Int. Healing - Olvann

[Olvann Coia]

Continued from here...


Olvann entered the classroom after his brief encounter with, he assumed, the owner of the training facility. He was direly interested in continuing his training in the craft of his dead father. He supposed, the training would be undoubtedly different than his father’s practical teaching. He assumed that he had missed some portions of what a classroom professional could teach him. He fully expected he would learn new things that most field medics already knew, but it did not trouble him, he was quick to learn the practices of healing. He was excited to try his hand at some higher practices of his craft.

The classroom was brightly lit and in the center of the room there was a table filled with bandages and other tools of the trade. However, the instructor seemed to missing, so Olvann contented himself patiently with taking a seat and examining the tools on the table. Typically, he would have gone to inquire at the front of school, but suspected that he would receive little help from the Vysstichi and he was quite interested in the tools before him.

Quite suddenly, and after a very short wait, a stout dwarf scurried in with an outrageously vibrant red beard and hair. He wore a pair of golden-rimmed spectacles on the end of his nose. Green eyes peered lazily from behind the spectacles. In his right hand he carried a black bag. “Apologies, apoligies…." He said resigned, slightly flustered as he hurried over to the table. "I was called to treat a rather wily dracon right before I came here. I had to sedate him, he broke his leg and kept insisting I was his mother." He fumbled around in his vest-pocket and pulled out a pipe filled with purple weed. Lighting it he addressed Olvann casually, taking on a immediately more calm demeanor,"I am your instructor, Ramli. What do you know of healing? " He questioned inquisitively, not even bothering to ask the name of his student. He was obviously not being rude, just to the point, he evidently didn’t have time for idle pleasantries.

Olvann considered the questioned briefly before answering, “I worked as an assistant to my father until he died, I know most basic procedures by heart and could name you most of the Arium mountain herbs used as salves and medicines.” "Good." Ramli said with the astuteness that all doctors seemed to possess. He placed his bag on the table and turned to several cabinets on the opposite wall. Searching through several of them, he retrieved the three texts and medical kit Olvann had paid for. “Reenix told me you paid for your supplies.” The doctor said before placing the supplies in front of his student. The three texts included, The Healers Training Manual, The Healing Guidebook and Herbal Medicines. Olvann took a quick look through the kit which had been provided to him, inside there was a prod, blade, sewing kit, some bandages, a pick, some viles and pouches for salves, poultices, ointment and pills. The dwarf let Olvann survey his equipment momentarily before taking a set across from him at the table, his short legs not even reaching the floor.


“Alright, so you have probably used most of these as an assistant but some of them you haven’t.” He said while emphasizing his point by opening the black bag and spilling the contents onto the table. “This is your salve pouch.” He said while pointing at one pouch, “It’s filled with lard, used for mixing with a herb and then applied directly on an open wound or cut.” He continued after a brief pause, “This is your ointment pouch, It’s used for mixing oils and salves together to dab on irritated or bruised skin.” He said, moving onto yet another pouch, “This one is for poultices. Poultices are wet masses of earthen substance that you mix with herbs and place on a bandage to relieve pain.” He continued without a blink, “And this pouch –the last one is for pills. Prepare your pills, five or so prior to heading out on a expedition, that way you wont have to make them.” He concluded while drawing a pre-made pill out of his bag. It was just a leaf balled into a circular shape that herbs or other medicine could be put in. Olvann had seen all of these things used by his father. “Any questions?” Asked the dwarf. Olvann shook his head and urged the dwarf to continue.

[Olvann Coia]

“We have a few more pieces of equipment to cover” Said the dwarf with a smile, pleased with the apparent interest of his student. Picking up the oil vile, the dwarf said, “This is the Liniment or Essential oil vile. Obviously it holds the oil used for mixing various herbs and then is rubbed into the skin to relieve aches and pains. It can also be used to relieve stiff joints.” He said. “Any questions?” He said. Olvann nodded and asked, “Is the oil used for mixing ointments?” ”Exaclly” Ramli said with an approving smile.

