RP:Forging Relations

From HollowWiki

Part of the Repairing the Irreparable Arc


This is a Healer's Guild RP.


Also see part 2 A Check Up

Summary: Deep in the goblin city of Kregus, our illustrious Kang seeks to repair, improve, and heal his charge, the orphaned avian that had attached herself to him. Seeking to ensure her survival, the preklek has enlisted the help of a healer, Sabrina. With a little luck and skill, the girl will come out of treatment unbroken.


Lair of the Tinkers

Kang steps into the room, ducking his head away from the low cieling. His reptilian hand grasps the ivory staff that has become something of an identifying mark. It ripples in agitation, sensing its master's worry. The preklek rubs his eyes before scanning the tinkers' work. Crude tools, screws, blades, even a hacksaw lie around the room covered in blood and effluvia. Unlike in previous weeks, there appears to be a rudimentary attempt to clean up and the heavy stench of cheap wine. Goblins scurry around the prone form of a young girl who weeps silently, her injuries seeping blood and only slightly infected. Kang steps to her side, taking her hand and whispering a few words in Chthonic. This one time using the deadly language for comfort rather than death. The girl whispers back in the same language, holding back her screams. Kang applies pressure to a nerve in her neck, temporarily blocking all sensation to her lower extremities. He lifts his head to stare each goblin in the eye. "Progress report, and the reason for you incompetence." In hindsight, calling in a healer was a better idea than he'd thought.

Sabrina did that thing again, wandering aimlessly until she found some place with a need for her. She couldn’t expect real cases to present themselves by remaining in Ara all day. She didn’t have to duck her head when she walked in, having only stood a mere fifteen hands the low ceiling proved no match for her towering presence. She managed her route fine, only arriving a few moments after Kang. She was weary of the surroundings to begin with though, all damp and filthy, it couldn’t have been a very sanitary place for anyone to get better, especially not the human youngling he fussed over. She moves to the girl’s side, still somewhat concerned that a Preklek of any sort had business with something other than itself. Before any fixing takes place she utilizes this time to assess the girl’s injuries but not without a swat of stray hand from a stinking goblin who attempts to assist. “How long has she been like this?” She pokes at a few places where swelling had turned to sloughing of flesh.

Kang hushes the goblins with a wave of his hand. "A couple weeks. I've been attempting to prevent. . ." He slaps the back of a goblin's hand when it tries to do something with a screwdriver. "Mistakes." The goblin grumbles about stupid lizards as it dunks the tool in a tub of sharp red wine, before returning to task, screwing a copper plate onto the girl's leg. This seals the wound and binds the bones together how they should be. The girl never flinches unless something brushes her face. The wound there disfigures her face, and stings like a bear. Kang continues to explain the situation to the healer. "There was an accident with a creature I was attempting to domesticate. The two should never have been alone together, but the creature devoured her handler. The girl thought her training would be enough." The preklek scans the girl's injuries once more. "It was. She survived, after all. That's more than the soldiers can say."

Sabrina frowns at the copper plate being issued to the girl’s leg. “You waited a couple of weeks to contact a proper healer?” She begins pulling off her gloves to tuck them neatly in her belt. Moving to the patient’s head she speaks to her softly; elfspeak alone had its way of diluting reality an encompassing a dreamlike state. She cradled her head gently, neverminding the initial flinch as delicate fingers graced her tiny features. Within the facial wound there was movement, at first it looked like the gaping crevice would birth some foreign insect as it twisted and ground against itself. As the smallest of torn fibers began searching for their sister strands the random twitches of related muscle groups gave reason to believe that some response to the process meant progress. It was a vicious and gruesome injury- something akin to a Lycan attack but on a much larger scale. “What manner of life were you taming?” She still did not look at him, all the better though as in this state her eyes would have gone to a dark and ominous color, fully engulfing the sclera while the method paled her skin. Fresh blood began to flow from semi-healed veins, all the more reason Sabrina forced an energy in her so that she may survive the healing process. The longer it took, the easier it was on both parties.

