[Flashback][Place of Purging]Ambition and Stitches(Veldrys)

[Dhalvasha]

Autumn 38, 505 AV


"Sedative!" The cry went up from one of Hellbore's rooms, eclipsed with shrieks of pain. A younger doctor struggled at the binds keeping a Benshira woman taut against the table, almost comically outmatched by her superior strength. His claws flashed in the chamber's dull lighting, each touch painfully ginger as to not rupture her skin, and wholesomely ineffective. Drawing back from her, disdain creasing a jagged line in his normally tight lipped grimace, Dhalvasha let her struggle a few more moments before closing his eyes.

"Be still." He commanded, his voice almost rippling with unleashed Djed. Hypnotism was about piercing a personal aura, manipulating it, somehow creating an idea contrary or perpendicular to the current level of thought. Of course, with all Djed manipulation, Dhalvasha was more than acutely aware of Overgiving. Even as the copper taste of blood invaded his palate, Dhalvasha was already turning away from the patient and cutting off the link. The single command had not completely nullified her struggles. Her screams had become moans and her thrashings shiftings, but even that was a welcome improvement in lieu of traditional tranquilizers.

Somehow, the foolish creature had opened a cut on her stomach and worked at it with surprising tenacity. Had she been left to her own devices, she may have even ruptured her stomach entirely, almost assuredly killing herself and the child.

Now, with Hellebore's absence training his misbegotten son, it fell to Dhalvasha to stitch up her injury and leave her restrained till a specialist could address the predicament.

Retrieving a needle and silver-glinting thread, Dhalvasha approached his patient and regarded her for a moment. She was exotic in coloration, the desert scent still rose from her skin as though her sweat somehow tapped a reservoir of memory. Oh how he would have enjoyed dissecting her, assisting her desire to be free of this death sentence and opened her abdomen. How long would she survive with her tissue exposed? How long until death would still her organs?

It was not a thought worth keeping as it only held lavish promises of fantastic discovery and progress...but the cost of life seemed beyond Symnestra ability to swallow.

How ironic. Impregnating women with assured death and they had the audacity to suggest that procuring patients for the purpose of experimentation was monstrous. Why, had he reason to suspect (which perhaps, he did) he might assume the Widow race enjoyed their status as elusive monsters of Kalea, relishing in a certain pride for their fearful countenance and reputation.

Sighing through his nose, Dhalvasha leaned over his patient and speared the edge of her wound with practiced care. The suture would take a few moments and almost assuredly she might try thrashing again. For one of the few times in his life, Dhalvasha wished he had someone to assist him. The surrogate's spirit was commendable, but she only made operation difficult with her movement. He would have tried Hypnotism again, but felt he had not yet adequately recovered from the first incident of Overgiving, and was loathe to perpetuate the condition or even aggravate it.

"Please, stop struggling," he said coldly, glaring at her "You will win no freedom by wrestling a surgeon from his work."

[Veldrys]

Veldrys had become an apprentice at the Purging but a few months prior, after a long discussion with his father who would have preferred it if his only son had followed in his footsteps and become a trader. He enjoyed his work, enjoyed learning about all the different diseases and the way the body worked. He even found the contact with the surrogates interesting to some extent, even if a bitter aftertaste always remained. A part of him yearned to understand them, to find out exactly how different they were from a Symenestra, to cut them up and expose that which lay hidden. He’d always been fascinated by the other races that populated the world. But another part wished that things were different, that his people wouldn’t have to kill in order to survive, that there were a different solution, a way to save all those women. Sometimes he wondered if he could find that solution, that miracle cure, if he could convince them to try harder to find a way out, but those thoughts were still only half formed. At fifteen the young Symenestra didn’t dwell on those unpleasant thoughts too long, but was more excited at the prospect of working under Hellebore and learning everything that a doctor needed to know. So far he had rarely been allowed to assist in the more spectacular operations though. He’d occasionally handed a surgeon a scalpel or put a pillow under the patients head so that he or she could rest more comfortably, but that had been it. His duties had mostly included reading a lot of books, stitching wounds and dealing with grumpy old Symenestra or little children that had gotten hurt. He knew that he had to start small, but sometimes he couldn’t help but be a little impatient. He wanted so much more! In a rare break between two patients the boy found himself wandering through the Purging, in an attempt to clear his mind or maybe to secretly spy on some of the doctors and watch them as they operated on somebody. His half forbidden walk through the Purging eventually took the boy to the room where Dhalvasha was trying to treat the surrogate. He didn’t reveal himself to the older and more experienced doctor immediately, but leaned against the doorframe and simply watched Dhalvasha’s attempts to control the struggling human. He only stepped into the room once it become clear that there was no way that Dhalvasha could handle himself alone. Quietly, almost inaudibly, the young Symenestra came closer and looked at the struggling woman with a mixture of pity, fascination and vague disgust before he asked Dhalvasha, „May I help? If the two of us worked together, we could probably handle her.“ He knew that he was taking a chance, and half expected Dhalvasha to scream at him for interrupting his work and send him back to where he had just come from.

