[Alements] Eye of the Bruised, Leg of the Twisted [Caelum]

by **Shane Wallsly** on November 12th, 2014, 1:36 am

Timestamp: 58th of Fall 514 AV

“Ow, ow, ow! Quit it, you're going to fast. Ow! You did that on purpose!” Shane's irritated cries of pain floated into the shop as the giant, purple hulk tried to navigate them both through the door. Shane had one arm around the Akalaks broad shoulder, the Akalak had to partially bend down to even allow this, and had one leg elevated as if he wetre trying not to put any pressure on it. The skin around his right eye was also partially swollen and discoloured. Of course both of them could not quite fit through the door like this as the Akalak had to hold on to Shane with one arm which meant he only had one other arm to try to keep the doors open and the Akalak seemed more than a little irritated so he was more trying to jam them thropugh the door than attempt to engage his brain.

“Look, look, try to sidle us in sideways.” Shane instructed assertively. The Akalak didn't quite seem to like this suggestion at all. Suddenly he dragged Shane backwards out of the shop. “Wha-!?” He started but he was cut off as he was suddenly swept up and over the Akalaks shoulder freeing his arms and allowing him to sweep into the bulding easily..

Shane was near enough about to protest but the Akalak cut across him before he could even open his mouth. “Where is Caelum?” His Akalak bearer asked someone Shane could not see. The only thing Shane could see, facing behind his bearer as he was, was the cherry wood double doors and a well maintained stone flooring. When he craned his head a little to the side he could also see a well polished bar. “Why did you bring me to a Tav-?” Shane began but he was interrupted by the sound of a female voice. “Yes, he should be around here somewhere.”

“Good, this one has hurt himself. Where can I leave him?” The Akalak replied to the woman as if Shane weren't even there. “Hey, I'm right here, you know.” Shane half stated, half grumbled.

“Umm, just put him on this seat here just now. I'll go fetch Caelum.” The female voice answered and he heard the pulling out of a chair as she spoke. Without much further ado Shane's word was turned almost upside down as he was hoisted off of the Askalak's shoulder and into the chair. The Akalak wasn't exactly gentle about it and this elicited another “Ouch!” from Shane as his ankle hit something on the way down.

Shane now sat in one of the most beautiful taverns he had ever seen. The whole place swam in natural textures that were both pleasing to the eye and easy on the mind. The whole place was also, Shane noticed, exceptionally clean and well maiontained which was something one wouldn't often be able to say about the bars in Syliras. It was a funny thing to admit but the nicest bar in Syliras was actually the Herald Arms; a brothel; and that didn't have a lick on this place.

The place was nearly empty, probably due to it being just after noon, except for a woman with exceptionally dark brown hair in a nice, cotton apron who was quickly disappearing into another room leaving just Shane and the Akalak in the main Tavern area.

“Why did-?” Shane started again but the Akalak cut across him again. “The man who works here is an accomplished healer. You poay him, he heals you. Goodbye, human.” The Akalak explained and then left giving Shane barely enough time to shout “Thank you!” after him. Having been left fully to his own devices for the time being it gave Shane time to reflect on the incident that had gotten him into this mess.

OOCFeel free to stop reading beyond this point unless you're the Grader. In that case, please continue.

It's a Flashback!

It had all started at the Riverfall Citizenship, Housing and Labour Aid Office. He had been informed by a rather surly Akalak that in order to be considered a Citizen of Riverfall officially one had to register there. So he had went there with much haste. He had approached a rather friendly looking green Akalak who had asked him, in little more than a whisper, “Are you looking for work, citizenship or both?”

He'd smiled and replied “Just Citizenship for now.”

“Okay, please fill out the following.” He's slid a form across the desk to him indicating a quil and ink as well as a place to sit while filling out the form. Shane had taken the indicated seat and looked at the form. He'd filled out his name in squiggly capitals, then his race and age but he'd stopped at the next section.

“Employment?” He had turned to the green Akalak questioningly.

The Akalak had looked up from a piece of parchment he was writing on. “Are you not already employed?” He'd asked just as quietly as before.

