Solo Respect the Dead.

[Bakar]

I promise I'm not that scary..

Summer, 21, 515


Bakar sliced down the sternum, slowly and steadily, to reveal the innards of the deceased. It was a young male today, found outside the gates It was thought that he had been a victim of the local wildlife.

In his earlier examination, he found teeth marks and scratches on his arms and legs. He attributed this as the cause of death without a second thought, thinking it was quite clear. He didn't even realize at this point in time that there were no lethal bites on the victim. Bakar couldn't identify them, but Benoit made notes in a book, likely a journal of the causes of death for the deceased here, thought Bakar. After the examination of the outer body, Bakar turned his attention to the actual dissection of the poor man.

He slipped on a pair of thicker gloves and grabbed a scalpel. After a small investigation, it was deemed that this man was a wanderer, and had no family or friends here, or nearby. His body was to be committed to the collection of bodies available to Nuit who need it. That means that it needed to be embalmed and prepared for long term preservation. Bakar had done this before, and it was much easier to do with proper tools. And when not on yourself. The pain of cutting your own chest open makes it hard to concentrate. And the weeks long sleep afterwards made that time of life very inefficient. Much easier when it's done before someone claims a new body.

He continued with the incision, joining two shorter cuts coming from the shoulders. He spread the skin, and without balking at the sight of the gore now before him, he carefully excised the organs of the abdomen, being the most easily accessible. He didn't want to remove the ribcage to gain access to the chest organs, as that would ruin the integrity of body when it was time for someone to return.

He placed the organs in a tray provided. Intestines, liver, spleen, kidneys, everything. After Bakar was done, he did his best the remove the chest organs without damaging the skeleton. Reaching up from the now empty abdominal cavity.

This was easier said than done. His hands were too large to effectively reach the upper organs to cut them out. He then tried to slip the blade of the scalpel through the ribcage. It wasn't easy, but he was able to remove the connections that the organs had and then he could reach up through the abdomen and slowly pull out the heart and lungs.

Now, with the organs removed, what was left was to wait for the blood to finish draining, and embalm the body. Bakar placed the tools down, and stretched, finished this portion of the autopsy.

[Bakar]

I promise I'm not that scary..

Not all the blood is removed from the body, as without a beating heart, there isn't anything to push it out. Bakar rubs the body down with drying salts that will eventually keep the body from falling victim to the moisture in the air. An added effect of this will keep bacteria from forming and feasting on the dead body. Something very important, if this body was to be used as a vessel for Nuit.

"It wouldn't do for the body to rot before it even got any use.." Bakar said to himself. Beniut grunted, as if to tell him to keep quiet. Bakar looked his way, embarrassed that he had been caught talking to himself again. Benoit was working on another body, one that he hadn't been very free with the information pertaining to it.

Bakar was only told what he needed to know. And you didn't need to know much about a person to preserve them. This was none of his business. He turned his attention back to his own task.

With the body rubbed down with the salts, the blood would need to be force out, and replaced with embalming fluid. Bakar called Benoit over, making sure that he would do this correctly. Benoit took a syringe, and carefully inserted it into a vein in the arm, and slowly pushed the liquid through. Small globs of slightly coagulated blood was forced out through the severed vein, as the body's lifeforce was replaced with something less warm. He passed the syringe over to Bakar and waited for him to recreate what he did.

He repeated this process with other veins around the body, taking care not to miss any. His knowledge of the human body helped with this, but having Benoit there to help him with the finer points of what went where was an even greater boon. He committed these veins and their destinations to memory, his Nuit mind helping greatly in this situation. After this process, the body will be left to dry for some days, to ensure complete saturation of the body with the salts and embalming fluid.

Bakar gently folded the skin back over the ribcage and took up thread and needle. The skin was tough, as always. He grunted quietly as he tried to force the needle through the deceitfully thick skin. "Don't be too gentle.. that's what he told me.." Bakar whispered to himself. Each stitch seemed to go through harder than the last. Benoit was suddenly beside him, and as Bakar turned to face him, he grabbed the needle from his hand and diposed of it.