[Dhalvasha]

She resisted his mental coercion, the tickle of pressed Djed against the base of her aura, the insistence to settle, to breathe, to continue life. Hers was a panic hewn in hatred and a terrifying morbid knowledge. Kalinor suffered for its wide dissemination of Symnestra information. These days, the surrogates looked up at their captors with eyes muted in sorrow. Some fought, others refused to eat, but rarely did any treat their pregnancy as a blessing. They knew at the birth of new life, theirs would end.

Such an unnecessary biological function.

Symnestra fought a battle, not with themselves or other races, but with nature itself. Something had cursed their biology to necessitate the death of a parent for a pureblood birth. It was ludicrous. By a logical standpoint it seemed as though nature itself conspired to remove their influence from Mizahar. Working with the patient, lathering her in waves of Djed from veined eyes, Dhalvasha queried the logic of simply burying his index claw into her brain.

End it all.

It was a young voice that shook him from his reprieve, tore him from the sweet whispers of madness circling his already exhausted thought pattern. Dhalvasha turned to Veldrys, blinking solemnly, as though refocusing his grasp on the world.

"Yes..." the elder breathed at last, nodding at the younger Symnestra to take her other side, "She requires a mild sedative for the operation, a shot more than I have already given her." He nodded at her restraints, letting loose his grasp for the younger Symnestra to take his place. "The wound requires cleaning, stitching, and preventative measures to ensure she doesn't tear them off." Dhalvasha trailed off, muttering in Symenos as he procured the neccesary equipment. The boy was a fair hand at holding her down, his pale hands a stark contrast with the girl's bronzed skin. Brushing hair over his ears, Dhalvasha placed the tools on the marble counter beside the slab she was tied to. As he measured the sedative from a sealed jar, he fixed Veldrys with a cursory up and down glance, returning to his work with the murmur of conversation on his lips.

"You do not belong here, however, you are of ready use." Dhalvasha was at his side, needling the woman with sedative and slinking away again, in and out with the surgical precision of a snake.

As he struggles slowed, Dhalvasha waved the boy to the tools, taking a needle and thread and beginning the process of stitching once more.

"Curious how we treat the surrogates, of medicine in general, or something altogether different?" Dhalvasha did not look up as he stitched, the needle flashing each time it rose and dipped. The conversation was as much assessment as it was to keep him awake, sharp.

Veldrys had chosen a fortunate time to be where he ought not be.

A fortunate time indeed.

[Veldrys]

A part of him was horrified as he watched the surrogate’s pointless struggle, but another part of him was fascinated, almost beyond measure. Veldrys considered the Harvest and everything it entailed to be problematic, but he couldn’t pull his gaze from her regardless. He wanted to know more. He wanted to know how exactly the venom spread and which part of her body it would affect first. He wanted to watch as the venom dissolved her organs into an unrecognizable mass. And above all he wanted to know why she was still fighting.

Didn’t she know that her death was inevitable? Why didn’t she simply lay down and wait to die? Why hurt herself and cause herself even more pain? What kind of madness made her go on, even under such dire circumstances?

Sometimes he wished that he could pull one of the surrogates aside and talk to her, to find out what exactly moved her, but of course that was impossible. They wouldn’t let an apprentice, a mere boy be alone with one of those precious women, and they wouldn’t let him take a look at a dead surrogate either. Their bodies were thrown onto the cavern floor, discarded like trash.

He wasn’t sure about that either - didn’t women that gave their life for the Symenestra deserve a different treatment? – but again, he was unwilling to dwell on such unpleasant matters for long. He just didn’t see a point in questioning the very things their society was based on and make himself unhappy in the process.

