Rictor & Clea discuss the possibly and gameplan of the greenhouse in the greenhouse


"I think Ms. Lily was thinking about cursing me when she saw me packing all of this," Rictor lamented as he entered the greenhouse, empty except for Clea and now him and his wheelbarrow full of bags of potting soil, pots, supplements, and seed bags. "Curse me or fire me. I don't know what would be worse. I suppose you could uncurse me, but I'd still be unemployed."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that. And I can give Ms. Lily my information so she can bill me directly. Maybe we can send up a Gofundme or something. But I will uncurse you if she curses you." She looked over at all the things. "This is amazing. And thanks for helping and bringing all of this Rictor. I don't know much about gardening, but a new hobby won't hurt." She set down a thick leather-bound book along with a How to Garden for Dummies as well as a Magical Plants and Herbs book. "I like the feel of this place." Looking around before tying her hair into a bun.

"If this greenhouse is meant to keep a tropical climate, we could plant kakaw," Rictor suggested. "Uh, that's cacao. I think a seed needs a few years before it is mature enough to bear fruit, and one tree is not nearly enough to actually make a lot of chocolate, but it otherwise has many ceremonial and magical uses."

"This is true." Clea looked up at the glass ceiling. "I wonder who would have that information. Planting some more tropical things would be cool. Especially ones that can help you connect to the spiritual world." She smiled over at Rictor and looked over at a plant that was growing wild. "I'll have Sam come take a look at that. He offered to help. I think with teamwork, we can make this greenhouse flourish. We can focus on this area of the greenhouse for now."

Rictor grunted as he started unloading the soil bags from the wheelbarrow. "I wonder why this was abandoned," he pondered out loud. "There's so much that can be done here. I know many flowers from Mexico that can cure illness like coughs and colds. Oh, we could get vanilla orchids, too! They are, uh, nice to look at, mostly." He held back their reputed effects on sexual prowess. What would he need that for, anyway?

"Maybe gardening wasn't anyone's thing for a while?" Clea nodded, "Oh, I would love to learn about those flowers and add them to my grimoire if that is alright with you. I am sure before we know it this greenhouse will do a complete 180. I bet it would be very lovely in here during the winter months as well."

"Of course!" was Rictor's enthusiastic reply. He had assisted Amanda and Topaz with some of their magical library upkeep, but actually contributing to someone's personal magical resources? That was an honor, not to mention great practice for when he could one day assemble his own. "Are there materials for winter-time spells we could grow here? Like, uh, remedies for influenza, maybe?"

"There are herbs that are tied with the winter-time." Clea looked at the height of the glass ceiling and how much room there was around. "Some of them are trees. We can go into the forest and harvest from there. But we could grow a cinnamon plant, maybe a holly shrub. Those are not too big."

"¡Canela fresca! There are so many things we can grow here for culinary use, too." Rictor practically salivated at the thought. Anyone could grow basil and thyme at home, but it would take a true master to grow chocolate in New York. Until that time, though, they would start with the basics. He laid out several of the seed packages on a workbench for Clea to see. "Ms. Augusta gave me marigold, zinnia, and salvia, and she said tomorrow I could get amaryllis, iris, and daffodil bulbs."

Clea clapped her hands together excitedly at the seed packages. "Oh, these are great. Okay, I'll call Sam to see when he is available to help with this..." She pointed to the unknown plant growing widely. "And then we can get to starting our gardening adventure, magical and non-magical."

"¡Bueno!" Rictor held up his hand for a high-five. "I bet Amanda and Topaz are going to be surprised and excited by what we've done for them. They will never have expected it from us."

Clea chuckled, "To plant a garden? Probably not. At least this one will be a good surprise. No one likes a bad surprise."

"A magic garden!" he clarified, "With everything they could possibly need grown right here. It is the best surprise. We will be the most powerful and best equipped asamblea de brujas in the country. On this continent!"

Clea couldn't help but smile. His enthusiasm was contagious, "You are right. This greenhouse will host plants that are not only beautiful and magical but a vast variety that people only dream about." She was clenching her fist into a triumph pose.



