A Desire to Aid

[Suvia Theronguard]

TS: 16th of Optia, Era II of the Celestine Mandate, Era XIV Post Fractum

Suvia walked down debris filled streets of partially raised Archadoon. Suvia had been alerted of the fire the evening in occured by the screams of the people. To escape its ravages, Suvia had taken to the bay and found a small rocky alcove in the port waters where she remained until brightening-break. When she returned to land, she had found much of the city burned.
The bemoaned cries of the inhabitants rang in her hears as the sadness of their loss pulled at her heart. Amidst the partial ruin, she could see that there were those who were injured in the blaze—a blaze whose origins were unknown to her at the present moment. As she continued her course, she happened upon a man who wore fresh bandages on his arms.
“Excuse me please sir, who tended to your wounds? If I can, I’d like to give aid as well.”
The human man eyed her for a moment. “A mermaid? Why would the likes of you wanna help anyone but yerself?” Suvia was taken aback by this statement. Why would he feel compelled to say something like that? She only wanted to help—it almost didn’t seem right that she could so easily escape harm and in turn not try to assist those who needed it.
The hurt look on her face must have been apparent, because the man’s face softened a bit. “Well, there be a doctor further up the way by the name of Alia. She has a bit of a tent set up with a few others helpin’er. Talk to her I guess…” The man turned from her and continued on his way. Alia eh? Suvia would go to her—with as much of the city devastated as it was, that doctor would have to need more help. Its seemed the closer she drew to her destination, the stronger the stench of chard flesh became—for a moment it was almost unbearable, as the very smell of it seeped into her mouth. A few minutes more passed and soon she could clearly see what looked to be a makeshift infirmary. There were many people around, all in different stages injury and agony. All of their pain filled faces did their work to etch themselves into her mind. Suvia knew that some of them around would not survive their ordeal—nonetheless, they deserved some level of comfort before their bodies could no longer hold the spark of life deep within.
“Alia…I am looking for a Ms. Alia!” Suvia announced to the collection of people around the large tent in a voice much louder than she was used to using.
“Who, who is that?” A hurried voice called out as a woman with purpose emerged from the tent’s interior.
“Are you Alia ma’am?”
"Who wants to know?” She asked, obviously in a rush to get back to whomever she was attending.
“Ma’am my name is Suvia Theronguard; I am a mermaid from Iffereon. I wish to assist you in treating the wounded. I have no first aid skills, but I will do whatever you tell me however you tell me, just as long as I can provide some comfort to these people.”
The woman looked at her with a weighty intensity. Suvia chewed her bottom lip a bit as she waited for the woman's response—hoping desperately that her desire to help would overshadow her lack of experience.

[LostWalker]

Alia looked hard and long at the young mermaid. "I don't know how long you will be able to stay on land my dear child but if you really wish to learn and to help then it shall be so. Come quickly I need you to assist me with this boy."

Alia rushed back into the tent and fell to the side of a young boy. There was a male hold a cloth to his stomach and a women trying to talk to him to keep him from looking at his body. "Ok let me see." Alia told the man. With her words her removed the cloth and blood started to spill from the boys stomach. "Come Suvia stand there at that table and hand me the items as I ask for them. First hand the him a clean cloth then hand me that needle and that thin string."

Alia took the items and worked quickly, there was not much she could do. The boy needed a thaumaturge to fix the wound without him dieing. But...for the moment a quick stitching up could possible last him till the archmage came. "Now come and help the women hold the boy down. He is in pain but the worse is yet to come. Be gentle."

Looking for the man to the women and back to Suiva, she began her work. They boy felt the need and started to scream and squirm in pain. The high pierced screams was the most horrible sound you would hear for miles around and there was nothing that could be down except for Alia to work fast. Stitch after stitch and the boy just kept screaming. Finally Alia was done and the boy was in tears. She took a clean cloth to wipe the area and got up and walked away before returning with some water. She handed it to Suvia and told her to help the boy drink the whole water skin then meet her in the front of the tent.

[LostWalker]

OoC...Suvia when you reply to this thread as we talked about I wish for you to move to this thread here and work with Elma and Ardyne

[Suvia Theronguard]

Suvia watched as the woman worked to mend the child. Alia had requested that she aid the other woman present in holding the injured boy, as that there were no herbs or medicines to lessen the very obvious pain. The mermaid looked on as the needle dolphined in and out of the boy’s torn flesh—listening to his tortured screams—feeling powerless as he cried.
Seeing the saline trails stream from tightly shut eyes, Suvia could not keep words from forming in her head.

When Suiva was younger, she would on many occasions hear the other girls in her small fishing community sing various nursery rhymes. It was shortly after her seventh birthday that she hummed a few bars of such a nursery rhyme while in Mrs. Therongaurd’s presence. Suvia could recall with crystal clarity her adoptive mother’s words:

“Suiva, you mustn’t join in such nonsensical banter as song. It is a frivolous thing…your skill lies in the water as a fisher.”

While Suvia honored this wish to a point, even at the tender age of seven, she was smart enough to know that song was not nonsensical. Wihle she never questioned Mrs. Theronguard’s reasoning, and did not sing in her presence, she would not pass up an opportunity to sing when she was alone. Every day when she would go to the water, she would hum the bars of all the songs she knew, most times improvising with the tunes and making them into her own. After a while, Suvia finally revealed her little secret to her adoptive brother, who would encourage her in private. Often times, he would praise her on the sweetness of her voice and how she should keep going, while exercising caution as to not anger their mother for her disobedience. As the years passed, Suvia managed to privately train her voice enough to keep good tune and even write a few bars of her own, even though she never kept any of them for fear of being discovered by her mother.

