[Job Thread] Pain-killing Tea

by **Tazi** on April 23rd, 2014, 2:49 am

16th of Spring, 514

The Medicine House was incredibly hot today. There was no breeze entering and leaving the open doors, even though many of the patrons desperately needed circulation. It did not help that there were so many people present inside the medicine room, making it even more stuffy and difficult to regulate ones body temperature. Inconveniently, Tazi sat at a table right next to a small fire, having been asked to make some remedies for the sick. As of now, she had been told to make simple teas, become familiar with leaves that were handed to her for use. Right now, several items were on her table, including her personal pestle and mortar, bird feet shaped leaves, a metal gizmo that had been provided for her to steep the teas, and several cups and bowls for finished product.

Placing a pot of water over the fire, she took a moment to wipe the sweat from her brow with a rather dirty cloth. She had been at the medicine house since dawn. The only people that ever beat her to their morning shifts were Kiyal and Traya, as well as the few overnight workers that worked until midmorning. Looking up now, she noted Kiyal coming into the medicine room. She was making her rounds, ensuring that the house was running smoothly. Kiyal was in and out as quickly as possible as to not interrupt the flow of business. Groans drew her eyes around the room. So many people were sick this morning. There were some with the chills, others with aches and growing pains, a pregnant woman about to give birth to her first child, and a young boy having suffered a broken arm from practicing in the arean.

“Tazi? Is that tea almost ready? Burma needs it.”

”Yes ma’am. The water is boiling now.”

Turning back to her work, she shredded the dry Xelma leaf and stuffed it into the metal ball. Already inside the little ball were some sections of root from the same plant. Fishing some water out of the pot with a cup, she began steeping the tea. The water began to have a strange glimmer in it as the leaves and roots began to filter their medicinal substances into the water. To make it taste better, she took a small bottle from the corner of the desk labeled Honey. The stick that was imbedded in the bottle was coated in the golden syrup. She quickly stirred the stick into the steeping tea and then set the wand aside. Getting up, she wandered over to a patient that was shaking and wide-eyed.

Burma was an older woman, someone who came here often because of her age it seemed. Tazi knelt beside the bed while one of the other staff members helped Burma sit up. She offered the woman the cup of tea. With shaking hands, Burma reached for it but could not get her gnarled fingers to curl around mug.

”It is alright. Here, let me. It will help you sleep.”

She had been hired on to be a medicine woman, to learn about plants and the art of healing. What she did not realize was that she was also here to provide comfort for those that were ill. Tazi had to learn to be an icon. This was harder for her to achieve because her mother had spent most of her life tearing her down for not being a warrior. Carefully, she tilted the Xelma and honey tea up to Burma’s lips, allowing her to drink as much as she wanted. Tazi supported the cup with her good wrist, as she had suffered and injury several day ago from falling out of a tree. It was wrapped tightly in the morning to prevent increased swelling, but it was difficult to keep the wrap cool in this heat.

by **Tazi** on May 26th, 2014, 6:06 pm

As soon as her patron was asleep in her bed, Tazi went back to her station to clean up. For the most part, people were winding down for their early afternoon naps. In this heat, many of the elderly found it easier to sleep and have their bodies cooled by the cross breeze and cool towels that were constantly exchanged by the medicine house employees. Tazi took a dry towel, wiping the sweat from the back of her neck and forehead. Even though it was early spring, the heat was beginning to cause her great stress. It was so hard to stay cool, especially with so many people constantly making the medicine house a part of the daily routine. With a sigh, she pulled the pot of boiling water off the small fire. Using some soot she had collected from the previous fire, she doused the fire. Smoke rose, scented with random herbs that had been burning previously.

Picking up the pot of water and a few bits of the Xelma leaves, she left the room. At the moment it was quiet, so dumping the dirty dishes in a nearby room was acceptable for the cleaner to take care of. Then she disappeared down a hall with the pot of hot water. As she was walking down this hall, humming to herself with a handful of dried Xelma leaves and a pot of water, that the shrieks of a tormented mother filled the air. Women were rushing into a room, and Tazi could not help but do the same. The scene she was met with nearly made her turn away.

On a bed in the center of the room was a beastly woman, clearly a renowned warrior. Several smaller house employees were trying to hold her arms, although many were thrown off into nearby tables and dressers. Holding her down was a feat for other warriors, not small healers. The woman was howling, cursing at the women, lashing out and clutching those she could get a firm grip on. An older, slightly more veteran healer had her head underneath the sheet between the woman's legs. When her head and hands popped back out, Tazi only saw blood.

"You, child, bring that pot over here. I need wet towels."

And just like that, she found herself involved in the birth a child.

by **Tazi** on June 8th, 2014, 1:37 am

For the few chimes that Tazi had been a part of the battle to bring a newborn into the world, she knew something about this specific birthing ritual was off. There were more people in here than there should have been. Apparently there was a complication, something that required experienced hands. On top of that, they needed strong hands to keep the woman from lashing out. There was a minimum of one, although her legs called for two or three people, to hold down each extra body part. One person was at the patient’s head, wrestling with a stick to keep the Myrian woman from biting anyone. Tazi was kneeling next to the older midwife between the woman’s legs, handing up warm, wet towels. They came back down covered in blood ranging from clotted to brilliant red. It blended with the water, falling in pink droplets onto the wood floor.

