ᴡᴇ ᴘɪʟʟᴀɢᴇ, ᴡᴇ (plunder) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-02-22 22:33:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, killian jones (captain hook), morrigan |
Who: Killian & Morrigan
What: Bringing the deadly Dreamshade plant to an herbalist to see what can be done with it
When: Backdated to before The Hunger Games stuff
Where: Morrigan's laboratory~
Rating/Warnings: POISON?
Status: Complete
Making new friends in Orange County, such a delight. But in this case, Killian was actually grateful for it - he already decided he liked the woman who had responded to his inquiry regarding plant experts on Valarnet. Or he could appreciate her unique outlook, at least; perhaps he simply had a soft spot for dark and mysterious ladies with razor-edged wit. Never had he worked with or even met an herbalist before, but he was interested in seeing her setup and what she could do with the rather dangerous Dreamshade. It was technically an herb which grew exclusively on the sandy-white shores of the island of Neverland. With it, the botanical drawing had also arrived in this world, the parchment old and crinkly and once belonging to his brother - it was actually a huge show of trust to even bring the drawing along, to let another person touch it since the relic was one of the last memories of Liam in the dreams that Killian had, but he assumed Morrigan would find it useful while working. (478. Somnumbra Atra) Rosoideae V.I. Rubrus XIII A That was mostly foreign to him, but he could deduce a few things - the Latin words ‘sleep’ and ‘shadow,’ which made sense. The colour of the plant was inky like shadows would be, and the poison practically oozed from the thorns - he was careful to keep it wrapped up securely, and placed in a box, so there would be no danger of scratching himself. Then he went to the address Morrigan gave him, arriving at what looked to be her home - made sense that her laboratory of a sort was part of her abode, it was personal that way. Freshly arrived with the deadly plant du jour, he shuffled to the front porch cloaked in leather jacket armor and knocked on the door. Morrigan could be just as sharp as any thorn, and sometimes her words could spout poison. But for the most part, she could be relatively personable so long as someone wasn’t bothering her, or she was doing work for them. Such as the case with Killian’s plant. It intrigued her, so she would be more than personable to him. She ensured that her lab was ready so she could take the plant straight there. Morrigan preferred working from her own home, so she’d taken on of the larger rooms and converted it for her lab. Her two cats were never allowed in that room for obvious reasons. She also had a greenhouse in the backyard where she kept a healthy stock of various plants that she used for her remedies. And now that she’d started dreaming, she was experimenting a bit more, seeing if she could make healing poultices like she could in the dreams. But she didn’t quite have the right plants that were in her dream world. Not knowing how Killian felt about cats, she put her cats in their room and closed the door. They weren’t the sort of cat that would come and inspect newcomers, but they would stand at a distance and follow along. Then came the knock and Morrigan quickly answered the door. Her long dark hair was pulled into a messy bun on the back of her head, and she wore a white lab coat over a shirt and skirt. “Welcome, do come in,” she greeted with a polite smile as she stepped aside. The house was neat and orderly, though there was the distinct aroma of flowers in the air. She always kept fresh ones inside. “Hello, love,” Killian returned the smile, just as polite, a charming grin that reached the azure of his eyes. It was like walking into springtime, this place - smelled rather fresh and airy, sweet, the aroma of those petals tickling his nose. “Thank you for letting me drop by with this on such short notice. I certainly didn’t expect to get such an interesting dream gift, but that’s simply the way it works around here.” They couldn’t control anything related to those dreams, unfortunately - or else he’d still have both hands. But his prosthetic functioned well enough; he was wearing it now in all of its mechanical glory, carefully holding the box with the Dreamshade resting inside. “Where would you like this? I’ll follow to your lab, as I am quite interested in seeing what you can do.” Closing the door behind him, Morrigan chuckled softly. “It is no trouble. I admit to having quite the curiosity about this dream gift of yours. Learning about plants I have not seen before is a rare joy that I relish.” Hers was an academic mind, one always searching for knowledge at every turn. “This way, my lab is just down the hall.” She led the way through her living room and down a hall. Opening the last door revealed her lab. There was quite the assortment of equipment. It looked much like a chemistry set, though there were a few differences. “You may set the box down on the counter there. Then we can have a look at the beauty of it.” Morrigan found beauty in all plants, even the ugly ones or the poisonous ones. They were part of nature, and Morrigan had a deep love of nature. He wasn’t certain if he would describe the Dreamshade as beautiful, but then again, perhaps it was in a macabre sort of way - beautiful in all of its deadliness, the power it had to so easily end a life. All it required was one