“Umm, no not yet...” Shane had replied uncertainly. He hadn't been entirely sure what he was going to do for employment. He certainly felt like he didn't want to be under someone's thumb again like he had been with Avira. “Can I open up my own business?” He'd asked the Akalak wondering if it would simply be possible to replicate the good fortunes he'd had in Syliras.

“Well, in order to own property in Riverfall you must be a recognised citizen.” The Akalak had responded with spmething of a frown. “Then again I am sure the Council will allow you to open a business if you fit the other criteria. Which weapon to you intend to show your competency in?”

“Uh, weapon?” Shane had replied uneasily. He hadn't known he had to be able to use a weapon? The only weapon he'd ever even handled had been a handaxe and he'd never handled one again.

“Well, it doesn't have to be a weapon. You can instead show you are profficient at unarmed combat.” The green Akalak had informed him helpfully.

“Uh, is it non-negotiable?” Shane had asked fearing that he knew the answer already.

“Yes.” The akalak had replied tersely. “All citizens of Riverfall shouls be able to fight for home and city if the need arises. Can you handle any kind of weapon at all? Shane had thought for a moment but he knew it was useless. He'd shook his head dejectedly. “Well then, I think we're done here.” The akalak had said with finality and plucked the quill and form from his hands. “Have a nice day now.”

Shane had left the Riverfall Citizenship, Housing and Labour Aid Office feeling worse than he had felt ever since he arrived. It was probably his first major hickup since he had arrived. Everything else he'd done had went rather smoothly. Of course he hadn't really been up to anytrhing that one ould actually fail at. His days had been spent idly socialising and visiting all of the nice places in Riverfall. There was still many places to see of course but, for the first time, he was starting to think about his future here. He couldn't just do as he pleased forever.

This thought had been so sudden and so different from all the thoughts he'd been having since he arrived that it almost floored him. It was as if, for a moment, he was back in dreary old Syliras. He wasn't who the authority figures wanted. He had to show them that they needed him. He needed to climb the pillars. He remembered reading about the Pillars, years ago. Brun had used Riverfall as an example. It was the reason he'd picked Riverfall of all places to escape Syliras from. Those Pillars were Skill, Lineage and Eldership. A person's place in Riverfall society, Brun had theorised, was based on their level of skill in their selected trade and in martial pursuits, the amount of children they could sire and the strength of said lineage and by age. That's what Brun had written. For Shane it seemed the only pillar he could climb in the Akalak dominated society was Skill. His only choice was to pick up a weapon of some sort and show that he could use it.

Shane had been feeling a lot more like himself as he sulked around the city thinking about what possible weapon he could train in. He could pick up the handaxe. After all he'd already learned the very basics of it. He had however found it confusing all in all. He wasn't even sure he understood the most basic tenants of the handaxe and he'd spent the better part of an afternoon on it. He would have to find someone to teach him. He wondered if the Akalak had any specific specialities when it came to weapons. With their bulk and finely tuned abs he was sure they would be quite able combatants without the use of weapons at all. In fact he had seen Akalak regularly doing exercises that looked a lot like fighting in some of the parks around the city.

With that idea firmly planted in his mind Shane had taken it upon himself to go to one of his most favourite spots in Riverfall. Every previous time he had went to the Knirin Gardens he had witnessed some Akalak involved in an almost ritualistic dance that very closely resembled fighting. It was almost as if they were imagining invisible foes to defeat. Shane felt like it couldn't hurt to at least watch some of them doing it. Hopefully he could even convince one of them to teach him in real combat.

And so within minutes of entering the beautiful park he had indeed found a purple hulk to observe. He moved from stance to stance precisely and with practised ease. His eyes weren't even open. Clearly he had mastered these exercises to the point where all he had to do was close his eyes and get lost in it. Shane had been more than a touch impressed with this and, after a few ticks of watching, he approached the Akalak. However he hadn't been expecting a sudden deviation in the exercise to cause the Akalak to run and strike out into the air. The side of Shane's face was struck in a glancing blow that caused his whole body to whirl around and for him to fall.

“Aaaaaaaaaaggggh!” Shane had cried as he fell to the ground. His ankle twisted unnaturally and he had let out a fresh wail of pain. It hurt more than his face did. “Ow, ow, owwwoooooooo!” He had howled in pain as he had sat forward to put his hands over his ankle.

