RP:Badger Kit Snot Getting Better

Part of the Agitation Arc

Summary: Pilar's pet badger, Darmani, came down with a terrible illness after being exposed to the black ooze. Callamyre put him in a state of suspended animation to slow the disease, but the spell has worn off and Darmani is getting worse. Pilar brings Darmani to Callamyre, only for the doctor to suggest they visit the priestess Leone for help. Leone's spell starts to work, but Darmani breaks free and runs away, with Pilar giving chase.

The Dancing Destier

Pilar walked briskly into the inn, like a woman with purpose. In her arms was a bundle, wrapped in a blanket. It would have appeared to be a baby at first glance, though closer inspection would have revealed the face of a badger kit. Pilar's eyes scanned the patrons gathered in the front room. If Callamyre was there, she would approach the woman quickly. If she wasn't there, she would head to the room, the way vaguely recollected in her mind. Either way, upon meeting the doctor, Pilar would say, "Thank you, Doña Callamyre, for seeing us."

Callamyre was waiting patiently in the parlor of the inn, the other patrons given little regard. As soon as the familiar fledgeling entered, she stepped forward, her heels clop-clopping with purpose as she crossed to the doorway. “Hello, of course--” the vampire responded, nodding as her hazel eyes lowered from Pilar’s countenance to study the bundle she held. “Come-- up to my room.” She sent a furtive gaze around the bar, before turning to ascend the stairs to her room. Expecting Pilar to join her, she unlocked her door, and left it open until the other had entered. At that point, Calla would direct Pilar to set her badger kit upon the table for her immediate inspection.

It was terrible. Pilar's letter did not do Darmani's condition justice. His hair had started to clump together into spikes, gray and hard, like stone. These spikes ran the length of his body and down his tail. His teeth had grown longer as well, too big for his little mouth, so they were visible even though his mouth was closed. Black ooze leaked from his eyes, and if Callamyre opened the lids to look, she'd see an inky film covering the eye. The badger's breathing had become ragged, and his paws were twitching. Small growls and barks could be heard coming from the badger's throat. Pilar looked at Callamyre, hands clasped to her chest. "Do... do you know what to do?"

Callamyre frowned. The kit was indeed in terrible condition. Pressing her lips together in a thoughtful pucker, the vampire circled around the table so that it stood between herself and Pilar, giving both women full view of the creature. “Hm,” she mused to herself, her frown sharpening. She stepped away from the table and turned to a small bag overflowing with strange and curious scientific instruments, most of which were her own design and creation. Pulling out a pair of thick-lensed spectacles, she hooked the frames around her ears and peered through them; and gasped. “Oh no, oh my, this will not do.” Calla tore the spectacles off, tossing them aside on the table, and pressed her hands onto its surface, leaning over it to peer uncertainly at Pilar. “I think we need a cleric.” Beat. “I am not … familiar with divine magick … but his aura, oh darling, his aura is so black and cold.” Enough of her ramblings. Callamyre stepped away, growing thoughtful once more as she peered toward the back of her tools. “Unless …” Her gaze took on a curious gleam, gold flinting along with her hazel while she returned to the sack, pulling out a pair of iron wristbands. Needing only one, she returned the other to the pack and moved back to the side of the table upon which lay the suffering badger baby. “You may … want to hold him down,” she began, “just in case.” With that being said, she gripped one of his little clawwed paws firmly in her own hand, and slipped the wristband up his arm to where it dangled loosely around his elbow. Immediately, the wristband itself began to pulse with life as it started to very slowly draw the dark energies from the badger.

Pilar moved to do as she was bid, only for the badger to spring to life. He yowled and thrashed and gnawed at the iron band desperately. Pilar grabbed hold of him, only for him to try and bite at her. She took the scruff of his neck in her fist and pinned him under her other arm with all her strength. He continued to thrash about as the band did its work. The dark magic that filled the badger seeped into the iron, but there was just so much of it. The band turned from dark gray to brown to a bright gold as it filled, and still the magic didn't stop. With a monstrous roar, Darmani tore free from Pilar's grasp. He bounded towards the door and slammed into it. Luckily, Frostmaw construction was sturdy, and while it shook the building, the latch held.

