Vhalar 11, Arc 721
Tristan had always liked flowers. As a boy, he had spent a lot of time in his grandmother’s gardens in Sabaissant and admired the roses there, back when Rynmere had still been a safe and happy place, and there had been no war and no plague. He’d never thought that he’d have his own greenhouse one trial though, or that he’d become an herbalist of sorts. Ashling’s activities in that regard had really rubbed off on him. Sometimes, he even considered selling some of the plants that he grew and expanding his business venture. It would probably be helpful if he didn’t just sell potions, but also the things that you made potions from!
This was not why he was in the greenhouse that stood in his garden at the moment though. The trial before, his parents had unexpectedly shown up on his doorstep (His mind was still reeling a little bit, especially when he thought about what they must have gone through!). His mother had given him a few gifts, seeds from the garden as well as his grandfather’s golden watering can that was supposed to be magical. He wasn’t sure if it really was magical – it looked like a normal, albeit very pretty watering can to him – but he’d decided to test it anyway – and take the first step towards growing something from the seeds.
Roses had been the symbol of Venora once upon a time. He had meant what he had said to his parents. The Rynmere of old didn’t exist anymore, but it was possible to rebuild, and he would start with the gardens of Venora. It would be a small start, just a couple of flowerbeds, for the time being, rather than a place for those that had lost their home, but it would be a start. He wanted to give people somewhere where they could go in order to remember their home, a positive, beautiful place, something that would remind them of all the good things.
And what more, he’d make jam out of the rosehips, and tea, and he’d use the petals for perfume.
The roses would not simply wilt and be lost; he planned on using every single part of them!
Rose seeds, Tristan knew, typically didn’t sprout unless they were subjected to cold and wet conditions for a while which was why he decided to employ a procedure called cold stratification. He carefully put a number of seeds into a container that was filled with dampened and salt-free river stand that stood on a wooden table in the center of the greenhouse. He checked everything several times in order to make sure it was just right before he placed the container into another container that was filled with ice in order to refrigerate them.
His aim was the cool the seeds down, but not freeze them.
It was not entirely impossible that the seeds would sprout without him doing anything though, or that roses would grow from them if he just planted them like any other kinds of seeds – plants grew in the wild all the time, after all – so he buried a few more seeds outside, and then he watered them with a bit of water from his grandfather’s watering can.
(He would repeat the process in regular intervals, as necessary.)
That, he decided, would be a perfect way to test if the watering can really was magical, like his mother had said. There was no better combination than a Venoran watering can and Venoran roses in his opinion. Besides, he wanted to increase his chance of success as much as possible. If one method failed, the other one might still work. He only had a finite number of seeds to work with. There were probably a lot of people that sold roses – or rose seeds, for that matter - in Rharne, but they wouldn’t be the same as the seeds he had here.
These seeds came from Rynmere.
Other people would likely not know the difference, but he would.
Tristan had always liked flowers. As a boy, he had spent a lot of time in his grandmother’s gardens in Sabaissant and admired the roses there, back when Rynmere had still been a safe and happy place, and there had been no war and no plague. He’d never thought that he’d have his own greenhouse one trial though, or that he’d become an herbalist of sorts. Ashling’s activities in that regard had really rubbed off on him. Sometimes, he even considered selling some of the plants that he grew and expanding his business venture. It would probably be helpful if he didn’t just sell potions, but also the things that you made potions from!
This was not why he was in the greenhouse that stood in his garden at the moment though. The trial before, his parents had unexpectedly shown up on his doorstep (His mind was still reeling a little bit, especially when he thought about what they must have gone through!). His mother had given him a few gifts, seeds from the garden as well as his grandfather’s golden watering can that was supposed to be magical. He wasn’t sure if it really was magical – it looked like a normal, albeit very pretty watering can to him – but he’d decided to test it anyway – and take the first step towards growing something from the seeds.
Roses had been the symbol of Venora once upon a time. He had meant what he had said to his parents. The Rynmere of old didn’t exist anymore, but it was possible to rebuild, and he would start with the gardens of Venora. It would be a small start, just a couple of flowerbeds, for the time being, rather than a place for those that had lost their home, but it would be a start. He wanted to give people somewhere where they could go in order to remember their home, a positive, beautiful place, something that would remind them of all the good things.
And what more, he’d make jam out of the rosehips, and tea, and he’d use the petals for perfume.
The roses would not simply wilt and be lost; he planned on using every single part of them!
Rose seeds, Tristan knew, typically didn’t sprout unless they were subjected to cold and wet conditions for a while which was why he decided to employ a procedure called cold stratification. He carefully put a number of seeds into a container that was filled with dampened and salt-free river stand that stood on a wooden table in the center of the greenhouse. He checked everything several times in order to make sure it was just right before he placed the container into another container that was filled with ice in order to refrigerate them.
His aim was the cool the seeds down, but not freeze them.
It was not entirely impossible that the seeds would sprout without him doing anything though, or that roses would grow from them if he just planted them like any other kinds of seeds – plants grew in the wild all the time, after all – so he buried a few more seeds outside, and then he watered them with a bit of water from his grandfather’s watering can.
(He would repeat the process in regular intervals, as necessary.)
That, he decided, would be a perfect way to test if the watering can really was magical, like his mother had said. There was no better combination than a Venoran watering can and Venoran roses in his opinion. Besides, he wanted to increase his chance of success as much as possible. If one method failed, the other one might still work. He only had a finite number of seeds to work with. There were probably a lot of people that sold roses – or rose seeds, for that matter - in Rharne, but they wouldn’t be the same as the seeds he had here.
These seeds came from Rynmere.
Other people would likely not know the difference, but he would.
