thelisan | Trader's Blight

18 Gustmoon-4 Chillmoon, 2E 222

An early start hadn't been part of my plan, but I was woken by an unexpected crashing, followed by something between a yelp and a bark from some of the wargs. My punishment for leaving my window open, I suppose. I went outside to investigate and found a few guilty-looking wargs around what was once a neatly-stacked stock of firewood.

"Now I know I've told you not to do that," I gripe, gathering the spilled logs. They must've been climbing on the stack again. One of them, an older one with a coat of dusty brown, nuzzles against me while I try to work. He knows I can't stay angry when he does that. I scratch behind his ears and then wave him off, to set about cleaning up the mess he helped make.

Honestly, I'm not sure how long it took. Once the flow sets in, time disappears. I do know that by the time I'm finished, I'm hungry, but before I can even reach the door I hear a fluttering and hasty chatter. I can never tell Lady Suncrest's crows apart, but I at least recognize their purple bands. "Alright, what do you have?"

She refuses to give me the letter, ducking away from me every time I reach for it. Now I know. "Viola. She's still in bed. Give me the letter," I order firmly. She realizes I'm not in a playing mood and complies. I slide the scroll from its case and already dislike what I see; the cyan seal of Kingfisher Port is a welcome sight, at least it's a short journey. The problem is the second seal, a crimson hourglass, sand almost emptied from the top half. Dire emergency. I look back at Viola, and she crows with some insistence. Does she know what the seals mean? "I'll get it to her immediately," I offer as I turn back to the door. That seems to satisfy Viola, and she struts away.

I grab a strip of jerky from the kitchen and jog to Lady Suncrest's room. Knocking on the door, I announce, "Lady Suncrest, it's urgent," and open the door.

"I'm already awake," she says as the door creaks open. I think we have oil for that. She and Lucinda are in bed together still, cuddling together with the blankets over them. I hand her the scroll and she looks over it; when she sees the hourglass seal, she quickly grabs a small knife to cut it open. Looking over the missive, her face rapidly darkens. "Make ready for travel, Melina, and begin getting supplies together. Severe illness. Start with nausea management, emesis, diarrhea. I need to write to someone before we leave." That's worrying. "Lucinda, a sheaf of parchment, I need to find my quill- Melina, go!"

I do as she orders. Ginger, peppermint, chamomile, root of tormentil, drakeblood, blueberry leaf... oh where is tormentil- wait. Right, bottom row, second drawer from the right. I remember asking about the name. If there's emesis, that'll irritate the throat too, better grab a small jar of honey. I hear footsteps behind me, and move out of Lady Suncrest's way. We could use a larger room for this.

"Melina," she nods, her voice softened but still hurried. "I apologize for my tone," she says, looking over my selections and nodding approval. She begins gathering additional herbs and oils hastily, I assume there were other symptoms she hadn't mentioned.

"I understand, Lady Suncrest. I recognized the urgency seal."

"Indeed, but I must be mindful of how I speak." She doesn't look at me while she speaks, but that's understandable; she's busy. "I'll handle my supplies from here, you go ahead and get your own things prepared."

"How long will we be there?" I ask, hastily adding, "So I know how much to pack."

"I..." She pauses and sighs. "I do not know. Prepare for five days-" She shakes her head quickly, correcting, "A tenday. Extra leeway for cleaning and such."

"As you say." I turn, hesitant to leave at first. I want to ask how bad it is, but her demeanor tells me enough. I want to ask if the patient will make it, but that's pointless before we even see them. I hurry on to my room and begin packing. It takes me little time, I keep my belongings organized and I've never had much to begin with. Just after I've finished, Lucinda opens the door and steps inside. When our eyes meet, she steps closer and gently holds me. I feel myself shaking against her as she brushes her fingers through my hair. It's a welcome warmth right now. "Thank you, Lucy," I mumble.

"I could tell you were rattled," she replies gently. "So after I finished packing, I came to check on you."

I nod and she releases me, but I must ask. "You already finished..?"

