The divide for activities had been pretty quick.
They agreed to use three days to enjoy themselves in Rosepebble, splitting into teams of two.
Jax had voted for the tavern games.
Unfortunately for him, Kaelen and the others were still mad about the whole prosthetic thumbs situation, so Jax was assigned to tag along with Kaelen for volunteer work with Copperleaf.
Liora and Selene were both very excited about Forge-a-Lot, though for very different reasons.
"They have full-body massages," Liora said, practically vibrating as she read the pamphlet. "Do you know how long it has been since I got to deep-clean my feathers?"
"T-they even let you assist and learn the forging process," Selene said, equally excited. "I always wondered how they incorporate different materials into metal weapons."
The two of them were practically jumping up and down like teenage girls who had just been told they could have a sleepover.
That left Thalia and Aiden.
Aiden was not sure what to pick, but Thalia had been silently reading over the Bloom and Brew pamphlet for a while.
Part of him wanted to say he already knew enough about herbs.
Will chimed in before he could.
"To be fair, we know a lot about forest and field herbs. Mountain, cave, and more specialized herbs are mostly unknown. Plus, we might even learn a potion recipe or two."
Aiden had no argument for that logic.
So he nodded, and the two of them started looking for Bloom and Brew.
As they turned a corner and passed a group of children racing down the street, Thalia glanced at him.
"Are you having a conversation with your skill at this very moment?"
"Do pointless comments count?" Aiden asked.
A sharp twinge of pain shot through his head.
"Bitch, we would be dead without me," Will said, giving him a middle finger.
Thalia studied Aiden's face, then slightly cocked her head.
"You appear to be in pain. I must assume your skill is annoyed with your comment?"
"Something like that," Aiden said, shaking his head.
They soon approached Bloom and Brew.
The shop itself was interesting. It seemed to be made from a wide tree growing between two other buildings. Stairs and ladders wound upward to several hanging platforms, where tables and chairs were suspended like hanging plants.
Near the roof of the café, a group of around nineteen people had gathered. They chatted and discussed among themselves while jars of herbs sat arranged across several tables.
As Aiden and Thalia made their way over, Aiden noticed Thalia looking over the jars with curious interest.
At the front stood a fullblood woodpecker on a large branch.
A much larger-than-normal woodpecker, but a woodpecker all the same.
"So," the woodpecker said, "when discussing what herbs specialize in, there are a variety of aspects that must be considered. For example, the environment where an herb grows may change what it is good at."
The fullblood woodpecker turned, reached into a jar with his beak, and placed a stalk on the table.
"Can anyone identify this herb?"
Aiden peered at the stalk.
It looked like a small branch, with bunches of tiny green leaves growing in clusters and a set of yellow flowers hanging from the very end.
"That looks like a stalk of Golcorone," Aiden said, holding his chin.
"Yes, very good, sir," the woodpecker said. "And do you know what Golcorone does?"
Aiden nodded.
"It assists with suppressing jitters and shakes. It is often used by archers or ranged fighters who need to hit targets from a distance."
The woodpecker seemed surprised that Aiden answered so well. He took a moment before asking,
"You seem very knowledgeable about this. By chance, are you a gatherer?"
Aiden raised an eyebrow and shook his head.
"I'm actually an alchemist. I even ran a shop for a few years."
The woodpecker went silent for a moment.
Then one of the people sitting nearby said,
"Huh. Not a common class for adventurers. Respect, bro."
Aiden was not sure how to respond to that.
Thankfully, Thalia saved him by asking a question.
"You mentioned that herbs gain properties for a reason. How does this apply to herbs like Golcorone?"
The woodpecker seemed to settle back into his element and nodded.
"Excellent question. To answer that, I have one for you. Why do plants grow flowers?"
Thalia seemed confused.
She took a moment to think, then shrugged.
"It is because they are trying to draw the attention of pollinating insects like bees," the woodpecker said. "However, bright colors are not only seen by bees and the like."
The woodpecker turned to a blackboard.
To Aiden's surprise, the instructor flew around with practiced skill, using a small leather piece strapped near his beak to hold chalk. He drew a clean diagram of the Golcorone stalk, then passed the actual herb around for people to inspect.
"Now, Golcorone has two defense mechanisms it uses in nature. Can anyone guess what they are?"
Aiden raised a hand, surprised by how well the woodpecker was drawing him in.
The instructor pointed a wing toward him.
"The small leaves," Aiden said. "They limit the size of what will eat them."
"Yes," the woodpecker said. "Nature is all about understanding effort. A predator often will not attack if it believes the meal is not worth the effort required to acquire it. So, if you are a thirteen-foot-tall herbivore, why would you take the time to pick leaves from a little Golcorone when there are trees with much larger leaves at head height?"
He tapped the board with his chalk.
"But there is another mechanism. A hint: it is related to the herb's helpful properties."
Thalia thought for a moment, then raised her hand.
"It is the suppressant property. For larger creatures, it will not even register, but because only smaller animals eat the leaves, the suppressants act like a paralytic to them."
"We have a winner," the woodpecker said in a sing-song voice.
He turned back to the board and began explaining how those properties appeared in nature.
Aiden tried to focus.
He really did.
But then there was a commotion in the street below.
Aiden glanced over and saw an oddly familiar-looking wolf sprinting down the road.
A moment later, an equally familiar priest elf chased after him.
"Quit complaining," Kaelen yelled. "I have been asked out to dinner thirteen times, and you do not see me complaining."
"Why are you complaining about that?" Jax yelled back.
Kaelen tackled him.
Both of them rolled across the ground.
Two muscular men ran behind Kaelen and grabbed Jax, trying to wrestle him into a rope.
"It is just charity work," Kaelen said, helping them tie him up. "It will make you feel better about yourself."
The men lifted Jax like a hog being carried to a spit.
"Screw feeling good," Jax roared, struggling against his bindings. "Happy feelings don't settle my bar tab!"
Jax continued to struggle, but failed to break free as they dragged him back toward the construction site.
Aiden and Thalia watched in silence.
For once, they shared the exact same expression.
Neutral.
Disappointed.
And entirely unsurprised.