Human Error

by **Jomi** on March 19th, 2019, 4:56 am

Spring 17, 519 AV
"Speech"

"I need a doctor!"

A young human man staggered his way into the Catholicon. Tears cut thick wet tracks into his soot covered face as he fell into the reception desk. He was clutching his right hand that was burned up to the wrist. The pale skin peeled off to expose ruined red angry flesh and thick yellow blisters. His dark chestnut hair was hacked short and uneven, with the long sections stuck out at odd angles adding to the mans haggard desperate appearance as he sobbed into his chest.

In a moment a team of stressed and overworked nurses had the man under the shoulders, supporting him as they helped him into the emergency ward and steered him to an unoccupied bed. A bustle of commotion followed as they set to work immobilizing the hand and throwing rapid fire questions to the sobbing, disorientated man.

"Name?"

"I-uh, Mason.""

"Profession?"

"I-I'm a student under....It doesn't matter."

"Race?"

"...Human? What are you doing?"

"Its just a catnip and stevia paste. Lim will spread it above your wound, it should help ease the pain while we send for the doctor. What is the cause of your injury?"

A long tense silence stretched between the nurse and patient before Mason dropped his voice and spoke into his chest.

"I, um well. I put it in a pot of boiling water..."

"You mean you fell into it?"

The humans voice was thick as he blurted out a "yes ma'am" a beat too late and laid back into his bed. His eyes were screwed shut, his soot blackened hand rubbing across his face to hide his tears of pain.

The nurse sighed deeply. It was clear she wouldn't be getting any more information out of this man.

"Someone get a herbalist to treat this burn."

Boxcode by Allassanachassanya

by **Gemma Parker** on March 20th, 2019, 11:58 am

It was another rainy day in Lhavit, but by now Gemma had given up hoping for better. She spent most of her time inside anyway, so it didn't affect her much except for when she was on her breaks. This one was only five chimes, but she had still gone out to stand outside the entrance of The Catholicon while she took the break. It was moments like these that helped Gemma keep her stress levels down while she worked. Well, that and essential oils in her tea.

But when her break was almost done, a young man came running past her clutching a clearly burned hand. It startled Gemma, since she had not been paying attention, and before she could think or say anything, he was past her and inside getting help from some of the doctor's aids. She raised her eyebrows. That was fast. Had he sent ahead? She hadn't heard about it.  
She was curious about the case and wanted to check on the man, but she had seen his burn. She knew she would be called on for burn treatment soon. So, for now, she stemmed her curiosity and cut her break short a chime, heading down to her little unofficial workshop where she began to gather a few things that she would need to treat the burn. That way, when she was called on, she would be able to give treatment faster.

She went to the herb storage room and quickly gathered Vyfox, Tulja goop (she didn't know the official name), and an aloe leaf. On her way out, she also grabbed lavender essential oil. She then took the stairs two by two as she hopped up to the main ward, where an aid was just coming out to get her.

"Gemma. Herbalist needed for second-degree scald in E-Ward. Patient name Mason.“ That was all, but Gemma was ready. She clutched the assembled herbs in her arms and trotted through to the emergency ward where she quickly found the patient.

“Hello, mister Mason, my name is Gemma. I’ll be your herbalist and healer today.” She tried to sound soft and caring, but professional. One of the aids was in the process of getting a restraint for the man’s arm, so Gemma just mixed the herbs while they finished their work. The man seemed very bothered, beyond what was normal with a burn, but Gemma put that thought to the side for now.

She put the dried Vyfox into the mortar and crushed it with practiced ease. She then added one part Tulja goop and one part aloe gel from the leaf she’d taken. She stirred it all together into a thick paste and mixed in a few drops of lavender essential oil. While all this was happening, she took a few glances over her shoulder, trying to smile at the man to calm him. At the same time, she continually whispered her prayers to her goddess, making her gnosis mark glimmer silver even while she worked. She was a few yards away from the man, so the power would not have its full effect, but hopefully it would help dull the pain a little while she worked.

