A Plague of Our Making

[Finn]

Ashan 39, Arc 719

Ashan has turned into nightmare. Moaning and pleading filled the air. Sobs and screams mixed like the eerie music of horror filling their nights despite the pleasant bright mornings. The dislike once pointed at the Aukari morphed into hate firmly directed at Faldrun. The Immortal was blamed for the specs falling from the sky, deceiving people to then strike them down with cruelty so familiar to him.
Finn frowned as he did so often these days, imprinting the strong lines between his brows. He waved the accusation away for they were baseless. Instead, concern and the need to understand gripped his mind ever since the falling amber turned to a disease that was killing of citizens like flies.
So much potential. He thought, his forearm tingling so he rubbed it absentmindedly over the coat and shirt. Storm hues looked up and down the road once more, searching for his companion. All he saw were the few brave who ventured outside. Some with their noses and mouths wrapped in cloth in fears that the Ember Plague was contagious. Others rushed carrying bundles. Many remained indoors, afraid. Even the beggars crawled back into their holes even though they were likely the ones most affected.
He was waiting for Faith. Few trials prior they met to discuss the epidemic before it truly broke out. Now, their help was imperative. Especially in the Dust Quarter where even with new houses being built, the conditions were still substandard in places. The Infirmary itself reached its limit, halls filled with the ailing. On the shrieks of agony, they would beg him to do any to help. They would agree to his magic as their mind was blinded by another serious of forceful pangs. Oftentimes he could force back small areas of the rash, ease the organs so they would not combust so fast. It wasn't much, but it brought temporary relief at the cost of his own well being. In the evenings, he would crash. Sleep was scarce, but that did not bother the priest.
Rolling his shoulders, Finn righted his coat, even if there was no need. Down the street, a sharp scream pierced the baby blue sky like a sinister dagger. He twitched. He needed Faith. He needed a second brain and second pair of eyes for this. Also, someone to hold him back should he overstep again. But mainly he needed her so they could find the cure. Rumours began to spread through the city of healing methods that just made him cringe. Before charlatans would boom and more would come to harm, Finn would rather spend all of himself in the race for the real thing.

[Faith Augustin]

Ashan 39, 719

She was meeting Finn, and the pair of them were going to try. He was meeting her here, at the clinic for the Order of the Adunih in the Dust Quarter. The place was inundated and it had been a long time since anyone had slept for more than a few snatched breaks. But this plague was unlike anything they'd seen before, and was the second ~ or third, she supposed ~ plague that she'd worked with here in the Dust. She was in her office, a small and tidy, but very full room and when Finn came in, he was shown in. She hadn't mentioned it when they met but Faith did more than volunteer at the Order of the Adunih. In Rharne, at least, she ran it.

Faith was sitting behind a desk, wearing her usual white cloak and surrounded by pieces of parchment. On the desk, there were also a number of instruments, pieces of medical equipment, both well known and obscure. There was also a small wooden box, tall but thin, which was open and contained a number of small pieces of glass, each one flat and rectangular and, should he notice such things, meticulously labelled. Faith was sitting, looking at a piece of parchment with a deep frown on her face. The walls were covered, absolutely covered, with maps and other written things. Lists, thoughts, questions, all of them made it on to the wall. It would look like the ramblings of a mad woman if it wasn't so obviously very organised. Faith looked up as Finn came in and she smiled. She looked ~ she felt ~ tired, but that wasn't going to get in the way. People were dying.

"Finn. Is it that time already? I had hoped to be further on." Faith sighed slightly. The young woman looked at her ... what was he, she wondered? A friend, she thought. That was what he was. She looked at her friend and she gave a slight, but entirely heartfelt, sigh. "How are you?" She looked up at him, her medic's eye moving over him, checking that he wasn't unwell himself. Those who were close to it, after all. "I have this," she said, gesturing to a map on the wall. "The red dots are where the infected people live. Green dots are places they remember visiting. It's not indicating any pattern." She pointed then to a chart, and then her eyes showed enthusiasm. "Everyone, literally everyone remembers being out in the Ember-flecked winds. That trial, that's when this happened. " Faith gave a slight sigh.