Callamyre watched with growing curious and concern as the iron wristband shifted colors, adopting a familiar glow as it tried to absorb the magickal decay from the furry critter. “Look--it’s working,” she murmured, her breath low lest she jinx it -- which is apparently what she did as what happened next was definitely not her intention. The badger kit flung himself from his owner’s arms, and Calla dashed around the table toward the door of her room. Shoving the table out of her way, she threw herself toward the badger, her boots skidding against the floorboards. Missing Darmani as he dodged her grasp, she reached for him again, this time forming a curved invisible barrier behind him to corner him between herself and the door. With a grunt, she lunged forward again, this time pulling the frightened and half-possessed creature into her arms. Callamyre was accustomed to having to hold unwilling creatures in her line of work, and she expertly wrestled him until she had pinned him against her body; her right arm went over him and around to his stomach, securing his clawed legs, while the other curled around his head and she held him firmly to her body. Still, he struggled, and Calla huffed out a grunt of frustration. The band itself fell from Darmani’s arm with a clang against the ground, and closer inspection would reveal a fissure in the workmanship of the band, a flaw caused by the excess of magick it had tried to absorb. It continued to pulse and throb with energy, and Calla cautiously kicked it under the bed across the room, wanting to keep it far from Darmani lest the energy find its way back into the creature. “We-- we have to …” She began, wrinkling her nose as once again the badger thrashed in her arms. “We need a cleric,” she repeated. “And I know just the one.” With a resolute nod, she added, “We need to find Leone."

Pilar got down on the ground to help Callamyre hold Darmani still. There was that name again, Leone. Josleen had said to find her after she was sent to Frostmaw with the ailing Linn and Hildegarde, but had never made the woman's acquaintance. Now, it seemed, she was going to get the chance to meet her. Assuming Darmani didn't manage to break free, first. The badger gnashed his teeth and Pilar held his snout closed. "We need... to put Darmani to sleep, first, I think." The badger whipped his tail and smacked Pilar's leg, scratching her leg and putting holes in her stockings. Blood soaked into the material around the scratches and Pilar hissed in pain, but did not let go.

Callamyre shifted on the floor, keen on holding the badger captive as long as it took. “You are probably right,” she conceded to her new companion. With a frown and a sigh, she began to summon her magick once again, using her various gifts to soothe and delay the creature’s feistiness. “Hush, little one,” she murmured, imposing upon Darmani her will until the creature finally stopped gnashing at the vampires. “He is a fiery one,” Calla added softly, chuckling to herself despite their situation. Shifting her hazel gaze toward the fledgeling, she noted the scratches marring her leg. “Oh, dearling, you’re hurt. Are you alright?” She lifted her warm gaze from the other’s leg to her countenance. “Do you need me to take a look at that?” Her hand smoothed the creature’s fur as it settled into their collective arms, but her attention remained on Pilar, her expression clearly conveying her concern.

Pilar sighed as Darmani was soothed. He wasn't comatose just yet, but he had calmed down considerably. His paws and tail continued twitching as he fought the urge to fall asleep. Pilar looked at her leg. Well, she'd need to get new stockings, but she didn't think it was anything major. "I... I think I am fine, but... I would not mind a doctor's opinion." She took Darmani from the doctor and shifted how she was sitting so that her leg was extended out, away from her body. The scratches didn't appear to be deep, and the blood was already coagulating and forming scabs. But given the cause of Darmani's condition, a closer look was probably a good idea.