She spread the paste onto a bandage and turned to face Mason. “All right, I’m going to wrap your hand in this bandage. I’ve prepared a burn treatment that will help to pull heat and swelling away from the burn, ok?” She approached the patient, but would not treat him without permission.

by **Jomi** on March 31st, 2019, 10:29 pm

Spring 17, 519 AV
"Speech"

Jomi probed his essence deeper into the mans burned arm. A seething resentment an a touch of cruel humour danced around his consciousness as he watched the bustling bodies and sterile medical equipment as a passive observer. Pleased with himself and how his day was going the ghost saw fit to lay dormant in the young man and recuperate his possession weary mists. He watched through his eyes as a small wooden box frame was set on the bed, a nurse deftly tied a thin sterile linen sling through either side of the contraption with one at the top and another at the base. Allowing the patient to lay the burned appendage down suspended by the elbow and wrist to both minimize contact to the exposed nerves and allow for easer access to apply ointment and bandages.

The man and ghost had become acquainted after the young man and his friends had stumbled over the gate and descended onto Infinity manor's carefully maintained gardens in the dead of night. Whether the ransack was a message intended for the Madeira or the dusk towers in wake of the growing discord in the city was of little interest to the ghost. But when the students had left they destroyed the chicken coop and made off with Jomi's favourite pet chicken. The little red hen was still lock in the young mages house, safe and sound after Jomi had forced Masons hand into the water he intended to boil her in.

The ghost crowed internally as he listened to the man stutter and ultimately dismiss the nurses questions about his occupation. He was right to keep that information to himself, it would look bad for a student of the disgraced mage Elane to admit to the weird happenings in his body. What Jomi had thought would be a couple hours of brutal possession before being exorcised became a sick twisted game after his victim had mistakenly attributed the involuntary movements in his limbs and the painful cramping of his muscles with the affects of overgiving.

The ghost wound his soulmist tighter into Masons bones as the probing nurse took her leave, taking his time to cover the entirety of his body and learn its more delicate pieces. The man groaned painfully while the tendons in his feet and hands jumped and stretched as the ghost flexed the muscles in both, taping into and focusing on the threads of the astral body that wound through the soft tissues.

“Hello, mister Mason, my name is Gemma. I’ll be your herbalist and healer today.”

Both of the bodies occupants locked eyes on the pretty young Konti as she announced her arrival. She quickly set to work throwing various plants and pastes into a heavy grey mortar and preparing them with a deft hand. She had the quiet soft-spoken voice of a medic well versed in bedside manner. Passively pleasant and distant with a touch of concern knit into the upward tilt that pulled on the corners of her lips.

“All right, I’m going to wrap your hand in this bandage. I’ve prepared a burn treatment that will help to pull heat and swelling away from the burn, ok?”

Jomi felt the man tense up as he eyed the bandage warily from across the room. He felt the muscles that encased him bunching and tightening as Mason braced his body against the bed as he prepared for her to approach, as if he thought he could stop the supposed overgiving symptoms with will power alone. His thick lips were torn and bruised from the constant pull of his teeth as he dragged them across the swollen flesh incessantly, pausing only briefly to nod curtly to the healer, giving the woman permission to treat him.

The ghosts soulmist vibrated excitedly beneath the mans skin as an impromptu exit strategy began to form in his mind. Mason was hyper vigilant of himself and his magic usage after his teachers rampage through the city. Which led him to his belief and desperation to hide that he was experiencing what he thought were the side effects of overgiving. But if he were to show himself to be unstable or manic he might very well be detained and labeled a threat like his former teacher. Thereby ruining his life and allowing the ghost to walk away consequence free and with no one the wiser, and most importantly, no spiritist sent to hunt the ghost down.

And here was a respected and valued member of the city in a public place willingly entering their space.

As the healer approached ghost took a moment to reasserted himself into his hosts bones and muscle tissues, carving his way through his hosts body and using his rested and refreshed soulmist to overpower his exhausted hosts natural defences. Once he asserted himself as the dominant soul Jomi took hold of the astral body that encased the damaged arm. Setting to work following the flow of dijed that naturally wound its way through the cells and atoms that made the body. Pulling on that power the ghost drew up his own soul core to activate the living dijed flooding the muscles with power as he wound the arm back and swung it downwards.

