Zangrilla Sylvia was an academic herbalist and founder of the Academia Herbalis, which would later be known as the Academia Sylvalis after Sylvia's death.
History
In the year 714 AH, after witnessing Mayen, the baker's wife, discovering the benefits of eating primrose stalks, Zangrilla gathered other plants for research, including lavender, lovage, sage, pansies, galingale, lobelia, and violets. She also convinced a group of volunteers to eat parts of these plants daily to see if they could induce any other effects. From this research, she concluded that eating the violet root caused insomnia, and that lobelia petals are toxic.
Later that summer, the heat was especially intense and caused many deaths. Itkova Sholet, then the leader of Caanae, commanded all of the scholars and herbalists of Caanae to divert their research towards discovering some kind of protection from the sun. This led to the discovery that eating nightshade roots protected people from any allergic reaction to sunlight. It was during this time that Sylvia and her fellow researchers first theorized that "artifacts" could be imbued with special properties if normal, everyday items were paired with plants and herbs such as nightshade. Because of Sylvia's success, Sholet commissioned the construction of an academy specifically devoted to medical research, naming it the Academia Herbalis.
In the early days of the Academia, research was conducted to study the effects of herbs, like nightshade, when ground into a powder and dissolved into a liquid. This research showed that new and alternative benefits could come from creating elixirs and salves with herbs. The frost elixir was the first of its kind, allowing those who drank it to withstand the hottest temperatures and protected the skin from burning under the sun.
The creation of the frost elixir allowed researchers to venture further into the deserts than ever before, bringing them into contact with rattlesnakes for the first time. Two researchers were bitten and died, leading the Academia to look into ways to protect themselves from the snake's venom.
Known Acquaintances
- Mayen, the baker's wife - To add variety and flavor to their creations, Mayen and her husband, Caanae's baker, began using flowers and herbs from the wilderness as garnishes. Mayen was the first to discover that eating primrose stalks gave her the gift of the third eye, allowing her to sense the locations of anyone she knew in Caanae.
- Aren - One of Sylvia's volunteers, who helped her discover that the violet root caused insomnia when eaten.
- Rashena - An herbalist and close friend and colleague to Sylvia.
- Arin - An herbalist and close friend and colleague to Sylvia.