Making Adjustments [Solo]

[Nira'lia]

512 Summer 11th Ionu’s Mercy It was the first day that Nira’lia was going to spend as a healer in Ionu’s Mercy, and she was delighted to see that she had no trouble finding the place. It seemed to materialize right when she turned her first corner. The mournful music of a flute rang through the air. The Konti wondered where it was coming from, as she was not aware that the sound was what guided the sick and injured to the hospital. As soon as she entered Ionu’s Mercy, she couldn’t help but notice the group of children that Irene was tending to. There were five of them, and they all had nasty burns all over their skin. They were fighting back tears as Irene proceeded to put an ointment on their burns. All the while, the Konti stood by the wall, waiting for Irene to notice her and tell her what she had to do on her first day. Finally, Irene was done with the children. She spotted the Konti and walked over to her. In her hand was a half-filled jar of ointment. “This was made from the Torch Leaves you prepared yesterday, but we’re running out of it quickly… you will have to make more, and teach Leo in the process.” “Leo?” As if on cue, a man walked up to them. He held a box of newly picked torch leaves in his arms. He had gathered them himself before coming in to work that day. Irene introduced the two new co-workers to each other and left them to do their work. Nira’lia inspected Leo. He was young and looked like another normal human. As they set up the materials to make the ointment, he told her about what had happened to the children. “They didn’t think the fire was real,” he told her with a grim face. “So they ran right to it… thought they were just colors swirling around in smoke, like the fake fire that some of the dancers wore during last season’s festival. Were you in the festival?” “Yes,” the Konti replied. She knew what he was talking about. Nira’lia handed him a set of mortar and pestle and smiled widely at him. She pushed the horrifying disaster away from her mind as she did so. “So, uhm… first, we need to grind the leaves into a fine powder…” “Are we making the ointment? How long would that take?” The Konti blinked, not expecting the question. She remembered Irene tell her that after boiling the powder, the mixture had to sit around for a day—and she told Leo this, and he was not amused by her answer. “A day!?” he complained. “That’s no good! Listen, instead of ointment, let’s make it into a tea, alright? I’m sure that will work. We just brew it like any other kind of leaf.” “Well… but—” “Let’s go!” he said, cutting her off.

[Nira'lia]

They worked in the hospital’s kitchen. It was away from the rest of Ionu’s Mercy and had several apparatuses used for both cooking and simple philtering. There were cauldrons and pots scattered around, as long as various uncooked ingredients. Annoyed, she watched him bring out a cauldron of water and heave in unto the coal stove. It didn’t feel right. “Do you know how to brew leaves?” asked Leo. “No, not torch leaves.” “It should work just like tea leaves… do you know how to work with tea leaves?” “Yes,” she answered. “You’re a Konti fortuneteller, of course you do,” he said with a laugh which got on her nerves. She had never even told him that she was a fortuneteller, though it was an assumption made by many. The Konti women were known to be seers, and reading tea leaves were just one of their many pastimes. Nira’lia helped him heat up the cauldron of water. They put it over the stovetop, and she watched over it. They had to take it off the stove right before it boiled. Leo hummed along with the song that always seemed to play in the background of the hospital. It was a morose song that seemed to be music played by a flute. “Who is that, anyway?” asked Nira’lia. “Mistress Irene, or I don’t know, might be the building itself” he replied instantly. “They say it’s the sound that leads people to the hospital.” She nodded. Observing the cauldron, she saw that it was starting to bubble around the edges. The Konti reached out and lifted it, wincing at its heaviness. She set it on one of the stone tables, and Leo approached her. He had put out several clay mugs. “…I don’t really know how to make tea.” “Uhm, we just put the leaves in the mugs, and we’ll pour the water in, and let it steep for around two chimes,” she replied. Nira’lia had no idea if the process of brewing the torch leaves was the same as brewing tea, but she had no choice. She was going from memory as well, from all the times she had watched her mother make tea.

[Nira'lia]

When the leaves were placed, the two of them started to scoop the water from the cauldron to the mugs. They had half a dozen mugs, and Nira’lia hoped that was enough. Their method of brewing the leaves was more unconventional than what she was accustomed to, but they had no choice. She couldn’t see any kettles or strainers around, so they had to make do. The faint smell of something burning soon filled the room. Nira’lia preferred the smell of brewing tea leaves. The two of them didn’t really speak as they waited for the drink to be done. Leo continued to hum along with the song, and Nira’lia watched the tea closely. She had no way of knowing how many chimes had passed, so she made an estimate. “Now what?” asked Leo. The Konti racked her brain. What was next…? “We have to take the leaves out,” she answered. ‘…I think.’ There were no strainers, so they made use of spoons to scoop out the leaves. She strained the leaves against the side of the cup to drain out the water, and she discarded the leaves to an empty bowl. Leo mimicked her, and soon they had six mugs of a light red liquid and a bowl of wet torch leaves. “I wonder what they taste like?” murmured the Konti Leo shrugged. “I’m sure they taste fine. We have an extra mug… you can taste it after the kids do.” The two of them placed the mugs in a tray. Smoke rose from them, and Nira’lia cringed her nose at the awful, burning smell that it emitted. Leo carried the tray and she followed behind him.