“What?” The Akalak's eyes had openned and he had rushed to kneel by Shane. “What happened?”

“Aaaaaaah.... You punched me and.... aaah... I fell. Ahhhh... my ankle... It hurts.” Shane had relayed between groans of pain.

“What were you doing so close to me?” The Akalak had asked grumpily as if mad at him. “Did you not see what I was doing?”

“Well I... Aaah, it doesn't matter...” Shane growled at him. “Help me up.”

The Akalak had looked about ready to refuse but something seemed to get the better of him and he hauled Shane up amidst much wincing and exclamations of pain. Shane's face had delt hot and had already been starting to swell but it was still his ankle that had been causing him the most pain.

“Can you walk?” The Akalak had asked stooping down so that Shane could more easily put an arm around him.

“I... I don't think so.” Shane had answered uncertainly.

“Fine.” The Akalak had asserted grumpily. “I will take you to Alements. It's probably just a sprain.” and with that the pair had set off pretty much in silence except for Shane's frequent wincing and groans of pain.

That was a flashback!

So that had been Shane's day. It could, at the latest, have been only about half a bell away from the thirteenth of the day and Shane had already been refused Citizenship and punched out by an Akalak. Shane gingerly put a finger on his swollen eye. He was lucky the Akalak had only got him with a glancing blow. He was sure that his face and soon to be black eye would heal simply. He just hoped he hadn't done any major damage to his leg. What a day, what a day...

by **Caelum** on November 18th, 2014, 1:41 am

It was bad manners to play with fire in an infirmary.

For this reason, the owner and proprietor of Alements had escaped into the kitchen to do some dabbling in magic. The majority of his life returned to Mizahar had been spent in a mix of fear and disdain when it came to sorcery. It was only recently that his opinion had begun to sway, though he still tended to wrinkle his nose at some of the greater and more dangerous feats of magical power to which he was witness. There was so very much divine magic tangling through him, holding him together and tearing him apart, that anything further often felt like over kill.

This fall, however, was different.

He perched on the granite counter top beside the sink basin, a split soled riding boot propped on the edge of the wooden table that stretched down the center of his kitchen and doubled as extra counter space and a family dinner area. At present it was laden with a basket of brightly colored squash, a ceramic crock of flowering weeds (brought to him by his daughter), and a whole stack of terribly important papers weighed down with a mixing bowl of apple pie filling. Beside Caelum on the counter was a trio of pant tins and in his hand he wielded a delicate, fine haired paint brush. Brilliant crimson colored paint stained its end. He had rolled up his sleeves, braced himself against the counter, and told Elise not to bother him. (Like that ever worked.) He was ready to play with fire.

"Caelum!" Elise spilled through the kitchen door, leaving it swinging behind her even as the paint brush was startled right out of his hand.

"Petch," he swore.

"You have a patient." Elise smiled demurely at the ethaefal and did not so much as bat an eyelash when he narrowed his eyes dangerously upon her. "And before you ask, no, I don't know his name and I've not seen him before and if you don't hurry he might bleed out all over your brand new throw rug --"

Caelum, paint brush forgotten, was already out the door. Long strides carried the golden ethaefal into the main room of his tavern, the heart of Alements that the majority of its patrons believed to be the extent. Boot heels clipped against the stone floor before passing onto the throw rugs and he curved to an abrupt halt before the only patron presently occupying his space.

"Hello," he greeted Shane shortly. Noble features were drawn into a scowl and sun struck eyes swept over the stranger, taking in all of the offered details. "You're new to Riverfall." It was a swift deduction, but child's play for Caelum. The black eyes, the outlander dress style, the dazed expression added up to -- newcomer. "I'm Caelum and this is my place."

He stopped there, considerably less approachable than he was in any other season than this one; but some things remained the same, and eventually he sank down into a crouch in front of Shane and his expression gentled with unspeakable compassion.

"Where does it hurt?" A wry smile. "Other than your eye?"

by **Shane Wallsly** on November 20th, 2014, 10:07 pm

Shane didn't have to wait too long before an impressive creature swept into the room. He was tall with pale, shimmering skin. His hair was a deep auburn and the impressive horns that grew from his head were red and gold. It was almost as if they were embodied by the spirit of Fall. The colours of fallen leaves especially. The man was more than his surreal, glowing skin and horns; he was also extremely handsome. From his great posture to the defined muscles you could almost make out even with his clothes on this man was more than simply a regular hunk.

