Day three (Oluse)

by **Falix** on January 30th, 2012, 11:59 pm

Winter 511, 51th

It was the third day of her time at the Whitevine Healing Center. As she made the trecherous journey to the clinic her mind wandered back to what she had learned the day before. She went over everything that had happened in her mind and wondered idly how Oluse was doing. After he had began to talk about his past even just a little and if it was in a round about way, he seemed to have felt a little better after that he had talked. She was going to make it a point in the future to try and get to know the healer more, and maybe help him out with his problems.

She cast her mind back to the present as she was almost stepped on and quickly rolled to the side before she got squished like gum on the sidewalk. She finally made it to the center unscathed and went to wait by the fire place as she had done the day before. She sat by the fire and waited for Oluse to come in. She had actually come earlier then when Oluse was supposed to work but with the conditions and her small size she had wanted to leave early to make sure that she hadn't been late.

She yawned softly and stayed by the fire. She had no need for the warmth it provided since she didn't feel the cold like Oluse would. She figured she would sit here and wait for him that way he could warm himself by the fire after walking here in the brisk snow. It had been snowing that day and it looked as though a strom was coming, juding by the dark clouds that hung overhead. She hoped that Oluse would make it in before the snow really started to come down.

by **Oluse** on January 31st, 2012, 6:36 am

Oluse entered the same way he had the mornings before, clad head to toe in heavy padded leathers to hold in his precious heat. He quickly approached the Pycon, letting the heavy door shut behind him on it's own accord. He, however, only greeted Falix as an afterthought as he stepped up next to the warm fire. The night had restored his usual demeanor and he gave a wide, and chattering smile to his apprentice, "Good morning, Falix! It's really cold out today, hopefully that'll mean everybody will stay in and we can have a slow day." He of course knew that the snow rarely kept the Vantha in, but he could always hope. He was growing more comfortable with the Pycon, and though that meant he spoke more freely, it also meant his Denvali accent was coming through clearer than when they had first met, making him slightly more difficult to follow.

"So how did you sleep? I do hope you weren't offended by how I dismissed you yesterday. I just had a lot of work today, and couldn't really juggle your lessons as well. I of course won't charge you for the full day." He pulled the thick mittens from his frozen white fingers and tied them to his belt so he could hold his hands to the fire. "What would you like to work on today? We can finish up the lesson on the kiss of life, of course. Then perhaps we can move onto something new." He finished with a warm smile, his eyes closing calmly to the sensation of warmth entering him. He secretly hated the winter, hated not seeing the sun. He missed it's gentle brush on his cheeks, and more than anything he missed being able to dress down in warmer climates, to expose more of his skin to Syna's touch.

by **Falix** on February 4th, 2012, 11:11 pm

She smiled noting that his behaviour was beginning to become more relaxed and less rigid as he began to relax and trust her. The thought made her smile. She went back in her memory picking out the details of what they had been doing the previous day before that they had been interuppted. "Yes, perhaps we should continue the lesson, but I am not quite sure what else there is for you to teach me on this 'kiss of life'. "

She turned her head up to the male then noticed that his cheeks were still red and flshed at the same time, a sure sign on the wind that was begining to bellow and blow, as well as the cold. She smiled up at him sweetly, and decided that he had betterget comfortable first. "Why don't we head to the dinner hall and warm yourself with something hot to drink, it will warm you faster then the fire will. You look absoultely chilled to the bone." She really had no idea what that the expression actaully meant since a person couldn't freeze down to their literal bones and still be alive, but it was a phrase that she often heard in the city. With that she walked over to him and waiting with a kind smile for him to move his hand down so that she could more easily climb up onto his thin shoulder.

