[The Sanctuary] The Twentieth Bell Feast (Open)

[Vanator]

Vanator's attention had been focused on his plate when the twins walked in. He glanced up at them with a slight smile and nod, his gaze darting to Kavala before watching his offspring join them. Van was still getting to know Cadra and Larik. Until the beginning of the season, they had really never met, the father only seeing them once while they were still babies. The young Kelvics had suffered under slavers, an unfortunate trait that all the blood Denusks at the table had endured. The experience complicated their ability to get closer to him, and for him to earn their trust. Van was still not sure what their mother had told them about him, or the relationship their parents had.

Ironic, then, was the revelation Rhy spilt about the bond with Gianna. Vanator did not understand fully the Kelvic bond, though the twins' mother, Pygmy, had told him that she and Van had the beginnings of a bond, before they separated. The Denusk knew there was something special between them, but he had confused love with the bonding. All Vanator remembered was the heart-crushing experience when she broke it. Only when he lost it did the Drykas realize what he had with her.

Water under the bridge. Fortunately, both Rhy and Gianna knew what they had, and would be able to enjoy it. His gaze drifted again to the man Serrif, he seemed happy for the girls, as did the others. Van gave the girls a wide smile, truly happy for them. His eyes darted again to the twins. Would they find a bondmate someday?

When the congratulations faded, Elem presented his problem to the table, so significant that he stood. Vanator listened, the matter was of concern to the compassionate healer, though it dealt with places and people far removed from the world Van knew. He knew little of plagues, aside from the one that struck the herds a long time ago, when he was very little. Mura had sent a Konti healer to help the Drykas heal their horses, a Konti that married his father and bore his Konti half-sisters. Maybe what the knights needed was help from the Kontis, like the Drykas sought. Van held his peace for the moment, wanting to hear what advice the healers at the table would offer.

[Kavala]

When Elem stood, Kavala put down her fork and gave him her full attention. She looked thoughtful and then more concerned as his words filled the table and silence grew. Kavala looked gravely concerned.

"This could spread out of Sylira and hit Cyphrus easily enough. The Caravans travel the road all the time. There's no assurances that they wouldn't bring it here. If we were closer, we could do more. Create, say, an isolated lab. Test it on small creatures that tend to get the same sicknesses as humans, say mice, and look for a cure that way. It's how true medical people used to find cures to disease, well before the Valterrian. But its odd that we are having a plague. We haven't had many since the Valterrian." Kavala said, looking thoughtful and slightly scared. Plague was a bad deal. A very bad deal. "Has anyone said what was being done to help?" She asked, looking thoughtful.

With that, she glanced at Vanator, and then at the rest of the healers at the table. "It wouldn't be a bad idea to get some sort of isolation lab together, either Within or off the clinic. We could even get the barracks we have set up for the patient rooms upstairs, and go below them to form some sort of isolation lab. And if plague is coming, we'll need to stockpile some food, make sure we have plenty of everything we need from town, and keep our folks away from populations until it passes or a cure is found." She commented, looking thoughtful and rubbing the Lykata mark on the back of her hand. It wouldn't hurt to hit the Valkalah Library in Riverfall and see if they had any notes on past plagues.

[Rhy]

Rhy folds her legs under herself on her chair. A sickness in Zelvita? Thats where Elem and Gianne are from. She glances at her bondmate to see her reaction, reaching over to squeeze her hand. It would be awful to hear if you have family there. She listens to Kavala's action plan with rapt attention. Well used to the Mistress's fast pace. She is definitely a woman of movement and decisions. Its great quality in an alpha. But Rhy bites her lip and gives this all a second thought. If plagues are that rare... "What if its not a plague?" Rhy didn't intend on speaking. She would have taken a page from Vanator's book and just listened. Not only does she know precious little about Zelvita, she knows precious little about medicine in general. But she feels it has to be said. "What if its poisoning? I mean, a contingent can't provide for everyone on-route can they? They probably have food stores in wagons and what have you. And I've heard that all their food comes from that northern city, Syliras. Maybe the food was poisoned, transferred to the knights for their travels, and some leaked through to the city." It seems rather far fetched. But she could think of many reasons why an invading division might want to be disposed of discreetly rather then an all-out attack. "If a marked healer can't at least decide what it is, then doesn't that say that the cause is... how do you say that. Ongoing? Constant? You guys can't treat a wound with the arrow still in it. Could you treat a disease that still festers in the stomach?" The questioned was posed to the marked healers in the room, not at all rhetorical.

