Watch Your Step — Netbook

[bajamutblast]

[Early in April, a note appears in everyone's netbooks. It's written with a steady, if fanciful hand.]

In a few weeks, a number of flowers will begin to propagate within the woods. I have laid these out along the perimeter, just a few feet within the start of the trees.
These flowers will be either white or purple, I know not how they will develop. I will include a sketch below of what they will look like.
Whatever color they are, they are dangerous when consumed and deadly when applied to wounds. Take heed and do not pluck them unless you are adequately prepared.

[True to his word, Dion draws a flower below. It isn't professional by any stretch, he's no artist, but it gets the job done.]

Comments

[bajamutblast]

You should have no issues with distillation. One of the comment uses of the roots were to produce tattoos that were both vivid on the skin and deadly to remove.
I will warn you, though. If I find you have used this knowledge in a way that might harm anyone of the grove, I will personally run you through.

[sailingfor]

I have no such intentions. I work in pharmaceuticals; neurotoxins are something I use in combat with an enemy. Provided no one here becomes an enemy of us all, you won't see anyone here fall to its effects due to me. No te preocupes por eso.

[bajamutblast]

Then we are on the same page, then.
Good. I may have need of your talents in the future.

[sailingfor]

¿Ah sí? Then I'll introduce myself here — Thorns of Rhodes Island, or Captain Isidor of the Darling's Cradle. I go by both.

[bajamutblast]

A pleasure, Captain Isidor. My name is Dion Lesage.

I suspect our first crop will be ready in a month's time, or at the very least their roots shall be. Is there anywhere in particular I should deliver them?

[sailingfor]

Just to my room at the inn. Top floor, three doors down from the lefthand side. I would say to deliver them to the clinic, but I fear someone getting poisoned by being careless, if it's as dangerous as you say.

Is there any particular reason you chose to plant such deadly flowers?

[bajamutblast]

[The instructions are carefully underlined. Dion will remember that.]

Understood. I will remember that.

As for the why... they are a very important flower to me. There are other reasons, but I get the feeling it would be better to discuss them privately, at a later date.

[sailingfor]

I respect it. As long as people are informed of the basics, I don't particularly care if you choose to keep your reasoning close to your chest. I wouldn't pry for anything other than the scientific information, personally.

When you say "dangerous when consumed", relatedly, does that mean deadly as well?

[bajamutblast]

And I appreciate that. I suspect we will make for excellent comrades, Captain.

I suspect they would be deadly in large quantities, but not with a single dose. You may wish you were dead due to the stomach issues you will experience, but it will not immediately kill you.

[sailingfor]

Perhaps so, but I've been hung from the mast and eaten charcoal before. Not that I'm going to test my tolerance to poison, of course.

[bajamutblast]

I understand the charcoal but... what does hanging from the mast have to do with anything?

[sailingfor]

Oh, I forgot to say — I was upside down for eight hours. Causes stomach issues.

[bajamutblast]

Dedicated to your craft then, I see. Your efforts are admirable. Truly.

[sailingfor]

Less "dedication to the craft" and more "pirates captured me".

[bajamutblast]

My mistake. From your initial phrasing, I assumed this was all intentional.
How did you manage to free yourself, then?

[sailingfor]

I was let down after I agreed to do work for them.

I wasn't pressed about my escape. Since they were unlikely to kill me, I imagined they'd free me eventually — and they did.

[bajamutblast]

How were they as employers after that? If you do not mind me asking.

[sailingfor]

Some kind, others not so much. They had wanted my help as an Alchemist to fix a "Compass" — not a normal compass that shows you north and south and all, mind, but merely a name for an object that can search for anything the wielder desires. Alchemy is quite illegal in Iberia, and not assisting would see me starving to death in our salt desert.

Long story short, the unkind and impatient section of the crew would betray most of their peers and the captain in the end, and then-captain Juana was never a particularly bad woman to follow after besides. I was quite willing to work for her. We reformed the crew ourselves with my partner and a few friends, and I took over as captain while Juana took mantle as my first mate. Now we mostly work in reconnaissance instead of piracy.

It's a shorter version of the tale that does not include several near-death experiences nor attacks from the Iberian Inquisition, but I hope that generally explains it.