"I keep a travel pack ready, I only needed to add a few things. We should get you set up with one too!" she suggests cheerily. "But, um, later. Of course."

We leave my room and I help Lady Suncrest finish gathering supplies. On the way out the door, she calls one of her crows. Mercurio responds, I recognize his limp. "Mercurio, take this to the Cypress Circle immediately. Fly swift and true." He does as instructed, immediately launching eastward with a cry and a flutter. She whistles for the wargs, and the entire pack responds. A moment after, our usual mounts step forward. Shadow, the pack's only black warg, walks up to me and lowers himself so I can climb on. Whisper, a pale grey warg as quiet as her namesake, lets Lady Suncrest on, and after sniffing her hand and getting ear scritches, the brown-and-grey Moonlight helps Lucinda up.

Thanks to Viola's early arrival and our quick pace, we reach Kingfisher Port in just two days.

---

When we arrive, the energy of the port is such that you'd never know someone in town was at death's door. We stop first at a kennel-field just outside the east gate. We had stopped there last time we were in town, and the owner recognizes us immediately. He greets us warmly from behind the counter. "Ah, Lady Suncrest and her companions. Welcome back!"

"Thank you, Bruno," Lady Suncrest replies cordially. "Someone in town is severely ill, and I know not how long treatment will take. What was your tenday rate again?"

"Three wargs for a tenday each, normally six melks, but yours are very well-behaved. And you always overestimate. So, five and five copper?" he offers.

"Hm. I can do that, certainly," she answers, opening her purse and counting out the coin. "Field looks bigger this time, and walled-off. Business is going well, I surmise?"

"Oh yes, it's been great. Had a few trade caravans in the summer that had wargs for escort, kept me and the girls busy." His daughters, Margret and Lena, I've seen them out in the fields before. They seem nice, but kind of quiet. Better with animals than people. I see Bruno's teenage son Petrus at the counter with him, too. He's usually more talkative than this, but when Bruno talks business, he has Petrus's total focus. "Some of the fences were getting a bit weathered, so I appealed to the court for assistance with partial walls, which they provided. We still have segments of fence for airflow, views, and drainage, of course. Most of the money we earned went into that project, and the extra shelters on the land the Count so generously offered for our use."

"As much as I would love to talk about animal care, unfortunately my own duty is calling," Lady Suncrest says.

"Of course, I understand. A healer's work is never done, eh? Come, boy, let's get their wargs brought around, then I'll show you how we document them."

"Yes, papa," Petrus says, following behind. His tone is dutiful, but his expression is joyful, he's very much looking forward to this.

After departing and seeing Shadow, Whisper, and Moonlight off, we head to the northeastern portion of town. The streets are crowded today, I can barely make sense of the clamor. Even moreso with how much of it I cannot understand at all; ships from abroad must have just come in. Thankfully, most of them aren't going where we are.

Just south of the manor district, one house stands conspicuously alone. Quarantine hall. Several entrances, each to separate apartments within the building, allowing tightly-controlled access. Small banners beside the door indicate occupancy; yellow for contagious, red for severe. Green if they're empty. Purple for status unknown, a just-in-case quarantine. Black in the most dire cases. White if there was a recent death.

Of the half-dozen doors, the four in the middle have green banners, with a yellow by the leftmost and black by the rightmost. That must be our destination. We stop outside the door, and Lady Suncrest opens her pack. "Remember quarantine procedures. Mask at all times." I nod and pull a thick cloth mask from my pack, and fasten it securely around my mouth. I see Lucinda do the same with a blue mask. "Lucy?" Lady Suncrest asks hesitantly.

"I know I'm not as knowledgeable on healing, but if this is contagious, would it help to have someone cleaning?"