[Gianne Basete]

A plague, assumed to be from Zeltiva. Her home. Elem's too. Gianne's mouth went suddenly dry, and when Rhy's hand squeezed hers she gripped it like it was life line. Her only blood relatives alive, that she knew of, were her parents. Her grandparents had lived in Syliras but they'd been very old and both in fragile condition when the massive spring storm hit. The stress had been too much for them to handle. They'd been on their death beds for a while by then, but the storm had been the final push. She and her parents had been told by their physician that the pair had passed quickly and quietly by the end of the whole ordeal. But what of her parents now? She had received no reply to a letter she'd sent during the summer. Was this the reason? Were her parents alright? Ill? Dead? Gianne stared at the nearly empty plate in front of her, suddenly repulsed by the food. It felt as if she'd purge her stomach right there on the table. She could care less about those knights at the moment, wondering how many or even if anyone in Zeltiva had died from sickness. If it was getting worse in Syliras surely it had been or still is at its worst in her and Elem's home city? She snatched up her cup and drained the water, fighting back the urge to vomit. With a clumsy hand, the other still holding Rhy's, she poured another cup and drank that one as well. Tentatively she licked her lips. "What of Zeltiva though? Did anyone die? Is the sickness still at large there? What are the symptoms?" She was no healer. Gianne only knew some very basic medical procedures, and on top of that never applied them on anyone or anything. It was just word of mouth knowledge. Realistically she could be of no help to the situation, and she'd had to suppress her deep displeasure toward Kavala's idea of animal testing. The idea left a bad taste in her mouth. But again, she wasn't a healer. They would figure out what was best. If it would help them find a cure and keep whatever it was from spreading, the lives of some mice could be offered up for the cause. After all, they bred like wildfire, and if it came to Cyphrus there would be bigger problems than a handful of dead rodents. She couldn't barely suppress the explosion of worry this news had caused inside her. Hopefully Rhy's theory was right and it wasn't actually a plague. Her mother had always had a terrible immune system. The slightest cold turned into a stomach churning case of the flu for her. Gianne thankfully seemed to have her father's good health, rarely ever getting sick. But if her mother contracted some sort of plague, her chances of survival automatically seemed zero. Her guts were going a little flip flopping and she licked her lips nervously. "Maybe someone should be sent over the border to check on Zeltiva and Syliras? I could take a strider and falcon with me, one for speed until I hit Sylira and then the other for a pair of eyes in the air? The animals here trust me, they'll talk to me. I wouldn't have a problem." It was a far fetched idea, concocted in the frenzied mind of a worried daughter. If she was to be told no, someone had better give her a petching good alternative. If not, she'd probably lunge across the table and start strangling whoever told her no. She just wanted to go see for herself that her parents were fine.

[Elem Bree]

Elem wasn't necessarily surprised by the reaction, more emboldened. He had expected that as a newer and junior member of the Sanctuary that his news would be taken with a grain of salt, perhaps discussed a bit and then moved on for another time as more pertient issues came up. He was genuinely moved by the attention, though with it being about a plague, he could as easily be totally missing the point of the focus. either way, it was nice. Serrif spoke first and was equally answered in kind. Nodding to and acknowledging Vanator, he turned to the Muran to answer.

"It is an assumption, but logical to believe that there are others with them who are not Knights, which leads me to believe that either they caught it along the way and it is isolated among their number or someone with them had it the entire time." Kavala's words, of course, were very important to Elem as she was not only his benefactor, but the senior doctor among those in the room. Her idea of an isolation lab made perfect sense and the Zeltivan wished that something similar had been available at the Infirmary, a separate ward to isolate those whose illnesses could spread to others. He pursed his lips as he listened.

"Yes, Kavala, I believe that would be an excellent idea for us to pursue. I will help any way I can. It would be a helpful resource even if we are fortunate to not be affected. Future plagues or mystery illnesses would warrant it and it would also help if a similar kind of malady struck the livestock, so that we didn't lose our very livelihoood. Thank you." She was constantly amazing Elem with her knowledge and forethought. He had no reason to go over the top and brown nose her. All the healers were paid and treated the same here. It was a genuine sentiment.

Turning to Gianne and her Kelvic, Elem listened while applying that same grain of salt, concerned that the idea of paranoia could be evident. He was surprised at Rhy's logic, not expecting such an angle to come from a dog. "It is very possible thaty ou are correct, Rhy. I'll mention that possibility to Nira'lia when I answer." Turning to Gianne, Elem kept his cool, though his tone changed. He did not want to sound patronizing, but he also thought panic was a bit extreme. His reasons became clear as he responded.

"I don't think the scouting is necessary, Gianne. I suspect that word of mouth at the harbor and the sailors there would have brought news of a more serious and widespread plague. One thing I would like to stress here is that this letter was sent thirty five days ago. I received it recently, but it is likely that it will be a month or longer before she receives a reply, as they are no doubt farther along on their journey. While preparation is a valid concern, should this plague be a real threat to us, I don't think our resources should be spent in checking on Zeltiva. It's my home too, but I am certain that we would have heard something about it now. I will send a reply back to her first thing in the morning so that it can begin making its way back. I genuinely appreciate your ears on this."

The matter was certainly not closed, but Elem felt it best to return to his seat in order to help bring the conversation back to immediate and local goals. He believed wholeheartedly in Mistress Claira and the Regents. if the small group of healers at the Sanctuary were capable of dealing with such a threat, surely the whole of the University and its backing would be alright.