Callamyre rearranged her feet, crouching still near the ground as she then leaned toward Pilar. “Hm…,” she began, thoughtful as her hazels studied the other woman’s leg. “It does appear to be healing already…” Beat. “It should be thoroughly cleansed, though … And if it starts to hurt in any way, or it… well.” Cue another beat. “If it bothers you at all, let me know, alright?” She took that moment to rise to a stand, and reached down with a hand to help Pilar up if she needed it. Thereafter, the woman frowned to the other. “If we are to find Leone, we should go to Frostmaw as soon as we can.” The woman was anxious to return anyway, even if only briefly. “I can leave immediately … I can take Darmani with me, if you are unable to go with right away.” Her expression softened, “But I would rather you go too. If we are able to save him, it’s best if you were there to be the first face he sees.”

Pilar gratefully took Callamyre's hand and stood, still cradling Darmani. She had needed to return to Frostmaw, herself, but she hadn't planned for it to be in this manner. It was quite a trek up the mountain. Who knew what could happen if Callamyre's spell wore off? But if this Leone was really her only hope to save Darmani, it was a risk that had to be taken. "I can go," she said. "Let us hurry."

Callamyre nodded, releasing Pilar’s hand but only so that she could begin to move around the room with purpose. Her items were already mostly packed up still, the woman having been disinclined to linger longer than necessary in Xalious. With another nod, she shrugged into her fur-lined winter coat, grabbed her belongings (somehow managing to store several books in a bag that hardly looked like it possessed adequate space for them), and turned back toward the fledgeling vampire. “It’s going to be alright, Pilar,” she murmured to the other female, her expression kind and considerate of Pilar’s situation. “We will do everything we can to save Darmani.” She nodded resolutely, then stepped closer to place her hand gently on the badger kit’s forehead, hoping to soothe him further before their long journey. “Alright …” Calla sighed, then moved toward the door. “Let’s go, then.” Assuming the other vampire would follow after, she left the room in a hurry, her booted steps clopping down the stairs with resounding purpose. Her bill for the room had already been taken care of, and she did not linger in the parlor before moving toward the door, and after that, somewhere she could purchase mounts for the arduous trip up the mountains.

Pilar waited anxiously for Callamyre to get her things together. She thanked the older vampire for her kind words before following her dutifully out of the tavern. Soon they were on their way up the mountain. The journey was long, and Pilar could not stop glancing down at the badger cradled in her arm, dreading the moment he woke. As it grew colder, Pilar held Darmani tighter. Her cold, dead body couldn't provide much warmth, but hopefully it would help him retain his own heat. The badger, for his part, stayed mostly still the entire way up, with just an occasional twitch of his nose or paws. At long last, they arrived in Frostmaw. Pilar looked to Callamyre. "Where do we go, now?"

East Hall

Callamyre did what she could to warm her companions up on their journey; her magick surrounded the three of them (and their respective mounts) with a cocoon of warmth, filling in the space her own body heat lacked. Occasionally, she would glance over toward Pilar and Darmani, hazel gaze filled with concern and curiosity, and although she was interested in Pilar and who she was, she found small talk to be frivolous and ill-timed. When they finally arrived in Frostmaw, she led the other vampire to the fort itself, before alighting from her beast, boots crunching in the snow. “The fort. If Leone is going to be anywhere, it is there -- at least, I hope.” She paused, hesitating a moment as she thought about how best to contact the cleric. “Someone ought to know where she can be found ..." And with that, the brunette-curled vampire started toward the fort itself in search of someone who can guide her to where the blacksmith was holed up.

Pilar got off her mount, gave it a grateful pat, and set off behind Callamyre. She had been to the fort a couple times already, but had really only wandered the living quarters. Following one of the guard's directions, they soon came upon the blacksmith. She may have been an older woman, but Pilar found her to be beautiful all the same. But now was hardly the time. They had a baby badger to save.