So he merely smiled a little and came closer as Dhalvasha accepted his help, eyeing the surrogate as he did so. Was she aware of his presence? What did she think? „Do you want me to simply hold her or shall I stitch her wound as well?“ he asked as he positioned himself next to the surrogate to make sure that she didn’t struggle too much and consequently made treatment impossible.

He wanted to ask Dhalvasha what kind of sedative he used as well, but the older man would probably not appreciate the question right now, when he was busy. Dhalvasha would probably have time for him later on.

„Not here exactly, no“, he admitted as Dhalvasha stated that he didn’t belong here. „I’m an apprentice at the Purging though, and in a few years I’ll probably do the same work as you if everything goes as planned and Hellebore is content with my progress.“ He noticed that the woman wasn’t struggling as much anymore, and he breathed a sigh of relief. She had shown remarkable strength for somebody in her position.

„I’m curious about everything“, he replied. „I want to know more about them.“ He pointed at the surrogate. „I want to know why exactly they die. I want to know how you treat all those different diseases, and I want to be able to mend broken bones. I suppose I want to know a little too much, don’t I?“

He fell silent and watched Dhalvasha as he stitched the surrogate’s wound, admiring him. The older man worked quickly and precisely. Veldrys didn’t know if he’d be able to compete with that. He was still learning.

[Dhalvasha]

The surrogate was quiet now, her distended stomach rising and falling slowly as Dhalvasha meticulously stitched up the gash along her stomach. Unfortunately, short of removing her hands, she could return to work on the wound and again come under his care shortly after waking. Regrettably she would need to be restrained, and it was doubtful such stress would be beneficial for the child.

Alas.

Dipping the needle in and out again, the Symenestra cut the strand with two claws and tied the ends together. Sighing, he traced lines along her abdomen, searching for further anomalies in her physicality before withdrawing from her, content, and leaning against the marble table. He took the momentary reprieve from work to pull his hair back again, tying it out of his eyes. Veldrys had finished explaining his purpose here and the surgeon smiled despite himself. Such fresh enthusiasm was a welcome companion in the Purging hallways. No doubt his curiosity would lead him to new discoveries, perhaps revolutionizing the Symenestra medical field. He hadn't heard much about the training students of Hellebore's, but then and again, he tried to keep his nose clear of Hellebore's path.

Admittedly he had sequestered himself from the rest of his peers.

"Healthy enthusiasm," Dhalvasha remarked, checking the surrogate's pulse and flipping open one eyelid to check her conscious state, "But you need to focus your area of study, no one man can know everything." He looked up at Veldrys gravely, trailing a claw across the surrogate's face. "When the baby prepares for birth, it instinctively releases a lethal dose of corrosive venom through the uterus wall and to the rest of the body." He tapped a claw on her stomach, the bump there, the fatal child inside. "It happens too early to intervene, and removing the child from the womb through surgery is only marginally effective."

Gently he tugged the bindings away from her hands, letting the surrogate clutch herself in her sleep. She dreamed of freedom perhaps, or of a death to come. "Within two minuets, roughly, the surrogate's body goes into shock. The baby's venom seeps out the uterine wall and attacks the stomach and surrounding organs. In her throes of agony, the mother always pushes out the child, unharmed from its attack, before expiring herself due to catastrophic organ failure and internal bleeding."

He watched Veldrys as he described the process, noting how his eyes moved, his throat bobbed, the color of his skin changed. He wanted to know the boy's thoughts at that moment, what his opinion was of the process.

When first described to him, Dhalvasha had felt sick...but oddly distant...even a little intrigued.

Was there the same hunger of discovery in Veldrys?

"We study what we can of their bodies and then discard them beneath the city, trash with the rest of trash...although there has always been debate on cadaver disposal." Trailing off, Dhalvasha began cleaning up the workstation. He'd have burlier Symenestra's carry her back to the Nest, this time with firm instructions to keep her restrained. Unfortunately, there was no doubt work elsewhere...and he couldn't loiter.

"Come," the doctor bid the younger Widow, "You'll assist me today in my rounds. I should like to know you better, to prepare for when we will be coworkers." Swiftly gathering his tools into a pale bag, the Symenestra motioned to a few quiet Widows to collect the surrogate, delivering them written instructions to the details of her confinement as well.