"Needles dull. It's going to make it harder. Get a new one. Don't force it through, this is delicate work, not the work of a strongman. That said, don't be too gentle. You need to get used to this, if you want to be of real use here."

Bakar did as he was told, and handed the new needle to Benoit. He pushed the needle through, much quicker than Bakar had been doing.

"Push it through, with increasing pressure until the body yields. But once again, don't be scared. Push, dammit. You're not going to hurt 'em. Don't start with as hard as you can. You risk tearing the skin with your clumsy fingers, and creating a hole. You need to find the median."

Benoit did a few more stitches, then stepped aside for Bakar to take over again. He continued, still not quite familiar with the procedure. Benoit watched him for a bit, seemed satisfied then returned to his own job.

It was done, the body stitched and put aside until the salts did their job.

With these things done, the only thing left to do was wait. After the body is ready, it will be stuffed, to retain it's shape, and placed with the other bodies for storage, for use whenever it's needed. Bakar sighed again, and sat down. Finished his job for the moment.

[Bakar]

I promise I'm not that scary..

Summer, 41, 515

Bakar returned to Li Mauta, and on this day, the body he had been preparing for preservation was ready for the next step. With the body dried and free of bacteria, it was time to make sure the body will keep it's shape under strain.

The body was laid out before him. He carefully cut off the thread, holding the chest together. He gently peeled the skin back, it sticking slightly to the ribcage. The thought of this might have disgusted most people, but Bakar was used to these things at this point.

The insides were dried and preserved, no rot whatsoever at this point in time. He wiped down the innards, readying to stuff the body for stability. It was cleaned and prepared for the linen stuffing. It would add weight, and keep the body from falling in on itself.

Linen was forced into the body, stuffed tightly. If stuffed too light, the linen would fold on itself and may cause trouble for the inhabitant. "Huh.." Bakar said. "There's another thought most people would abhor. 'Inhabitant.' People hate us enough without words like that.. but that's all we are now. We don't have bodies, we borrow. What even are we? Some people define themselves with their physical form.. what.. what do we look like? What are we?" Bakar was whispering to himself again, thinking these thoughts that filled him with not so nice feelings.

Benoit grunted again, and Bakar shut up. His mind still raced though. These thought were not uncommon. He'd always found something about his new existence to wonder and toss around.

What was he? Was he.. a spirit? Or.. maybe the ichor that ran though his body wasn't just his lifeforce, it was him. Was he just this fluid, this "parasite" that steals these bodies for it's own selfish reasons. The prejudice that his people go through has finally caught up to him. He was questioning himself, and all that he is.

His work was going undone, and Benoit was beside him again, scolding him and telling him to get a move on. Bakar barely heard him, but started distractedly stuffing the body again. And when that was done, he started restitching the body. It was finished. This body was preserved and ready for transfer, whenever another "parasite" had need for it.

With his work done for today, he left, without a word. Benoit didn't even glance at him. Silently and dreadfully, he made his way back to his home.

[Bakar]

I promise I'm not that scary..

Summer, 43

Bakar wasn't at Li Mauta yesterday. He spent the day milling these thoughts around his mind at home. He didn't even realize that a day had passed, there were no windows in this room, and his sense of time wasn't the best. He left though the door and made his way to his place of occupation.

Benoit was there, as always. When Bakar entered he was scolded immediately. Bakar had started to apologize for missing the day before, but Benoit shook that away.

"I don't care about that! The heart! The heart, Bakar! Did you not even look at it!?"

The organs, Bakar kept to the side. He had planned on burning them, when the body was finished and not claimed, in case someone came for the man and wanted him buried, or more likely, cremated.

He had not preserved the organs, but they were set with the bodies to keep them partially kept saved. Bakar hadn't really looked at it. He just removed and placed aside. It was spotted with black, and slightly shrunken, he could tell this now, even with the slight rot.

"Does this look like a healthy heart?!" Benoit asked him, angry that he had missed something so obvious.

"N-no," Bakar stammered. "I-I didn't think about it, I-I was just preserving the body.."

