Maybe Frogs were better.

[Gennadiya Lyosha]

Cylus 8 720

Gennadiya walked into the room they had confiscated for use of dissecting the flame creature they had killed on that first day of arrival. She still remembered the stupid things bursting out of that hole and attacked other volunteers. The guards had cared anything for the remains but the healer understood that actually looking into there enemy would be necessary.

So it was that dressed in her plain shirt and brown skirts with a large apron Gennadiya walked into the room. Her hair was pulled back into a braid that fell down her back. She also wore a pair of gloves but paused to look at the creature.

Here green eyes took the visual look of the creature and finished pertaining for this study. It was an ugly creature the healer thought as she looked at the monster. It had been designed for attack and killing. The armor alone was annoying and tough. Genna was hoping that maybe she could understand it better so that I could be killed and faster. Then the knights would be safer. She had let other members of the order know that she had plans to take apart the monsters and would see if anyone came and joined her.

Gennadiya made one final check of her supplies scalpels and other equipment was neatly arranged. Cloths were at hand and a journal with ink stood ready for her notes. Once’s she had done all of this she would need to check in library and see what it said.

With a sigh she stepped up to the journal and started the first entry.

Squirrels description of the creatures.

[Gennadiya Lyosha]

The healer carefully made notes about the dates and time and first impressions. She carefully stepped away from the journal and slipped on a pair of gloves and picked up a scalpel and approaches the dead creature. The first thing she did was look over the armor of the creature. She took sample to of the armor put also paid attention to see how it was structured weather like scales or just a very thick hide or something else’s. As she looked it over she took vary careful note of what she noticed and also observed the changes. Where there area with less thick skin.

!	Message from: Squirrel
	Less thick skin is found near the joints, and a small region near the lower-midpoint of its stomach.

The study continued beyond just the exterior very carefully Genna cut down the middle of the creature with her blade and the peaked back the hide so she could see now exposed muscle system. Genna paused for a moment at the sight before her. She paused and took some deep breaths to keep her own lunch down. If you knew Gennadiya well you could see her exercising control over her expression but to someone who didn’t know her well you would see a blank expression.

!	Message from: Squirrel
	Muscle systems show massively enhanced leg and neck muscle density, at a cost to back, chest, and heart muscle density.

Once the disgust was under control the platinum healer slipped off her gloves and began to take notes of what she saw in regards to muscles verses fat and such. Sometime the muscle density was as much a factor as was actual the actual hide. Gennadiya continued to make notes of her observations.

After a couple breaks of poking and prodding Gennadiya began the gruesome process of stripping back the muscles and fat to get into the guts and interior organs. Noting location of organs and how the correspond muscles. Her first focus was on the position of the heat and the major arteries. Gennadiya wasn’t a artist but she made very basic sketches in her notes.

!	Message from: Squirrel
	Indistinguishable from a common canine.

The young healer kept moving as the process of dissecting speed up the process of decay. Already around the body where dripping liquids. The saving race was how could the room was thanks to the season it acted as a sort of preservation.

Next she took in the digestive system and any strange organs that might have been in the creature. Genna paused again and too another deep breath and then another before she cut into the creature’s stomach. As she cut into the creature she could smell the gasses escaping from that organ. Once the cut was done she set down the knife and pulling off her gloves left the room. She didn’t rush but moved quickly until she was out in the cold fresh air.

She breathed in the cold but wonderful air. She only stood enjoying the freshness before before steeling her self and returned to the room. The smell was just as bad but Genna faces it and began to look through the content of the stomach testing to figure what it was that this thing normally ate.

!	Message from: Squirrel
	The stomach contains the remains of lizards, small mammals, and the remains of another canine.

The breaks continued to pass and Genna grew more and more focused on the work as she looked and took notes. Her exploration continued as she moved on to the skeletal structure and then came to the head and its components.

!	Message from: Squirrel
	The skeletal system is drastically malformed to create the shape of the beast. The brain is indistinguishable from a common canine, barring one distinct difference - a bright red glowing gemstone fragment lodged in the middle of the brain stem. Staring into this gemstone, flames seem to dance about its interior.

[Gennadiya Lyosha]

Genna stepped back as she came to the skull of the ugly creature. She had spent her time trying to understand so much about the creature, from the nature of its skin, to the density of its bones to muscle and organ structure. She would need to study that later to truly understand how it functioned but this was a start, and now she was moving to one of the most important part of the creature. From a biological view point it was all important, but from a combat stance the head usually was the source of decisions, as primitive as they might be, to the source of sight, sound and smell.