"Then, there are the symptoms. I've asked one of the green cloaks to join us, I hope that's alright? She's been working with the sick and I've asked that all of them be extra vigilant in the taking of notes and observations." Everything that Faith taught here, reiterated that careful, systematic observation was vital to spotting patterns and patterns were the medics friend. They got them what they needed ~ clues which led to possible cures. At the moment, that date was the only clue they had but Faith was hopeful that the observations from those working in the wards would help. She, meanwhile, had been observing the blood of those infected. Pointing towards one of the items on the desk, and the glass slides held in the wooden case, she explained. "This is a fairly new invention, the magnifier. It allows me to see the blood at an incredibly magnified level. It has very much helped to strengthen and improve the blood infusion process." The magnifiermicroscope, in our world between them, she gestured for him to take a look.

[Gennadiya Lyosha]

Gennadiya walked down the hall towards the head of the local Order's office. She hadn't really had a chance to visit with Faith just encounter her in passing as they went about their work, but she had been pleased when Faith had approached her with an assignment for collecting data on the symptoms of this new plagues she had been flattered. Actually she had been exhausted and flattered. Gennadiya pace faultered as she thought back to eveything that had recently happened.

She still remembered when the first people had showd up with the rashes. More and more had come in and the rashes just became worse. Gennadiya still remember when someone yestertrial had been brought in and she had thought the man's house must have burned down around him but no the rash had become that bad. The sick had kept coming in. Gennadiya had given up her room yestertrial so the sick could use it, and she wasn't the only one.

If anyone back in Ne'hear or Lyosia would have seen her on this trial they would have been shocked. She was wearing her green robe over her blouse and skirts as usual but all thre pieces were wrinkled. Her platnum blod hair was still braid but hadn't been rebraided today and various strands of hair stuck out from different angles. Gennadiya cared about her appearance but in these trials her greatest passion for helping others over road her appearance. So it was she walked into the office with her same confidence even if her apperance wasn't what others had grown acustom to.

She walked in, her gaze focused on the notes on in her hands. Every report she had collected was also there, but Gennadiya believed in being methodical in her research, the stamp of her father the business man. The top sheet was a neat list of notes showing the timelines of the symptoms. "I apologies for the delay. I wanted to get the latest reports od the most advanced symptoms, and finall got a breakdown of what the racial numbers are among the sick."

She looked up then and noticed that a man was standing in the room with Faith and they were looking over some type of box. Gennadiya blushed with embaressement at having ben so rude. "I am sorry, I should have paid a bit more attention." She silently cursed herself of course Faith would be busy.

[Finn]