The pair of vampires will, no doubt, be directed to the hall just outside the fort's smithy. The bantam blacksmith is inside, though the guard does not show Callamyre and Pilar in. Instead, the armor-clad giant disappears through the forge door, returning a moment later with the petite priestess. Leone is clad in leather pants and a matching jacket, dulled from the constant labor of smithing. Singe marks, some weathered and worn, others relatively fresh, mar the black hide here and there. Soot streaks a cream-colored forehead, trickles of sweat blazing opaline trails through the matte black coating. Lively, lime green eyes fall upon each vampire in turn, and a broad smile is presented to Callamyre. The farrier extends a hand, the fingertips blackened and the palm infused with calluses, toward the cryptozoologist. "Nice to see you again," she greets Calla first, thereafter looking back and forth between the two females like a spectator at a tennis match. "The guard said you were looking for me," the diminutive woman prompts the pair in honey and vinegar tones.

Callamyre found her way to the smithy care of the giant, pleased to discover that the blacksmith as in fact in attendance. Breathing a relieved sigh as Leone emerged, albeit covered in the evidence of her labors, the scholar stepped forward to meet that hand with a gloved one of her own. “Yes, I am glad to see you are doing better,” Calla replied, her gaze warm while she gave the cleric a cursory once-over, stepping back a half-step after their handshake. At her lattermost comment, she turned to the younger vampire, and the infected badger kit. “I believe we are in need of your help,” she started, her lips tilted into a vague frown, a wrinkle settling into her freckled brow. “I have done all I can in attempting to delay whatever is wreaking havoc on this poor creature, but … well, it would seem some divine intervention is needed.” At this point, she fixed her gaze on the smaller woman, sighing pensively. “If I recall correctly, you wield some incredible magick, and that is exactly what we need.” She paused here to look down at the mostly-comatose badger kit, reaching over toward Pilar to stroke Darmani’s fur, before continuing. “So far, I have managed to extract some of the magickal decay that has found its way into him--” Calla shook her head, her frown growing sharper. “But it still continues to …” Her voice lowered as she gaze toward Pilar briefly, sensitive to the fledgeling’s attachment to the kit. “Well, we have not managed to get all of it out.” Beat. “It is … necrotic in nature … some sort of … leftover magickal residue that he somehow got into…” The vampire’s hazel eyes softened, and she returned them to Leone expectantly. “Can you help us?”

The badger in Pilar's arms twitched slightly, but remained out of it. Pilar rubbed behind his ears, his favorite spot, and looked at Leone pleadingly as Callamyre described the extent of the problem to her. If she couldn't help Darmani... Pilar hugged the badger. No, she wouldn't entertain such thoughts. Someone out there could save him, she just had to hold onto hope.

"Necromantic," the farrier echoes Callamyre's word in her own soft yet coarse timbre. Leone clears her throat, one hand flexing and kneading, digits to palm, as she stares in wide-eyed suprise at -what- needed to be healed: a badger. Animals have never been her forte, yet they are included in Aramoth's mercy. Often times, beasts do the bidding of their warriors, fighting alongside their masters, and thus deserve honor within the War God's halls. "Fortunately," the woman crowned with glossy raven and sparkling sterling tresses begins, a weak smile pressed first toward Callamyre and then Pilar, "I have solved two such cases already this week...just not in animals. Though I imagine they can't be much different." The sacred smith peels off her leather jacket to reveal arms corded like the ropes of a tallship, yet marked with blisters in several states of healing. As soon as the hide-crafted garment is pried away from her flesh, the farrier begins to glow. It is subtle at first, a harkening of golden-white light, like the first rays of dawn over the horizon. Blue energy sprouts from the cleric's arms, a brilliant azure that winds and coils outward from rows of midnight-hued ink along the inside of her wrists to flow in lines across the backs of her palms and wind around each finger like clinging vines. The healing magics pool at the center of each palm, creating circular eddies of swirling blue and white, now joined by the ethereal, alabaster glow emanating from her back and twisting around her arms. Both palms are gingerly laid upon the badger, delivering a steady but minimal stream of the divine energy into the ailing animal.