by **Oluse** on February 5th, 2012, 1:01 am

Oluse looked to the side and smiled down at her. He felt truly blessed to have such a considerate and caring pupil. He knew this would serve her very well in the medical field, and felt honored he would be able to pass his own personal techniques down to her. To the offer of a warm liquid he replied sincerely, "That is a wonderful idea! You know I always felt that food and healing were one in the same. You see humans can't help but get hungry so we use what nature provides to feed ourselves, to return our strength. Humans also can't help but get hurt or sick from time to time, it is just the way of things. And, just the same, we take what nature gives us and use it to heal us, to return our strength." He rubbed his hands together one last time over the fire before scooping the Pycon up and leading her toward the cafeteria as he continued to speak. "Really it's all due to Syna. Both farmers and healers rely utterly upon her constant flow of life to feed the crops which we use to fashion food and remedies alike. The deeper you look into herbalism, in fact, the more you realize that many common remedies can be found in types of seasonings. It doesn't always take a concentrated vial of some abstract poisonous flower cultivated in some special way to cure a person. Sometimes it is as simple as know what common food to eat." He pushed the door open carefully, and took a deep breath of the eating area. The Winterflame had harmed some spicy and thick stew for breakfast, which filled the room and well out into the entrance hall with it's luscious scent. "I have to say it is my favorite part of working here. The smells. I grew up around poultices and home cooked meals. Even though I am so far away from home, I still feel a little bit of it every time I come through the doors. Now if only it were a bit warmer out." He gave a wink to his shoulder ornament, and kindly asked the cooks for some stew and tea, intending to bring them back out into the entrance hall to consume them. He didn't want to ignore his post longer than was necessary to keep up his strength.

Once they had the food he thanked their attendants grateful, and started back toward the first room as he got back to business. "There is still some things to learn about the Kiss, but they are more exceptions than anything. Before I get to them I want to hear what you remember from yesterday. I know both our thoughts were disrupted by the emergency." His voice remained light, and though he seemed very shaken by the event the day before, he seemed perfectly comfortable then.

by **Falix** on February 5th, 2012, 4:46 am

As Oluse gathered his meal she hummed softly to herself mostly keeping her thoughts going on and on in circles. She gently kicked her feet but made sure not to tap against Oluse's shoulder. When he was situated she hopped off his shoulder and landed on the couch before taking a seat on the cousin then made sure that she was facing him. She began to recount the things that she could remmeber from the previous day. She had a very good memory and was able to remember what he had shown her and what he had said, although in the back of her mind she thought about what had caused their lesson to end early and to how that the woman was doing. She shook her head shaking off those thoughts. After she recounted the information she waited for Oluse to start eating and relaxing himself after walking here in the snow.

She cast her mind off for a moment before a thought occured to her. With this storm do you think that there wil be a lot of pepole that come in with frost bite today? ..I've only been here for a short while so I don't know how the people here are or how tolerant of the cold they are. Maybe after we finish the kiss you can teach me how to treat frost bite." She looked up at Oluse, but felt a yawn come on and stretched. She remembered that she had stayed up most of the night to tell Banir stories until he fell asleep, she had found a good way of helping the tormented man find rest. She hoped she would be alert enough to remember everything that he was going to show her today.

by **Oluse** on February 8th, 2012, 2:19 am

Oluse spooned the warm liquid into his mouth with a savoring expression of bliss as he listened to the Pycon's recount, and question. As she came to an end he set the stew aside and wiped some that had dripped onto his chin. "Well, honestly. I haven't seen much frostbite all season from the Vantha. People like myself and Banir need to watch out, but those beautiful marks. The snowflakes, that all the Vantha have." He smiled, both from the residual taste of the spicy stew and the thought of the elegant gnosis. "They are from Morwen, and they, amongst other things, allow the Vantha to resist the cold very well. So luckily frost bite isn't much of a problem. Which is good, since there really is not cure for frostbite. In most cases the best cure it a good prevention, though I can show you how after I finish up explaining the kiss what can be done about frostbite. But first, tea. Wouldn't want to catch cold." He dipped the tiny woven basket of herbs into his water, mixing the infusion around then took a sip, sparingly since he hated having to dress down to pee every fifteen minutes when he drank too much liquid.

