Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ashkii grew up in Yware, home of the largest forests of Tale. The young leaf boy was taught to be extremely self sufficient and rarely interacted with his own tribe, let alone outsiders. Now that Ashkii was a prentice, he was expected to narrow down what it was he wanted to do for the rest of his life. In an attempt to learn and grow, he was pushing outside his comfort zone.

The leaf kid was rather simple in nature and so the wafting aroma of freshly brewed tea immediately peaked his curiosity. After closing his eyes to concentrate and sniffing at the air a few times, he found the direction of the vendor and approached with a tentative smile. It was evident by Ashkii's uncomfortable body language that he didn't get out much.

Not wanting to disrupt Cassia's interaction with her customer's, Ashkii waited until she was free before asking quietly, "What plants go into each blend? Do they serve a medicinal purpose?"

Ashkii couldn't help but notice Cassia's genuine enthusiasm when discussing her tea blends. It seemed to the young Leaf kid that she felt a great amount of pride for her craft and work.

What Cassia described reminded him a lot of what the priests would do in his home settlement creating various potions and poultices they would use to aid in healing. He nodded his head in understanding while she spoke, taking in her information with curiosity.

He couldn't turn down the offer for him to check out the variety of teas on display. Ashkii did not have much in the way of currency, but could still tell his family about the experience. "Which are your local, or native blends?" He thought something familiar might seem the most appealing.

"Do you collect the herbs and spices, yourself?" He asked Cassia. "I'm admittedly something of a forager, myself. Do you ever trade tea for supplies?" A slight flush of pink hit Ashkii's green complexion when he asked, as though expecting to be politely turned down.

Ashkii couldn't hold back a warm smile as Cassia answered his questions and spoke about her passion with such love. "I admire your work. It sounds real special to you," He answered, not quite having the perfect words to show his appreciation for her craft. Feeling a little sheepish, he took a look at the local teas that she pointed out.

"Which one's your favorite?" He asked when he finally looked back up at Cassia again. The ways her eyes seemed to sparkle inspired a light flush of color to his cheeks.

The respect she showed to the flora she utilized was something similar to how the Archers of his tribe treated the hunts with fauna. He meant what he said about her craft feeling special. "That's... actually real familiar to me. Many of my family are Rangers and Priests who frequently hunt and forage. The connection to the land that you describe is one that each of us feels deeply."

While he offered to trade his foraged goods, he actually had a lot of respect for Cassia finding her own ingredients. He was surprised when she accepted and hesitated only a moment in surprise before reaching for a small pouch he carried with him. The plants, bark and roots inside were all freshly harvested. "Honest, a bit of everything. My Mother is a Priestess and uses a bunch of stuff to make her medical elixers and poultices. Which means I know already a few of these are real bitter, even if they work for what they do." He chuckled some, feeling more at ease around the almost-stranger.

He pulled out a few flowers, a handful of colorful leaves, a few small pitcher plants surprisingly still full of liquid and some bark and roots. The water filled sacs were a familiar food source to the Leaf tribe. Wrapped more carefully in the pouch were a few bruised fruits. "Any interest in these?"