As the two departed the room with the surrogate, Dhalvasha swiftly moved toward the injury wing. If there was any work to be done, it would be there. As they moved, the Symenestra glanced back to Veldrys briefly, sizing up the boy as they moved.

"What do they call you?"

[Veldrys]

Veldrys watched with interest as Dhalvasha examined the surrogate. He couldn’t help but wonder what he would do with her once the sedative had worn off. Would he restrain her again? How would he keep her from hurting herself again and endangering the baby in the process? He knew that some radical Symenestra simply cut the surrogate’s hands off, but he hoped that Dhalvasha wouldn’t approve of such barbaric practices. It was unnecessary cruelty in his opinion, besides the stumps sometimes became infected, and the surrogate died even sooner than she would have died otherwise. In his opinion it would be best if they had a doctor who was an experienced hypnotist. That was the least painful method, for all the parties involved. But then again, he was just an apprentice. What did he know?

As Dhalvasha finished his treatment, Veldrys turned to face him and looked at him expectantly. As the older man talked about healthy enthusiasm, he smiled a little – it seemed like a compliment - but the smile disappeared again quickly as he insisted that he needed to focus his area of study. „I suppose“, he murmurred and sighed. If you studied too many things at once, you would never excel at anything, he knew that, but still ... how could he not be interested in everything? Focusing on one thing and doing the same thing all your life seemed boring. How could he ever keep himself from wanting to know more, from wanting to know a lot of different things?

As Dhalvasha spoke about the venom, the young man couldn’t help but make a face. He felt a little sick. Of course those women were only human. They were supposed to die. It was better if they died rather than the women of their own race, but still, it sounded fairly painful. He cast a glance at the surrogate who looked so peaceful now. „Do you give them something for the pain when the time comes?“ he wanted to know. „If they are in so much agony when they die, doesn’t it affect the baby?“ Unlike Dhalvasha Veldrys didn’t feel distant. He pitied the women that suffered for them, a little, but he was fascinated nevertheless.

If he asked, would Dhalvasha let him take a look at a dead surrogate? He wanted to see what her body looked like after the venom had done its work. He wanted to touch it with his own hands and find out more.

„Does anybody ever go down there? Has anybody explored the bottom of the cavern recently?“ he wanted to know as Dhalvasha talked about their methods of cadaver disposal. „Wouldn’t it be better to burn them?“ he asked, somewhat hesitantly, not sure if Dhalvasha appreciated it that he questioned their traditions. „I’ve been taught that dead bodies are full of disease, and if there are dozens or hundreds of dead bodies down there ...“ He shuddered a little as he imagined dead bodies piled high, mountains of rotting, half dissolved flesh and nasty animals crawling across them. How many dead bodies could this waste dump hold? Would the mountain of dead bodies and garbage ever reach the city? He had no idea how far Kalinor was from the bottom of the cavern ...

Dhalvasha’s next words fortunately distracted him from those unpleasant thoughts. „I’d be glad to assist you“, he remarked and followed the older man. He was a little disappointed as they moved towards the injury wing. He’d hoped to see more surrogates – there was something about them that fascinated him – but it was probably necessary for a good doctor to treat conventional injuries as well. It was better than putting pillows under unconscious people and reading books at least. That bored him, more than he wanted to admit.

„My name is Veldrys“, he introduced himself as Dhalvasha asked him for his name. „Veldrys of the Vervain Web.“ Dhalvasha would probably have heard of that Web before. Kalinor was a small city, and most people knew each other, if not personally, then at least by name. The members of the Vervain Web were mostly merchants, not as successful and important as the Aconite Web, but they were comparatively well off.

„May I ask you for your name, doctor?“

[Dhalvasha]

Dhalvasha wasn't deterred as he and Veldrys passed through the muted halls of the Place of Purging. Whispered Symenos consulted from half open doors, webs hung low enough to cause ducking in some places. Some of the hallways were disused, mazes of rocky tunnels glowing with ethereal lichen light. It washed out color, leaving the Symenestra passing through as red eyed phantoms, barely drifting from place to place.

"It is the prerogative of the father," Dhalvasha answered Veldrys shortly, pausing briefly at the junction of a hall to get his bearings, "It is usually procedure, but I have seen outlying examples." He glanced at the youth, measuring his expression with a slightly raised eyebrow. There was a time when he was as interested as well, fascinated and drawn to the plight of the surrogates. Now it all seemed so common, so white-washed. His own surrogate was dead, another of those bodies hurled beneath the city. To think of her was painful and the elder surgeon turned from Veldrys.

