Healing the Scar

After two days of having her face in one tomb of alchemy after another, Elektra   steps out of the library at Misty Falls, her mind racing , eyes distant.
After an hour, she returns to the large oaken desk , takes a plume and parchment out , and carefully crafts a letter.
  It is then sent by messenger to the temple of Chauntea in Shadowdale.

once the parchment to the temple of Chauntea is delivered, it would be read as follows:
  To all with concerns for the production in your fields.
   My recent visits to Shadowdale have reminded me of the brutal cruelty the Zhents did when salting these fields. This has left a scar upon not only the land and its fruitfulness, but also upon the economy of the town, as well as serves as a constant reminder of the sick pleasures that evil brought upon the innocent.

I also hear that there are plans to expand the workings of the town, in creasing building and commerce ,  which will require increased production of food.
I, Elektra Mysteria of Misty Falls , would like to meet with you to discuss:
1. The possible restoration of your fields.
2. The use of the fertile lands of Misty Falls by the river to supplement your crop production.
  I can come to your town, or I could host a meeting in our Keep and lands. Either way, this is important enough for me to come to you.
I await your consideration and response.
  Elektra Mysteria

Elektra would also send this same message to Elder Rory, and to the Mages guild of Shadowdale.

((Reply sent))

Setting out after the meeting at misty falls , priestess at large (isn't that a nice way to say busybody?)  Lira Fry starts across the farms of Shadowdale. She'll often offer to buy some cider or some bread as she goes by each farmstead, starting with Ella's chicken ranch in the north and circling to the river on the West Bank if town. 

Everywhere she stops she inquires as to damages that might have be one notices to crops trees and fields by any means suspected. A meticulous note-taker, her nose and cheeks soon bear evidence of frequent use of ink as she scrawls notes.

If people seem reluctant to speak to her she notes that separately and departs with a smile and a blessing. She would also ask after a miss Kendra, who she says might be able to assist. If the farmers ask her why she is curious, she is very plain-spoken in saying that she wants to see what they can do to heal the land and increase crop yields for the struggling family farmer.  If the conversation gets that far, she always inquiries as to any help that might be made available.

None of the farmers seem to be reluctant to speak to her. They mention the salted farms, of course, but other than that they do not seem to have noticed much regarding the crops that are left being harmed in any way. One in particular mentions he thinks they will be in danger, as he "senses a bad storm coming". If pressed further, he says to simply stick your nose in the air and you can smell it.

None of them seem to know where Kendra is, but a few mention that they know she was a performer of sorts and talked about the Dancing Moon.

When Sylira mentions wanting to help with the crops, most of the farmers seem rather relieved that someone is taking the time to finally do something.

Lira marks a map with farms that have reported difficulty and then writes a detailed note to Elektra regarding her findings, especially emphasizing the Bad Storm coming.  She suggests they contact the temples of Chauntea in Myth Drannor and Shadowdale regarding what has come up and seeing what aid they might be able to provide. Also, she volunteers to write to the Elders and the head of the Militia regarding their findings if Elektra thinks this wise.

She hires a couple of local lads to take small soil samples from afflicted farms throughout the vale and makes note of where they all came from.  hey avoid the areas north of the great wall that are abandoned though - no use getting into trouble! She posts on the bulletin board in Shadowdale to see if anyone is selling fertilizer in quantity.  Finally she examines her map to see if any obvioius patterns emerge as to the farms that have been affected.  

She waits to see what Elektra thinks is the best thing to do next - alchemical tests on the afflicted plants, set up a watch or guard for the coming Bad Thing, or look for Kendra...

Blue eyes read carefully over the orderly report that arrived at the Keep. After reading through, noting the detail and attention to facts, Elektra rests her arms on the large wooden desk and breathes these words to herself :
"By the Tiny Turdz of Tempus , this lady is precise !".

Wholly impressed, she ponders her response ...
"Lady Lira , I must share that I m deeply honored to share this task with you, and I feel that I stand in your shadow when it comes to detail and perfection. Your report spurs me on to solve this riddle and I encourage you to keep up the quality of research."
She takes a moment to reflect on the report again,
"I have contacted Elder Rory who has offered a meeting with me concerning this task and I invite you to accompany me there and share your findings directly. I feel it important that it is clear that many will be part of the solution, and not just me.
As far as temples of Chauntea, let us share with the Shaddowdale temple at this time as they are directly part of this.
Our alchemy lab in the Keep can be used to study the samples. We might seek out help from the Academy as well in analyzing them.
I will begin study here first however.
As far as the Bad Storm the farmers are speaking of , perhaps those in the temple can enlighten us as to what this means, as not being a farmer myself, it could be a metaphor or an actual weather event."

Elektra studies the report looking for any pattern in the locations of the salted fields. When possible, she would examine the soil samples for alchemy and or weave evidence.

