RP:Snakes On A Plague

This is a Bard's Guild RP.

Part of the Vakmatharas' Jar Arc

Summary: Pilar and Yozenra are out enjoying some ice cream when Yozenra faints. A passing Krice offers his help, and accompanies them to the clinic, where they find that illness has been spreading throughout Chartsend at a startling rate. Pilar tasks Krice with delivering a message to Sabrina at the Healer's Guild asking for assistance.

Coastal Square

Chartsend's town square wasn't as busy as it usually was. There were fewer children playing, fewer people shopping. Pilar and Yozenra sat on a bench overlooking the ocean, eating ice cream. The picture of platonic friendship. Really. It was a warm day, not very hot, but Yozenra was still sweating. She wore black shorts and a white crop top, showing off her muscles, but still she was hot. She didn't complain about it, though. She wasn't a complainer. Pilar, meanwhile, felt fine, but she kept thinking of the previous night's work in the clinic. Several people had been coming in with coughs and fevers. It was strange, especially for this time of year.

​Krice hadn't been to Chartsend before. To anyone on the inside looking at him, they'd see as much. Whilst he walked with the confidence of a man who knew where he was, he harboured the newness of a man in a land foreign to him, ​glancing left and right in casual scrutiny of his surroundings. He wasn't an imposing figure, but his presence brought with it a different vibe to the easy living atmosphere in which he now stood, a man of quiet strength and imperceptible skill. His eyes passed over the two women seated on a nearby bench as he traveled beyond them, and if either of them glanced his way, he'd offer a nod. His gaze lingered on Yozenra a little longer than on Pilar, but the reason was not clear. With a highly crafted black-hilted katana strapped to his back, the man slowed to a halt in the center of the square and looked around, soaking in the pleasantness of the seaside town. Children playing, people conversing without anger or anxiety. Chartsend was quite different from towns and cities further east. His attention was caught by a man further north being escorted ahead of the crowds, a hand over his mouth, shoulders shaken with coughs. Krice squinted in thought, considering the man's health, but his attention did not drift beyond this; the ailing human was receiving assistance, after all. ​​

Pilar and Yozenra returned Krice's nod before returning their attention to each other. The man's coughing fit did not go unnoticed, and Pilar frowned. "There's been a lot of that recently," she said. "Fevers, too." "Fevers...?" Yozenra asked tiredly. "You don't say..." Yozenra took another lick of ice cream, then started coughing. Pilar turned back to her, a hand touching her shoulder. "Yozenra, are you sure you're fine?" "Yes, yes, just a tickle, just a... a..." It was then that the woman fainted, her ice cream dropping to the ground. "Yozenra!" Pilar cried, catching her friend and leaving her own cone on the ground beside Yozenra's.

Krice wasn't one to get involved in the affairs of others, but he could hear in the more muscular woman's voice that her breathing was laboured, and she struggled to speak. He turned, listening to their conversation enough to glean that the coughing man was not a unique occurrence. When Yozenra fell, the warrior moved toward the women and crouched at their mutual side, reaching out to assist PIlar in supporting the other. " Where's your nearest healer?" He asked of the conscious woman, gold-streaked eyes lifting from Yozenra's resting face to that of her friend.​ He was calm and steady, focused on helping.

  Pilar jumped at Krice's sudden appearance. She cradled Yozenra's body, her chocolate eyes wide with fear. "I-I'm a healer, but I... I need my things. The clinic is down the street." Pilar stood, lifting Yozenra easily. She looked to Krice. "If... If you could come with? I might need an extra set of hands." Krice rose when Pilar did, ready to shoulder Yozenra's weight alongside her - something she clearly didn't need him to do. Unexpected, but not the weirdest thing he had encountered in these lands. Hearing that Pilar herself was a healer boded well for the unconscious woman, but upon the request that he join them to the clinic, the warrior hesitated. He knew only basic medical skills required of every soldier to self-treat while out in the field, nothing useful to a once-coughing, now-unconscious woman. " Yeah, lead the way," said the enigmatic swordsman a moment later, scanning the path ahead as he followed Pilar to their destination.

Clinic

"Thank you," Pilar said. She lead him southward, then east, until they came to the barracks for the Chartsend Garrison. Up the stairs was the clinic proper. Pilar took one step when a guard approached. "The clinic is full," she said. "Come, we have beds in the barracks." "Thanks," Pilar said, though she was frowning. Once inside, her frown deepened. Many of the beds were already taken by the sick. "How did this happen...?" she murmured. Yozenra coughed, and Pilar found a bed at once. A different guard looked Krice over. "Are you feeling sick, too?"

Krice followed Pilar's lead at a relaxed but purposeful gait. As they neared the barracks, he could sense the shifting atmosphere from peaceful and happy to tense and watchful. He was among other warriors, now, men who knew nothing of his integrity or trustworthiness. With any luck, they'd be able to see in the enigma's eyes that he meant neither them nor the women any harm. As Pilar set down her friend on a spare bed, the warrior answered the guard's question with a simple and honest, " No. I'm fine." He glanced around for the smaller woman, seeking her invitation for assistance - or dismissal if no longer required. " Seems like a lot of people are sick, though."

