In the BC 5 - 12 February

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DISCLAIMER:
I have researched the plants mentioned on this page for their medicinal properties, but that doesn't make me a doctor. Please don't go out and try them. (;

An overgrown paradise

The tropical island had always been a popular holiday destination. And indeed, it certainly a good place to relax, unwind, and get a terrible sunburn. By the coast line families were playing games, swimming in the deep blue waters and snoozing in the sun, blissfully unaware of the life hiding in the thick growth of the forest behind them.

This is where you find yourself now.

Lost in a maze of lush greenery and twisting trees. Misguided in an overgrown paradise. Passing a particular fern for what must have been the fifth time, you figure all you can do is keep walking. A rewarding choice. Small huts start to appear through the thicket, and beyond those, a small house hidden deep in the forest appears before you. An expansive garden stretches in front of it and behind it and come to think of it, all around it. There are strange and fascinating plants here. Exotic species never seen by a foreigner's eyes. There were spectacular, flamboyant looking lilies, suspicious looking red fruit, and even something that appears to like the look of your left foot.

There were truly beauties of the flora world growing here, as well as their sinister cousins.
Curiously, everything seemed ordered. Neat paper tags hung from branches, detailing what the plant was.

The Herbal Healer

Aconitum napellis
Acokanthera spectabilis
Abrus precatorius

Despite the strange words, they were not spells. They were not pieces of dark sorcery or witchcraft. In fact, there was nothing magic at all about what was written on the tags.

Monkshood
Wintersweet
Rosary pea

They were plants.

Judging by the DO NOT TOUCH sign standing outside the garden, you guessed that these were plants not to be trifled with. But they seemed so pretty. Surely a gentle touch, for closer examination, wouldn't do any harm...

Beautiful, aren't they? Comes a voice from behind you.

You turn to see the island cybunny behind you, looking at you through deep green eyes. You stop moving and your hand drops to your side. This must have been her residence, her garden, her sinister (yet pretty) flowers.

I must ask you not to touch them, she says. I would rather not be held responsible for making someone rather ill when I didn't mean to.

So they were poisonous. Bother. The cybunny wanders over to near where you stand, glancing down at the purple flower you had been admiring earlier. Monkshood.

A pretty flower, grows well here. Such a lovely colour too. However, Monkshood contains aconite. In small doses, it's a useful anesthetic, numbs and paralyses nerves. It may also reduce the heart rate, acting as a sedative and to combat fever.

Sounds useful, you say, and she turns back to you with a smile.

Indeed it is. But aconite can be deadly. The substance is easily absorbed through the skin and causes unpleasant cardiac symptoms. If taken internally, the chemical burns and numbs the mouth and the stomach. Muscle weakness follows. Pulse and respiration starts to fail from there.

You stand there slightly shell shocked. You stare at the purple flower, before stepping away from it and scowling at its petals. The cybunny stifles a laugh and your attention snaps back to her. Don't worry, not all plants here are quite as nasty. Most of them are useful in my herbal medicine. My name is Amai, by the way. I am this island's herbal healer.

Well then the abundant garden made sense. You reply by saying your name was guest and the cybunny smiles before turning towards the small house.

Why don't you come inside, we shall talk more over tea.

Of lilies and saplings

Agrimony
Effective for winter colds and fevers. Also reduces minor sores and ulcers.
Burdock
Roots used as a blood purifier. Leaves may be used to treat skin breakouts.
Chokecherry
Wards off colds, fevers and stomach illnesses.

To say the small home was a tad cluttered would be an understatement. Botanic chaos had infiltrated the living space, leaving tagged twigs and flowers in its wake. Books of botany and loose parchments filled with bizarre yet interesting facts and vivid illustrations littered a table in the middle of the living room and a small creature had decided to nap on a chair.

With the soft light filtering through the windows, the room itself sparked an uncanny resemblance to the forest floor.

Please sit, your hostess said, as she shooed the small critter away. Tea will be served in a moment.

You were fiddling through a couple of pages in front of you, eying a peculiar shaped stem and trying to ignore the creature on the floor staring at you as the cybunny spoke from the kitchen.

Please do ignore the mess, I was in the middle of working when you stopped by.

...This was her work? You thought to yourself, raising an eyebrow at the twigs and flowers scattered everywhere.
The cybunny returned, placing down a rather weathered looking tea set on the table and pouring you a cup of what smelled like rather sweet, floral tea.

As I told you earlier, I make herbal remedies. Well, poisons too but that's a totally different matter, she paused, as you furrowed your eyebrows at your tea. Don't worry, I'm not trying to poison you.

That's why there's all this mess. In order to make medicine, I have to know what all these plants do. Some are harder to figure out than others, and it can be quite hazardous if I were to get it wrong.

And you make poisons too? You ask, raising an eyebrow. Poisons and remedies, that's quite a contrast.

Well, yes. Certain customers are not after concoctions to heal. I do not wish to ask what they're going to use it for. Not my business. As long as they pay for it, they're free to do whatever they desire with it. She said freely, without a care for the words. I'm certainly not one to judge them.

You tentatively decided to ask if she herself, had ever poisoned someone intentionally, and she flashed a small, but undoubtedly somewhat wicked smile.

With all the poisonous plants in this garden, of course I have.

But why? You ask.

Because customers pay me to.

...Fair enough.

Then there are those who are rude and brash, and I just give them what they deserve. It never kills them. Just makes them a bit ill. In most cases, by the time they feel sick they're far away from me, and the symptoms mimic a plethora of other ailments. Then they get over it and go on with life.

Surely that's a bit harsh, poisoning someone, don't you think?

I like to call it karma.

Humble beginnings

Among the litter of paper and notebooks is a journal. It seems different from the other various books that covered the table. It was older, the ink had faded substantially, the binding was falling apart. The pages were filled with rough sketches of plants unknown to many and old handwriting that was by far different to the other papers.

That was my mother's book. Her profession was much the same as mine. Though I must admit, she was better.

Voodoo dolls