Sylvie learns Arcane Dissection

[Sylvie]

From inside the Hanged Man, Sylvie hears a commotion coming from the top of the southern trail. Curious, she pokes her head out the window to see some town folks finishing off a beastly snake. Its auras fade from a florescent green to a dim grey, and soon to nothing. She shakes he head at the violence, but understands the simple folk who haven't embraced the ways of psychic have to defend themselves some how.

Once they finish the brutal slaying, she notices Degren start to tediously handle the lifeless body. Some sort of ritual shes never heard of? She simply MUST know what hes doing, for her research. Shes enlightened.

"Degren!" She yells, running down the trail, finally meeting him near the trees. "What is zis odd thing you are doing to zis snake?"

She pulls out her papers and a pen, ready to study.

[Degren Brightforge]

Degren looks up, then back down to the snake, "I'm harvesting it, really. Alchemists can use the skin and the fangs, the venom, if there is any, and we can all use the meat. Lemme show you!" She pulls out the dagger at his side and cuts into the snake, slowly cutting a line around the circumference of the snakes, just below its head, "I'm gonna pull the skin off first. We hit her pretty hard, but managed not to mulch her once she died. Don't bother skinning a snake that's been ripped up-- the skin's no good to alchemists. Don't ask me why, I dunno. Anyway, from here, we're gonna cut a line down the belly, careful not to cut into the gutsack, though. It won't ruin the skin-- likely-- but it'll be opening a whole range of stank to the air, and we might be here a while." he cuts the stomach, skillfully cutting just deep enough to preserve the meat, "Now, you grab hold of some the skin at the top, and pull hard. Be careful not to stretch it or break it, and use the knife if you get stuck." He does as he describes, pulling a long snakeskin off the corpse. "Alright, now, next you're gonna want the venom sacs and the fangs. You wanna watch out here, don't push on the sacs if you can help it. That might send some of the venom out of the fang, and that's just a waste... Oh, and try not to jab yourself on the fang, either. That'll... be unpleasant." He slowly and meticulously cuts around the venom sac, instructing Sylvie on how to tell the sac from normal muscle.

Together they spend the better part of an hour working on the snake. Degren explains how to remove organs, watch for spills, how to handle gut-ruptures, and many important aspects involved in the art of arcane dissection. Nearing the end of the lesson, another snake, this one in much better condition than the last, is thrown next to the first one. Degren hands the dagger to Sylvie, "Alright, show me what you've learned."

[Sylvie]

She watches closely and takes notes as Degren skillfully dissects the snake.

She takes the knife handed to her, and slowly cuts around the head, and down the belly. She becomes even more tedious and slow around the belly, not wanting to cut into the guts. She grasps the skin at the top of the neck, and caaaaarefully peels it down towards the tail.

Degren waits...and waits.. and waits.

She moves on to the venom sacks. She cuts them out at a snails pace, her dimmed vision make it a dangerous task.

She continues removing the organs, all under the instruction of Degren.

[Degren Brightforge]

"That'll do. You'll speed up in time as you figure out what's what. Just be careful touching around with your hands like that-- you might catch yourself on something a might bit dangerous. But, that'll do. For the next while I'll drag anything I take out over here and we can hone those skills. "

[Degren signing off on Sylvies arcane dissection training ]

[Sylvie]

"Before you leave, would you mind telling me what other kinds of things i can gather in this way, that would be useful to town? I don't want to pick apart the innocent for no reason."

[Degren Brightforge]

"We can take a lot of things from the creatures we kill. Meat, venom glands, skin, fangs, bones, almost anything can be taken. As far as the town goes, we need Snake Skins and Rat claws the most, they're made into healing potions and antidotes respectfully. But, I try to take as much stuff as I can from anything I kill. For example, I know the fine feathers of Falcons can make specialty arrows."

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