He didn't want that pain to reflect in his eyes.

"The babies are usually fine, hardier in birth than we end up in later life. I wouldn't worry too much about the process, ninety percent of births are successful...which is an acceptable number."

His own son was in his Web now, cared for by the family. Dhalvasha could not look at him without seeing her and spent little time at home. It was no matter. Depriving the child of his birth father was hardly important. His own birth father, the patriarch of his Web, would have been best known by not knowing him at all.

Even now, he could still feel the stinging blows of early disappointment, his failure to be the hunter his father wanted.

"The caves hold dangers few care to engage, and so long as they are fed...they do not crawl the walls to our city." It wasn't the safest of practices, but preferable. It was also rooted in tradition, a mode society clung to, especially a dying one like Symenestra. "Stand at the edge of the city and breathe deep...you will find no taint of rot."

Pausing before entering a room, Dhalvasha turned to Veldrys and smiled coldly, "The bodies do not lay undisturbed long enough to decay."

"Besides..." he continued, stepping inside and taking a chart off the wall where it hung quietly, "Burning bodies in a cave is problematic. Our solution has worked for centuries, why change?"

The Symenestra on the operating table twisted in agony, his leg a shattered mess of jagged bones and flayed flesh. Dhalvasha glanced at the chart again before passing it to Veldrys. "Bucking your family tradition of mercantile sales to explore the medical field...how apt to meet me then." Clicking tongue against the roof of his mouth, Dhalvasha knelt below the table and began removing relevant chemicals and materials. He would need to be subdued, or at least calmed before a proper assessment of damage could be taken. Putting several bottles beside each other on the nearby table, taking a moment to minutely adjust them to perfect placement.

"The patient is in an excruciating amount of pain," Dhalvasha commented mostly to himself, piercing the top of one bottle with a syringe and pulling back the plunger, testing the clear liquid with a short spurt from the medical tool, "His name is Vasho of Web Vermane and his accident occurred roughly an hour ago near the Weft and the Warp." Dhalvasha leaned over the table, looking the injured Symenestra in the eye. Djed rose within his body, once more pooling in his resonating eyes and lancing into the aura of the injured Vasho. The suggestion was simple, a repeated mantra of relaxation and distraction while the surgeon poised the needle over a vein in his leg. Vasho's expression was frightened, lines of pain drawn in wrinkles across his ashen skin. But the moment he made contact with Dhalvasha's eyes, his resistance melted. A mind in pain and looking for escape was easy to manipulate, Hypnotism far more useful to a doctor than a saboteur. Pricking his skin with the needle, Dhalvasha depressed the plunger and then set the needle aside. Vasho's eyes fluttered before closing, his body falling limp.

"If we are not careful, he will lose the leg," the surgeon observed gravely, running his claws delicately over the shattered bone protruding from the skin. "So fragile...such glass bones we have." Shaking his head, he motioned Veldrys to come closer, to flank the table over the injured Sym.

"You wanted experience, so I ask you...what preventative measures must I take to treat possible infection? How would you suggest to proceed Veldrys of Web Vervain? What must I do to save this boy's leg?"

He retreated, folding his hands behind his back and watching the apprentice impassively. It might have been considered cruel to toy with him like this, put him on the spot...but responding to pressure was the essence of surgeons and even regular doctors these days. People rarely had the decency to warn you before they hurt themselves or got sick...it was only after all methods of health had failed were doctors necessary. They fought a battle they were late to field...and Veldrys must learn it.

"My name is Dhalvasha," he said at last, breaking the silence between them, "Dhalvasha of Web Hysal. My father wanted me to be a hunter, a taker of life." He looked down at Vasho, a slight sneer curling his lips.

"How rebellious of me to become the antithesis of what he wanted..."

[Veldrys]

As they walked through the Purging, Veldrys couldn’t help but try and take a look behind all the half open doors. He wanted to know what the other healers were doing and what kind of people were treated here. As an apprentice he didn’t have access to all of the Purging. He had never been in those empty, disused hallways, and he wondered if they had been empty all along or if they had been abandoned. He knew that Kalinor had once been much bigger, that its population had once been much greater. It saddened him to see places like this.