"Ah, much better. Ok so, what I explained to you yesterday is how to administer the kiss to children and infants. First, on children about," he put his hand out to gauge out about the size of an eight year old, "this size or small you, or whoever if giving the Kiss wants to use the heel of their palm like," he demonstrated a different hand placement, "this. And you want to press around on the breast bone, right at the nipple line." He smiled and stretched his fingers slightly, popping them. "Other than that just keep in mind losing breath is even a bigger, and more common problem for children so you don't want to waist any time before jumping in and doing the procedure. As for Infants, when you breath into them careful when tilting their head back, don't go too far or you may hurt them or block the airway more. Breath into both their nose and mouth as the rate of one breath per half second. You want to breath so that their chest raises, but not their stomach. Should be obvious they are miniscule," he looked at her with pause, "no offense." He raised an eyebrow unsure if that was offensive or not then continued. "You can either use these two fingers, and press down like this, right under their nipple line on their sternum." He held up his middle and ring fingers and demonstrated on air before him. "Of if whoever is helping you can, holding them like this, and pressing with your thumbs." He showed the second and more supportive way to do it. "Just as fast with the same ratio as before. And try to remember to do this fast, don't think or pause. Working with infants can be particularly scary, but you need to just bare down and do it. Infants seem very delicate, but you can't let your fear of breaking them keep you from using the force of will necessary to help them. They need that much from you." He then gave her an encouraging smile and grabbed up his stew for a few more bites.

"Ok, not for the cold talk. First of all there is no way to speak of frostbite without speaking of hypothermia as well. Anybody who is outside a lot, people under the influence of alcohol or other numbing drugs, elderly, the dehydrated, and mentally distressed all have a predisposition to the condition." He spoke of the common issues as more diseases than what a laymen would consider them, but he seemed casual enough about them. In Oluse's world all illnesses and afflictions had their place, it was just another article in his mental encyclopedia and he was pleased with it there.

"Cold constricts blood flow. Under safe conditions the human body handles this by regulating quite expertly blood flow out to your extremities and bad to your core. But, unfortunately as conditions worsted your body stops flow to and from your extremities to prevent the cold from getting to your core. The human body will always protect the organs over the extremities. Our core is vital.

However, following this restriction of out blood to the extremities we see problem. This is when they start warming up again. See even just a small amount of time being exposed to extreme cold can injure the," He stops a moment to ponder how to continue, "Injure the pathways for your blood. Blood is meant to travel in a certain delicate way, and extreme cold and freeze that road and make it turbulent, so when blood returns it often clots or seeps where it shouldn't causing further damage." He gave a grave look to the Pycon, then followed with, "That's a bad thing."

"These damages come in three different stages. Frostbite can just look slightly pale, that isn't serious. The second is a chalk white from lack of blood, this means it is either second stage or will be third as the blood returns. Not good at all, and you are looking at a long difficult but possible recovery. The last is a dark burned or black look..." He just gave a discouraging look to adorn the end of that sentence as it petered off.

"Those are just the overt physical symptoms afterward though. You can tell that frostbite is setting in is the skin is itching, burning, or numb. Or all of the above. In really bad cases I've heard, but never seen, white or like yellow skin with blisters of caught blood on them. Really bad.

After the condition, and they start rewarming they will feel extreme pain int he affected areas for two or three days, and then some residual pain for up to another month. Pain is good, means it's healing. But even so, the condition can often seem less intimidating at first. Only time can tell the true severity.

When you go to cure it you can hope for clear blisters, pink skin, malleable flesh. The opposite does not bode well. Either way to treat it you want to stay with the usual, keep it elevated to reduce swelling. I know it seems counter productive to discourage blood flow, but the problem is not that blood can't get there, it's that when the body allows the blood to flow again it might harm them, as I explained before. Try not to use the frostbitten body parts, but make sure you get the patient to a warm dry area. This means wrapping them up as much as possible or getting them near fire in the wilderness. In this case, however, hypothermia is more of a threat than frostbite. Trust me, a limp can be lost, hypothermia threatens their life." It doesn't cross Oluse's mind as he speaks that she perhaps doesn't know what hypothermia is, in his inexperience forgetting to explain it.