With care Genna began to observe the positions of eyes, ears and nose. From the outside you could perceive a lot about by observing the position and size of each of these. The longer the nose the more something could smell, the closer the eyes the better the depth perception and so one. After carefully taking note of these things Genna pried open the mouth and observed its structure. Noteing how many teeth, now many rows, the tongue and so forth.

!	Message from: Squirrel
	The eyes are at the side of its head - meaning there is a blind spot in the middle. The ears are small, but the nose is long. The jaws are well-developed and thick, with a single row of teeth and a muscular flat tongue.

Once that was all done Genna stepped back and switched out her gloves and took a couple breaths at the next step. If anyone told her that to understanding healing you would have to a bit of a butcher and a tanner she wouldn’t have believed them. Well she would have been wrong and she reminded her self to let other healers know.

Stepping up with her scalpel she began to remove the skin on the head. Once that process was done she took notes of the muscle structure, including around the eyes to see how much movement could be achieved to give her a better idea of the vision range or if they could only see straight ahead. Then the muscles were pulled back to expose the skeleton. Here she could again look for any weak points in the structures. It also allowed her to see how large the nasal cavity really was and how the other senses worked with the skull. Genna made notes about the brain, its position and basic structure, but a dead brain could only offer up so much information.

!	Message from: Squirrel
	Well-developed spinal structure, sturdy and low to the ground with dense bone structure. The nasal cavity is large, for well-defined scent senses. Position and structure of brain are similar to that of a canine.

The trial was ending as Gennadiya finished the last of her notes. All through the process she had felt her focus taking over and so it was only know that began to feel the complaints from her body over such a rigors task. She realized she needed food even if she didn’t feel hungry. As she compiled her equipment and notes together she could see her hand shaking from all of the strain of precision cuts. The Library would have to wait until tomorrow.

Genna left the body as cleaned up as she could, leaving it for one of people who could actually move the beast to depose of and then returned to her room where she stripped to her underclothing and then collapsed into bed falling asleep.

[Gennadiya Lyosha]

Genna rolled over the next morning to the sound of the wake calls for the next shift of soldiers. Her eyes slowly opened against the attempt at light amidst the darkness of Cylus. She lay for a moment her brain processing what happened yesterday and what her plans for the current trial where. She needed to review her notes and do some research in the Library. Genna stood and walked over the mirror looked at herself. Normally she would only wash her hair ever few days, the effort to clean that much hair and dry it was a lot of work. Besides the natural oils in her hair made doing her hair easier. As she looked though today would require a hair cleaning. How knew how much nasty stuff was on her.

Gennadiya retrieved water and in the quiet of her room and by the fire she cleaned herself. The water was cold but there was something invigorating about the bath. She then tackled the chore of cleaning her hair. Starting at her scalp she scrubbed and worked her was to the end of the strands. The process was long and her wet hair was a notice weight on her body. Once done she then dried it and activity she actually enjoyed as she ran a comb through her hair and sat by the warm fire enjoying the warmth.

Genna departed her room a bit later, refreshed and ready for the trail. Her hair had a braid on either side of her face and the side hair was pulled back to form a hair coronate and came together in the back. The back part of her hair cascaded freely down the back. Dressed in a comfortable blouse and skirt she moved purposefully towards the library. In her hands she held the notes she had made yesterday.



Once in the library Gennadiya settled down and began to organize her notes, and then began to search for any books on these Flametouched creatures. She was joined then by a man named Crowely who was another volunteer. She explained what she was looking for. Genna pulled books from any category as a history book might have information a biology book would miss. She also hoped to find any personal journals. It took much of the morning but eventually Genna found books she hoped had what she needed.

Genna carefully set up her work space, her own notes sat next to her on the right, her new notes in front of her, and the books in a couple piles in the chair next to her. As she looked through them she began to sort them based on the type of information she got of them on the table before her. the trial began to wear on as she worked from records and her own notes.

[Pig Boy]

Gennadiya

Experience: 10 no magic

Knowledge:

Research 3
Medicine 1
Surgery 1
Discipline 1

Renown: 10

Skill Usage: none

Loot/Losses: +1 gemstone fragment from the creature's brain.

Injuries/Conditions: Gennadiya will feel a little sick for a while. Some herbal concoction should help her with the nausea.

Consequences: none

Comments: Wow, I'm floored by the level of detail that went into this surgery/autopsy. I always thought that surgery would be slightly uninteresting to write about but you really brought the scene to life, in all its gorey details. I especially enjoyed your description of the position of various sensory organs on the head, and how that might impact a creature's capabilities or how it perceives the world. I'm glad Gennadiya has found some vital information about the creatures the soldiers are fighting, and hopefully it'll be useful to combating them.

Great writing and enjoy the rewards!

If you have any concerns about this review, please PM me about them.