„Of course“, he murmurred as Dhalvasha talked about the prerogative of the father. He didn’t see the look on Dhalvasha’s face, and he wasn’t aware of the special relationship the older man had had with his surrogate. Maybe that was for the better. Veldrys didn’t know how to deal with another’s grief, especially with a kind of grief that wasn’t even supposed to exist. „It’s good to know that most births are successful. Why does the venom not kill the babies though when the mothers often die so quickly?“ That was what always confused him. The venom was so potent, and yet the babies were unaffected.

„Fed?“ He made a face and shuddered a little as Dhalvasha talked about the dangers that lurked on the bottom of the cave. „What kind of creatures live down there? What kind of creatures eat dead bodies?“ He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know the answer, but at the same time he found the prospect of monsters that lived below them strangely fascinating. Had those creatures already been there when Kalinor had been founded or had they come later on because they realized that there was free food to be had?

As Dhalvasha remarked that their method of disposing of the dead surrogates had worked for centuries, Veldrys shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t really have anything to say to that, so he simply followed him into the room where the man with the shattered leg was lying. „How exactly did the accident occur?“ he wanted to know as he stepped closer to the operating table. „Did he fall off the web? Was he wounded in a fight?“

As Dhalvasha looked directly into Vasho’s eyes, Veldrys furrowed his brow. He didn’t know what exactly it was that the older man was doing, but it seemed to calm the injured man down. Was that magic? He looked at Dhalvasha as if he were hoping for an explanation.

„A Symenestra with only one leg might as well be dead“, he remarked. „He won’t be able to navigate the ropes that connect our houses. He will never be able to leave the city. He will be stuck inside and live a useless life until the day he dies.“ He gulped as he thought of this. In his opinion there were few things that were worse than this. He couldn’t imagine not being able to move anymore, not being able to climb into the Blue Grotto for a few moments of precious solitude.

Veldrys didn’t mind being asked how he would treat possible infection. He didn’t consider Dhalvasha’s behaviour cruel either. On the contrary he welcomed the fact that he was asked for his opinion, that the older man had decided to test him, although a little bit of insecurity remained.

„First of all I would clean the wound“, he replied. „Then I would set the leg straight and make sure it stays in that position. Vasho’s break isn’t clean – in fact it looks rather complicated – but if he’s lucky, he will be able to use the leg again and retain nothing more than a limp rather than be a cripple for the rest of his life. I would also put something cold on his leg to reduce the swelling. I know that certain herbs can be used to prevent infection, so some kind of poultice or a salve might be a good idea. Apart from that ...“

He shrugged his shoulders. „If worse comes to worst, I might send for somebody that has been marked by Viratas so that they can try and purify Vasho’s blood. Is that what you wanted to hear, Dhalvasha? How would you treat him?“

[Dhalvasha]

Dhalvasha clapped his hands together once, a swift applause for the young medical student. "Well spoken," he commented, waving the younger Widow over to the table. He had laid out all the necessary supplies for the operation. The poultices he was hesitant about, herbalism never really his forte. Luckily, the Place of Purging was careful about their employees, leaving written definitions to the strange colored leaves and vines bottled beneath the stone table. Dhalvasha lifted several bottles from the darkness and placed them beside each other next to Vasho. "I somehow expected less of you, my apologies, thank you for debasing my opinions." He included a wry grin to Veldrys, taking a brief moment to vanish outside and return with ice.

"We will allow this to be the first true test of your medical abilities," Dhalvahsa stated calmly, eyeing the labels of the bottles. A friend had labeled their medical properties along the sides, a favor Dhalvasha had been loathe to accept, but secretly grateful for. He was still pushing the boundaries on learning the arts of plants not used for poison.

Taking out three flat green leaves, he used a stone grinder to shred the leaves to a fine dust. One pale vine root and a few petals treated in much the same way came under his hand before he deposited the mixture in a stone basin. Departing from Veldrys again, Dhalvasha returned with hot water, mixing the materials together after applying the ice to the area around the wound. Reducing the swelling was key in this operation, at least at the beginning stages.

When the ingrediants were prepared, the surgeon turned to face Veldrys expectantly, holding out one hand to the assembled tools.

"We don't need the intercession of a god to save this man, trust in your abilities and show me what you can do. If you need assistance, I will step in to lend a hand."

Stepping back, Dhalvasha let Veldrys get to work, pondering over the questions he had asked earlier.