“Alright, we have some other equipment to cover that you probably won’t have in your kit all the time.” He said while stepping down from his chair and retrieving a saw. “This is the surgeons saw” He stated with a smirk, and Olvann could do little but smile back and raise his eyebrows, “It is a small hand saw used for cutting.” He said casually, “You may find need of it when a blade doesn’t do the trick.” He moved on to another tool, a kettle. Ramli smiled and commented on the practicality of the tool, “A kettle, anything for boiling water can be very effective in making any type of concoction. Teas and infusions are the most practical purposes and are very valuable in treating a patient. Tea can be used as a medicinal drink with a herb of your choosing and can be taken internally. As for an infusion, boiling certain herbs into a drink can make them have different tastes and can be used effectively to down something else, like a putrid tea, or the herb itself.” He said, his long-winded explanation iterated with a logical air. “If you have any questions, feel free to voice them.” He said with a smile. Olvann was not used to having a pleasant instructor, and was highly enjoying it. “Thank you.” He said with a nod.

Ramli continued with a jovial smile, “Powder parchment, there should be some in your bag as well.” He said while pointing in confirmation at the equipment strewn across the table.“-used to store powdered herbs ready for application in anyway you see fit… Take advantage of it and procure your herbs beforehand.”

The doctor took a moment before continuing, “Alright, there is some terms that you must become acquainted with before we continue, I’ve written them down on this piece of parchment.” Said the dwarf while handing Olvann the parchment, “Tomorrow, I will expect you to know them.” He paused momentarily before continuing, “I would al-“ An assistant barged into the office and interrupted the doctor with a flurry of his arms, “Doctor! Mrs. Dehkyuiil’s water just broke!!” Ramli collected his equipment quickly and finished his sentence, “I would like you to read your Herbal Medicine text, I will see you tomorrow!” He said while rushing out the door. Needless to say, Olvann let himself out with a smile.

[Olvann Coia]

The following morning, Olvann walked towards the back of the training facility, nodding to Reenix, only to receive an identical response as the brightening prior. He entered the room to find the doctor scrubbing his arms and hands clean of something. He turned his head back to see who had entered his office, “Ahhh, Olvann!” He said with a smile, turning back to complete the washing of his arms. Turning around and picking up a hand towel he began to dry his hands while walking towards Olvann, “Don’t forget always to clean your arms and hands before and after treating a wound! Helps prevent infection!” He finished while throwing his towel back into the sink. ”Alright, strait to business. He said while leaning his arms on the back of his chair. “Do your homework? Good.” He said, not pausing to let Olvann answer the rhetorical question.

“I’ve a few questions then.” Stated the dwarf. “What is a protectorant and what are some of the most common herbs used for it?” He questioned, Olvann took a moment to mull over the question and answered without pause, “A protectorant is a herb that prevents infection. Some of the more common herbs are Aloe, Marigold, Poutel and Faile. ”And for burns?” Continued the dwarf, “Jamblai” Responded Olvann immiediately. ”Excellent” Stated the dwarf. ”Very, very good. He said with a laugh, taking a seat beside his student. "Now explaint to me the properties of Aloe." He said with a wry grin.

Olvann took a moment to consider his response, and as if reading from the manual responded in a stream of distinct and perfect pronunciation, "Aloe, as we have covered, is a protectorant, it is best used on light cuts to stem bleeding and prevent infection. It also decreases the healing time of a light wound to approximately half." He paused shortly and continued, "You can generally purchase it for about a hundred crowns and it can be used on most light wounds, including burns." He stopped here, looking at his instructor to see if he had missed anything. The nod of a satisfied head indicated he hadn't. "And what of Jallow?" Asked the doctor, following a general line of questioning. Without pause, Olvann continued, "Jallow is a root, generally it is mashed and infused as a tea. It's essentially a blood thinner that can remove a significant bruise from the body within four candlemarks and generally runs at the same cost as Aloe."

"Excellent, excellent!" He said with a clap of his hands, obviously very impressed by the knowledge exhibited by his student. "One more and we shall continue, tell me about Frej." Olvann considered the question briefly; this was a more advanced herb, more closely related to his current level of training. That was probably why didn't hesitate in answering the question. "Frej is used to treat muscle damage; it is used as a tonic, generally collected as a tree sap and then rubbed into the damaged area. It promotes muscle re-growth to twice it's normal rate. It can run for upwards of two-hundred and fifty crowns." Upon completion he was met by a hearty pat on the back and a deep chuckle, "Perfect, absolutely perfect, now lets move on, I'll test you more later."