Faith was full of surprises. He should not have been surprised alas it could not be helped. Who was he kidding. She was a humble one but capable of much. Yet he couldn't allow for those distractions, no matter how much there was to admire.
"Faith," he said in greeting, before spreading his arms out slightly, seeing the way she looked at him. She didn't have to justify herself. Finn would have done the same.
"I'm ok. No mark on me. I checked already." Affirming the obvious fact, he took the liberty of taking off his coat and laying it carefully in a place where it would be out of the way. Truth be told, it was hard to find but given what they were faced with, it was the easier of tasks to deal with on that trial.
Same as usual, Finn wore simple clothing. Nothing to set him apart from the rest. Nothing that would speak much of either of his professions. Boots, breeches and white long sleeved shirt served him well for arcs, there was no reason to change that.
Listening to his friend, Finn's gaze glided over the map, examining it. Meticulous. He liked that. Everything was already clearly lined out and the mental picture he began building was now materialized.
"You know, there may be something to it." His words were a whisper ringing in the moment of silence. Theory brewed in his mind. Countless of them in fact, it was hard to pick. "I also wasn't out when the amber fell. But when cross-examining people at the Infirmary, pretty much all of them were. Or at least those who weren't in too much pain and able to speak." Then there was the fact that the plague did not seem to spread between relatives or people in contact with the infected. Or at least, none as far as Finn could uncover.
"Not much suggests either for it to be contagious." Perhaps it was something she already knew or something this new aide may share with them upon their arrival.
He gave Faith an agreeing nod. The more eyes and brains on this, the better. Even better if she was in the field, but then the Order always was. Following to the magnifier, Finn's brow raised. He's not seen something like this before, but then he was only a few seasons fully into being a doctor's assistant and frankly the Infirmary wasn't that equipped either. At least not in Balen's department where Finn found himself most of the time. Bending over, he wondered just how enhanced the picture would be. What he saw fascinated him even more than the contraption that allowed for the view.
What he saw was a war behind the glass of the magnifier. Little units of different types were moving around. Some were faster than others, some were slower. But there were two main distinguishable features. The somewhat darker units, coloured like the affected skin of the patients, were moving from unit to unit, attaching to it, almost...eating it up.
On the edges of his mind, he heard someone enter but it slipped him. Only a distant part of him remembered the green cloak mentioned earlier. The other, more dominant part was now too focused on figuring out the sight in front of him.
"Faith..." He said still bent down. "It's a carnage." Definitely not a medical term, but he couldn't describe it otherwise. Lifting to look at the black haired young woman, he was pointing at the magnifier. "I'm sure you've seen it. What's your theory on it?"

[Faith Augustin]

Ashan 39, 719

She nodded when Finn said that there might be something to it. "Incurable diseases, and the patterns of illness are what I teach." Faith smiled at him, tiredness evident in every bit of her. "Illness, disease, these are not random. There is logic to them. Disease logistics allows us to predict patterns, to prepare. It's vital to the effective... " looking at him, she grinned suddenly, a rueful expression if ever there was one. "And I get passionate about such, fall into Professor Augustin the Short One... which is what my students call me but think I don't know. Forgive me.". She motioned with her hand to the back of the door which he had just walked through ~ where he would find hooks.

"It's not contagious, I'm sure of it. My instincts are that it's to do with the ember-flecked winds. I've learned to follow my gut over the last few arcs." She smiled at him and looked at the map. "It has to be, but what within it. I just..." Looking up as Gennadiya came into the room, Faith smiled. She didn't know the green-cloak particularly well, but what she heard about her was good and she'd come from Ne'haer. That was something which Faith was going to have to speak to her about, she knew, because the young woman seemed competent and capable. And all the Immortals knew, they needed that.

But right now, they had to focus. She smiled at Gennadiya, shaking her head slightly. "Not a worry. Every bit counts right now. Gennadiya, this is Finn. Finn, Gennadiya. We're looking at the patterns of the disease, the spread. The racial breakdown will be, I hope, the very last piece." She glanced at Finn as he looked at the magnifier and she nodded. "When I was working in Scalvoris, I came across a very rare, very specific and very fatal disease called Ink Bloom. It was a parasite in the blood. I cured it with exposure to extremes of temperature, first cold and then heat. It needed the blood to be observed very closely." It, she said with a smile, was why she and her husband had invented that small device he was looking through. "Take a look, Gennadiya, and see what you think."

Looking at the map again, Faith frowned deeply as Finn described it as a battle. "That's exactly what it is. Their blood is burning. One of the abilities granted to me by Famula's blessing is the ability to burn blood. Under the magnifier, it looks like that." But what was her theory? Faith smiled slightly, though it was mirthless. "I think the disease is in the blood, and in the blood lies the cure. I am hopeful that the answer will be either in the Aukari or the Ellune. But if not, then perhaps we need to turn our efforts to something other."

Perhaps, she said, they could look at the kind of temperature treatment she had used in the cure of Inkbloom or, come to that, in the sub-zero infusion into the brain which she had used to cure The Rot. But hopefully, Faith said, with a smile, they wouldn't need to do that and there would be another answer.

