Helping Hands (SOLO)

[Serrif Von Chatlyn]

15th Summer 511AV Morning broke and Serrif was finally beginning to feel more and more like himself again. His body didn’t ache anymore. He hadn’t caught up on his sleep but at the same time he hadn’t gotten ahead either. He had instead just kept himself at an operational level. He did only have a short period of time to live and well a lot to get done in that time. I mean he was expected to catch the eye of a goddess! The goddess of healing! He wasn’t sure he could do this in any way shape or form. But he knew if he was to do this he would have to work harder and more effectively than anyone else. Because there were plenty who were trying to catch her favor…and he wasn’t sure just how often she would grace anyone with her presence. Much less a man who would only live maybe a short thirty more years at best. He sighed…He wasn’t sure how he would do it but he knew Lym was indeed the key to all of this. He would have to push harder and faster than many more. He would have to distinguish himself from the pack. He would have to…or he would never get the goddesses favor…well not in his lifetime. No he would die having tried and not succeeded. He didn’t like that aspect. He would have to do something with his life. He wanted to be something larger than himself; be part of something that meant more than himself. And well he figured he had found that in the Opal Order. But he would have to look into it more. It was possible that the order wouldn’t be a good fit for him. But as of now he couldn’t see any reason why it wouldn’t. But he had only been working there a short period of time. He found himself walking into Lym’s lab, it was early but she was almost always in her lab at almost all hours. He actually wasn’t sure when she slept; or if she slept. He walked in and there she was like always pouring over something she had written down. There were plenty of books opened to random pages scattered about with pieces of parchment marking even more pages that she had found interesting for one reason or another. “Good good.” She said as she looked to him and handed him a piece of parchment. “Get those things on the list if you need any help identifying the items listed there that book,” She pointed to a rather large book sitting on the far end of the table; “should be able to help you.” Serrif nodded taking the parchment from her and then grabbing the book as well. He knew there might be things he couldn’t identify. He also knew that having the book would show initiative. Something Lym seemed to value. He walked out into the garden and looked down the list, some of the items he could identify easily…others he struggled enough to actually have to look them up in the book. In all there were about six items she had listed for him. He knew nothing about the properties of any of the items except for one of them which he identified once he acquired it. He had used the bark to help lower fevers and such. But everything else he had no real clue on. After gathering all of it he headed back in to the lab and laid the ingredients out on the table for her to examine. She did seem rushed for some reason or another. “We’ll have time to work on your plant identification later. Right now I need you to grind up the barks into a fine powder and throw everything else into a heated beaker filled with water.” She instructed; she was indeed rushed but Serrif couldn’t quite find out why. He did as he was asked and first put the berries and other herbs he had gathered into a glass beaker and then filled it with water. He mixed it up some and then put it over a small open flame. He put it high enough so that it would heat evenly but low enough so it would heat relatively quickly…or so he thought. Lym came over and adjusted the beaker. “Here; here is where you want it.” She said adjusting the beaker up more, “the mixture is delicate, too much heat and it will be destroyed. I’ll watch it powder the bark.” He nodded and Lym watched as he powdered the bark. Which was indeed an easy task for him being that he had considerable strength in his arms and hands. It didn’t take long for him to finish the bark into a fine powder and then present it to Lym. The granules were small indeed and he wondered just what all this could be for. And why Lym seemed so rushed to get it all done. It did indeed seem like a rushed task for him. And if it was so important why did she trust him to it? Or was there another aspect of this that she had to do that he just wasn’t aware of? Possible but thoughts didn’t stay long with him now while he was being rushed with Lym. “Good, now mix it into the beaker slowly part by part until it is all in and continue to mix it until the liquid boils.” She said as Serrif then did as he was asked.

[Serrif Von Chatlyn]