scratch, as Killian knew far too well. He set the box on the counter, as instructed, and took the top off - then reached inside to remove the thorny wrapped plant, placing it down for Morrigan to have a look at. He assumed she’d want to wear gloves, or something, or perhaps she preferred to live dangerously. “Here’s the botanical drawing,” he added, removing the folded parchment from his jacket pocket. “It...my brother, in the dreams, had it with him. We, on an assignment as officers in the Royal Navy, were sent to retrieve Dreamshade for the King because he wanted to use the poison in some sort of biological warfare, so not the best intentions. Later on, someone - “ That scaly demon, whom Killian wished he had properly killed but Rumpelstiltskin was like a fucking cockroach, “...created an elixir that was an antidote to the poison. I’ve no idea how or what was in it, obviously, but this page from the book on plants is all I’ve got about it.” Otherwise, he just had his experience with how the poison was a lethal substance, causing nothing short of a slow and agonising death if it happened to be injected. Which, admittedly, could be useful. Morrigan did retrieve a pair of gloves. As much as she did like to live dangerously at times, she made certain to never handle plants with her bare hands until after she had become familiar with them. After all, the last thing they needed was for her to miscalculate where the thorns were and accidentally poison herself while she was initially looking it over. “Oh that should certainly help,” she said, setting the gloves beside the plant and taking the drawing. Best to study that before trying to pick the plant up. And it was a very informative drawing, at least to Morrigan. It told what species the plant was. The Dreamshade was a subfamily of the Rose. Not surprising given the thorns, but it also gave her information about the plant itself. “Of course the poison would be used for biological warfare. Simply from the description you gave of what it does, it seems like a perfect candidate for such a thing.” After she finished studying the drawing, she grabbed a pencil and some paper and quickly copied down the pertinent information from it. “I can already tell you that rosoideae is a subfamily of rosaceae, which is the rose family of plants. Thus making the Dreamshade a relative of the traditional rose.” Morrigan finished writing, then she turned back and pulled the gloves on. “Now, let us have a look at this.” For the fact that she picked up a deadly plant and was carefully unwrapping it, Morrigan had a sense of glee about it. It was a controlled glee, of course, she maintained professionalism, but she was kind of really excited to be examining a type of plant she’d never seen of or heard of before. “Do you know of anything else about this plant, aside from the poisonous aspect of it? I believe you said it only grew in one area of your dream world? What type of climate was that?” “Not much else, besides that the poison from the thorns was also used for coating weapons - I used it once on my hook,” Killian motioned to where he wore his prosthetic; obviously the more grotesque appendage was left at home, but Morrigan could use her imagination, “...and the Lost Boys would coat their arrowheads with the substance as well.” Made sense that Dreamshade was part of the rose family - he had seen black roses before, tinted with kind of a maroon, and thought they were lovely. But roses were also thorny, a garden potentially a bramble. Intriguing too, in how those defence mechanisms were nature’s way of preventing attacks by herbivores - or so he assumed. He presumed now was a good time to ask, perhaps he could learn something new. As for the climate, Killian hmmmed, considering. “It’s dark, very dark all the time - and stormy, occasionally, with churning waters. But there is no daylight, none at all. There used to be, but that changed - now you won’t find the sun shining anywhere in that hellish place.” Not after Baelfire was surrendered to the Lost Boys, he noticed - he wondered if Neal had ever noticed that too. “Are the thorns generally the plant’s way of ensuring it won’t get eaten? Like evolution of a sort?” “A plant that grows in the absence of sunlight? How positively fascinating. Not completely unheard of, nevertheless.” After unwrapping the plant, Morrigan began to look it over. It certainly earned it’s name. “Considering it is dark and occasionally stormy, would it be correct to say it was humid? Or at least conditions one might find in a subtropical climate here?” The more she could learn about the conditions under which the plant grew would add to her understanding of it. Turning it, she carefully began to look at the thorns. It was a beautiful plant, being a color that she hadn’t seen before. There were some plants in her dream world that had such an appearance. Deathroot, for one, was black with some read. It was also poisonous, and sought after by assassins and those who wished to kill someone with poison. “Indeed they are. They are a natural defense of such plants, much like some animals have evolved to have hardened shells to discourage predators, or animals who have evolved similar color patterns to poisonous animals so they are left alone.” Morrigan explained. “Plants are living creatures, much like animals. They need air and water like we do. They have developed different methods of protection against being eaten by herbivores or picked