Amidst Mayhem [Solo]

[Nira'lia]

512 Spring 1st, Late Afternoon Nira'lia had spent hours helping out in the infirmary until she finally decided to go home. She had to remind herself that her mother and sisters were also aiding the injured back in their house, and she was also expected to help. The reason she had gone to the infirmary was because she knew more injured people would be brought there, but she knew it was also her responsibility to help those who were being sent to her home. "I have to go!" she called out to nobody in particular. Nira'lia glanced around the infirmary and saw that people were still being rushed in, and the line was still long. The infirmary needed more doctors or volunteers; they couldn't handle the number of people going in. The Konti felt guilty for having to leave, and she was torn when an old woman approached her. She had a wailing toddler in her hands, and the toddler's right leg was swollen. "Please, I think it's broken!" The Konti looked at the child with concern. She nodded at the woman and led them to the side. All the beds were already occupied, so she lay the child down on a table. The toddler continued to cry but he let Nira'lia touch his leg. The moment she touched his leg, he cried even louder. Nira'lia apologized to him but she had no choice, she had to examine it. She slowly and gently prodded parts of his leg to see if the source of the pain was focused. Nira'lia kept an eye on him to see his reactions, and she saw that the further she prodded from a certain point on his leg, the less pain he felt. She turned to his mother and said, "It's a slight fracture. If the bones were completely severed, his whole leg would be in pain... but the pain seems to be focused right at this point," she pointed at the part of his leg that caused him the most pain. "Treat it all the same as a severed bone though. He needs to minimize his movements... since he's just a child, it would probably be more difficult. I'll get him a splint."

[Nira'lia]

Nira'lia left the boy with his mother and retreated to the back of the infirmary. A few of the other aides were there as well, rummaging for supplies. Since she was not accustomed to working in the infirmary, she had to ask for help from one of the assistant doctors. He handed her two small planks of wood and some cloth. "It's all we have right now," he told her. Shortly after, she returned to the boy and his mother. The toddler seemed frightened at the items she was holding, and his mother had to calm him down as Nira'lia worked on his fractured leg. He panicked and fidgeted, which made Nira'lia's job more difficult. The Konti placed the two planks on either side of his leg, and gave a sigh of relief when she saw they were the right size. She tied them in place using the cloth. Soon enough, she managed to secure the materials properly and snugly, giving him the best splint she could muster. The Konti gave his mother some last minute instructions, waited patiently as she thanked her, and then finally found her way out of the infirmary. When she exited the infirmary, she took notice of the long lines of injured people. Sighing, she went for the direction of her house. As soon as she exited the University premises and went deeper into the city towards her home, the floods became more evident. Her ankles were submerged in the water. Earlier that day, a tidal wave had wiped through Zeltiva. Those who were located near the shore had it even worse than them, and she heard that a lot of houses were destroyed. The water was starting to recede again, but she remembered that earlier that day it reached up until her waist. "Nira'lia!" Blinking, the Konti turned around to greet the familiar voice. Another Konti was running up to her. Just like Nira'lia, she had young features, not making it evident that she was actually much older than most humans. In her hands were bundles of aloe vera leaves, which she did her best not to drop.

[Nira'lia]

"Cecilia, what's going on?" asked Nira'lia. Cecilia was her older sister, born ahead of her by decades. "We're almost all out of medicine!" said Cecilia as she took a stop in front of Nira'lia. The older Konti took a moment to regain her breath. "Mother asked me to run all over the city to grab what I could, but almost everything has been wiped out by the tidal wave... I just happened to see Mrs. Jen's garden and she was growing some aloe vera plants, and I thought we could make some paste out of it, so I grabbed these and ran away as fast as I could. " "You stole those?" "It's for a good cause," said Cecilia with a shrug. She placed some of them in Nira'lia's hands. "You know what else we could get, though? We can get some kelp. Remember the paste for wounds I make? I put kelp in it. It facilitates in the healing. Mother would probably want that." "I don't think it would be safe to collect kelp right now, though..." Cecilia shrugged again and started to pull Nira'lia with her. "There's nobody but us who would be able to get it at a time like this." "Wouldn't it be better if we just attended to the injured though? A paste would be helpful, yes, but not necessary..." "No! It would be better if we made the paste." Nira'lia sighed and allowed Cecilia to drag her along. Unlike Nira'lia, Cecilia's skillset was more focused on herbalism, and she enjoyed it much more than attending to patients. They took a detour and dropped the aloe vera at their house before heading to their destination. Nira'lia saw the patients who were going to their small house to have their injuries attended to. There were much less patients than in the infirmary, but the place was much more crowded because of its size. She spotted her mother and her other eldest sister trying to take care of whoever they could. In the end, Nira'lia and Cecilia decided to stay out of their mother's sight, simply just calling their eldest sister's attention and giving her the aloe vera. "Cecilia wants to get some kelp," Nira'lia told her eldest sister. "That's a good idea," was the reply. Nira'lia frowned but said nothing. She was hoping that Cecilia would be told off, but her plan backfired. "You can make your paste, Cecilia... the one with the aloe vera and kelp. The aloe vera keeps the wound moist and soothes it while the kelp keeps the wound clean and aides in its healing. Did I get that right?" "Yes," answered Cecilia. Soon, Nira'lia was walking to the beach and following the footsteps of Cecilia. "Mages have escaped from the asylum," Cecilia told the younger Konti. "Also, the astronomy tower has collapsed... I don't think I've ever seen this city in such turmoil." The younger Konti nodded in reply. The closer they got to the beach, the deeper the water became. When the beach was within their sight, they were waist-deep in water. The docks were now submerged and couldn't be seen, and a ship had crashed into one of the nearby houses.