"I... yes, yes it would. Perhaps I should have two apprentices." She knocks on the door, clearly and precisely. Three knocks. Rap, tap, tap. We hear no response, and Lady Suncrest opens the door to let us in. "These apartments are all the same. The patient remains in the rearmost room, save for necessary excursions. This allows for delivery of food and other such items with, if the patient is able to walk, as little risk as possible. This also gives healers a room to work in, in case we're handling anything that's... unpleasant, we'll say. Some medicines have pungent scents." She looks to Lucinda and adds, "Lucy, dear, would you first focus on cleaning this room for our use?"

"Of course. I'll go get some phenol in town. Should I keep the mask on?"

"Yes. Until I tell you otherwise, we are to assume we are also contagious."

Lucinda's eyes widen. "Are we??" she asks fearfully.

"Most likely not," Lady Suncrest says, placing her hand on Lucinda's shoulder. "It is this caution that will keep it that way."

Lucinda takes a slow breath and calms down before stepping out. Lady Suncrest gestures for me to follow her through the isolation ward. It is not a pleasant place; furnishings are purely wooden or stone, nothing soft. Easier to clean, I suspect. The air feels stagnant, and some of the shelves have cobwebs from how long they've sat untouched. In some ways, that's a comfort, as is the silence compared to the riotous din we passed on the way. We reach the last door in the hall and Lady Suncrest taps gently upon it. This time, we do get a response, though only a wordless groan.

The bedroom is scarcely more comfortable than the rest. The bed is a thick mat of woven straw, to be disposed of by fire as soon as the case is resolved. The blanket, a simple woolen sheet. The pillows appear to be cylindrical sacks of dried grains. The patient himself looks far worse, however. His face is tinged with red, with jaundiced splotches. His eyes are unfocused, his breathing is ragged. His head is slick with sweat. The moaning occasionally returns unprompted, he seems to be in considerable pain on top of the rest.

"I'll not insult us both by asking how you feel, then," Lady Suncrest says. "Do you need anything specific before we get to work?"

"S'more water'd be nice," he rasps.

"Certainly. First, how much have you had in the last few hours?"

"A lot. Lookit the jugs." Our attention turns to the clay jugs in the corner. If they're all empty, this man has drunk a prodigious amount of water.

"... I see. Melina, dear, go draw some more water from the well. A couple jugs. There's a cart nearby."

"Should I use one of those?" I ask, indicating the ones in the corner.

"No, I'm going to have Lucy clean those before they're reused. The ones in the front room."

I do as directed, taking four clay jugs and their lids out, and wheel the cart over to a nearby well. By the time I return with the filled jugs, Lucinda has already started cleaning, though she eagerly sets her supplies down to help me carry the heavy jugs. When we bring the first two back, I see that Lady Suncrest is taking measurements and notes. "How... how did you drink from these..." I gasp, almost dropping mine on the floor. "Moon above, that's heavy..."

"He probably dipped the cup in until it was light enough to pour." The man groans what I assume to be agreement. "How many did you get?"

"Four."

"Eager, aren't you? Leave the other two in the front room until we need them. Lucinda, I also need you to clean the jugs left here, the empty ones."

"At once, love," she replies, picking up one in each hand. I hold the door for her, and Lady Suncrest gestures for me to approach.

"We're going to have to look under your shirt, Lukas," Lady Suncrest says softly. He groans again, and this time I see a weak attempt at nodding. She carefully moves the blanket and starts to lift his shirt. He yelps in pain. "I'm sorry, but that tells me there's a problem."

"Ugh... know that," he says hoarsely. "I'll live. Do what you must."

She does, despite further squirming and grunting, and I am unprepared for what I see - discolored lesions all over his abdomen, surrounded by rashes. As she rolls the shirt up the rest of the way, I see that the jaundiced splotching on his face has spread to his chest as well, and... looking again, I think some of the lesions have gone necrotic. She sees it too. Her face is hard to read through the mask, but the look in her eye...

"Alright. Melina, you're to prepare a nausea remedy, add antipyretic and astringent herbs." Wait, astringent? Okay, blackberry leaf, we have that with us, but why say it like that? "I need to work on a salve for all of this. Then after we get the immediate pain addressed, we'll work on the next steps, alright Lukas?" A groan and a nod. I don't think we'll get many other responses from him. "Alright. We shall return shortly, fear not."