Lym seemed rushed, well she was rushed this task had to be accomplished now. And if Serrif hadn’t walked in the door when he had…well she was actually counting on the fact that he would be here. As foolish as that seemed she was counting on the fact that her assistant would show up when he did. But that wasn’t too foolish of her. Serrif always showed up early promptly early actually. He was almost always here before the sun came up. Why she didn’t know but he was promptly early. She sometimes struggled to beat him in to her own lab. He had drive; but how did he react under pressure? Especially pressure that he couldn’t understand? But this task DID need to get done with haste. And it would be an interesting experience to see how Serrif reacted. Serrif mixed the granulated bark into the mixture part by part. Making sure to put enough in to not leave any dry pieces floating at the top. He added part by part mixing and smelling. The mixture smelt earthy; as he would expect. It was also a little thick as it started to boil. Lym then spoke again new instructions. “Good now put water into that glassware and strain what you already have carefully into it.” He didn’t understand why she couldn’t do this herself. But she was looking through books while instructing him. This might be another one of her experiments that she just felt the need to get done…No that wasn’t it. She seemed more rushed than that. There was indeed a reason besides that for her being as rushed as she was. What could it be? He put water into the glassware she indicated and then put the strainer over it. The strainer had two parts to it. An upper part that was a somewhat coarse mesh and a lower part that was a much finer mesh. He slipped on a cotton glove with fire resistant fingers and palm. This would protect him mostly from the heat. But he couldn’t sit here all day handling the hot glassware. He poured making sure everything was filtering through. And it was. Somehow leaving a distinct yellowish tinted liquid distilling into the water in the glassware below. No particles were getting through the strainer. Which was the point in the first place. Lym was having him make some kind of mixture. Something he had never seen and whose purpose he didn’t yet understand. Was he done? “Now..” No he wasn’t done yet. He set the warm glassware down and listened intently. “scrape off whatever is on the top and set it aside in another glassware. Then put new water in another vial and dissolve the scrapings into it.” He nodded and then continued not asking any questions as Lym seemed to be really invested in doing whatever she was part of right now. Her mind was likely fixated on researching whatever she was doing. She had nearly a dozen books spread out on two separate little desks and such. She had them all open and as always had them all marked in random areas. She looked as if she had been pouring over all kinds of things for a great period of time now. But as to what this all meant to him…he still was unsure. Whatever she was having him mix was important. He was sure it was likely a medicine of some kind. He didn’t know but whatever it was it seemed to be somewhat complex. All he had done in the slave camp was mix simple things to help cure headaches and such. But never anything this complex. He was glad that he had Lym’s instruction; otherwise he would never have done this himself. He never would’ve thought to do what Lym was walking him through. He was Lym’s arms and hands right now. She was looking into things in her books and instructing him on what to do. He would give almost anything to find out what was going in her mind right now. What connections she was making in her head, what plethora of knowledge she was pouring through to instruct him on what to do. He never would’ve thought about doing this himself.

[Serrif Von Chatlyn]

He had the upmost respect for Lym and what she did. She understood that she was a practitioner. That she didn’t know everything; she only taught what she knew. And she strove to better herself in many ways constantly. She was always reading or experimenting trying to find out something new. She knew there was much she didn’t know or understand yet. But even through all this she had the courage to continue practicing and challenging what she already knew. Serrif really respected her for this; and he was glad her turned down the ‘professional’ training he would have gotten from classes. He understood there was much you couldn’t teach no matter how hard you tried. And he had made huge strides here with Lym at a pace he could indeed keep up with. Serrif scraped off the somewhat foamy liquid on the top of the first filter. He didn’t know how it formed but there was also a somewhat thicker liquid sitting on the thicker filter as well. He got as much as he could off and into the glassware with the water in it. He put a glass mixer into the glassware and stirred. The mixture did dissolve into it making it a faint dark sandy color. It didn’t smell of any particular anything, but it did have a hazy tint to it. He set it down and Lym then came at him with another step. “Right. Now mix the two together pouring what you just made slowly while mixing into your first mixture. You may need a bigger glassware.” He nodded and then looked at the two mixtures. He would indeed need another piece of glassware to hold the combination of the two. His skills were being stretched but it was a good feeling being her assistant. She was trusting him with….well he wasn’t sure. But she was trusting him with this mixture process. He was being careful and doing exactly as instructed. He didn’t want to anger her or set her back. That was indeed a decent amount of pressure that was now squarely on his hands. He was making a mixture that could help or harm if he did it wrong. He was careful and indeed everything was measured and checked precisely yet with heed. He didn’t know what this was for but he knew Lym was stressed so it had to be important. He took a larger piece of glassware and poured his first mixture into it. He checked and the second mixture would fit into it nicely. He gently with one hand got the mixture stirring while gently and at a consistent rate poured in the second mixture. He had no idea what it was for or what he was looking for. But he knew Lym would tell him…wouldn’t she? He stirred and the two mixtures dissolved together easily. He watched as the colors faded together becoming hazy and yellow. But nothing astounding happened. He was almost expecting something interesting to happen, like the mixture to turn red or something. But no it was really anticlimactic in his mind. He looked to Lym who was nodding to herself. ”You handle yourself well. Next time it will be real; but not this time.” She said as she patted him on the shoulder. ”What did I make?” He asked as she smiled and then spoke. “A decent pain killer and fever suppressor.” She said as she nodded in approval. “Now clean up the glassware and then bring that finished mixture to the healers; no rush.” As she spoke of cleaning up Serrif smiled. Some things never did change.