The samples would provide nothing interesting of note. It seems that these farms in particular are perfectly fine.

Perhaps it is that the farms North of the wall are actually the ones that were destroyed?

((Just an OOC clarification, as I think there's some confusion and I did not explain well enough. The Farmers would have pointed out that the salting was done to the farms that have since been abandoned. Not the farms they are taking care of now.))

Justin replies to both Misty Falls and the Elders. He offers his personal help and to support the effort within the Mages Guild.

((( OOC - posted in the Guild Forum )))

"Excellent!" , sings out a feminine voice from the Misty Falls official desk in the Battleporium.
" the mages guild is willing to join the effort. This means there will be some very bright minds solving this with us.
We also have determined the samples of soil are clean and will serve as what researchers call ' control' , or an unaffected sample for comparison. Now , we need to gather from the ruined abandoned farms.
Once we determine some facts about what we are dealing with , we can draw on mages, Chauntean priests , alchemists and historians. The answer awaits us."

Elektra studies the reports that she gained from official sources and ponders the implications. The account of the salting was indicating pure elemental salt , yet , placed by magical means. . . which could mean that the salt might be treated as an alchemy problem, since the salt itself has no magical properties. This did not mean that spells would not be greatly useful in treating the problem. . only that there were no curses, and no spells that had to be undone, nor broken.

This was good.

She dove into her books , first on alchemy, secondly, on agriculture. . .

Elektra gathered seven samples from the contaminated fields, from various depths. Her mission was lightly complicated by well meaning law abiding citizens making threats about needing her escort.
Once past those obstacles, she moved the samples to the alchemy tables in Shadowdale.
There , she began two experiments on the soil to determine the solubility of the salt.
1: a jar of soil was drenched with pure water, shaken into fully dispersed mud, then allowed to settle to the bottom. Then the water left at the top was poured off, leaving the soil behind. This was Sample A , and would be used to plant seeds once obtained from local farmers , by some one else.
She would taste the poured off water for saltiness.
2: the same procedure would be done after first exposing the soil to magiclly produced acid from an acid storm scroll cast over a vial for collection , intending to activate previously inert salt. Again the settled soil would be placed aside for planting.  She would use dispell magic scroll to remove the magicked produced acid, then taste to water for saltiness.

Making her rounds after digging through the afternoon rain, Lira Fry clumped into the crafting hall above the general store. She was a frightful sight - raindrops ran down her dank hair, her feet squelched unpleasantly in her boots, and her robes bore little resemblance to their normal bright blue. But the scent arising from the bags she bore hopefully made up for it 

The priestess shook her head and forestalled any greeting with a finger to her lips. Instead she took out a flask of steaming liquid. "Jasmine tea. And honey". Next a loaf of dark brown bread, along with a crock of fresh butter.  A large crisp pickle. A quarter-wheel of orange cheese. Three linked sausages. And finally a flaky wedge of pie, crusted with pecans. 

Lira laid it all out with brisk motions. "There. Just a food delivery. No danger of..." She grimaced, a moue of distaste, "socializing. I heard there were some unpleasant people. If you ever feel like telling me who it was..."  Lira trailed off and set out a napkin and cutlery. "At any rate, make sure to eat. I'll leave you be."  

And with that she stumped back to the portal, shoulders slumped with fatigue.

"About our task ..."
  The voice of Elektra had a clinical and official tone, as it filled the room.
After a pause , her voice softens.
".. Has its obstacles ... ".
Her hands set aside the jar that she was working with and reached for towels in the fabrication area. As she spoke, the towel found itself in Elektra's hands, dabbing out the water from Lira's garments.
" Easier perhaps to summon a fire elemental to dry and warm your drenched and dedicated bones. But.. You see, there are those who would glee over catching me doing just about any trivial thing , only to make it sound pure evil beyond reason, to be used against me. I want you., and all those working on this project ,to see and understand that ... as I learned from the love of Sune... I forgive them.
This task we are dedicated to ,  will not be run into a ditch by anything short of my death , and even if it were so... I urge you to continue it to completion.
Let me show you my experiments."
 Elektra alludes to the seven jars on the alchemy bench.
First, I am learning if the salt is soluble anymore. I suspect what salt did not run off with normal rain, is left inert. The second set of jars is to see if inert salt can be reactivated to dissolve in water... using Acids produced by magical means.  
  I am researching in my books about plants that grow well in acidic soils and even perhaps... Salty soils."
She beams a grin.
"This could be something nature provides..  It might take more than one growing season , but it can work.
By the way, as I was gathering these samples ... I have been accepted as Provisional Emeral Mage of the Shadowdale Mage Guild... We can count on their help with this as well!"