by humans. Thorns being one of them, poison being another.” With the external examination nearing completion, Morrigan made a few more notes on the paper she’d written on earlier. “Now, let us have a sample of this poison.” Morrigan set the plant down gently, then took a knife and a vial and she carefully cut one of the thorns off before she turned and went over to her set up with the sample. “Now to determine the properties of this poison. Once that is done, I can begin to craft an antidote. How long does it take the poison to kill someone?” Killian watched Morrigan work, leaning against the counter - he stayed out of her way, of course, not wanting to be a nuisance. But it was interesting to see; obviously this was her true, calling, her craft. “I’m curious about the properties too - I’ve never quite studied it,” he chuckled. Mostly because he recognised its uses as a tool for vengeance and murder, nothing more. “But it takes about, oh...” He rubbed his prickly jaw, with all that crow-black scruff, “...a week or so. Yet it feels much longer - the poison kicks in right away and incapacitates you. As it spreads from the site of the wound, through the bloodstream, it travels to the victim’s heart. It’s...painful, to say the least.” He had seen it, and had seen far too much while trapped on Neverland - it was truly a horrific place, an island that pulled all your fears to the forefront and made you face them. You second guessed everything, and you couldn’t even leave, not unless Pan let you. “The climate Dreamshade grows in, aye, I’d say it’s humid - during what is meant to be daytime, that is. In the later hours it gets a bit cool,” he added. It was difficult to tell, however, given how dark it was all the time and how strangely time passed - he remembered making camp on the island, with the Charming’s, in some semblance of a schedule. After a century or so on the island before all that though, his internal clock had been quite messed up when he returned to the Enchanted Forest. “You are from England, yes?” Killian guessed so, based on the accent - though she sounded less from the urban bits of London, more like she hailed from the lush countryside landscapes. “The climate is actually quite similar, though with less rain in Neverland.” Morrigan worked her magic, in a manner of speaking. At this moment, it was all science. She didn’t have any of her magical abilities from her dreams, merely the knowledge of the plants in her dream world and what they could be made into. After extracting some poison, she started to perform some tests, to see what the poison consisted of. What made it so potent, she wondered? It was entirely intriguing. Yet even as she worked carefully and intently, she was obviously still listening to Killian. “An entire week? An interesting aspect considering how the poison spreads by the bloodstream. Though also allows time for an antidote to be acquired and administered.” She was speaking purely from a scientific viewpoint, of course. There was nothing interesting about it from one who was suffering the poison’s effects or that person’s loved ones. “Makes one wonder if the antidote takes an equal amount of time to work.” Clearly the poison spread slowly. Would the antidote spread just as slowly? Or would it work faster? There was only one way to find out. “Indeed I am. I am from Kent, as it were.” She glanced at Killian, a little gleam in her eyes. “Ah, so varying shades of grey and some rain. Only lacking in the sunlight.” Such a sense of humor she had. Grabbing her notebook again, Morrigan made some more notes, including the part about how long it took the poison to kill the victim. “Now, let us see what this poison consists of.” She turned back to it, at least resting on the fact that while they may not have the exact ingredients for an antidote, Morrigan could still work with it. Combining elements in different ways yielded surprising results sometimes. “Ah, my lady, you will soon learn that nothing in my world makes sense so I do hope you like challenges,” a grin flickered on Killian’s face, teeth flashing for a moment. “The antidote seemed...instantaneous, funnily enough. It was some kind of elixir. What happened was that someone was punctured with an arrowhead coated with poison, and it began to spread. He would have perished on the island were it not for drinking water from a spring that can heal essentially anything. But once you drink, you are tethered to the island forever - you can’t leave, or the symptoms kick in again.” It was how Liam had died, thanks to that plus Pan’s subterfuge, and Killian still felt guilty. He probably always would - destined to feel saddled with guilt and regret in both worlds. “Anyway, he took some of that healing spring water with him when we left. Then the elixir was concocted once we were home, so he bought himself enough time to drink it and cure himself.” Basically, Dreamshade meant for a slow and agonising death - there weren’t many here he’d wish that on, but he couldn’t make any promises for the future. There was also no telling how an elixir would fare here - but he was certain that one could be concocted too, that if anyone could do it, it would be Morrigan the herbalist. He continued to observe, somewhat fascinated. “What made you decide to move here of all places, from Kent?” he asked. Morrigan actually laughed. “Ah, such a sense of humor. Though does anything in these dreams of ours make sense?” She gave