#florentel jantall

[solidseq]

Screenshot dump! ft @northerndahlia / @khojin-arulaq

[solidseq]

Prompt #3: Adytum

Florentel liked to believe he didn’t miss the forest. And in fairness, the Elezen had adapted to the desert life quite well. Where he used to patrol the winding paths of the forest, he now walked to and fro the markets that filled the narrow streets of Ul’dah. Where he used to wore layers of leather and fur to protect against the cold, he now wore loose-fitting, thin cloth to combat the heat. And where he was once Florentel Jantall, Serpent Sergeant First Class, he now resided as a somewhat reclusive botanist, working for a company of mismatched adventurers. He also liked to believe he didn’t mourn his exile. Which, at the end of the day, was exactly what it was. For refusing to follow orders and openly voicing doubt against those that govern Gridania, Florentel was assigned a charge to follow into the desert. When his linkpearl went cold and no correspondence of any kind followed when he stopped sending in his weekly reports, he finally took the entirety of the message. And while he loosened the leash on his charge and stopped trying to reach out to the Adders, he never had been officially let go with any sort of discharge. And the rank he technically still held had served him well, every now and then. And more importantly, he finally had the time to revisit an old interest. One instilled to him by his parents, both late members of the Guild of Botanists. Not a member himself, they nevertheless had him help them tend to their gardens and fields, trimming and watering plants while being made to recite their names and properties. - Now he was putting all that to good use. One of the company building’s rooms, one on the ground floor along the side of the house that caught the most sun throughout the day, was entrusted to him. And with the help of their funding, what few connections he still had in Gridania, and years of neglected expertise, Florentel had transformed a small room on the edge of the desert to a veritable oasis. Plants from all across Eorzea and a few from the Far East grew proud and tall within the climate he regulated for them, trying to find a balance that’d fit as many of them as he could. They rose from planters, pools of water, simple pots, and, with the help of the kudzu vines he had been studying; now crawled their ways up onto the walls, reaching towards the ceiling. The introduction of a small batch of cloud jellyfish had done wonders to combat the inevitable vilekin. And the mammet he had been issued helped to keep the greenhouse in order. For the opportunity to work in a place like this, a little sanctuary of green where he could study and observe like he used to when he was a child when his former home rejected him, the price of growing whatever his generous hosts needed was a small one that he was happy to pay.