"You were to perform an autopsy, not just preserve it! You were to look for irregularities and record them! this is not regular! This man was poisoned, and at this point the killer could be far, far away! I've already alerted the knights, though with you cleaning out most of the evidence from the body, I'm not sure it'll be much use!" Benoit was furious. Bakar had made a grave mistake, that may well let a murderer go free.

The knights arrived. They took the body, organs, and questioned Benoit for a while. Bakar stood off into the corner, waiting for the knights to come question him. They left, not even looking his way.

Benoit came to Bakar, scowling slightly.

"There's been a development with the man. They think they know where he came from. Sunberth. They're not planning on looking into it much further, him being from such a place. But they're taking everything back there, just in case. You have no idea how lucky you are. This could have been much worse. I should keep you out of here, and no let you return. But I won't. I'm letting this lucky break serve as a lesson to you, one that you hopefully take to heart." Benoit turned and walked away, before Bakar could even reply.

"Th-thank you, I'm sorry." He said meekly, pretty much to himself.

"Go home for today. Think about this. Come back later. Here. Read over this." Benoit spoke into his work, making notes, likely about the proceeding event, before passing Bakar the journal he was writing in.

Bakar left, and once again made his way back home. Left alone to his thoughts, this time about his mistake. He sat and stared, thinking of all the ways this could have gone wrong. He could have been arrested, he could have been killed. He was reluctant to return. A life of solitude didn't seem so bad now. He would return however, and make up for this error. He would make Benoit proud. Or.. as close as he could make him. He turned his attention to the ratty book that had been given to him.

[Bakar]

I promise I'm not that scary..

The book that Benoit had passed him was indeed a journal of the passing throughs of the morgue. Meticulous notes of all bodies, causes and what happened after their stay. Either buried, burned or stored. Most were things normal deaths. Old age, accidents, wildlife.

There were, however, a few cases of murder. Benoit was often called out by the knights to assist in their investigations, in these cases, so he kept very accurate notes of anything out of place. A small wound on the arm, missing body parts, a bald spot, anything that didn't seem like it should be there. Sometimes, they didn't lead anywhere. Sometimes, however. They lead to breakthroughs that could solve the killings.

These are the ones that Bakar focused on. The irregularities, the not normals. They would be the ones that caused him the most trouble. He would need to be more perceptive of the hidden evidence, and needs to learn to not just assume the easiest answer.

Benoit had made notes of what they knights found. A pack of food, not far from where the body was found, in the woods, surrounded by dead wildlife. Apparently the traveler's food was poisoned, and he passed trying to make it to the gates for assistance. The animal bites and scratches were post mortem, made after he had died.

Benoit had taken Bakar's call that it was the wildlife that killed the man. He trusted him, and Bakar was wrong. He didn't want that to happen again.

He spent the next few days studying the notes, skimming over the typical, normal deaths. He was only interested in the hidden. The typically unseen. Benoit had an eye for detail, and recorded everything.

One man, while it looked like natural causes, had been murdered. The knights were about to wrap up when Benoit had noticed a small mark on his arm. He had been injected with something. Closer examination from other outside help revealed that it was a paralytic venom. One that was a little too strong. It paralyzed his lungs, and he was unable to breath. He died due to suffocation.

These were the kinds of note Bakar would need to internalize, keep with him for reference to any body he may find. These are the things he'd need to learn if he wanted to continue working at Li Mauta. To assist with Benoit, and not ruin any investigations.

He returned to Li Mauta, handed Benoit his journal back and set off to a body laid out. He carefully looked over every part, watching for anything he may have otherwise missed. He was determined to never make a mistake like that again. Benoit watched him silently, before returning to his own work.

[Devi]

Your Grades have arrived! Bakar Skills: Undertaking: 4 Investigation: 2 Intelligence: 1 Observation: 2 Embalming: 2 Philosophy: 1 Lores: Undertaking: the delicate art of stitching. Benoit: the quiet observer. Philosophy: the nature of being Nuit. Investigation: signs of a suspicious death Comments: An interesting read - it opens up a world of intriguing possibilities . Let me know if you have any questions and don't forget to edit your post in the Grade Request Thread. Happy Writing!