him a bit of a smirk, knowing full well her own dream world was one that would probably not make much sense to those who did not dream of it. “A spring with healing properties that come with a price. I suppose such a price is to be expected. I shall gather that some portion of the antidote was derived from the spring water. Though without any such piece of an elixir existing here, I shall endeavour to make an antidote solely based upon the composition of the poison itself.” And Morrigan began to breakdown the poison she’d extracted, hoping to find the different components of it. She was already anticipating not knowing a couple of the components simply because this plant was not from Earth. But she hoped the knowledge she had of Earth plants and the plants in Thedas would help. “In a simple and accurate answer, to get as far away from my mother as possible. In a more complex and slightly more accurate answer, I wished for a change in scenery, and this place seemed to be interesting enough for the time being.” She glanced at him. “And how about yourself? What stellar, shining quality of this area drew you here?” There was some sarcasm in her tone, mostly because she would not say anything in Orange County was either stellar or shining. Killian laughed too, a richly amused sound. “I’ve a feeling you should be able to concoct something. Of course, testing the effectiveness is always the difficult part.” It was also entertaining to consider some hapless person drinking poison with the promise of curing them - and if it didn’t work, well. That was quite a game of Russian Roulette. “As for what drew me here, I’m not entirely sure but then again I don’t think anyone is. I work as a Private Investigator, and I had a case that temporarily put me here to give the final report and collect pay,” he explained. “Then I just decided to settle into my houseboat and stay awhile. When the sister I didn’t even know I had showed up, that sort of sealed the deal - and the dreams too, I suppose. You sort of get sucked in and want to know what happens. Though,” the pirate nodded to indicate his prosthetic. “I lost a hand very early on.” Morrigan may not go so far as to test the poison on a person. She wasn’t quite that cruel, unless someone annoyed her enough, then she’d potentially do it. But she’d certainly try it on rats or something of the sort. But testing an antidote was the same process as testing medication to treat illnesses. It was always a game of Russian Roulette until the right combination was found. “Indeed it is, but there are still ways to test it.” She looked up at him a bit curiously. “A Private Investigator? Now that is quite the line of work.” All the poking around in people’s lives to varying degrees, finding people who may not wish to be found. “Ah yes, the dreams do have a way of keeping one here, do they not?” Her own dreams had won her curiosity, and she was hoping that one day she would wake up with the magical abilities she was demonstrating in them. “The loss of your hand, was it an incident from your dreams that carried over into your waking life?” It was asked purely out of curiosity. Morrigan had read of people talking about waking up with wounds from their dreams. So far she had been lucky, considering how dangerous her dreams could be. He settled on one of the stools near the counter, long and lean form managing to find a comfortable spot. It provided him a good view, and he’d also stay out of Morrigan’s way - wouldn’t hover over her shoulder, rather. Killian imagined she might find that annoying, but he was still interested in watching, he had nowhere to be at the moment. “Aye, it was,” he confirmed. “Involved an altercation with a rather scaly demon - called the Dark One, actually, not a clever name. But he was after a magic bean I had on me. After he murdered my lover he tried to get the bean and when I fooled him he cut off my hand angrily. Then disappeared. It sort of started my centuries-long quest for vengeance - immortal creatures are difficult to kill but there’s always a way.” Too bad he hadn’t actually accomplished that. Came close a few times, but Fate and Saviors often intervened. Now, where Killian was at in the dreams, Rumpelstiltskin was simply a man - void of the curse that marred his soul, that curse now having found a new vessel in the form of Killian’s current love. No one could catch a break, could they. “What is it that you dream of?” Killian was certainly intelligent. Morrigan did not appreciate hovering. She did, however, appreciate interest in what she did, though one certainly needed the room to work. Especially when chemicals and such a deadly poison were involved, best not to chance fate. Now the poison was beginning to get broken down into its base elements. Once that was done, she would have a starting point for not only cobbling an antidote together, but also to hone the poison itself. There were thoughts and ideas passing through her mind of what to do with said poison. “The Dark One. I agree, tis not such a creative name.” She looked at him. “I do hope that your right hand is your dominant hand? Tis no easy task to change one’s dominant hand after such a loss.” Though his tale was curious. It was one of vengeance. Morrigan could not claim to know what love felt like, either here or in her dreams, but she understood the concept of vengeance quite well. “T’would seem that you were not meant to kill this Dark One, though I do not blame