The wood and linen contraption splintered easily as the Flux pushed the ruined muscles past their limit. The arm dropped off the bed and hooked under the healers thigh in the crook of the elbow and lifted her up over the edge of the bed. Jomi's weak and clumsy Flux tore away at his dead dijed, sending a slicing, burning pain through the entirety of his being as he dropped the Konti on top of her patient.

Using the last of his energy the ghost hooked his hosts flux aided arm around her waist pinning her to him and the other hand over her mouth as Jomi forced Masons mouth to speak breathily around a mouthful of blonde hair.

"I can think a better use for those bandages."

Jomi retreated then, pulling back from Masons flesh and laying dormant inside his hosts body as he recuperated and nursed his damaged mists as the host howled in pain. Waves of painful aftershocks worked its was through the mans muscles as he released the woman and began to stammer and begged for her forgiveness.

Boxcode by Allassanachassanya

by **Gemma Parker** on April 3rd, 2019, 1:35 pm

While Gemma’s back was turned to Mr. Mason, she allowed an involuntary shiver to run through her. His eyes… His expression and body language were a tangled mess. Usually when a patient was in pain, it was their whole reality. All they could think about was getting out of pain. It was a natural response, and it made sense to Gemma. But seeing that man’s eyes… There were layers of darkness that she couldn’t decipher. All she knew was that he was creepy. She almost wanted to excuse herself to go get someone to accompany her, just to make herself feel better, but ultimately she dismissed this idea. They were understaffed as it was, and she was not about to pull someone from another patient just so she didn’t have to feel… icky.

Gemma pulled her right shoulder up to cover her mouth as she coughed. Phlegm rippled in her throat and chest, and she winced as the action shot pain through her left shoulder. She had been trying her best to immobilize it without drawing too much attention to it, and whenever she mixed herbs she held the mortar with her left hand while bracing her arm against her side for support. It still hurt, but at least she could work without having to take so many breaks this way.

As she turned to administer the treatment, the man visibly tensed and recoiled as if he had seen her carrying a snake. He mashed and bruised his poor lips with his teeth, and Gemma made a mental note to whip up a healing salve to help his lips recover. She might also include something to deter him from biting and licking them as well. But first, the burn.

“It’s all right, Mr. Mason. You’ll only feel a cooling sensation, and then the pain will start to recede, ok?” Her voice was raspy from the pneumonia, but she was still understandable. A quick nod was all the permission Gemma got, but it was consent.

Gemma began to treat the hand and arm, which she now saw looked more like it had been scalded rather than burned. She had not gotten a good look on the way in, and had only taken the aid’s word for what would be needed. The treatment was the same, but it made Gemma wonder what might have caused such a wound.

“Mr. Mason, if you don’t mind me asking, what ha-” Gemma inhaled sharply as the man moved with incredible speed, bringing the injured hand and arm up past her face, missing her by an inch as she recoiled reflexively. She thought to grab the arm to restrain it, but her hands were full with the delicate herbal blend and for just a moment, she hesitated. Even if she had not, she would not have been fast enough to get away.

The hand slammed down, splintering the simple suspension device. Gemma jumped as she watched, unable to do anything. The arm then came back again, looping itself around the Konti’s thigh. ’Oh goddess… Her mind flared in panic, but her body didn’t know what to do or how to react. Even a Diviner would be unable to see a positive resolution to this terrifying situation. But it only got worse. Somehow the man displayed inhuman strength through his injured arm. With one arm, he lifted her up by her leg and tore her through the air and on top of him, facing upward so that her back lay against him.

A hoarse squeak of pain and horror slipped through her lips, but her weak mucus filled lungs would not come to her aid before a second firm hand clamped down over her mouth while the first pinned her in place against him. Gemma’s shoulder was on fire and her eyes were clenched shut. She could barely think through the pain that shot through her in pulses, with her shoulder in an awkward angle and her both arms immobilized. She thrashed through the pain, kicking with all her might and screaming against the hand, but even to her own ears, the sound was barely more than a whisper.