"They may feel sick, but make sure they drink warm fluids. But no alcohol or sugary caffeinated drinks. Keep to simple teas, or just warmed water. Do not let them drink anything cold." He pauses again, his eyes drifting tot he corner of the room as he thinks of what else she might need to know. "A basic dry poultice would help. Do not warm the frozen area if it will freeze again. It's better to just leave it frozen then for it to refreeze after. When you do warm the area warm it fast. It will hurt but going slow for some reason seems to make everything worse.

Do not rub the area, with anything. It will make the situation worse, and they won't be able to tell you how it feels if it is numb. And I suppose the last thing is to be fast. Get them to a warm environment as fast as you possibly can without making the situation worse." He takes a big breath with a slight shiver and takes another drink of his tea.

"So that is all emergency care. Once you have them in a safe warm place there is more you can do. Warm water up to about the temperature of this tea here, and even though it will hurt the patient have them hold the afflicted area in the water. Hotter isn't bad, just don't burn the skin. Will usually take a half hour or so." He spoke with experience at this point, as if he wasn't unaccustomed to the procedure from this point in the least. His voice was almost casually recounting. "Giving them painkillers is fine, even if it thins the blood. But nothing that clots blood. Keeping them hydrated is important, this process really exhausts the body's resources.

Then the interactive part. Clear blisters are removes, along with dead tissue. Bloody blisters should be left, because you don't want to damage any of the delicate body that might still be alive underneath. Trust the body to heal itself. Give them infusions to encourage immunity. And you want to prescribe them Aloe treatment four times a day." He looked to her, remembering she probably didn't know much about herbs. "That is a very useful easy to grow plant from the south. I'll show ti to you later, and how to prepare the treatment.

You want to make sure the area is still, and unused while it heals, so splint it. Anything to help against inflammation is good. You may want them to take warm baths before each explication of the Aloe, but never leave them long enough that they proon, this could disrupt the cycle. You won't see results for some time, weeks at least, for serious cases. And nothing she be done hastily at this point." He sighed, and decided to clarify. "Do not amputate for at least a half season after. You need to trust the body to heal what it can.

The senses will do really odd things for some time, even years after the trauma. Just keep an open ear, and take everything in stride. The best thing to do with them in the months after is just to listen and be there with general advice, and careful moderation of the medicine you administer them. Try to be as aware of their coin purse as you are their body at this point. That is actually good advice for any treatment. Remember money is how patients feed themselves. They are trading their food and clothes and blankets for your help. Taking all of their money is the same as leaving them out in the cold." He gave an assured nod, then realized he had be rambling and shut up.

"Any questions?" He gave a passively abashed smile and took another sip of his tea.
oocReally sorry about this but don't have time to edit this right now XD So um... sorry about any weird grammatical hiccups >>

by **Falix** on February 10th, 2012, 7:39 pm

By the end of his long winded speech, Falix ws about at her limit at trying to understand everything that he was saying and being able to comprehend them. As it were it was very possible that she would forget somethings are remember others but she wans't really concerned with that. her mind began to wander as she tried to process everything. she didn't even hear the question at the end if she had any questions. it was just too much information at once for her to take it in all at once. She would need to study the things that he had told her if she ever had a chance of remembering it all.

Falix was beginning to notice that as time progressed that Oluse had gotten more comfortable around her and spoke more freely and spoke more then he first had and that brought some comfort to her that the man was beginning to trust her. She looked down at the emty bowl of food and the half empty drink and tried to rmember when it was the last time that she had eaten. it had been a while ago she at least knew that much. She was quiet for a long time before she dared speak, lest she forget something that she had been told inplace of the thought that had just arrived. "That is a lot to take in all at once...even for me. I'm not sure I can even remember it all." She seemed a bit irrtated and frustrated at herself that she wouldn't be able to remember it all, and wold try and make amends for it by reviewing this over in her mind whenever she could.