you for wishing to seek vengeance upon such a creature.” She kept an eye on the poison. Explaining Thedas wasn’t precisely easy. “I am a mage in my dreams, an apostate to be precise. I dream of a place called Thedas, and in this world mages are feared for their power. At one point, mages ruled over man, but then a woman stood up and said magic was meant to serve man, not rule over him. A war was fought and in the end, once the dust settled, everyone with magical abilities were taken from their families and placed in what is called the Circle of Magi and watched closely by Templars, warriors with abilities to specifically combat magic. Mages are seen as horrible people that need to be locked away by the normal people. Some of us manage to live our lives outside of the Circle, but it is no easy life.” It was a long explanation, but apostate did not mean the same thing across universes. “In this world, there are also creatures called Darkspawn, soulless, tainted creatures who wander the Deep Roads looking for the Old Gods. When they find one, they corrupt it and turn it into an Archdemon. When an Archdemon rises, a Blight comes to the world and only the Grey Wardens can stop it. There have been four Blights, but in my dreams, a fifth Blight is beginning. Darkspawn overran my home, and time is of the essence to unite against the Blight before it consumes us all.” And that wasn’t explaining that the sickness Darkspawn brought could kill people. “I have met two Wardens in my dreams, and I now travel with them, seeking to put an end to the Blight.” Killian grinned, a devilish one, showing gleaming teeth. “My right is the dominant, fortunately,” he nodded. That hand was naked now, void of rings, but he wore three in the dreams and he had them here too, they’d make the journey - rings that were looted from bodies he killed; it was what pirates did, and nothing really to be proud of. But that was a whole other story. He wanted to hear Morrigan’s now, and it was long and detailed but oh-so-fascinating - especially to him, since he dreamed of a world powered by magic, where the use of it was not only important but also encouraged. “Quite different from the Enchanted Forest.” It sounded awful, really - like a whole bunch of political mess, which wasn’t really something they dealt with across kingdoms. Well, perhaps for others though for pirates? He didn’t much care. “However, coming together to stop something from destroying the world often makes those little differences in classification seem so insignificant, doesn’t it?” Her magic must be what made her so talented with potions and whatever else she extracted from plants - he’d known a few potion makers in his day. Regina as well, certainly. “Well, what do you think, my lady?” the Captain inquired about all her analyses thus far. “Is there hope for finding a use for this poison, and also an antidote?” “Indeed it does. A Blight comes and suddenly people want mages around to help fight the Darkspawn. Every other time, it is as though we mages have the plague that will kill everyone.” Morrigan would not deny that magic was dangerous, it was dangerous, especially in the hands of someone who wasn’t able to handle the power. Yet even with that, magic was power, magic was knowledge and so much of the ancient magic had been lost. Morrigan had dedicated her life to studying the magic and lore of old in her dreams. At his questions, she took some moments to look at the results she was already seeing. And then a smile came across her face before she looked back to him. “There is excellent hope indeed, in both respects. I may even be able to hone the poison and make it far more potent. Obviously, some components of this plant are ones that may not be found anywhere on Earth, so I shall need to find valid substitutes for them. However, an antidote and utilizing the poison itself are certainly within my capabilities.” More potent. Music to Killian’s ears, really. “Well, grand,” he mirrored the smile, obviously delighted. “You’ll have to let me know what you’d like in return for all this. Payment, I can do - monetary, what have you. Or if you need certain items for your business here - “ Herbs, doo-dads, oils, books? Something about toxicology to help with her craft? “I can get them for you.” The Captain was good at finding things. That was essentially in his job description as a pirate and scallywag. Morrigan gave him an easy smile. Having this sort of a project to dig into was highly welcome. While in this life she’d never made a poison, but she had in her dream life. So this was a challenge she was going to look forward to. “When I see the full results and am able to determine what I need, I shall certainly be in contact to work that out.” At the moment, her mind was more focused on solving the puzzle rather than receiving payment for it. “Still, this is a project I am most impatient to delve into.” “Works for me, love.” Killian was looking forward to feasting his eyes upon what Morrigan came up with. As much as he loathed the Dreamshade for what it did to Liam, he had to at least appreciate its usefulness and raw power, its potential for destruction. And who knew if he would actually have to let the deadly poison work its magic here or not, but it was better to be prepared as a ‘just in case.’ He would find some way to repay her somehow. Making new friends in Orange County - such a joy and, well, it hadn’t turned out terrible at all, actually. |