The child jerks her head away from the elfspeak, so unlike the harsh deadly tones Kang had used to comfort her. Being raised by a paladin of death and carnage has ways of inverting a child's worldview. A few soft words from the preklek calms the girl, telling her to trust the elven words. "I didn't wait. It just took this long to find a healer willing to help an invader, even indirectly. Fortunately, these fine people aren't as picky." A female goblin excitedly holds up a woven mithril mesh. "Did it!!!" Kang examines the patch and gives the woman a rare smile. "Yes, this is exactly what I wanted." The preklek toys with the patch, demonstrating the flexibility. He hands it back to the woman and whistles a little ditty. A spark zips into the room and makes a high-pitched buzzing noise. The preklek continues to whistle. The spark bobs up and down before attaching itself to the patch. Miss goblin applies the patch to another gaping wound. The glowing ember traces the edges, binding the patch to flesh. "Some of them are quick studies. Skin grafts can replace your healing energies, if done right. Feel for yourself, texture and flexibility is almost the same as real flesh." He looks over at Sabrina before adding one last bit. "Harder for monsters to rip into, though. I was unable to tame the beast. I've handed her over to a specialist, much like this. It is wise to know when I'm in over my head. The creature is contained, though I don't know for how long."

Sabrina was upset by his words, not so much by the girl’s inverted views. “Healers are supposed to be impartial.” She didn’t truly know what she was here for, dirty and stupid as they were the goblins seemed to have a knack for what the death knight wanted. A small pool of puss begins to ooze from the wound she was tending, pooling in the girl’s hair and releasing an ungodly stench, even for this place. The infection was being drawn through the body to this singular exit, and when a sloppy goblin hand moves to clean up the small puddle Sabrina frowns. “Must you?” Sure, the smell was bad, but the disturbance of the two or three bumps to the girl’s face is what she could have gone without. With the wound bleeding red blood now instead of milky green goo she finally releases her head and moves to touch the newly bound modification and much to her surprise the lizard knew what he was talking about. “It is like the underbelly of a dragon.” Meaning it was both tough and flexible and a secret was building that Sabrina must know how it was done. Needless to say she was impressed. With her break over she leans back over the girl, reminding her that she was going to be okay and that she was in good hands- not so much herself but the rare and doting Preklek protector.

Kang looks away from the goblins' work to explain to the healer the premise. "It's a hand-woven alloy gauze, being fused with her flesh. It won't grow or stretch with her, but it will prevent infection and is painless." The ember continues to fuse the patches to the girl, copper, mithril, titanium. Any non-ferrous metal. The heat of the ember kills germs and binds the flesh to the metal. Taking advantage of Kang's distraction, one dim but mischievous goblin sterilizes a rubber ball and pops it in before applying the patch to the girl's left shoulder. Fortunately, the female goblin who'd made the patches sees and takes wire-cutters to it. She doesn't take the ball out, just adds a zipper so the girl can if she chooses to. This goblin hopes to be the preklek's apprentice tinker, and her chances are looking good.

Sabrina nods to Kang’s words though she does not understand fully the metalwork’s that took place to form this bandage. A single finger points to the on goings of the devious miscreants. She was unsure if this kind of treatment was part of his plan and did not want to intercede. Whatever was going to happen to this girl, future or present, Sabrina pictured her to turn into some disfigured abomination. But this was none of her business, she was summoned to assist in a heal not the raising of an offspring.

Kang said, "I'm good with the making of tech and the fighting. Healing is not my strength, and I doubt theirs either." He nods to the team of tinkers, completely oblivious to several similar additions (all of which were remedied by that female over-achiever). Some of the additions are too over-the-top to miss, however. Kang shakes his head at the spring powered razors some blood-thirsty tinker had added. He confers with the goblins to determine if it's too late to remove it. With many sighs of disappointment, the goblins remove most of the bits and apply another zippered patch. There's too much there to remove fully or simply leave. As the repairs go, the patches conform to the girl's body. If everything continues as is, the girl will have off-color patches, but her form will be returned to normal. She will be whole, again. A little makeup can mask the patches, anyway. Kang turns to Sabrina again. "I asked you here, because the team isn't used to repairing and improving other races, and is unfamiliar with healing altogether. Like I said, we need a specialist."