She gestures for me to follow, and I do. We walk to the front room in silence, and she turns to me, still not breaking the silence. A test, then? "Astringent? That doesn't make sense here."

"Which astringents do we have with us?" she asks. She knows, I can hear it in her tone.

"Wild oak bark, sage, blackberry leaf," I reply.

"Very good. Now, blackberry leaf also helps with diarrhea, which... is an issue here. He hobbled off to the latrine while you were out getting water, and I suspect he will again shortly." I nod understanding and she continues, "Sage will react with drakeblood and whiskerbrush to create an effective narcotic..." She trails off, shaking her head.

"Is something wrong?" I ask.

"It's bad. I'm glad I sent that missive when I did. Trader's Blight, gold pox, The Tearing. It's gone by a few names. Only shows up rarely. Not overly contagious, but... incredibly difficult to treat."

"That ghost ship that came in back in 214," I half-mumble, remembering the stories vividly.

"Indeed. It killed everyone aboard."

"That's why you didn't want to say it directly?"

"Better to let him think we have things fully in-hand. Let the patient have hope," she says. "And, perhaps, let ourselves have hope. I do not know how to cure this, but I can keep him alive and ease his pain until the Cypress Circle gets here. It's a simple mixture for you to make, but keep your mask on. The fumes can get to you."

I set to work as instructed, preparing the herbal concoction to Lady Suncrest's specifications. She provides specific instruction as I complete each step. Her first batch of salve is done a little before my brew, so when I get to Lukas again, his abdominal pain is somewhat lessened. Lady Suncrest is there too, and gestures for me to administer the medicine. I help him sit up against the wall and hand him a crystal vial with an unsavory green liquid in it.

"So you know, Lukas, this will make you feel a little... strange, for a bit," she tells him. "That's meant to happen, to hopefully ease your discomfort." He nods and swallows the fluid in one gulp. He winces at the taste, but nods for me to lay him back down.

We work late into the evening preparing and administering further treatment. Lukas takes all further treatment without an utterance of complaint, which I hope means that we're making progress. I make some notes, and I see Lady Suncrest is doing the same.

The next morning, we wake and check on him. The redness in his face has diminished, and he's sweating less. As we monitor him through the day, he drinks less than he did previously. Lady Suncrest takes a blood sample to test for any ephemeral anomalies, and doesn't find any. Diminished dynamis, but normal with severe illness. From here, we set an effective routine: my task is to see to the patient's comfort in a medical sense, Lucinda for food and drink, and Lady Suncrest takes on the major symptoms.

Day three. Further improvement, I think? The jaundiced spots in his face are clearing up as well, though an indescribable smell has taken hold. It is not any of the herbs we're using, nor is it associated with the... expression of his symptoms. Lady Suncrest notices, and seems concerned, but we carry on while more closely monitoring him. My notes grow increasingly disordered, while hers are neat tables, with dates and times.

Day four. Early morning, we awake with a start after hearing a scream from Lukas. Lady Suncrest and I rush to his side, waving for Lucinda to stay outside. He's writhing in pain, teeth gritted and face twisted into a grimace. She lifts his shirt, and the lesions are... foamed over? What?

"Lukas," she says firmly. "I'm going to prepare something that will put you under while we try to deal with this. Do you consent?"

His response is almost "yes", but predominantly just shouting in pain. She waves for me to follow, and we leave the room again.

"I hoped we had more time. Melina, prepare a clove oil-infused cloth, it's going to hurt but it's the only way we can contain that."

"We don't have it," I say quietly. Did I miss something when I was packing..?

"The apothecary did when I went for the phenol. I'll go to her," Lucinda offers.

"Do so. Wake her if you must. Pay extra if you do. This is urgent." Lucinda leaves without another word. "The second she gets back, you work on that. I... it's a complicated recipe, I'll teach you later, but I do have what I need to knock the man out as harmlessly as possible."