When Alia completed her work, she left then returned with a water skin, which she handed to Suvia and told her to have to boy drink all of it before joining her outside the tent. Alia then left, followed by the other woman, leaving her momentarily with the patched-up child. His young eyes looked dulled and aged under the weight of his pain.
Sitting him up carfully so as to not tear the new stitches, Suvia placed the water skin up to his dry lips. After a moment of unresponsiveness of the child, she lowered the skin and began to stroke his oily and matted hair. “I know you are tired young one, but you must drink…you’re body needs water to live, you must be strong.”
The child blinked his glassy eyes once in answer to the mermaid. Seeing this, Suvia breathed out lightly as she pulled the boy closer to her to cradle him. The words in her head had found a window to emerge.

“Fly the fish to the sea, there’s no water left for me,
“from the sky it shall fall, bring your skins one and all,
“drink it down you will see, we are all fish of the sea.”

It was a very simple tune which she sung only for him. As Suvia sung her melody, the tired child dragged his weary eyes up to her. It almost seemed as if he were just then recognizing that she was not human.
“You have scales like a fish.” He bairly whispered to Suvia as her tune continued. “Yes I do. I am a mermaid. I know how important water is; will you have some?” She replied, softly returning to the tune which she chose now to hum.
“Ok.” The boy said quietly. The mermaid smiled as she took up the skin and held it to the child’s lips. After the emptied the skin, she pulled over the boy a blanket she found lying nearby. “Worry not, you will recover. This will pass over you.” Suiva said to him as she stood. Giving him one last smile, she moved to the outside of tent to where Alia said to meet her. The boy would recover, all he needed was time and care.

[Suvia Theronguard]

Continued from here

When the woman had arrived with her outside the tent, the mermaid turned to her. "Ms. Alia, I do not which to sound crass, but my time here is very short. I must return to my home in Ieffreon, my family waits for me there. I know that this seem forward, but is it alright if I have some independent instruction? The other girls are very fair, but I must move swiftly."
Hoping that that woman did not find her too impatient, Suvia listened intently on what the doctor had to say about her request.

[Aqua]

Alia didn't answer immediately. She looked the mermaid up and down, as if checking her over to see what her motivations might be for asking such an odd question. However, this only lasted for a few seconds, though it might have felt like longer.

"The world, sad as it is, needs healers, Suvia. If you must go, then go you must. Your own instruction is nearly finished, at least on the basic level, and I'll be more than happy to finish what you have left. Let me complete the instruction for the other women, and you can go prepare to return to Ieffreon. If you'll come back tonight, I'll finish your instruction."

*****

When Suvia arrived, Ms. Alia was waiting. "Let's talk about burns, shall we?" she asked. "Another common injury. How one treats them depends on how much of the skin is left -- whether the outer layer is the only one damaged, or whether the burn has removed the skin entirely and the wound is down into the flesh. Have you any idea how one would treat such an injury?"

[Suvia Theronguard]

Suvia shook her head. "I do not. I've seen some people before with odd scarring on the skin that didn't look like it had come from a blade...but it could have been from anything. It reminded me of...of something that had melted but came back solid...but not in the smooth way it was before. Could this be the mark of a burn?"

[Aqua]

Ms. Alia nodded. "Yes, it could be. In the event of a burn, you first want to remove any clothing that's on it unless it looks like it's stuck to the wound. Then, as long as there is some skin left, soak the wound in cool water. You may put a healing salve on after that, so long as it's not an oily one -- oil just makes it worse. You can cover it with a light bandage, tied loosely."

"If the burn is down into the flesh, the person is in grave danger of dying. Treat them for shock, and remove any constricting clothing or jewelry, because swelling is often serious. You can wash the burn under cool -- not cold -- water. Keep them still, and get them to a master healer or a thaumaturge as quickly as you can, because there's little else that can be done at a beginning level."

After she was satisfied that Suvia understood, Ms. Alia asked, "Now, can you think of any other common injuries that we haven't discussed?"

[Suvia Theronguard]

"...I don't think so." Suvia answered after some thought. Truth be told, she wasn't entirely sure, but if she had any questions, she would ask them. "So to recap, you would make sure that the burn is uncovered, and is rinsed a bit with cool, not cold water. After that, you can put a non-oily salve over the wound and bandage it lightly. It the burn is bad enough, take the person to a master healer or a thaumaturgist. I understand." The mermaid announced seriously.

[Aqua]

Alia nodded. "That's correct."

"The last thing you really need to know is how to set a broken bone. If the bone is not returned to its proper position, in the same place that it was before the break, it will grow back together wrong, and the injury may become chronically painful, or even debilitating."

"When someone breaks a bone, you will need to find where the break is, see if there is any displacement, and if there is, physically move the pieces of bone back to their original position. This process is often extremely painful, so if you have any way of numbing or sedating your patient, you'll want to use it. There's not a lot of technique involved -- you simply have to feel when the bone is back in place. It's like fitting a puzzle back together."

"Once that's done, you can put a splint on the break -- a bandage with something inflexible, such as a board, on either side to prevent the injury from moving again. At that point, what you can do as a healer is done."

[Suvia Theronguard]

Suvia listened intently as the doctor explained the importance of setting a bone properly. The idea of a broken bone seemed painful enough, but having to physically jar it back into place sounded like agony. She'd have to consider purchasing some sort of sedative to help alleviate that type of pain.
"Yes Alia, incorrect setting will cause the bone to heal improperly; the only way to know if the set is correct is to feel it. Splint the bone with something inflexible to prevent further movement--at that point my job is done." The mermaid gave the doctor a warm smile. "Is there anything else that I need to know?"

[Aqua]

The healer shook her head. "At this point, Suvia, there's little else to tell you at the basic level. May your travels bring you in contact with those who need your help."

OOC: Basic Healing approved (+2 XP)