001 [voice] @SERENE

[sereneflame]

[Serene has never tried making these posts before and thus she's as formal as if she's making a speech, keeping her voice well-modulated and calm. She's matter of fact, unembarrassed by the subject she's raising]

Good afternoon. I hope that someone can help me in an urgent matter, but I fear this is a long shot.

I am looking for the wombsbane herb and I was wondering: are any of you cultivating a patch in private? Back home it grows as free as a weed but I have trekked through the gardens and forest here and have not seen as much as a seedling.

If not, are there any herbs from other worlds here that will lighten my menstruation and will render my womb barren? Womanhood is a burden I like to minimise as much as possible.

I thank you in advance for your time.



OOC: replies will come tomorrow!

Comments

audio | un: hound

[ofobedience]

[Well here's a slippery Germanic voice you may recognise, although this time he sounds less slick and more vaguely bemused.]

What an odd thing to say. How could being female possibly be a burden?

video, @ashraf

[healplz]

Now there's a bluntly named herb, there's no questioning what that does!

In any case, it's not something I've ever heard of, so I don't think it's a given in every world. There might not be any here at all.

Re: audio | un: hound

[sereneflame]

[Urgh, the predator. Serene's had a week to come to terms with the fact that most of the so called civilised humans in this place are from corpse-desecrating cultures, but Giovanni had left a particular impression.

Still, the medium of their communication means she has some distance to be able to respond without wondering what his predator eyes are seeing as they look at her, which gives her room to let her disdain drip]

It must be so freeing to be a man. I refer to the part where my traitorous womb desires to be impregnated every month and the way that it cramps and complains to shed its bloody lining after I frustrate its selfish wants. I have no intention of putting myself in a position where I have to force another human's skull out of my most sensitive area.

Re: video, @ashraf

[sereneflame]

No... [He's gone and confirmed her worst fears, if her little whine is anything to go by. However, she rallies, shooting him an arch look]

How extensive is your knowledge on these matters, anyway? Could it just be that you are ignorant of what the women in this castle use?

[healplz]

I'll admit, I'm not an expert, it's been a while since I was married. It's entirely possible there's something around here in use I've never heard of.

[voice] @Tohsaka Rin

[defenceless]

[the transmission opens with a heavy, slightly irritated sigh.] Just deal with it. Believe it or not, we have bigger problems. Being a woman isn't any sort of burden unless you complain about it.

[tl;dr, no fun allowed, serene]

Besides, there are no candidates you want to procreate with here, anyway. One out of two problems solved.

video | un; sieglindesullivan

[grunehexe]

[Ah... this woman. Somehow, after their conversation, Sieglinde is becoming accustomed to being surprised by her.]

I've chasteberry and lady's mantle, others of their like, but... I've nothing to actually render you barren.

[Surely she means only... in the free to do what one wills without consequence sense, right?]

If it's giving birth you wish to avoid, though, I've a tea recipe...

[voice] @Tohsaka Rin

[sereneflame]

Spoken like a woman who's never had the joy of an altered reproductive system.

[She snorts at Rin's dismissal, unamused]

Tell me, did I grow up on a barbarian backwater? Is the rest of the universe really a paradise where a rapist will reschedule his ravaging for the next month as soon as I tell him I'm haven't been consuming a contraceptive?

video

[sereneflame]

[Serene smiles to see Sieglinde answering her.]

Ahh, my healer friend. What do those herbs do for me? I assume that the tea you're offering has to be drunk afterwards to flush out my womb? That's an unpleasantry I've never had to try, as I prefer prevention to cure.

[sereneflame]

[A divorcee or a widower. She shan't make assumptions, except to wonder that if he's divorced whether it's because he wasn't attentive enough in the bedroom when it came to these dull practical matters]

And what did you use while you had a wife?

[healplz]

[ this takes a few seconds of consideration; as far as buried memories go, this one is pretty down there. ]

I think it was called silverroot. I haven't seen any of that around here, either.

[ofobedience]

[Well that's...something. It creates a vivid mental image, that's for sure.

(does it apply to Frühling, to Mother? He highly doubts it, but--)]

It can't be as bad as all that. A little blood and pain never hurt anyone. Ha ha.

[sereneflame]

[It's a good thing they're not using the video because she knows she is pulling the most judgemental face for that 'I think'. She takes a moment before answering to master her voice so as not to offend.

She could get used to this voice-only communication fast]

Still, that is one more name for me to mention while I search for what I need. How did she prepare the root?

[sereneflame]

[She makes a wordless noise of absolute disgust for him]

Have you ever witnessed childbirth, predator, or are you remembering the day you were constipated and assuming that the two sensations can't be all that different?

[healplz]

[ why is she doing this to him, this is so hard. he lets out a long breath. ]

You're asking some tough questions! I think it was boiled, diced, then ground?

[ofobedience]

I can't say I have, but it's hard to imagine that it's any more or less painful than regrowing limbs that have been torn off, or having one's skull crushed. For example.

[sereneflame]

I see...

[No, she can't control herself. She blurts out her next question]

How do you not know more about what she used? Surely you had some sort of a stake in whether your married life involved the risk of children?

[healplz]

No, I did, you're right.

[ He sounds thoughtful about that, rather than offended.

With an apologetic smile: ] I think she had me gather and prepare it a few times... but I have a lot of trouble remembering much of anything from my first life, so it's a little foggy.

[sereneflame]

[She assumes that these are just the sort of idiot hyperbole a man who doesn't want to admit he's less tough than a mere woman spouts out when he's in danger of discovering what the other sex can endure, so she scoffs]

That depends, in all of these situations just how in danger of dying are you? Are you struggling to tear your body open before you or the one you're trying to bring into the world die from the ordeal? Or are you simply lying there in a passive pool of pain while your new limb spouts like a seedling from your body?

[ofobedience]

[If only it was. Though he's well aware that the women he knows are a damned sight tougher (brighterstrongerbetter) than he is-- his original comment on the burden of womanhood still stands. Like so many other things here, it's not something he fully comprehends.]

I suppose in my case the risk of death is exceedingly low, but I wouldn't say there's anything passive about it, either. The show must go on.

[Besides. There are worse things than death. Take it from him.]

[sereneflame]

Ahh...

[Of the answers she'd considered that's not one of them. She's careful as she asks]

Your first life? You've lived more than one life?

[Back home she'd have assumed this was a metaphor but she's learning that in Oska that even the tallest tales could be real]

[sereneflame]

[Mercy, this is far too much of a spiral into predator logic for her. She sighs.]

So what I am to understand from all of this is that you know nothing about menstruation, contraception or any other subject pertinent to my current predicament?

[defenceless]

Why would I want to alter anything to do with that? [she gets by fine enough.] I don't know where you grew up. It seems a bit misplaced to worry about would-be attackers. You're making quite the leap.

[sereneflame]

Misplaced? I don't know where you grew up, but it sounds like you led a far more sheltered life than I.

[These soft little girls... yet Serene can't begrudge her that. Let her live in her protected world and know peace]

So do you know of any herbs or medicines in this land that can help me?

[defenceless]

[rin is direct. if it sounds like she's speaking from experience, that's because—unfortunately—she is.]

I don't know how my life compares to yours on the "sheltered" scale, either. What I do know is if someone acts like a creep and I'm alone, it's up to me to defend myself.

["soft" and "little" may still be pretty accurate with her, in most things... but the life of a magus doesn't really protect her from harm, and in many cases only subjects her to more of it.]

... I know basics. I have a few recipes I know how to whip up that will help with the common ailments.