[Olvann Coia]

The dwarf continued to question his student. “What would you do prior and after examining an open wound.” Olvann considered the question before continuing, “Well first I would wash my hands!” he said with a smile of his own, only to receive a chuckle from his teacher. “-then I would use a cleanser to clean the wound before and after examination.” ”Good” Stated the teacher, “This is extremely important, more often than not, a patient dies from infection than from the initial wound.” Ramli took a moment to consider his student. ”Well good, assuming that you’ve read the herbal medicine text in it’s entirely, we can move on.” Smiling slightly, the doctor continued, knowing that his student knew the thing by heart. Usually he would have attributed the perfect answers to luck, but somehow he knew the man had read what he was told to read. Not very many students were passionate enough to read the whole damn thing in one night. This man didn’t even look tired. In truth, Olvann had known most of the herbs already; ten years of learning from a healer taught you many things about the craft.

"I have an assistant today who you may practice on. Practical teaching is a far better tool when attempting to learn something. The theory is easily regurgitate, but to actually do the work, is a totally different thing.” Stated the dwarf while calling his assistant in. “Alright, This is how you apply an ointment. You add your herb to the ointment, mix it in with your fingers, spread it on a pad… And there… Gently dab it onto the wounded area. If it an open wounded or especially painful, just apply the pad to the wound. You try” Olvann repeated the procedure, accidentally spreading a bit on the table before finishing. “Excellent, but remember, preserve what you have, you may not always have access to an apothecary or herbal remedy shop.” Olvann nodded and listened intently to the doctor as he continued.

”Applying a salve is much the same, add your desired herb to your salve, mix and smear onto a bandage. Gently apply it to your wound or cut. If the wound is serious use bandages to wrap it onto the wound, unless it’s a serious burn, in which case, don’t wrap it. Your turn” Again, Olvann took to copying the work of the doctor and found himself smiling during the length of the process. Finally completing the application of the salve, that doctor asked him to wrap it with further bandages. Acceding to the doctor’s wishes, Olvann completed the task to a nod of approval and the doctor continued. ”Remember to wrap the wound at least three times. If your treating a wound directly, make sure you cover the wound in its entirety.” He added before moving on.”We’ll skip the oil, as t is applied the same way, except rubbed directly onto the skin. The poultice as well, simply mix your herb together with the poultice and placed on the skin, you’ve seen it done before I take it?” Olvann nodded, he had indeed, seen the same procedure performed by his father many times.

”Let us discuss burns.” Stated the doctor, “Burns are tricky, as you cannot simply apply a dry bandage because seriously burnt skin will stick and peel off when a bandage is applied.” Ramli explained in a serious tone. “You must first dampen any applied poultice with cold water, dabbing it over the wound for at least five minutes and then treat for shock. DO NOT, and I say this as seriously as I can, for any reason, pop the blisters, that is an invitation for infection. If the blisters pop by themselves, allow them to dry and hope for the best.” Olvann nodded in understanding.

“Treating a hairline or closed fracture is done very simply.” Explained the doctor, “Simply apply a splint after applying a healing salve to the area.” He said with a shrug, “Have a go at it.” He said, goading Olvann to work. Olvann applied a salve to the assistant’s right arm and proceeded to apply a splint to the area. He had made many splints before and was quite adept, it took him less than five minutes to complete a perfect splint, salve and all. “Excellent” reiterated the dwarf. His student was quite talented.

“We will cover one more procedure today, some herbs and then I'll send you on your way.” Stated the dwarf, “Treating moderate open bleeding wounds.” He eyed Olvann with an intensity that declared this as the most important lesson of the day. “Bleeding and shock are two of the most unhinging conditions you’ll ever come across. Bleeding is something that can be easily fixed but it affects a lot of people differently, and often seems a lot worse than it is. Shock on the other hand, is something you can’t see and is easily overlooked, remember that a blanket, comfort and warmth go a long way to insuring the survival of a patient. Bleeding generally takes priority however, the way it’s treated is like so…” The dwarf said while picking up one of Olvann’s instruments.

[Olvann Coia]

“Pick clean any debris in the wound firstly.” He stated while imaginarily picking debris from the wound with a pick. “Then…” He said while picking up a bandage, “Apply protectorant and if the wound is deep, use your prod to decipher if there is internal injury. If no internal injury is apparent, use your sewing kit to sew up the wound.” The dwarf at this point retrieved a thick torn leaf and motioned for Olvann to take up his needle. “Prick the wound at the longest point into the skin close to the skin edge. Pull thread down into the skin layer leaving about a half finger length of thread at the prick point, and then pull excess over to the opposite side of the wound directly across from the prick point. Prick upward through the skin and pull the thread outward.” Ramli explained while practicing on a leaf of his own. “Then cut the thread from the needle, leaving the same size thread at exit prick point as you did at the initial prick point. Pull the thread ends together until skin edges meet and then tie the thread in a simple knot. Repeat this procedure for every half-finger length of the wound.” He continued while examining Olvann’s handiwork. ”Shorter for your fingers.” The dwarf added with a chuckle. ”If there is internal injury, treat for bleeding and check for exit wounds.”He stopped then, assuring himself that Olvann had absorbed the material. “After your done sewing up the wound, apply salves to deter infection and bandage it appropriately.”

