Lay of the land [Job]

Job Name: Environmental Studies
Job Rank: D
Job Location: Heliohapt
Job Rewards: 50 XP, 3,000 Huang
Job Overview: The local university is doing an environmental survey in the area and would like you to go out and gather notes on the wildlife and plant life. Take the provided journal and take notes for the university about what you find outside of the city. If you do a good job, you will be rewarded!

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Ever since the funds Bakari's father had left him for his education dried up, the young man had been looking for work opportunities in order to continue paying his tutor Azhar. He still had access to the family home, his room, and the kitchens but anything outside of those basic necessities had to be paid for out of his own pocket. Jobs up to this point had been tedious; mining in the clay pits, hauling firewood, and other such menial labor. Today on the other hand was something rather unique, and not all that physically demanding which made it perfect as a way for the formerly pampered noble to earn some cash. All he had to do was wander around the exterior of Kemet and take notes detailing the local flora and fauna for a researcher dispatched from the University in Heliohapt that he met in his favorite coffeehouse. He had even provided the journal and writing materials he would need to complete the task. In Bakari's mind this would be a piece of cake.

Bakari started with the obvious things by taking samples of various plants and sketching their flowers, stems, roots, and leaves. He was mindful in his work as he knew the fragile ecosystem around Kemet had been carefully engineered, and that taking too many plants from any one area could cause severe soil erosion come the rainy season. Each time he recorded a new entry Bakari would flip to the next page, and place the plant sample between two blank pages thus ensuring even if his drawings were inaccurate or unclear more practiced hands would still benefit from his work. The task was not without it's own challenges however. Many of the desert plants were coarse and had thick and razor sharp thorns protruding from them. Without gloves Bakari had to be exceptionally careful about where he placed his hands. More than once he had to tear out a page because an errant thorn had caused him to bleed on the one he was using.

When it came time to start cataloging the animals native to the region however Bakari was presented with a difficult problem. Most of the beasts of the desert were nocturnal and many of them were predatory. He knew that blindly wandering around looking for dens and hiding places was not a very wise choice. The common snakes, insects and birds were easy enough to record from memory however for all else he would need to come up with an elegant solution.

"Al'abalah, think! What would Azahr do?" Bakari muttered to himself before letting out a deep belly laugh. "He would send me out, without my staff to find them by myself!" He blurted as he continued in his mirth. It was then in light of this musing that Bakari found the answer he needed. There were people in every community that dealt with animals, and those that specialized in working with different types. If he simply went to each of these people; hunters, fishermen, apothecaries, and herdsman he could easily get all of the information he needed without hardly breaking a sweat. So making his way back to the city he endeavored to do just that.

The apothecaries were a wealth of knowledge on not only the various insects, and reptiles of the area but also the medicinal and mystical values of the plant samples Bakari had gathered. The magician was quick to amend his notes with this critical information. The fishermen by contrast were of very little help. The fish that lived in Kemet's lake were of a single type, and farmed as a staple food leaving little about them to mystery. The hunters and herdsmen (often the same people at different times of the day) were the most helpful however providing bits of hide, horn and bone from many specimens. Their wealth of knowledge provided many insights into the mating, feeding, and sleeping habits of nearly all wild game, predators and domesticated beasts of the region.

Bakari had never quite been a social person, but he found that as he introduced himself to new people throughout the day and listened to their stories that he was quite content to be doing so. Having been sheltered most of his life up to this point he had very few experiences dealing with the commoners of Kemet. There was a sort of humble charm to the way they cheerfully talked about their work, and an impressive depth to the knowledge they possessed. He quite preferred his time with them to any amount of time spent sitting around the house with his stuck-up family.

By nightfall Bakari was exhausted, but happy. The provided journal was filled to capacity, and slung over his shoulder was a sack containing many of the animal specimens carefully labeled and indexed to a journal page. He slowly kept lifting his aching feet until finally he reached the door to the coffeehouse. As expected his employer, a grey haired middle age man wearing official looking white robes was sitting on one of the provided couches holding a steaming cup in his right hand. Upon catching sight of the dirty and drained young man, the researcher raised his cup high into the air.

"You're back!" The researcher exclaimed as Bakari took a seat beside him. "Tell me, what have you found?"

"I'd be happy too but first..." Bakari smiled, and placed the journal on the table before them. He untied, and opened the sack containing the animal specimens setting it between them on the couch. From a drawstring leather bag on his belt Bakari produced a simple wooden pipe, and filled it with hazelnut scented tobacco. "....could I beg you for a cup of coffee? I promise the work I put in today more than warrants it." The two sat there talking about each entry in it's own turn all the while drinking and smoking until they were asked to leave the coffeehouse. By the time Bakari made his way home coin was happily jangling in his purse, and a weary smile was painted across his face. Finally there was nothing his brother could say about him carousing all night. He was dirty, bloody, and well paid for a good day's work.

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WC 1042/1042