[Nira'lia]

"Hey, look at that!" exclaimed Nira'lia as she pointed to two huge obelisks which were out at sea. One was white and the other was black, and they were both a strange sight as neither of them had seen it before. "Yeah... they suddenly surfaced. They caused the tidal wave. Zeltiva has some mysteries, I suppose. Anyway, there's a lot of kelp growing just beneath the docks, remember? We saw it last time we went for a swim. Let's go." Even before Nira'lia could respond, Cecilia started walking towards the beach until the water became deeper, and soon she dove under it. Nira'lia followed her and soon submerged her whole body. She blinked to adjust her eyes, looking around for her sister. As a Konti, Nira'lia had gills that allowed her to breathe underwater with ease. Being in water was sort-of second nature to her, although other Konti probably did it more naturally if they grew up in the white isle of Mura. Nira'lia felt uneasy, as if there was a looming presence that didn't feel right. It was odd to feel this way because she was a daughter of the sea and hence she often felt comfortable being in the water. But something was off – the sea didn't feel right. She soon found her sister's figure swimming away from her. Cecilia was much more adept at swimming than Nira'lia was, and the younger konti made an effort to keep up. Nira'lia started to swim after her, her webbed feet and hands helping her do so with ease, but not as quickly as she wanted since she lacked the practice compared to most Konti. The younger Konti followed her sister as she swam to the submerged docks. Cecilia was waiting for her near the wooden establishment. It was mostly destroyed, most likely from the impact of the tidal wave. She pointed to the foot of the docks where rows of kelp resided. Since the docks were built upon the more shallow waters to begin with, the sea floor wasn't too far away – probably about twenty feet under. The older Konti gestured for Nira'lia to help her gather them before she kicked and went deeper towards the sea floor. Nira'lia paddled after her sister and watched her yanking the kelp off the ground. Nira'lia followed her actions. She gathered a mass of kelp in her hands and started to pull. It was more difficult than she expected since the algae seemed to slip out of her hands easily. Soon enough, she had a bundle of kelp in her hands. Suddenly, she was sharply pulled to the side. She was surprised but she managed not to let go of the kelp she had gathered. Irritated, she shot a glare at her sister, only to be met with a frantic expression. Her sister was pointing behind her. Nira'lia glanced at what Cecilia was pointing at and saw a dolphin that was behaving strangely. It seemed to be swimming in circles, and then it charged right at the docks, slamming its head on it. Nira'lia, puzzled, looked back at Cecilia. Cecilia put a finger up to her mouth, signalling Nira'lia to be quiet and not to make any sudden movements. However, it was too late as the rabid dolphin took notice of them. Cecilia started to pull at Nira'lia and gestured for them to go back to shore as quickly as possible. The dolphin was rushing right at them. Gasping, Cecilia rushed towards the surface, and Nira'lia followed right after her. She glanced at the dolphin and saw that it was swimming towards Cecilia in an alarming rate, and Nira'lia remembered how it had slammed itself on the docks. Instinctively, Nira'lia grabbed her sister's foot and pulled her down suddenly. As Cecilia was pulled aside, the dolphin swam right where she just was a second earlier. Its momentum caused it to swim right past them, and while it looked around, furious and confused, the two sisters made for the surface and to shallower waters.

[Nira'lia]