The dwarf looked at the neat stitching Olvann had performed on the leaf and nodded in approval, “Excellent, hopefully you can do it on something that bleeds!” He said with a chuckle. “Any questions?” He asked. “None.” Replied Olvann, satisfied with the lesson. “Good, now, let’s test you on a few herbs.” He said with a grin, “I’m sure you enjoy this as much as I do” He said with a chuckled, quite amazed at the ability his student had for memorization. He was certainly an intelligent man. “Alright-“ He started, “-tell me about the properties of Saspirrila.” He paused briefly and added, “And how you’d go about procuring it.”

Olvann considered the question and supposed he had been already telling the doctor how to procure herbs, so he continued after only a moment, “Saspirrila, is used as a bruise healing agent. The broken vessels under the skin are healed twice as fast with the herb applied as a poultice and it is easily procured from the petals of the flower. It general runs for upwards of seventy crowns if purchased.” The doctor nodded his head, “Very good- and how, may I ask would you hold that poultice in place?” Olvann shrugged his shoulders and simply replied, “Tie it with bandages, or anything else that is at hand.” Again, he was met by an approving nod and smile. “Alright, how many times would you change the poultice per brightening?” Questioned Ramli. Olvann responded with a chuckle, “Once per brightening would suffice, I suppose, but depending on circumstances, it wouldn’t hurt to replace the poultice, twice, even thrice a brightening, if for instance, the party was traveling hard.” He stated confidenently.

”Wonderful!” The burly dwarf said, taking his spectacles off his nose, “Alright, one more, this time, Nunth.” He said perfectly serious, and Olvann had trouble keeping a grin off his face, “A laxative.” He said with a chuckle and continued, “For relieving constipation. A bowel juice, generally a tea, infused with the herb. The water part of the cactus is where the herb is found and no more than two to three grams should be used for an adult.” He concluded and the dwarf chuckled, “It may seem funny to you, but old men, like myself, have such troubles occasionally.” And he lifted an eyebrow at the human before continuing his line of questioning, “How long until the tea takes effect?” Questioned Ramli. “Generally, two to three minutes, depending on the individual.” Replied Olvann.

“Good, that’s enough for the brightening then.” Stated the dwarf with a smile and wink, ”I’ll see you tomorrow.” The dwarf said. Olvann packed up his kit and bowed to the dwarf, “Tomorrow then.” He said with a smile and left the training facility.

* * * * *

Olvann returned the next brightening and has he had done the day before, the doctor quizzed him on various herbs and techniques that he had taught him. This very same thing happened for nearly two full cycles until the doctor was completely satisfied with his student. However, to Olvann's surprise upon entering one morning into the Doctor's office, the doctor sat him down and did not ask him any questions, but simply stated, "I've only the need to teach you one more procedure." He said sternly and guided Olvann into a laying position on the cold wooden floor.

"The Chest-pressure arm-lift procedure used to bring a person back to breathing, when they aren't. The heart must still be beating for this procedure to work, and it is done like so." The dwarf knelt over the head of Olvann and held his hands on his lower ribs, palms down. "Place their hands like so and rock forward with steady, uniform pressure almost directly downward until you meet firm resistance. Then lift their arms vertically upward, stretching them backward over the patients head as far as possible. The dwarf moved away, continuing his explanation, "Replace the patients hands on their lower ribs and repeat the cycle, 10-12 times per minute. Do the 'replace' step as quickly as possible, but insure the other three are done at a steady rate. If you tire, and have a replacement, switch over during the replace phase." He concluded, adding only, "If it's a small child, press carefully." The dwarf surveyed his sitting student, well aware of how talented he was.

"Any questions?" The dwarf asked. Olvann shook his head and stood. The dwarf smiled toothily at him and bowed, "Good, congratulations, you have completed intermediate healing." Olvann returned the bow, smiled just as largely and exited the building with a final good-bye to the doctor.

[Kalinda]

~Intermediate Healing and Basic Herbalism Approved!~