Michael Kencade walks into the general store and noticed the two women ". .Ah, there you two are." He smiles brightly and struts over to them in his fancy attire; all neatly pressed and his hair combed back. "Oh . .sorry I am late but I was waiting for the rain to stop." His smile fades as he noticed the condition of Lira then he forces a kind smile "I am so proud of you two, you ladies are doing such a good job."

. ."Well looking over this list of assignments I am going to go ahead and tackle the first two, see if I can meet with Lady Silphie, her and I always had good relations. Will stop by the dancing moon and see if Kendra is in, we are rehearsing a play together. . . and I am sure she would offer to help in any way." He glances at Elektra then over to Lira . . ."Anyway, do I look alright . .for . .um . .a meeting with the Queen of Iron House?"

His eyes dart back and forth at the two ladies then stops at the linked sausages.

"Fly free as the wind , Triad!" , Elektra muses as she looks up from her work.
" I can tell you that much of what the Elders shared with me, in confidence, answered much that I felt Silphie might know. I can tell you that her every response to me was a direct contrast to everything the Elder documents revealed,.. auhm ... Except those documents had nothing to offset her parting words for me ... I have no idea what the phrase means... But some thing about it sounded profoundly negative ... And ryhmed with 'muck poo'... .. Eh ... Kinda ...ish. Anyway , good luck."

Lira couldn't help but snicker. "I'm sure miss Elektra will share if you wish Michael. And don't you look just fancy as all!"  She deftly wielded a knife and sliced up some of the goodies for him, wrapping the results in some butchers' paper before gracing him with it. "Careful not to let it drip on your finery ser!"  She couldn't help but adjust his collar once. "Just do your best to listen carefully and then record what the witnesses say Michael. Don't worry if things are contradictory or don't make sense - they often don't". She had a little smile of remembrance now. "My brothers and I ran an investigative service in Nwverwinter for quite some time - and it was my experience for people to always be remembering things differently. We'll sort through that once we get the details."  

She nodded at the jars that Elektra had set up for her experiments. "That sounds like a sensible proposition, lady. I think that often something that is poison to one is blessing to another. No reason we can't find something here likewise. Just let me know if you need samples of anything, we can get that arranged easily enough." 

She looked at the pair of them seriously once more. "And if either of you runs into...difficulty...with any people in particular, please let me know. I am thinking it is close to taking some action in this town...some of this has gone on long enough!"  Her eyes flashed from their normal warm grey to a chilly blue for a moment.

"Hey now, malady , I try to consider that each person does what they do , because it seems the right thing .. To their point of view.... Which .. Can be moderately contrastive to ubiquitous perspective and cognition ... Or simply put... Stupid.
But as long as they don't cause physical harm, I say let them rage into my deaf ears! ... And forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Ok, my next effort is to study agriculture. I need to see what grows in salty or acidic soils.., maybe desert plants."

Lira blinked in confusion a moment. "Oh. I see. You don't know me very well yet miss Elektra. When I say I might do something about a situation...it means I might have a chat with someone. Possibly over tea."  The priestess smiled and patted Elektra's shoulder. "I generally find physical confrontations counterproductive. But don't you worry about it. Your focus is right!  On with the experiments!"

Later, as Elektra was reviewing her tomb on agriculture, she examined sections concerning growing crops near seashores where salt is common in the soils.
Reading and pondering, she glances up , listening to the rain on the roof. . . when an idea strikes her from the page.

((Pm sent to Dm ))

While crafting, Thane Valtore came into the alchemy lab and a discussion about the salt and its very alchemical nature was discussed:



Salt was agreed upon, that it was one of the eight quasi elemental planes, and derives from a blend of the negative plane and Earth.
The idea of perhaps using other energies to mix with the Salt to create something else was spawned as a possiblity.

After registerinhg, Elektra enters Myth Drannor for the first time her life is free. With deep joy, she walks directly to the library and digs through the archives for information on alchemy, elements, agriculture.




Later that day, she encountered Azzelas and Lhanir, and the only one with any thing useful to say on the subject of restoring the salted fields, was the archdruidess:


Later a discussion with Inerion, a fellow caster in the Guild, also revealed some information. The subject presented by Mineva, a clever twist on the problem was discussed , yet no clear answer was to be found there.

Elektra was forming her strategy.

((PM Sent))

During the heavy rains, Elektra tells Misty Falls citizens to bring plows to the salted fields of far north Shadowdale.

She shifts into celestial form to carry one of the plows with her.


Once in a field nearest the road and river, she summoned an earth elemental to plow , while she turns the soil in the rain to dissolve as much salt out as possible. She was only able to work one area , but this was her plan, to change one area to prove that it can be done. The more it rains, the longer she works her elementals.

   As she works, an idea dawns on her... and it drives her to go and hover over the river, watching it as the rains fall. . . the idea comes to her that she needs to speak to a gnome.

Hork seeing Lady Elktra in the fields will offer his help. If not he will continue on smashing Dogfaces and ants.