[Gennadiya Lyosha]

Gennadiya smiled tiredly at Faith as the head of her order welcomed her to both her office and the discussion. The young woman looked around the room noting the way that Faith worked with notes on the walls. Her gaze was drawn towards the map on the wall with its many dots. She wished she knew the population diversity and settlement patterns in Rharne, but she knew about the some of the districts and could see patterns in the working districts. She spoke up and pointed out one of the clusters she saw. "I have made visits to homes in these areas. This area has a number of open air business, blacksmiths, wagon makers, whatever it is they call barrel makers and business like that where they need a lot of space and it’s not cost effective to build a lot of permanent walls. They would have been more open to the wind and the flakes even if they were working.” She scanned some more but her attention was pulled away by the conversation.

“Hello Finn. It is nice to meet you again.” Gennadiya said remembering the incident she had rescued him from. She carefully set her stack down on the table and listened as the two of them talked. This was what separated the good healers from the quacks. The ability to analyze the symptoms and come up with a solution. She listened as the both talked about ideas, and then took her turn looking through the new contraption. “After this crisis I would love to learn more about this invention.” She said absently as she watched. There was something about the behavior she that reminded her of something else. She watch and saw the battle being found in the tray. Finn’s description was accurate, it was carnage.

“It reminds me of charcoal.” Gennadiya said from her spot watching the battle at the magnifier. “Charcoal starts as wood, but if you burn it correctly you can change it to a new medium that can burn even more intensely then its original form.” She straightened up and pushed a loss strand of hair back. “Finn is absolutely right that it is a massacre in there.” She walked over and picked up her notes.

“Everyone agrees that it starts as a few spots, easily mistaken for a scab.” She said looking at her notes. “It keeps spreading outward, the skin changing just as this blood sample is changing. It has now been three trials since the wind with it flacks. Everyone looks like they survived a house burning down around their head.” Gennadiya paused. “There is something odd here. Most disease have some variation in intensity. You can have the flu hit a village and even at its worse you will have a group of people who aren’t affect as bad. I didn’t see any chases less severe and the others are saying they are seeing the same.” She shook her head. “Sorry.” She looked back at her report. “Up to this point there hasn’t been a fever, but we are now beginning to see people spike massive fevers and now their pulse are become erratic.” She looked up. “Based on these I will have to agree with Faith. It is in the blood, and spreads from the surface veins and is slowly settling farther into the body.”

Gennadiya flipped through her notes and paused on the last page. Her blue eyes widened in surprise. “I was wrong, there is a group of people who have lesser symptoms, actually unless they are taking their sick some were else, we do not have a single Aukari in out wards.” She looked between the two of them her eyebrow raised.

[Faith Augustin]

Ashan 39, 719

Gennadiya was still learning Rharne, of that there was no doubt. Her statement, though, about those who worked outdoors, showed Faith that she was paying attention in all the right places. While it was information which Faith knew, it was still good to know how her companion's mind was working, and importantly, Gennadiya was being logical and thoughtful. "Indeed," Faith replied. "That will have knock on effects, of course. Not only do the business owners find themselves more likely to be exposed, but the workers and the customers. There is literally no shelter." Which only served to exacerbate an already difficult situation, Faith knew. But, right now, it was what it was and that was it. There would be lessons to learn, maybe, for Rharne as a whole, when this was done. But first, they had to cure this.

First, they had to find out how to cure it.

Faith smiled at Gennadiya when she said she would like to speak about the magnifier. "Certainly. We can make time to do that. It's a useful little thing." But the charcoal analogy was right, Faith considered. And if that was the case, there was another point to be made. "It's speeding up. And likely to continue to do so. Like charcoal, it will quietly burn for a short while, but soon it will pick up momentum, I think." They were going to need to move, as fast as they could.

The lack of variation in intensity was interesting, too. "It's not behaving like a disease should. There's something at work here, some aspect that we're not seeing. The trick is to determine whether that is something we can deal with and find out about later, or whether it's key to the cure." Faith pursed her lips and then listened as Gennadiya spoke. She nodded, then, as Gennadiya checked the records, and there were no Aukari. "Right. So, the Aukari blood functions differently. When I was studying blood initially, for my Charter, I undertook studies of all the different races I could, and the constituents of their blood." Glancing at the magnifier, she considered to herself that she could have a very good time with that and a repeat of her study ~ so much more could be found out now. In that moment, Faith decided that she was going to pursue a Licentiate.