When the Addonis before him spoke Shane almost didn't notice that his words were short and his temperament a touch chilly. Shane almost felt the need, while they were pointing out the obvious, to state 'and you're petching gorgeous' but he managed to keep the words from escaping his lips. That would have been more than out of character for him. However he couldn't help but think it. Shane had never seen another man even half as attractive as this one and Shane was not one to usually notice these kinds of things.

“Nice to meet, Caelum” Shane started but was so dazed he got his words mixed up. “I mean nice to meet you, of course. Me Shane... I mean I Wallsly. No...” Shane's face turned red as embarrassment crept upon him. “Still dizzy...” He lied sheepishly.

“It's my leg. I twisted it, I think.” Shane explained glad for the change of subject. “Hurts when I move, throbs when I don't. The Akalak who, umm, struck me said you're the best Healer in the city. I can pay whatever.” When focussing upon his own malady it was much easier for Shane to think properly. “I must say it's a very nice bar you've got here, Caelum. A strange place to heal others though, isn't it? I always thought Taverns were a place people went to get hurt.” Shane chuckled at his own joke hoping the gorgeous, gorgeous man might find it funny.

by **Caelum** on November 28th, 2014, 8:57 pm

“The Akalak who struck you didn’t want to be dressed down by Karvin Gilia,” Caelum opined on an amused mutter. "Karvin and his brother run the Gilia Medical Center. He's an incredibly accomplished physician. The majority of Riverfall's citizens see him, and everyone takes their animals and livestock to the Sanctuary outside the city borders. There's a healer there I couldn't possibly compare to."

Good humor dislodged the last of Caelum's foul mood, chasing it off as Shane stuttered and stumbled over his words. A golden eyes glance was given the man's face and he ducked his chin to study Shane's leg, still crouching in front of him. He pushed up the sleeves of his tunic and reached down to matter of factly begin untlacing Shane's shoes. With the care and precision of long practice, he worked the boot off of his foot. In short order clever fingers were rolling up Shane's pant leg and stripping down his sock so that he could he get a look at his patient's twisted ankle.

"It is probably just twisted," he explained while working. "But did you know that your foot and ankle possess one quarter of all the bones in your body? There are twenty-six bones, thirty-three joints, and over one hundred muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Every last one of them is important to the support of your entire body. A strained muscle could in fact be a torn tendon or a stress fracture. That's where your bone splinters in tiny, little cracks. They're typically caused by forceful, repetitive motions -- running, training, hard labor. They're fairly common consequence in combat training where repetition teaches the all important muscle memory."

As he spoke, warm, calloused fingers moved over Shane's foot, examining by touch as well as sight state and condition of his foot and ankle.

"See how the skin swells here?" He brushed two fingers light as a down his ankle. "But the discoloration -- which it caused by your body's attempt to heal itself, by the way -- is more concentrated down the top of your foot. I think you might have a hairline crack."

Throughout all of this, Caelum was sifting through the collection of Shane's needs and desires. They were sorted with one piece of his mind even while a different gnosis mark entirely flared with pale golden light on the back of his right hand. The winged snake of Rak'keli's blessing shimmered and began to spilled divine through Caelum and into his patient. It was like eating rainbows or drinking wind, warming up Shane's bones right down to the marrow while fusing what had torn and instantly easing swelling, bruising, and pain.

"It's more of a healing parlor, I suppose," he offered absently, head down and ember colored hair bloody and gold as a sunset as his eyes remained focused on his work. "Or a club, maybe, than a bar. I have an infirmary in the back, and a kitchen. Some space upstairs. I'm glad you like it, though. I'm rather fond of this place." He smiled faintly, maybe at all of love and hope that had gone and was still going into making Alements something worthy.

by **Shane Wallsly** on January 11th, 2015, 7:03 pm

Shane was sure the beautiful man was just being modest. Of course he had virtually no evidence to support this belief but he didn't let that bother him. Caelum bent down to examine his leg more closely and then began to take his shoe off. Shane peeked down at him feeling it safer to study him now that he was busy with something else. His eyes were focussed and his hands worked methodically. He worked the shoe off with minimal twinging and when it did twinge Shane didn’t feel the need to berate as he had with the Akalak.