Sabrina gives another nod, though this one slow and lips parted. “I am not sure I would go about it this way.” Minty green eyes kept flashing over to the added bits on the child’s form. One hand remains still on her head, what minimal energies she used were harnessed to draw out he infection and by now her fever would have dropped to negligible at best. True she had taken apart her fair share of beings, races all across the board, but she had never cross met them or made modifications- mostly because it never crossed her mind. Her attention to detail consisted of the functionalities intact.

Kang raises his hands in helplessness. "We're just operating on what we know, as little as that is. If you have a better way, we're ready to assist." He places his hand on Cass's shoulder, continuing to whisper softly in Chthonic. She whimpers softly, sensation returning to her lower extremities. "Sorry," he murmurs in common, just loud enough for everyone to hear. "Can't hold off the pain forever. It's bad for the system." The goblins nod, even though they have no idea what's going on. They just know that they're learning new ways to tinker, and they absolutely love their job. "Healer, when you're done up there, her back needs work as well." He uses one hand to brush hair away from her face, revealing a missing eye. He curses under his breath. "We can't fix that."

Sabrina agrees wholeheartedly. “We can’t fix what is not there… the rest.” She pushes a Goblin over, not too worried since history told her they rarely understood rudeness or offense. One hand slides under the girl’s legs, the other under the small of her back- gently. She juts her head to the girl’s upper half, gesturing he should follow suit to flip her over. All too eager to help the previously tumbled she-goblin unceremoniously grabs Cass’ shoulders and begins to plop her belly side down. The Elfess would do her best to make it a smooth transition but the thud of the small body was unmistakable. A dirty look is shot across the body and Sabrina shakes her head. Moving right along she peels sticky garments away from the wound, the slime of infection stringing from the fibers to her form. Sabrina gasps, drawing the back of her hand to her nose and mouth as the smell lifted to fill her senses with stinging vengeance. “Gods!” Tiny white maggots were already clearing the dead flesh- flesh Sabrina could not return to good use, so she pulls a dagger from her boot thinking the first step is the hardest and she would have to cut away the affected area. Kang’s little helpers would require a rather large piece of tinker to cover this mess; Sabrina did not possess the energy to heal this size wound anew without drawing from something else… unless he would not lament losing a clumsy clutter-monkey in the process.

Kang signals to his team and they fill a bucket with fresh red wine and a rag. They hand it to him and he gently wipes away the blood, leaving the bugs to the healer's care. Deep wounds caused by tearing rather than gouging are revealed, along with a feathered wing, stained a deep crimson from the massive bleeding. Whatever color it had been before is gone forever. The child wasn't human, like the preklek had been saying, but avian. Her other wing has been torn and mangled beyond use, but the tinkers have ways of returning functionality. Their only obstacle is what Kang will allow. A puddle appears beside the girl's face. Closer scrutiny shows it to be tears, though Cass hadn't let even a whimper escape. She trusts the Dedicate implicitly. He'd always done right by her, and all he asks of her is to be strong. She will be strong, no matter what. Kang gives more specific orders to the team, and they begin weaving more gauze. Their small but strong fingers bend the wire as easy as any thread. The few who need a refresher on the process check the pop-up picture book that Kang had provided. The she-goblin waits to one side with the wire-cutters, ready to make adjustments as needed.