  Pilar placed her hand on Yozenra's forehead. "She's burning up." Pilar looked to Krice and the guard. "What do we have for potions?" "Not much, ma'am," the guard said. "But we did just get a shipment of ingredients." Pilar nodded, then to Krice, said, "Sir, can you get a cloth and some water? We need to cool her down. I'm going to start making more potion."

Krice was a calm, stoic man often difficult to read, but the expression he offered the guard was one of vague incredulity. Why were they asking him to go around collecting things for Yozenra's treatment? He didn't know where anything was. Thankfully, the layout of the room was mostly straightforward and he soon returned with a bowl of cool water on one hand, and a fresh cloth in the other. He waited nearby until Pilar was ready to take the items from him, stating an offhanded, " Hope this isn't contageous. It'd be bad for your whole defensive force to be weakened." A twitch of the brow suggested that this was a genuine concern of his.

  Pilar returned soon with a cup containing a pale green liquid. She placed it on the nightstand and took the items from Krice. "Indeed. We can only hope." She soaked the cloth in the water and placed it over Yozenra's forehead. The naga in disguise opened her eyes, just a tad. "Pilar...? she croaked. "I'm here," Pilar said. She helped Yozenra sit up, then placed the potion to her lips. "Drink, this should help your fever." Yozenra obeyed, only to have a coughing fit halfway through, spilling the remainder of the potion. "Sorry..." Yozenra murmured. "It's fine. I'll get you some dry sheets. You just rest," Pilar said.

Krice held the items until Pilar was ready to retrieve them, at which point he glanced around at the surrounding soldiers while she tended to Yozenra. The larger woman's voice drew his attention briefly, but once there was a lull in conversation, he asked of the healer, " What's going on here? Some kind of epidemic?" Was that a term people had heard this far west? He wasn't sure.

Yozenra rested against the pillows and coughed again. Pilar dabbed at her forehead with the cool, damp cloth. To Krice, she said, "It must be. I've noticed a lot of people coming into the clinic lately with coughs, chills, mild fevers, but I've been off for a couple days... How could it have gotten so bad so quickly? And Yozenra... Why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well?" The naga looked at Pilar, breathing heavily. "I... I didn't want to complain... I thought it'd... go away." Pilar shook her head at her friend, then looked to Krice. "Thank you for your help, but you should probably go. I'd hate for you to get sick, too, sir."

Krice listened to the exchange between Pilar and Yozenra, as well as the former's reply to his query, before correcting her use of 'Sir by introducing himself. " Krice." Pronounced 'Kreece'. " Are you sure? I don't mind staying to help - if I can." Pilar seemed to have things handled.  

"Pilar," the vampire said. "Nice to meet you. I just wish it was under better circumstances." She paused. "I don't know what skills you have... We need people to make potions, and help keep things clean, and tend to the sick. You're welcome to stay, of course. Any help is appreciated."

Krice's blood was different from that of the average human, setting him apart. Perhaps Pilar's vampirism would help her sense that, at least physically, he was above the rest. Whilst he couldn't make potions or properly tend to the sick... " I can check around, see how everyone's doing." The stoic warrior had other ways to offer help. " Are there other healers here?"  

"Thank you," Pilar said. "There are, yes, but I don't know if there are enough to handle an epidemic... Could I bother you to deliver a letter to Larket?" Pilar asked. "I want to ask Sabrina of the Healer's Guild for help."  

Krice nodded. Pilar. He had heard the name before. When she requested that he deliver a letter to Larket, the warrior glanced away, looking eastward as if to see the city in question through all the rough terrain and mountains between there and here. After only a moment, he nodded again. " Sure. I don't doubt that she'll be willing to help." Returning his attention to the vampire, the warrior said, " Soon as you've written it, I'll head out."  

"Thank you," she said. Taking one last look at Yozenra, she stood and found the nearest desk. "Dear Sabrina. We're in the middle of an outbreak here in Chartsend. Fever, chills, coughing and wheezing are the main symptoms. We haven't yet seen anyone improve, only slow down the progression. Please send assistance. Best regards, Pilar." The vampire folded the letter and slipped it into an envelope. She handed it to Krice. "Thank you again, Mister Krice."

Krice dipped his head, acknowledging Pilar's gratitude. As she scribed her request for delivery to Sabrina, the warrior waited nearby, glancing around the room at the others who were sick, and at the guards who lingered near. With Pilar returning, letter in hand, the warrior reached out to take hold of the envelope and said, " I can't promise that she'll be able to come right away, but I'll make sure she gets this as soon as possible." The man nodded again, a gesture of farewell, before turning to depart the building that he may begin his eastward return.