They soon found the surface, but the water was still deep. They swam towards the city until their feet could touch the ground. In a panic, Nira'lia realized that the dolphin was still swimming after them. Cecilia grabbed a plank of wood that was floating near them. "Ah, Cecilia!" screamed Nira'lia as she rushed past her sister. The dolphin followed her, almost swimming past Cecilia. A loud thump resounded as Cecilia slammed the piece of wood upon the dolphin's head. Nira'lia turned around to see the unconscious dolphin floating in the water. "It's the djed. I think it's making the animals rabid," explained Cecilia. "What djed?" Cecilia stared at Nira'lia. "The djed in the storm, the djed in the waves... what's wrong with you, didn't you even know what was going on? I had to let go of the kelp when we were swimming back here. Do you still have some with you?" "Yes," answered Nira'lia as she showed her sister the algae she had in her hands. She had also dropped most of them in the turmoil, though she was able to hold on to a significant amount. "Please, let's not go back there." "Yes, I've had my fair share of crazy dolphins today," answered Cecilia. The two of them, exhausted from what had happened, started to walk towards the city. Nira'lia felt relieved when the water got shallower as they walked – it just meant they were further away from the dangers of the sea. Nobody seemed to wonder why they were drenched since most of Zeltiva was flooded. They made their way back to their house, and Nira'lia put the seaweeds aside, placing it next to the aloe vera. While Cecilia was preparing what they needed to make the paste, Nira'lia decided to change to dryer clothes. "Here, crush the kelp while I go change," Cecilia told her. She was handed a mortar and a pestle which already had some semi-crushed seaweeds in it. The kelp was still wet, which made it easier. Nira'lia started to grind the seaweed, turning it into a mushy substance. As soon as the kelp in the mortar was fully crushed, she placed the contents in a bowl and began the task all over again with the other pieces of kelp. Cecilia was soon by her side again. She took the mortar and pestle from Nira'lia and gave her a knife. The older Konti told Nira'lia to take the hard, outer skin off the aloe vera leaves and to gather the gel inside it in chunks. Nira'lia found herself staring at the task at hand. She had never done this before. Puzzled, she took hold of the aloe vera with her hand and winced as its small spikes prickled her skin. Nira'lia glared at Cecilia as she laughed. After some thought, Nira'lia finally understood what she had to do. She cut the leaf along its length and opened it, looking at the gel-like substance within it. The Konti started to scrape chunks of gel off the skin. Cecilia soon told her to get as much as she could, since a lot of the gel was still stuck to the skin, and that was a waste. "Ugh, no, no... I'm done grinding the kelp. Here, crush the aloe vera gel instead while I do that," said Cecilia. The two of them changed places. Nira'lia gathered the slimy chunks of aloe vera gel into the mortar and crushed them to a much more liquefied substance like Cecilia wanted.

[Nira'lia]

Once there was no more aloe vera leaves to cut, Cecilia started to boil a pot of water by the hearth – since the water had already receded by their house, they were free to use it again. However, it was still damp and it took Cecilia a while to get a fire going. Nira'lia glanced at her while she continued crushing the aloe vera. After Cecilia was finally able to produce a pot of boiling water, she brought it over to Nira'lia and placed it on the table. "Are you done with the aloe vera?" Nira'lia nodded. Cecilia took the crushed aloe vera and kelp and discarded it into the pot. She then started to stir the mixture around. "What's the hot water for?" asked Nira'lia curiously. "It'll allow the stuff to mix together more naturally. When it cools down they'll be combined perfectly. We just need to continue stirring until it starts to thicken into a paste." Nira'lia was tired, and she was happy that her job was done. As she watched Cecilia stir the mixture, she drowned out the noise all around them. Her mother and her eldest sister were still tending to the injured around them. They were starting to use any material they could find. Nira'lia even saw her eldest sister break the legs off one of their chairs to make a splint. After minutes of stirring, Nira'lia saw that Cecilia was correct. The mixture started to thicken into a green, paste-like substance. As soon as Cecilia judged it to be the right texture, she scooped out the contents to a bowl. "It's still hot... we won't be able to use it until it's fully cooled down..." muttered Cecilia. "If that's the case, is it necessary to stare at it as it cools down?" said their mother's voice. Her tone was cross and irritated. She was suddenly standing before the two sisters with a formidable expression. "What are you two just standing there for!? Go tend to the injured!" Nira'lia saw the aggravated look on Cecilia's face as they were told to tend to the other patients. The younger Konti grinned at her sister, and mentally thanked her for at least teaching her to make the paste. She rushed over to a young woman who was clutching a wounded arm. Nira'lia was still exhausted – she had volunteered at the infirmary all day, and amongst other things, she had to escape a rabid animal. However, she had no choice, and she wondered how long the city would be in such turmoil.

[Echelon]

Adventurer's Loot A Gift Experience is its own reward. Nira'lia's Loot : Nira'lia Skill XP Reward Medicine +2XP Herbalism +3XP Swimming +3XP Observation +1XP Unarmed Combat +1XP Lore: Familial Obligations Medicine: Focus Medicine: Identifying a Fracture Medicine: Treating a Fracture Low Supplies: Making Due Cecilia: Micro-manager Herbalism Recipe: Zeltivan Kelp-Aloe Vera Dread Storms Aftermath Cultivating Zeltivan Kelp Items or Consequences: +5 SP Notes: Unarmed combat for pulling her sister out of the way of the dolphin. (You know, you'd think I would be sick of all these aftermath posts now that it's the end of the season. But I still love them so much. Thanks for sharing.) - if you have ANY questions or concerns about this grading, please PM me.