Sabrina begins scraping handfuls of squirming larva from the wound, careful to remove all despite the blood stained ones only being discernable from flesh by untrained eyes. Lucky she had been good at her job, if only one foreign body remained the consequences could be dire. The fact that Cass had been Avian changed a lot for this particular healer, she hadn’t been using nearly enough energy in her methods- those resilient bastards required a high level of maintenance to force the adaptable bodies to manufacture necessary chemicals that would ease the burden of her wounds; her previous dosage would be equivalent to spitting against the wind and so Sabrina more than tripled her efforts- child or not this race was of a higher fortitude than most others. The process was time consuming, energy draining- and to the point the Elfess began to break a sweat and pale to a ghostly tone. Her temper must have gone to pot too, because when assistance was leant she snapped sharply for Kang to make them profanely stop. It would not have done much good, with concentrations bearing on the little one her orders were barked in something akin to Sylvan. Anger fueled a faster heal, the wound seeming to pull itself together with great force- fusing itself to its counterparts in a manner more painful than any conscious thing should be able to bear.

Kang gestures to the goblins to back up. The healer seems to have things in hand, but he can see how much it costs her. He watches the skin tighten and heal, the flesh binding to itself, and the sealing off of grievous wounds. The maimed wing is untreatable, however. The damage too great. Kang watches the flesh seal off the injury. Cass would be crippled for life. Kang puts on his authority, and dismisses his team. They exit slowly, not really wanting to miss the show, but eventually they are all gone. Dedicate Kang would be in touch. Their work is not over. The ember stays and buzzes in Kang's ear. He blinks, before asking Sabrina a question. "You need more energy? Sparky here says he can help." The ember grows into a fist-sized fireball, exuding untold levels of power that defy control. Sealing a wound is nothing, the elemental had been holding back. However, the energies are not what any druid or healer is familiar with, and almost no mage has ever controlled it. The magickal core of the elemental isn't just fire, but chaos itself. There's no telling what using those energies will do.

Sabrina didn’t understand the properties of the elemental, and having been victim of jumping in to unknown waters once or twice before it was safe to say she learned a great deal from those experiences. “Not from that thing.” A wise decision it was; that amount of unnatural and untamable energy- and her inability to guarantee the control of flow could have been potentially hazardous to all of Kregus. She was counting the moments where she could release herself from the girl, leaving only a thin pink patch where the heal took hold through all but two epidermal layers; the third stratum forming a glossy yet tinted seal to protect all that lay beneath it. “I’m sorry, I can’t…” She lets go, her breath seeking refuge anywhere but in her lungs. She refers to the mangled deformity left sealed beneath the layers of flesh she created. She sits back on her heels, hunched slightly and with reddened palms resting on her knees. She was more than winded, but this girl was not worth it to her to taste the brink of death over.

Kang eyes the reddened flesh without truly understanding what he's seeing. "How much is left? If you can't then you can't, but if there's anything I can do. I need to know what needs doing." He takes her hand, but she doesn't squeeze back. The pain had overtaken her and she'd passed out a while ago. He traces the scarring without touching it, unsure if and what it will damage. The girl's survival matters to him, though his reasons are not discernable to anyone in Lithrydel. She is his salvation.

Sabrina watches him dote on her. She smiles, a little too sheepish than her normal demeanor would claim her capable of. “Time.” She had already put in motion the processes that would continue in the days to come. It would wear off at some point, but anything done for the girl from this point on would certainly allow the lingering effects to work in other areas. Her movements are slow and delayed but she pulls a series of vials from her pack- they were set in a pack the first one a dark and shimmering blue, and the six that followed gradually lighter in color except the final and smallest vial that was nearly a frosted silver that bent unnaturally like mercury. “To stave off infection and inhibit pain receptors.” She swallowed hard, finding it difficult to focus. “Dusk and dawn.” She stood, a smidge wobbly and made her way for the exit without so much as a ‘see ya later.’ Stopping in her tracks she looks down at the series of vials in her hand and remembers quite suddenly as she thrusts it in his general direction. “Dusk and dawn.” Repeating the directions of twelve hour intervals.

Kang is unsure of the pain inhibitors, but doesn't have a better answer. "Dawn and dusk. I thank you. If I can ever repay you, just send word." He checks the room, removing clutter and disposing of the wine. Making sure that the girl is comfortable. He does whatever he can to set the room to a blank slate. It takes more work than usual, but you know. . .goblins.