“Where is that woman we sent for the delaviv wine an hour ago?” The midwife between the woman’s legs practically yelled, diving beneath the sheet that kept the scene somewhat covered.

“I don’t know. We should have sent someone smarter,” hissed a young girl who was having trouble with an arm.

“That girl ya sent is not right in da head. Should’ve scent someone else inta town.” Came the whistle sounding voice of an older woman.

From what Tazi had picked up, this woman had been in labor for a long, long time. There had been another healer amongst them whom had been sent to get delaviv wine. Having never had to use it before, she only knew it was used in delivery situations. She would have liked to see it used, but the situation was becoming more perilous as the chimes turned into bells and their messenger girl did not return. Tazi preoccupied with changing pots of warm water out, moving between the heat of the fire with one pot and back to towards the scene with a fresh warm pot. On occasion, she had to help one of the girls wrestle down an arm or a leg that had managed to escape. Everyone was going weary fighting the massive new mother when something seemed to happen.

“I see the crown! It’s coming!” The midwife cried, clawing for more towels to catch the infant. Tazi could not help but be curious enough to look under the sheet, handing towels up as they were called for with summoning fingers. It was a mess down there, blood and hair and other bodily fluids. Tazi wasn’t even sure where the opening was until it began to split to make more room for a growing organism to shove its way out. Soon she saw the crown give way into a forehead. It was dark colored, darker than she imagined baby flesh to look like. Tazi summed it up to the blood covering the babe. When she was about to do the ‘aw, look how cute the dark baby is’ the midwife howled, “Stop pushing! Get the woman ta stop pushing!”

Everyone took action, pulling and prodding to get the woman to take her mind off the mass trying to shove its way out from between her legs. The fighting was weaker, but it was still present as they got her to react. When Tazi moved to back to the pot, the old woman grabbed her hands and yanked her under the cloth with a squeak.

“You, girl. Hands here. Don’t let it move any farther,” The midwife hissed low, shoving Tazi’s head among the mess. She could feel the baby’s head, soft and round between her palms. Yet, it seemed cold. The blood was warm and slippery, but the physical creature that she held delicately between her fingers did not seem as warm. While the midwife dug around in her kit, Tazi occupied herself by rubbing the blood off the child’s forehead. What she had taken for dark skin was actually blue. The child was choking.

by **Tazi** on June 8th, 2014, 1:38 am

“You have to do something!” Tazi found herself crying out, taking her job of not letting the child come any further very seriously. Before she had even finished the sentence, the midwife was diving in with a smooth bone tool, shoving her hands deep into the birth canal looking for the source of the problem. It took several ticks, and Tazi had to mentally tell herself to breath.

“Alright, push woman! Push ta bring the babe inta da world!”

Tazi pulled her hands out, dragging a towel up to catch the baby. As it became larger, she noted that its face was frozen in a scream like form. It did not make a sound. As the neck and shoulders passed the birthing entrance, she saw a dark cord wrapped tightly around the baby’s neck. The medicine woman was trying to create a space in between the cord and neck to allow the baby breath. Eventually it flopped out with a sickening slop into the rough towels. Tazi waited to tug the baby away. After the midwife cut the cord, Tazi was shoved away with the bundle. All she was told was to clean it up with specific orders to not show the mother until after it was cleaned up.

“My baby…let me see my baby. Why isn’t it crying?”

“In just a moment. You just relax,” Tazi murmured, pulling the cloth lightly over the scared face. Her heart yearned to tell the mother that it was not worth it. That she would never see the baby. About to tell the truth and ease the woman’s suffering, Tazi found herself being shoved out by one of the older women. Clearly a sibling of the midwife in some way, she seemed to know what Tazi had been about to do.

“Close that trap child. She needs ta rest. Come,” The woman whistled. Tazi held the dead bundle in her arms, tears lining her lids. She was led a few rooms away, where another woman was rocking a similar bundle. Tazi stared. “Alright. Bring tat babe ta the motha. Make sure it is crying when ya go in. As fa you,” The old woman hissed. “Get rid of tat ting. Feed it ta the dogs or ta pigs. Feed it ta the motha for good luck fa all I care.”

“Wait, you can’t do this!” Tazi found herself crying, only to receive a very harsh slap across the face.

“Welcome ta the world girl. Ta strong survive, ta weak die. In tis case, tat baby was strong and tis one was weak. Tat baby’s motha was weak and tis one’s motha is strong. Ta motha and ta baby need never ta know. You best understand tat child. Tis is fa ta best.”

“I won’t do it!” Tazi found herself shouting, shoving the bundle of death into the old woman’s hands and running out of the room. Left and rights turns led her away from the travesty until she found herself underneath a stairwell. Slumping into the corner, she felt warm tears falling to the ground. Her hands were covered with the blood of the baby that would never know life, and her heart was full of hate for a secret she had to keep from those that deserved to know.

“It’s not fair.”

by **Catastrophe** on June 12th, 2014, 4:39 am

Tazi :

Notes :

Completed [Job Thread] Pain-killing Tea