Sam & Clea : A short time later, Clea brings in Sam to discusses the plant that has taken up roots in half of the greenhouse


Clea had been spending quite a lot of time at the Greenhouse, when she wasn't training in Kamar-Taj, working at XF, or school work. It wasn't much time, but it was still time. She was supposed to meet Sam at the front of the Greenhouse as he volunteered to help with some cleaning. Clea already had Rictor helping out and he had been doing a fantastic job with all of the little things that were needed. Perking up when she saw a tall male heading over to her and she waved, "Sam?"

Sam waved in greeting and jogged a bit to reach her faster. “Yep, Clea right? Nice to meet you in person. How can I help?”

"Yes, that is me." Clea smiled at him. "I had thought about planting some herbs in the garden for my spellcasting, but thought we should utlizie the whole thing for the benefit of the mansion. Like freshly grown vegetables. Or maybe some flowers. Rictor has helped getting the esstientals but I honestly don't know anything about gardening or when to start planting. Any help would be appreciated."

“Oh hon, we gotta get you an almanac.” Sam said with a grin. “Got all the secrets yer lookin’ for and then some. I’ll have to look into what vegetables work best for our growin’ season up here but I can definitely help with all that. Anything that needs cleaned up now? I’m happy to be some muscle.”

"Tell me your ways." Clea opened the door to the greenhouse, "It seemed like a plant had grown wild in there. Maybe some help taming it back a little."

"Jay's prolly the one to show ya all you can get outta the almanac- he always listened better to Mamaw's spellin' than I did, but there's still plenty I do know how to use it for. I'll grab one next time I'm out, I ain't got this year's yet." Sam said, as they entered the greenhouse. Upon spying the plant in question, he groaned, loudly. "Hogweed.....I'm assumin' I ain't allowed to take a blowtorch to anythin' in here because we're gonna have a mess on our hands if we let that damn thing keep on a growin'."

"Thank you. I don't know what an almanac is, but it sounds useful." Clea watched Sam as he looked at the plant, "Yeah, no fire. I rather not add arson to my bucket list, at least not here at the mansion. What is option B in getting rid of this?"

"It is one of the more useful and important books in the world." Sam said confidently. "We can dig the thing up and make sure we kill the entire root system."

"I am looking forward to reading it." Clea smiled at Sam. There was just something about him that Clea liked. "Okay, I like Option B. Do we need to change the soil just in case? How do we know if you kill the entire root system?"

"Prolly for the best we do." Sam said. "Prolly oughta replace all the soil in here honestly. Don't know what all was in here previously and it'll be good to start with fresh nutrient rich soil. It'll make it go easier."

"Alright. We got some soil, might need more to replace all the soil in here." Clea looked around, "How long do you think it will take? An all day event? Maybe I can round up a few volunteers."

“One to two days prolly.” Sam said, rolling his shoulders back as he looked around. “Depends on how many folks are willin’ ta pitch in. Hell I could make a pie or somethin’ to get ‘em to sign up if we’re short on volunteers.”

"Food is always a good motivator." Clea clapped her hands together. Alright, I am feeling good about this. I can't wait to see this place blooming with color. Thanks Sam for helping."

"Of course. It helps me feel less homesick. Reminds me of the better parts of the farm." He said, only a little anxious that she'd read too much into his words. "An' it's good to feel useful. Always liked workin' with my hands when I could."

"I am glad it helps with the homesickness." The redhead nodded, "Well, there will be plenty of work for sure; I am hoping this project turns into a long-term hobby for many other people as well. And you are more than welcome to plant whatever you want, you probably have to look into the --- almanac. Was that it?"

"Farmer's Almanac." Sam confirmed. "I'll get you one, I gotta get one myself anyhow. You just let me know what else you need help with, but if it's magic stuff you need, Jay's gonna be yer guy. He listened better to Mamaw than I ever did."

"I love hearing about magic from different backgrounds. It is fascinating. But shall we start getting some of this Hogweed gone before it continues to grow wildly?"

"Absolutely." Sam said easily, making sure his sleeves were buttoned at the cuff before moving towards the hogweed. "Let's do it."