But, back to where they were right now. "Alright. Well, we need to .. ask Marta to come up?" Marta was one of the green cloaks and was an Aukari. Finn went to fetch her and Faith looked at Gennadiya with a slight smile. "It would help me to know how familiar you are with the study of blood, blood infusions and the use of them to assist in surgery. Any answer is more than acceptable, but if it's 'not at all', then while I'm explaining what's happening to Marta and asking for her help, there's a basic guide there, which I give in the first training. Would you care to have a look over?"

Whatever Gennadiya's answer was, Faith would do just that, speak to Marta and get some of her blood. So then, they could begin experimenting.

OOC: Blood Infusions FYI

[Gennadiya Lyosha]

The Lyosian woman nodded as Faith continued her analogy. It certainly was increasing speed. The first spreading of the scabs had taken hours. The fevers and difficulty with breathing had hit in the space of a couple hours, and when she had left it had been getting worse quickly. Gennadiya could tell Faith was worried about that thought even though she didn’t really elaborate on it. The Green clock nodded in approval. Losing your focus in a case like this just wasted energy and got nothing done. There was a time and a place to give into those emotions but after the crisis was over.

Gennadiya raised her eyebrow impressed as Faith explained some of her studies. The young woman wasn’t to up familiar with the world of the university so couldn’t have told what a Charter was, but she figured it was some type of report university students did. Either way, Gennadiya focused her thoughts again. Marta would be a good choice.

“It would make sense that different races would have different things in their blood. I would suspect the Ellune would have something in their blood to keep it running warm so it wouldn’t freeze, and I think something opposite for like the Aukari to keep their blood from boiling., but we wouldn’t see that in humans as we aren’t able to deal with such extremes.” Gennadiya she said tapping her chine. She looked at Faith again. “I am sorry to say my knowledge of modern studies is none. It is part of why I moved to Rharne, I had heard that the places in the west actually were studying the bodies and new ways to heal them.”

Gennadiya almost greedily took the offered volume and sat down to read. She carefully began to peruse the volume that Faith gave in her first report on blood transfusion. She knew she would be able to truly devour it but it would be enough to allow her to help Faith with this plague. There were two parts to blood, hmm, she hadn’t even thought about that. So Gennadiya read while they waited for Marta to come.

[Faith Augustin]

Ashan 39, 719

One of the things which Faith found to be fundamental to good medicine was the willingness, and ability, to push boundaries. Whether those were personal boundaries or global ones, that ability to not accept what is currently known and to go beyond was what drove Faith as an individual; Gennadiya impressed her with her attitude, her willingness to push her personal boundaries. "They do," she confirmed. Different races, different blood. "Even within a race, there are differences between individuals. Types of blood, I believe. It explains why one person can take an infusion from another, but another member of the same race can not." The young human woman smiled a slight, terse smile. This plague had them all tense, all tired. Yet, Gennadiya took the book almost voraciously. She was hungry for learning, for pushing the boundaries of her own learning and Faith saw it.

While they waited for Marta, Faith got the equipment she needed ready. It wasn't a lot, but she would rather be prepared. Since she had the time to do so while waiting, she also got the equipment for preparing a number of samples, and got them ready. She did not speak while Gennadiya read, simply kept busy and ensured that they had everything they might need. When Marta arrived, Faith lifted her head from the magnifier and smiled. Marta returned the expression and Faith took a moment to explain what they were doing and why. Then she turned to Gennadiya and smiled. "Let's have a look at this together?"