She sighed and laid back against the couch hoping that no one would come to sit down and squash her. she let her eyes close which was an odd things since Pycons almost never blinked. her toughts went to banir and she wondered how he was faring while she was away at the center. She soon opened her eyes again and looked up at Oluse. "You'll have to forgive me if there were things that i forget in the suture, although I will do my best to remember them."

by **Oluse** on February 10th, 2012, 8:13 pm

Oluse just smiles to this. "Falix, nothing can be learned over night. I can teach you medical theory all day and night, but all it does if give you a place to start your experiences." He paused a moment a thought striking him, then spoke. "You know what? Things are obviously slow today. I'll ask the watch to fetch me if anybody comes in. Let me teach you something about medicine that you can practice right now. I think you'll be good at it." He smiles and stood up, gathering up his dishes, and offered Falix to climb aboard.

One she had he sent and dropped off his dishes, and left the rest of his cold tea behind. As he walk he spoke with Falix. "The base of helping your patients is your intent to help. You must, in short, be attentive to them. Though the skills are important, there is a finer art to helping patients relax. This is not only important in emergency situations, but often people need a long recovery time after injuries. This is when a good bedside manner is key to rehabilitation. When your words truly heal." He smiles at the Pycon, getting the feel she would like this lesson much more.

He paused a moment and looked to one of the Winterflame in the room. "Thank you very much for the food and drink, it was amazing as always!" After a short reciprocation he then took Falix out, and towards the stairs, where he took a short pit stop to request one of the watch keep an eye out for patients who might wonder in.

Oluse peeked in the first door they reached on the top level. It was a very room, quite nice state room. The Vantha women inside was sleeping, and Oluse just put up a finger over his lips to encourage Falix to be quiet a moment before he walked quietly in, scooped up a small pile of dished from atop her nightstand, and walk back out. Taking an extra moment to hand the dirty fork to Falix with a smile.

As they approached the second room he gave a sideways nod as they found the person within awake. Or more precisely persons, plural. This, another Vantha women, sat in bed holding a quietly fussing new born baby in her arms. The baby was cleaned, and the birth itself obviously had happen at least a day prior. Oluse pitches his head slightly toward Falix to direct his quiet voice and said, "She had some complications with her birth, so she was brought in a few days ago where one of the Whitevine delivered the child. What you say we go check in on them?" Oluse smiled and walked into the large room.

"Hello there Ma'am." He said in Vantha, his voice calm almost hushed, then realizing Falix and continued in common. "My name is Oluse, I'm a practitioner here, this is Falix an apprentice. We were wondering if you were ready for us to gather your dishes." Falix could note that almost all of the stew appeared to still be in the bowl.

The mother looked up from her child, and gave a polite smile to Oluse, and Falix. "Hello there you two." She responded, forgetting to introduce herself, then glanced to her food. "Oh yeah. Go ahead, I don't feel very hungry." Her eyes were a deep sea green as she spoke, and she looked very distracted. Shen then looked again to the Pycon, of which she hadn't witnessed before, and her eyes shifted with ease, a slight light blue beginning to flood into them like an intrigued wash of water, as Falix and her fork.

by **Warden** on May 22nd, 2012, 3:05 pm

-Falix-

Skill Points:

Medicine 3
Lore:

-Oluse-

Skill Points:

Lore:

Notes:

Falix, keep in mind that Mizahar is a fantasy based roleplay, and as far as I know there is no gum or sidewalks. It's just a simile you used and isn't really important, so I didn't dock any points or anything, I just felt it should be at least mentioned. Oluse, I went ahead and gave you the frostbite lore as well, since you did not already have it. Your medicine skill, of course, already covers it but it couldn't hurt to have a bit of specificity, yes? Interesting thread you too, very informative and entertaining.