Shane found what the man told him very interesting. More so because he was simply divulging the secrets of the human body without measure or caution. Were all Healers like this? Shane had never went to a Hhealer before so he didn't know. He had been healed before, of course, but Aoren had simply healed his wounds then and there and that had been it. This Healer was determined to not only know the what, where and why but to also let Shane know.

“Would they heal on their own?” Shane asked inquisitively “How long would that usually take? Go on and heal them though, please, I am merely being curious.” Shane was feeling a bit more like himself now that he had some knowledge to chew on. “How does a body heal itself? It's surely not magic. Is it in the blood, in the food we eat, somehow a power of- Oh!” He was stopped mid-question as he felt the curative powers of Rak'Keli's gnosis shimmer inside his leg. He could get used to that feeling.

“And a very nice healing parlour it is too.” Shane complimented glancing up at the ceiling with a somewhat dazed expression of contentment. Those good feelings of healing had enveloped his mind in something of a haze. “Definitely my favourite...”

by **Caelum** on March 22nd, 2015, 10:49 pm

A smile caught Caelum's mouth when he looked up at Shane, the man's foot still in his hands. "It's my favorite too," he confided with a chuckle. It warmed out of him at the stranger's musings.

Healing grace continued to seep out of Caelum and into Shane to perform a thorough scouring of any lingering swelling and tissue damage. Absently his thumb rubbed down the back tendon of Shane's foot as he envisioned the ligature there and resealing of connective tissue. As he crouched there, the spiderweb fissure in Shane's bone knit itself back together and into a stronger weave than it had originally. Typically the place where a bone had been cracked or broken was a spot of weakness for the rest of the patient's life, but not when the favored of Rak'keli were near. His gnosis marks coiled like fresh minted gold over the backs of his hands and around his wrists and forearms. These were winged snakes Caelum had been blessed to actually meet in person rather than trying to build them up from his imaginings in dreaming.

"The outer bones our your foot or ankle take longer to heal than those in the middle. They are called the navicular or talus bones. It's here," he ran a finger done the outer edge of Shane's foot. "Your fifth metatarsal. That stress fractures most commonly occur. They can heal by themselves, but it takes weeks and with a great deal of babying that the majority of us don't have either the time or wherewithal to allow. If there's not someone like me around, I'd suggest first staying off of it as much as possible, especially in the first week. Any weight-bearing should be ruled out or at the very least kept to a minimum."

By this time, Shane was fully healed. Even any lingering allergies he might have been experiencing from the climate shift and the vagaries of travel he would discover completely dissipated. Caelum relinquished his grip on Shane's foot and unraveled to his full height which was not, compared to the Akalaks, all that terribly impressive. It was noble, however, and the dignity that offered him was offset by an easy smile.

"Come on back to the kitchen with me," he invited. "Are you hungry? Thisty? Regardless, stay awhile..." He stopped, grimacing a little as he remembered Shane's blackened eyes. Reaching down, he gave a light touch to the man's temple and a final dose of divine power completed the job, chasing off all of the pain and discoloration as well as clarifying Shane's vision. "Alright, all set then," he concluded. Then with a tilt of his head in invitation, he turned on his heel to lead the way through the maze of tables, past the end of the bar, and through the swinging doors into the kitchen.

"You should be able to walk just fine now. Don't worry about weight bearing. But back to what I saying on that. If you do get a stress fracture, you want to keep it elevated so that it doesn't swell. Cool clothes or ice if you have it available. The swelling is the body reacting to the injury, trying to bring fresh blood to the source. Blood is the ultimate carrier for your body, Shane. It carries everything to the everywhere, good and bad."

The ethaefal stopped before the kitchen table, rectangular and long, that stretched in the middle of his galley style kitchen. The far door was propped open, revealing a hint of light and air from the bay. Paint tins, papers, and the makings for apple pie were basically... everywhere. It was clear that he had not had time to clean up, nor had Elise the notion to yet.

"Uh," Caelum said, frowning at the bowl of sliced and peeled apples. "I don't suppose you know anything about making a pie?"

Golden eyes turned on Shane hopefully.