As Marta sat herself down, having agreed immediately to the taking of her blood, Faith smiled at Gennadiya. "I've given quite a few blood infusions since getting here," she explained, "and we are inevitably the donors. Marta has been a great help. Here, I'll show you how we do it." Carefully, she demonstrated to Gennadiya how to extract blood for this process, the angle of the injection and how to draw the blood safely in order to give it to others. The equipment for doing just that was here and Faith showed Gennadiya each part.

But then, "Alright, lets give it a try." Faith said and moved over to the table where the infected blood was. "I think if we start with a five percent Aukari blood to ninety five percent, lets see how that goes?" That was the thing, Faith knew. They had to now enter the phase where they experimented. "My fingernails are like this," she said, holding out her hands, "because of a blessing by Vri. It means that I never forget anything. Literally, nothing. But I write everything down. Even if you think you'll remember, write it down."

And so, each test was written down and, each time, Faith motioned for Gennadiya to have a look, to work out which was the best option here. But there was no doubting it - the Aukari blood killed the virus. However, what it also did was weaken the infected blood. "What would you suggest?" Faith asked, with a slight smile.

[Gennadiya Lyosha]

Gennadiya did notice setting up the equipment but had worked in the Order for enough Trials that she could study while work was being done around her. Gennadiya didn’t have a perfect memory but she had as good as one could get with out intervention, but she still wished she had a note paper. Taking notes was only partly for remembering the what was said, it was more for arrange thoughts and ideas. Some people had to talk an idea out, and that could work for Gennadiya, but just as often the solitary healer wrote down. She was sure if she asked Faith would let her borrow the book and make a more intense study and put the information in her notes.

Her blue gaze looked up as Marta came into the room. Gennadiya nodded towards the tired looking Aukari who looked like she had no more rest then her Lyosian counterpart. She finished the report as Faith concluded her explanation. Carefully putting the book down Gennadiya walked over, her body protesting getting back on her feet, but her mind working at full alert.

Gennadiya smiled at Marta, and even offered the red haired woman her hand if she wanted to hold on. Gennadiya nodded at Faith’s explanation since she really had nothing specific to say. Her gaze was focused on Faith as she showed her the instruments at this point she did ask.

“What are some of the best places to draw blood?” She asked in a pause of the instructions. At this point she did grab the sheets she had brought the reports on and threw neatness to the winds and began to scribble notes for herself to study later. She was sure she looked like an interesting sight. One hand holding Marta’s and the other scribbling notes. Gennadiya wasn’t even aware of the amusing image she presented as her mind was focused on the lesson. Angle was important to create the best flow into the holding receptacle, and then careful and steady hand. Gennadiya, not for the first time, thanked Ymiden and Moseke that she wasn’t one of those people who shake for no reason.

Gennadiya squeezed Marta’s hand as they finished before letting go and walking over to the table. Gennadiya nodded her head. “That makes sense. We would want to keep as much of the original blood in tact as possible. Besides like most healing agents I suspect a little is more likely to be a cure and a lot dangerous.” Her observation made she collected more paper and prepared to make the necessary notes. With care did she mark what percentage the used with test samples and what the effect was including time?

Gennadiya felt a bit of excitement as the experiments progressed. It worked, well mostly. She looked at it. “The changing agents are destroyed, but the parts of the blood changed are gone still, without a better understanding I would say that is going to weaken the blood.” She tilted her head, her eyes narrowed for a moment. Thoughts danced in those eyes. “It appears that is also doesn’t go away after being introduced.” The pen was now tapping the chin.

“I don’t think we can remove the Aukari agent, actually I think we will want to keep it if this divinely forsaken wind comes back to act as a barrier.” She looked up and raised an eyebrow. “Could we mix a certain percent of the Aukari blood with an uncontaminated and separated human blood for humans and adjust for the different races. Then we can introduce both at the same time and the Aukari agent will destroy the invasive element, while the human blood would strength the weakened blood.” She said raising a eyebrow and continued. “I think progression will also affect what we do. Someone in the first stages might be strong enough to take a direct injection of just the agent, people on the third day might need something stronger.”

Gennadiya returned to tapping her pen again her chin as she looked at Faith to see if she had been anywhere near what was possible.