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Eisheth was carefully removing the plants out of the ground cutting and picking some roots, and leaving the others. It was a little piana in the outskirts of the reserve she was looking after for a while, and the one she used to get her alchemy everyday necessitous. Nothing like a precious garden: for inexperienced eye that would be just a random collection of plants, a couple of them were actually flowers, though they could hardly be consider cute or beautiful. The alchemist wasn't that much into plants, as it was Faiyum's specialization, but some of the roots and seeds were essential for her potions, and she would be feeling much more confident having some of them at the Lair, especially the Firefly poison which she almost finished.

Suddenly, she heard some footsteps and raised her head. Who was that? The reserve seemed to be almost empty with all the horsemen fixing the lair after Hunters invasion....

The ghoul - or rather a mare? - that interrupted her work clearly belonged to the Conquest clan, according to her dress and manners.

To be honest, Eisheth wasn't really happy to be distracted, as she wasn't a chatty person; she wasn't an idle person either. It was Conquest's trademark to do all the talks, while Famine was always more into practical needs.

The alchemist nodded: just a little bow, a sign of politeness, and replied. "Guess, that's not the garden in a way your people see it". She still had troubles with fully understanding the concepts of "art" and "beauty" so essential for Conquest clansmen. The only type of "beauty" things she was able to recognize was jewelry. "It's rather a natural store, I tend to get some potion ingredients from those plants".

Surprisingly, the Conquest mare was interested in her work, - or at least, she looked interested. One little thing Eisheth actually hated about Conquest clan was their way of Politeness. She herself was straight, and always tried to get to the point: some folks could find that rude, but in the end her straightforwardness and brutal honestly always made everything much easier. Conquest horsemen, on the contrary, were always too polite to express their true opinions, so one could never know, if they're really interested, or just following the basic courtesy.

"I use some handmade fertilizers, the growth potions", she explained enthusiastically. "I am an alchemist, and potions are my specialization. In fact, it's a circle: I grow plants to gather potion ingredients, and I use some of them to make plants grow faster, - everything for just a little bit of seeds, roots and spice that could be used for poisons and various effects", Eisheth smiled.

"If you want, I can provide you with some potions", the alchemist suggested. "I just need to know what plants you're growing".

"I am Eisheth Zenunim, the alchemist of Famine", the horseman bowed ceremonially, - just a bit, since the rituals were sacred.

Art... she heard a lot about "art" from Zhi, and Mei, and others, yet she never completely understood this concept. It was too far from her realm, from the reality of things the way she saw it, but at the very least, she was putting some efforts: no knowledge is useless, and every concept deserves understanding.

"Yes, potions. Potions isn't that far from Art, as far as I understand your people's perception of what you call "art", - at the very least I'm sure you are quite able to find the beauty and the meaning here, if even I am able to feel it", she finished the long sentence and was silent for a minute. "Potions are in a way similar to poetry and choreography: they bring birth and death, famine and prosperity, - I take what I can from crops and plants in order to give it back keeping the eternal balance of life and death. Everything is destined to die, as surely as it is destined to be born, and the task of alchemist is to dance in the little empty spaces between those two events creating the ornaments and changing the flows".

Eisheth narrowed her eyes, and smiles, yet her smile remained hidden under her kerchief. "I know a few mares and stallions from the Death clan; it might be a coincidence, or a sign. i would appreciate helping you, but now, I would need your help. This plant here", - she pointed her finger at the flower with the very vivid red petals, and brown rod, dry, as if all the very life had left it in favor of the flower, - "we call it a desert rose. I use it to produce a poison called The Firefly, - it's quite dangerous.... though, not that dangerous as my colleague Faiyum's flowers that can easily eat you. No.. this one can poison you, so you have to be very careful. I have to dig them out of the ground to check the roots, and I will ask you to hold them while I'm doing that, but please! - hold it by the rod, and don't even touch the actual flower".