, the water that oleander flowers sit in is also poisonous and that can kill you, especially if they've been sitting there for several days."
"Oleander poisoning acts much like digitalis from foxglove poisoning. It's also treated much the same way. Prompt vomiting is encouraged, activated charcoal should be taken, and, if necessary, doctors and healers can provide cardiac depressants to control the cardiac rhythm. Reaction time for the poison is immediate and it takes only eating a few of the leaves to start showing an adverse reaction, but that does make it very easy to pin down what likely caused the reaction. Because of this, there are few oleander fatalities per year, as the treatment is well-known. It's only when there is no immediate link to the reaction and oleander that it becomes a truly life-threatening situation. So the question then becomes, how would one keep that link from being made?"
"Hey there," Karla said, gesturing at them to sit down. "Come in and settle down. Help yourself to something to eat, there's plenty. The corn should be just about done and there's plenty of butter and salt to eat it with." Thank the Darkness for the Danger Shop, where even Karla couldn't mess the food up--so long as she programmed it right.
She waited until everyone had settled in and seemed comfortable before starting in with her lecture. "So, today we're talking about nerium, otherwise known as oleander. It's a common flower in warm places, often used as ornamental shrubs in people's yards. It's known for its pretty flowers and lovely scent," she gestured at the trees around them, "as well as being virulently poisonous. In fact, there's a cautionary tale that makes its rounds every few years, about a group of students who find a pretty flowering bush and strip it for branches so they can roast hot dogs. That bush was oleander and the poison is so virulent that everyone who eats the roasted hot dogs die from the toxins that leeched into their food." Karla kept roasting her sausage, showing no great concern. "That story, at least, is a myth. While it is possible to get very sick from eating food skewered on oleander, death would be much rarer and would most likely happen to those who already tend to be vulnerable to such things: the very young, the very old, and people with weak hearts."
She nodded to the pile of sticks that had been waiting for them. "Relax. They're not oleander. I'm not one for poisoning my students even in the Danger Shop. Oleander sticks are kind of rubbish for roasting anyway--usually they're too thin and gnarled." The more you knew, kids! "However, just because that story is exaggerated, that doesn't mean that oleander's danger is. Every bit of the shrub is toxic, from the nectar to the flowers to the branches, if you were to chew on them. If anything, the people in that story would be in more danger from accidentally catching the sticks on fire and inhaling the smoke. You'd be hard-pressed to die that way, but an armload of oleander wood dumped into a fire could leave you feeling dizzy, lightheaded, flushed, and with a rapid heartbeat. Like the lily-of-the-valley from our first class, the water that oleander flowers sit in is also poisonous and that can kill you, especially if they've been sitting there for several days."
"Oleander poisoning acts much like digitalis from foxglove poisoning. It's also treated much the same way. Prompt vomiting is encouraged, activated charcoal should be taken, and, if necessary, doctors and healers can provide cardiac depressants to control the cardiac rhythm. Reaction time for the poison is immediate and it takes only eating a few of the leaves to start showing an adverse reaction, but that does make it very easy to pin down what likely caused the reaction. Because of this, there are few oleander fatalities per year, as the treatment is well-known. It's only when there is no immediate link to the reaction and oleander that it becomes a truly life-threatening situation. So the question then becomes, how would one keep that link from being made?"
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Eat Up
handwavycondiments, as well as plates, napkins, buns, and even the corncob holders to make eating easier.Listen to the Lecture
Re: Listen to the Lecture
Maybe she'd just stick with a soda...
Re: Listen to the Lecture
Re: Listen to the Lecture
"I'm pretty sure you've done way worse to me, Footmot," she said, replying in kind. After all, their (entirely madeup) history was strange and convoluted. "I'm totally allowed to be careful here."
Re: Listen to the Lecture
"Whatever I did in the past, I did out of loooooove," she drawled, surely setting Karina's mind at ease.
Question 1
There's one caveat: you can't use the same method as anyone who's answered ahead of you. Individual answers only, please!
Re: Question 1
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Re: Question 1
Or, you know, straight up murder. Whatever Kaylin preferred.
Re: Question 1
Six Word Ghost Stories!
TELL GHOST STORIES!
They don't actually HAVE to be limited to six words. One or two sentences will be fine. Just as long as they're spoooooooooooky.
Talk to the TA
Re: Talk to the TA
Talk to the Teacher
OOC
Re: OOC
Re: OOC
Re: OOC