She works, and I wait. At the pace she's keeping, I know better than to try to help; I would only slow her down. But we notice as Lucinda returns that Lukas has been silent for some time, and Lady Suncrest hurries back to check on him while I prepare the clove oil.

By sunrise on day four, there is a white flag outside the door.

---

For another tenday, we stay in one of the other isolation rooms to make sure we don't show any symptoms. Mercifully, Trader's Blight manifests quickly after exposure.

Then, on day 15 of our task, we are awoken by knocking at our door. Lady Suncrest opens it, and we're greeted by a woman in a flowing white robe with a crown of woven branches, and a man in a long, dark leather coat, with a matching wide-brimmed hat and a fox mask. The coat appears to have once been black, before fading to dark grey, and-

A fox mask? What?

"I'm sorry to have wasted your time, Dahlia," Lady Suncrest says sadly.

"I went over your notes already," Dahlia says kindly. "You did exceptionally well. I was curious about why there were two sets, though."

"That would be me. I'm her apprentice," I say, stepping forward but still a little behind and to the side of Lady Suncrest. "Melina."

"Impressive," the man says. "The Black-Quills were absolutely worth the trip, then."

"I told you before, Savino, they know their art." With a smile, she adds, "This one especially. Best healer I've ever seen outside of the Circle - no offense, Sav."

"None taken. You're the expert. But, Lady Suncrest, may we enter?" he asks.

"I would actually very much prefer we take this outside," Lady Suncrest replies. "I could use the air, for a change. We're clean of symptoms."

We all step outside together, and take off our masks. Savino... I suppose he's a handsome man. A little older than Lady Suncrest, but well-maintained, with clear grey eyes, straight brown hair, fair skin, and now a pair of round-rimmed glasses. I wonder how well he sees in the mask. Dahlia is younger, around my teacher's age, and has a fading tan, with hazel eyes and auburn hair, and though her robes hide it I can see her arms have some muscle to them. Does she also work in the fields?

"So... Savino, was it?" Lady Suncrest asks.

"Savino Provenzano," he replies with a nod. He extends an arm and, after a moment for Lady Suncrest to parse his meaning, the two shake hands. "I'm from il Volpe, a society of scholars of the arcane back home in Enotria. We've had some contact with the Cypress Circle before, and through them we heard of other- guilds?"

"Covens," Dahlia gently corrects.

"Covens, right. I joined Dahlia for this journey to meet you; what I've heard of your traditions sounds much like ours. Study, practice, adapt, learn what works and why."

"That seems reasonable, but I could do with a bit of a rest. This tenday has been... difficult for us."

"Of course, of course. Would there be a better place we could meet?"

"I have a cottage in Wolfwicce Wood nearby, it's about a three day ride from here normally. It might be a little small for all of us, though."

"Wonderful! I've had to stow away on ships before, so as long as I have more than a crate to stretch out in, I'll manage. I'll see you before much longer, then."

"And so will I," Dahlia adds. "I want to bring you some more study materials. If we can't maintain an enclave of our own out here, I want to do the next best thing."

"Was there... was there more I could have done?" Lady Suncrest asks quietly. The death is weighing heavily on her.

"I... I don't know. I don't know if any of us could have saved him, his case progressed faster than it should have, and none of your treatments are to blame. But if we know more, we can do more, right?"

"Yes... yes, you're right of course. Thank you," Lady Suncrest nods, some energy returning to her.

Dahlia gently embraces her for a moment, then releases her. "Until next we meet, then. And it was a pleasure to meet you two as well," she says to Lucinda and I. Lucinda didn't introduce herself though. Hmm.

We return to the kennels to retrieve our wargs, and while Bruno is clearly ready to swap tales with us, he realizes from Lady Suncrest's sullen expression that things ended poorly. He offers polite condolences and assurances, and signals for one of his daughters to retrieve our wargs.

It is a quiet ride home once more.