[Nira'lia]

The five children were seated on the beds. They refused to lie down because of the pain of the burns. They were all evidently in pain, although they seemed to have run out of tears. Nira’lia looked at the burns on their skin and saw that she couldn’t help them using Rak’keli’s power. She couldn’t heal such damaged skin. “Here, take this… it should help,” said Leo as he placed the tray on a table and reached out to hand the first child his mug. Just before he was able to give the child the mug, a shrill voice shot through the air. “Leo! Nira’lia!” The two of them turned to see Irene making her way towards them. Her face was red with fury, and she almost knocked the mug out of Leo’s hand. Fortunately, she stopped herself from making a mess. Nira’lia could see how angry she was, though. The Konti expected the Mistress to slap Leo. The words that came out of her mouth were shrill and mashed together, though Nira’lia and Leo could get the gist of it. Embarrassment and horror quickly showed upon the two young faces as they realized their mistake. “You brewed the leaves? You cannot brew torch leaves!” the Mistress shrieked. Several patients and other healers were starting to peek and see what the commotion was about. The children looked at each other, puzzled. “Torch leaves cannot be ingested. These children will be poisoned in a few chimes. I asked you two to do a simple task, and this is what you do?” Nira’lia bowed her face in shame, and fortunately, Leo had enough decency to recognize his wrongdoing as well. The Mistress urged them both back to the kitchen, where they watched her throw away the contents of the mugs out the window.

[Nira'lia]

As soon as Irene was gone, Nira’lia took out the mortar and pestle again. Unconsciously, she slammed the tools against the table, and Leo watched her sheepishly. She ignored him as she started to grind what was left of the torch leaves, and Leo followed her lead. The Konti felt horrified. She had almost unwittingly poisoned children all because she was too dim to follow Irene’s simple instructions. This was a great first day, she thought bitterly. She mashed the pestle against the torch leaves and ground them against the walls of the marble bowl. Nira’lia did it bitterly and angrily, and she continued to ignore Leo’s apologies. “I think you got that,” he muttered. Seeing that he was right, she put aside the powdered leaves and put a fresh batch in the mortar again. Nira’lia then repeated the task of turning the leaves into powder. The powder was a beautiful golden-red powder which the Konti liked, and that observation at least helped ease her mind, even by just a bit. Her eyes were starting to sting, and she attributed it to the leaves, thinking that they were similar to onions. She believed this even if she had done the same task before without her eyes suffering how they were now. Fortunately, she was able to stop herself from breaking down. After about half a bell of not speaking, she finally found it within herself to acknowledge Leo. Forcing a smile, she said to him, “Could you please heat up more water…?” He gaped at her. “Your smile is scary.” She wanted to hit him. Shrugging, he proceeded to bring a cauldron of water onto the coal stove. They both watched it closely, waiting for it to boil.

[Nira'lia]

When the water finally boiled, Leo took it off the stove and Nira’lia brought over an empty pan. She scooped the boiling water on it, followed by the golden-red powdered torch leaves. Fortunately, she remembered her mistake from last time, when she had forgotten to mix the powder with the water. Nira’lia reached for a wooden spoon and was just about to mix it when she felt a hand on her wrist. Instantly, visions flooded before her. She saw a much younger Leo. He was sick and under the covers, and a woman whom he looked like was tending to him. Nira’lia assumed it was his mother. “…do that?” “What?” asked Nira’lia, not picking up the first half of his sentence. “Can I do that?” he repeated. Nira’lia nodded and gave him the spoon, and he mixed the water and powder around. He did it gradually, and the Konti watched the liquid take the nice, beautiful color of the powder. “Mix it in nicely… then it has to cool off,” said Nira’lia. She decided to explain the process to him from that she remembered. She was by no means an expert in making the ointment, but Irene had told her to teach him about it. “It’ll be a waxy substance by tomorrow, and ready to be used as an ointment.” “Alright.” For the next few chimes, he continued to mix the water around, until she finally told him that it seemed sufficiently combined. They put the pan aside and left the kitchen to find Irene. Nira’lia still felt embarrassed, and she wanted to hide from the Mistress, but she knew there was no sense in doing that.