"Giant Spiders, Oozes, other unsightly creatures...I wouldn't know personally, I simply remember tales from my father." The symenestra chuckled, shaking his head, "The way he'd explain it...one would think it is an entirely different world there."

The limits of Dhalvasha's initial interference was pushing the necessary tools to Veldrys when he needed them, playing the part of the assistant to the aspiring young talent. It helped to see the boy so vibrant about his work, so reminiscent of a younger Dhalvasha.

A grin split his usually stoic face.

He liked this boy.

"Have you ever tried biting yourself?" The doctor commented quietly, noting how the wound had ceased pulsating, the swelling leaving the distended limb, "We are immune to our own venom, hence why the child is always delivered safely."

Picking up the medical chart again, he perused the pages, flicking through them with moderate disinterest.

"A Climbing accident," he said at last, "An unfortunate misjudgement of a horizontal leap's width...nothing exciting." Vasho's face contorted in pain, but he did not wake. "How fragile we are, in the end of things."

Shaking his head, Dhalvasha crossed his arms and examined a few more of the herbs. A few noted poisoning in high enough dosage. How comforting that medicine was simply poison in another form. To fool the body, one must learn the art of dosage...something the doctor had to study a bit better.

"Would you mind assisting me with a little research after our work here, Veldrys?" Dhalvasha asked suddenly, tapping his chin with sudden thought, "I'll need a sample of your venom...in return I could put in a good word for you with the man in charge or..." his eyes flashed, "Or we could visit another surrogate before I finish my rounds for the day."

[Veldrys]

As Dhalvasha clapped his hands, Veldrys couldn’t help but smile, and then he tilted his head a little to the side. „Why did you expect less of me, Dhalvasha?“ he wanted to know. „The doctors at the Purging train their apprentices well. Although I’m still lacking practical experiences, I have learned the theory.“ He looked rather proud as he said this, but then he immediately began to wonder if it was alright to talk like that. Weren’t healer’s supposed to be humble? He averted his gaze and focused on poor Vasho instead who probably didn’t have any idea that there were two people standing next to him and talking.

As Dhalvasha produced all those bottles he turned to face the older man again however, wondering what exactly they contained. While he knew a few herbs and their uses, he didn’t know exactly how to prepare them, and he didn’t know how to make potions and salves either. „Another test, Dhalvasha?“ he asked, furrowing his brow a little. He hoped that he wouldn’t have to try and set Vasho’s leg straight. While he knew what the names of the different bones of the body were called, while he theoretically knew how you did it, he didn’t want Vasho to end up a cripple because of him. A useless leg was only marginally better than no leg at all.

As Dhalvasha prepared the ingredients for what Veldrys assumed was some kind of salve or a poultice that would be used to treat Vasho’s wound, Veldrys came closer so that he could see what the other man was doing better. „No, we probably don’t need the intervention of a god“, he agreed. „It should only be used as a last resort, before the patient dies. I’ve seen people that bear a mark from Viratas do incredible things.“

He accepted the tools and looked at Vasho. He suddenly wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do anymore. All the self confidence he had displayed previously seemed to be gone. „Your father went to the bottom of the cave?“ he asked as Dhalvasha talked about the things that lived down there. He didn’t wait for the older man’s answer however, but began to rinse Vasho’s wound. There wasn’t a lot that could go wrong with that. And then it was already time to take care of the fracture itself.

„Would you mind assisting me here?“ he asked Dhalvasha. „The leg needs to be set straight now, and we need to make sure that it stays in that position, and I’m not sure if I can do it alone. And no, I’ve never tried biting myself. Why should I?“ He rolled his eyes. A man that bit himself had to be fairly insane, and Veldrys definitely wasn’t insane. At least he didn’t think he was. „As for us being immune to our own venom, is there no way to extend this immunity to other people?“

As Dhalvasha informed him that Vasho had had a climbing accident, Veldrys nodded. „I wouldn’t mind assisting you at all“, he replied. „I’ll even give you some of my venom, although I’m not sure how you’ll get the venom from my body into a vial.“ He wasn’t sure if he really wanted to know. The process would probably be fairly strange. „And I’d like to visit another surrogate, one that isn’t unconscious because she tried to kill herself.“ Of course it would also be great if Dhalvasha could talk to the man in charge, but Veldrys wasn’t sure if he could ask both things of him. The surrogate would probably be more interesting than an old Symenestra doctor.