[Serrif Von Chatlyn]

He did see the point of this activity. She needed to know if he could perform under stress. And his job; his future stress would be great. He would hold lives in his hands and she needed to know if he had what it took. And he did. He had seen death, felt death. He had felt the long icy hands of death in the middle of a harsh winter. When you have suffered from cold winters and snow Deaths grip is actually warm compared to the suffering. It is a welcome end to what he had experienced. All those years and he still didn’t know why it all worked like it had. Why he was standing and so many others were dead; and still others were still captive. He however didn’t feel like there was anything he could do about the dead; nor anything he could do about those still captive. All he could do was make the best out of what he was given and not waste his escape. He didn’t want to do that by any means. He took the concoction he made and walked to the infirmary to deliver it. He handed it to a healer who looked at him; as if to ask ‘what is this’. A question he needed to answer. ”A creation from Lym, suppresses pain and fever.” The healer nodded and then headed off to do the rest of her work. All were relatively busy around here. Especially the newer healer recruits like himself. But very few times did he see any of them spending a great deal of time in the medical library all at once. This was likely because most if not all of the other recruits were Konti; and had all the time in the world to learn the trade…He wished he had that kind of time. He wished he could live that long. But then again would he really want to? That was something he was thinking over again and again. He did want to live a great deal of time; but as long as a Konti? He imagined if he knew he was going to live that long he would have a completely different outlook on life. And that maybe then he could forgive all those who had harmed him a little easier. But as it was it was extremely difficult for him to forgive the slavers. He had moved on, but he wasn’t sure if he would ever really forgive them. He wasn’t sure how he would go about this or if he could ever do it. But one thing was sure and set in his mind; he would always despise slavery. He wasn’t sure how he could do anything about it; or even if he could. He just was still confused and dazed about slavery and what had happened to him there at the camp. He still had night terrors about what he had seen there, all the things others had endured. He remembered, he didn’t think he could ever forget. He came back to Lym’s lab and began cleaning up. Lym was putting away the many books she had spread out among the desks and such. “You will be a good healer one day Serrif; all you need is the mark of a healer.” He nodded and then spoke again. “I can be a healer without the mark Mistress; I have been all this time.” He said truthfully. “That is true. But an Opal Order healer is different.” She sat down and then spoke waiting a little forming her next sentence carefully. ”Tell me Serrif would you ever consider healing those that tortured you?” This shocked Serrif and he was honestly startled by her question. He turned around and looked into her eyes. She saw that she had definitely struck a nerve with that. She knew this meant that he wasn’t over the slavers and what they had done. He was still wounded; still vulnerable. He looked confused and angry; he was actually pondering what he would do in that instance. He was shook up…disturbed and looked lost just standing there looking off into oblivion then back at her every now and then. “Honestly…I don’t know.” Lym nodded then spoke again. ”You need to find the answer to that Serrif. A true healer wouldn’t turn their back on those that need it. Reflect on this.” She spoke the truth and watched Serrif as well. Serrif absorbed what Lym had said. Could he ever heal those that had wounded him? That being said could he ever put himself in the situation where he would heal a slave or the abused and give them back to their abuser? He grew very concerned all the sudden and he felt his heart literally drop to the pits of his stomach. He took a few deep breaths…Could he really be a healer? That was what he was here to find out. He believed he could heal and help those that needed it. But he was unsure if he could heal and help those that would harm the helpless. Wouldn’t letting them die help the helpless more? But who was he to make these decisions himself? He was no God? No he wasn’t even marked by one. He was a man, only human…a scarred man.

[Growl]

Appreciation Time! Name: Serrif Experience: +4 Philtering, +1 Medicine, +1 Herbalism Lore: Being Rushed, A Test from Lym, (Basic) Lym, Is a Long Life Truly a Good Life?, Can You Heal the Ones that Hurt You? Additional Notes: A very detailed thread! Keep up the good work, and pm with questions or concerns.