A demonic voice spoke from just behind her right ear, sending crawls of fear coursing through her.

"I can think a better use for those bandages."

Gemma’s mind was too innocent to immediately understand what he meant by that, but even if he had been speaking an unknown language, his voice and hot breath against her ear was enough to give her nightmares for the rest of her life, as short as it now seemed it might be.

Gemma was sure this would be her end. The man was so strong he could probably snap her in half or at least crush her lungs if he wanted to. Or, if he was the creep he seemed to be, he could do much worse.

But just when Gemma was sure all hope was lost, the force was released and suddenly the inhumanly strong demonic pervert beneath her dissolved into a blithering mass of sobbing Mason. Gemma wrenched her right hand free and weakly slammed her fist into the man’s side, still high on the adrenaline that told her to get away as quickly as she could. The swing was coupled with an awkward attempt to roll off of him while then grabbing her left shoulder to immobilize it again, and the whole movement caused her to fall off him and onto the ground with a squeak.

She recovered as quickly as she could and backpedalled across the floor, scrambling to get as far away from him as possible. She wasn’t paying attention to whatever excuse for an apology was spilling out of his mouth. She knew she should get up and get help, but the pain in her shoulder was causing her vision to cloud with white spots. It was all she could do to curl up in a ball and cry as she clutched her arm and tried desperately to scream for help. But even now that her mouth was unbound, her voice was simply too small to be heard beyond the small area around the room.

by **Jomi** on April 16th, 2019, 5:12 am

Spring 17, 519 AV
"Speech"

Jomi watched cooly from behind Masons eyes as the young Konti back pedalled hard to the far side of the room. The guilt and pity that would normally colour such an sight was notably absent from the ghosts thoughts. It was a haunting realization for the Kelvic, that the longer he stayed the less he cared. Watching the world pass by without him, and being unable to participate in any meaningful way, left the ghost free to regard people as little more than characters in a story playing out just for him. So instead the dead Kelvic allowed himself to feel nothing for the frightened young woman. She was just a tool to get him what he wanted, but she wasn't reacting as he had planned.

The wiry possessed student rolled to his side and clutched his ruined arm to his chest. His jaw clenched as he hissed laments and apologies through the aftershocks. Tears squeezed out of the corners of Masons eyes, forcing the ghosts to struggle to see the world through the thick droplets of water. Across the room the ghost could make out the shape of the herbalist, legs splayed over the floor as she coughed and whimpered. But the ghost could hear no pounding of footsteps coming down the hall or the creak of door hinges of a nosey nurse peering in to see what all the commotion was about.

Jomi's soul bristled from within his host. After all that pain and stress he had inflicted on his soulmist in order to use his inexperienced Flux neither host or herbalist couldn't even be bothered to summon more than a whimper. The ghost could feel an indignant rage building as the people around him refused to play along to his narrative. With that last taxing show of force Jomi wasn't sure how much longer he had before he weakened enough to be forced back into a dormant state. Now the undead Kelvic was angry, in pain, running out of time and not in the mood to make calm, rational decisions.

Jomi's soul reasserted itself and seeped into the mans muscles as his essence filled its weak and broken container. Starting in his right arm and radiating outwards into his chest and limbs as the exhausted mans body slowly began to stir. The soulmist that infected his body expanded outward for a full body take-over. Jomi braced himself against the host souls instinctive gag reflex that struggled to force this new invasive entity out as the ghost plucked at the threads of his hosts astral body and manipulated them like the strings of a puppet.

Jomi pushed aside Masons confused and scattered consciousness and lifted his new body up as hard as he could from the fetal position. Masons demeanour changed instantly to something much colder as he reached his borrowed arms forward to roughly swing Masons legs off the bed and onto the hard tiled floor and stumbled his way towards the Herbalist. Having no senses in his new body he couldn’t feel the exhaustion and strain from the overworked muscles or the newly formed scabs that tore from his skin on his arm, turning the clean white linen a dark pink. All he cared about was getting a reaction out of the tiny crumpled woman, the condition of the body was of no concern to him.

"Come on you stupid fish, cry harder."

Boxcode by Allassanachassanya