Callamyre was forced to take a step back as Leone began. The divine energies the cleric was calling upon made her nervous, and it showed in the thin smile she offered both Pilar and Leone. Her own magic was innate but arcane in origin, and she thought it paled in comparison to that displayed by the blacksmith. “Good, I am so glad we were able to catch you.” Her lips curled into a subtly broader smile, and she took another half-step back, giving Leone plenty of room to address the badger kit in the other vampire’s arms. “Like I said, I was able to draw some of the magickal decay out … but it has wrested the creature’s soul, latching onto it and … well, as far as I could tell, it was feeding on it.” The chocolate-haired woman shifted on her feet, anxious. “That is to say, it was feeding on its soul …” That faint flicker of a smile faded into a decidedly concerned frown, and her gaze flit from Pilar to Leone to Darmani and back to Leone. As before, she watched in wonder as the cleric drew upon her magickal gifts, and for a split-second, her hazel gaze flashed with glints of gold, her curiosity outweighing her apprehension and she shifted forward a half-step to counter the one she’d taken back. Leaning forward, she watched as Leone began to attempt healing the soul-diseased kit. “They are really not all that different,” the cryptozoologist added, her voice low as she muttered to herself.

Within the badger, the divine and the necromantic waged war. The magical decay was strong, and had latched onto the badger's very soul. The divine magic worked to annihilate the decay, breaking it down upon contact. The divine magic had an unfortunate secondary effect, however, and that was to break the spell keeping Darmani still. At once, his eyes flew open, and he shrieked in protest. He gnashed his teeth and tried to bite the priestess's hands before squirming out of Pilar's grasp. "Darmani!" The vampire tried to pick him up, only for him to snap his teeth at her. He dodged a second attempt to grab him and made a beeline for the exit. Pilar took off after him, calling his name. The badger hesitated at the door and fixed his eyes, pools of inky black, on her. Perhaps there was recognition in them. "Darmani..." Pilar murmured. She stepped closer. The badger growled at her and she backed up. Perhaps not. The badger thrashed in place, as if he was trying to dislodge something, and the black ooze began to flow from his eyes, nose, and mouth once more. The spikes running down his body hardened further, and his claws grew longer and sharper. He looked at her once more, the pain obvious on his face. Pilar dared take another step, and this caused the badger to rear back before running out the door. "Darmani!" She took off after him, leaving the priestess and the other vampire behind.

Leone clicks her tongue against the roof of her mouth, her lips curling down in a deep frown. "There's not much I can do for souls," the priestess says with a note of hopelessness to her sand-and-velveteen voice, "Though with diseases of the soul must want to get better in order to be healed. Divinity can only do so much," she laments to Callamyre just as the badger kit awakens. The cleric's reactions are slow, due in part to fatigue, and she barely manages to retract her hand from Darmani's snapping jaws. The badger's foreteeth manage to graze the plover's phalanges, peeling the skin from a wide swathe of her hand that immediately bubbles with red. The ichor begins to drip down her fingers, welling around the nail before pattering like raindrops upon the fort floor. The blacksmith cups her hand against her chest, and elects not to give chase to the badger nor its owner. An abrupt nod is shaken toward Callamyre, the best farewell the farrier can muster before she seeks out medical attention. "Mind the black goo. It's dangerous," is all the clergywoman has to offer in passing.

Callamyre gasped when Darmani’s coma was broken, the divine magick doing its work, but it would seem even that was not enough. “Ohno--” Stumbling back another half-step, the woman whirled around as the badger kit evaded Pilar’s well-meaning grabs in his direction. Her energy reserves were depleted with the lack of proper feeding since her time in Xalious combined with her continued efforts at helping the badger kit, and so she did not attempt to further subdue the creature, fearful of what may happen if she tried to manipulate his form any more. As Pilar took off after Darmani, Calla turned her worried gaze toward Leone, the woman’s wounds earning her a concerned frown. “Are you alright?” Her gaze, flickering between a normal hazel and glints of golden glow, deviated from the cleric’s soot-smudged face to her fingers, then back again. She reached out for the woman, but did not dare touch her, only held her right hand out, palm up and open. “May I?”