[Nira'lia]

The rest of the day seemed to pass in a blur. She spent it tending to patients. Most of those who came in had only minor issues, such as colds or headaches. Most of them had the flu, and Nira’lia came to the conclusion that this was the city’s doing. It was summer, but Alvadas seemed to be alternating between snowy and sunny days. Such great contrasts in temperatures would definitely lead to people acquiring bad colds. When she finally mustered up her courage, she decided to go back to the children with the nasty burns. She had been wondering all day if she could do anything to help them. The nagging feeling that she should go over to them never left her, as if Rak’keli was right behind her and pushing her to go. Over and over again, her mind reminded her that she had made an oath with the Goddess. The voice in her brain was driving her crazy. “Hello,” one of the children said to her as she examined his wound. The skin was excruciatingly damaged, and Nira’lia couldn’t help but wince at the image. As she expected, she couldn’t heal their wounds. However, she could help to keep them from festering. One by one, she prayed to Rak’keli and felt the power course through the mark on her shoulder. “I’m sorry I almost poisoned you,” she said to the children. To her surprise, the children all laughed in unison. Somehow, they found the whole incident hilarious. Nira’lia found that they were pleasant to talk to, and she was amazed at how much they took in stride the unfortunate event that had befallen them.

[Nira'lia]

“Nira’lia! Look!” The Konti turned her head to see Leo walking over to her. He had a tray of steaming mugs, and he placed it on a table before Nira’lia. “Did you brew the torch leaves again…?” the Konti asked meekly and in disbelief. The man shook his head quickly. When Nira’lia decided to pay attention, she saw that there wasn’t a scent of burning in the air. Instead, she could smell brewed tea leaves. The scent was pleasant and refreshing, and she realized that he had brewed some of the tea leaves in the kitchen. She had seen them earlier that day, resting on a counter. “You taught me how to make tea, so I decided to go with it… here,” he said, handing her one of the mugs. Leo handed each child a mug as well, and they giggled and laughed. The children were still moving with difficulty and pain, but they seemed thankful at Leo’s gesture. The tea was too bitter, but Nira’lia said nothing, and she managed to drink it all up. As Leo joked around with the children, she looked at the bottom of her cup and saw the wet leaves that clung to its side. She blinked and tried to make out an image—any image. It had been a long time since she read tea leaves, and all she could see at the moment were wet, abstract globs. “What are you doing?” asked the young girl beside her. She had noticed Nira’lia staring intently at the bottom of her cup and was curious. “I’m trying to see if I can make out any shapes…” answered the Konti. She tilted the mug and showed the girl its bottom. “What about you? Can you see anything?” “I can see a ship. Over there, see?” Nira’lia looked at the bottom of her mug again. Now that the girl had mentioned it, she could indeed see the simple shape of a ship. A ship. The symbol of an important journey. She had just arrived in Alvadas, and she didn’t intend to leave any time soon, and as such it didn’t make sense to her. At this point, Nira’lia still had no idea that she was leaving the city in around ten days time.

[Nira'lia]

“Are you reading your leaves? Read mine as well!” said Leo, practically shoving his mug at Nira’lia’s face. Frowning, she set her own mug down and took his. “I’m not very good at it,” she replied. He shrugged, and she assumed it wouldn’t hurt to try. She took a look at his mug and saw that the shapes were much more formed than hers. In an instant, she saw the symbol of a flower resting on the bottom. “I see a flower,” she said. A flower was one of the more common symbols, and it didn’t take her long to remember its meaning. Nira’lia put his mug aside right when she was sure she had seen the symbol. “That means positive things, such as good times and success are coming your way.” Leo seemed content at what she had seen. It seemed like was about to say something else when one of the other children cut him off. “I see a snake in mine! What does that mean?” The Konti smiled sheepishly. “I have no idea.” The children proceeded to bombard her with more questions about what they saw. She was able to remember the meanings of a few, but for most, she definitely had nothing to say. No other patients came in to the hospital that day, and Leo and Nira’lia spent the rest of the day with the children. By the end of the day, the Konti realized that she had unconsciously forgiven her new coworker for his foolish mistake earlier. And all in all, it had been a fruitful first day.

[Fallacy]

XP Award! Name:Nira'lia XP Award: +3 Philtering +2 Herbalism +1 Observation +1 Medicine +1 Rhetoric +1 Poison +1 Fortune Telling +1 Teaching Lore: You Cannot Brew Torch Leaves! Nearly Accidently Poisoning Children By Mistake Feeling Ashamed Not Certain of What Lies in the Tea Leaves Notes: Notes: A great solo, keep up the good work! Any questions or concerns about the rewards gained please send a PM