She started with Nevin down the street, in the direction of where she knew the Salt-Crusted Flower was. She gestured and spoke, and kept walking.
“So,” she said eventually, “The ingredients are … taboo?”
“Not taboo per se, but difficult. Without the other, they are largely useless aside from fancy salads. However, when blended together, they act as a mild hallucinogenic that puts the ingester into a suggestive state. Not strictly illegal, but usually frowned upon. If we had the time, I would have gone to a couple of different stores to obtain them instead of purchasing them together. Or, preferably, I would have gone to acquire them myself. Still, these look to be in good enough condition to suit our needs.” He shrugged one shoulder as he tucked the pouches into a coat pocket.
“The last thing we need is a plant that contains the ingredient that can act as a truth serum. Again, on its own not taboo, but combined with the other two herbs, it is usually strictly regulated. In fact, the combination of the three is usually kept out of public knowledge, as together, and combined with some torture techniques, you can easily have someone spilling their life story to you.” His tone was quiet as they walked along, his voice pitched so his words were for her ears alone. To prevent anyone from overhearing them he was walking a little closer than he normally would, and vent over a bit more.
“The first combination is sometimes used in vision quests for some people, as it let's the leader of the quest guide the listener and the o the intended destination.” Nevin straightened up with a shrug as they soon arrived the Salt-Crusted Flower.
Stare nodded and gestured. “You go in and I will wait.” Certainly she did not want to get any deeper than it sounded like he was. With the mention that the next herb was dangerous she decided she would be better not dragging Sir Vitruvion Elssmith’s name that far through the muck.
He shot her a slight smile before slipping inside, into the shop. Almost immediately he knew that this place would have what he needed. This store wasn't a bright and well lit place like the other Alchemy shop had been - this one had a decent veneer on the front but the interior was dark and dingy. It was definitely more in line with the store he usually ran in Radasanth than his Stonevale operation.
“I need some alatin berries.” The man at the counter raised his eyebrow at the abrupt demand, then folded his arms across his chest. Nevin saw that the shop keeper was about to raise a fuss about it and spoke quickly to prevent that.
“I'm an alchemist myself. I don't care either to raise any troubles, but I found a man who knows about a major problem that I've become embroiled in. I'll pay gold for the berries, and we both know they aren't normally worth it.” The offer of gold sold the herbalist. With a grunt, and a glance at the coins in Nevin’s hand, he went into the back of his store before returning with a bag containing grayish green berries. He snatched the gold from Nevin and tossed the bag at him, and the redhead left the store quickly before he could ask for more money - or worse his name.
