Solo Treating Infection

[Waisana]

76th Winter 513AV

Syna’s rays had only just begun to spill over the horizon when Waisana left her pavilion. Her hair was newly styled, the hair twisted into a simple bun atop her head, the strands still wet from her washing of them. Her hair would dry in time and should she have a chance later in the day, she would untie it and braid it in a more intricate way. For now though it wasn’t a priority, it was far more important to get to work and worry about vanity later.

The teen wove her way between the city’s pavilions, her pace slow and careful so as to avoid catching her foot on something hidden under the snow. If she did happen to trip and fall as she had done only a little earlier in the season then at least there wouldn’t be many witnesses to such an embarrassment this time. There were signs of life in many of the tents that she passed, the low murmur of voices coming from within them, but only a few people seemed to have stirred outside as of yet. It wouldn’t be long until more people began to emerge to start the day’s work, she was just out a little ahead of them.

Waisana soon made it to the Opal Healing Tent, pushing her way in through the tent flap. The tent was already bustling with activity, healers and doctors wandering around seeing to the few patients that had entered or making salves and balms. The girl walked across the tent to the washing area, cleaning her hands to be ready for when she needed to see to a patient. Cleanliness was important after all. Once her hands were clean and dry, the teen looked around for something to do. She could not make salves or balms herself as she lacked the philtering skill. As for other menial tasks, they seemed to be taken. The girl was ready to put herself into the task of working with herbs alongside another girl when a boy entered the tent. Waisana was upon him immediately.

”Greetings, how may I help you?” the doctor asked as she came to stand at the boy’s side. He was taller than she was but he looked gangly and uncoordinated. She’d guess that he was a year or two younger than herself. He gestured to his left hand, which appeared to be loosely bandaged in a rough and dirty cloth. It seemed to be stained with a dark brown substance, blood most likely seeping through it. It had been treated but not by anyone of the Opal clan. It seemed that he had tried to treat it himself.

”My hand was cut a few days ago and I thought it was all right but it hurts now, a lot so I thought I’d come here,” he explained, signing weakly and wincing as he did so. The girl nodded to acknowledge his words but in her head, she cursed him for his stupidity. By trying to treat it himself, the wound had probably become infected. If that was the case, then she hoped that he’d come early enough before his blood could become poisoned. She’d seen it happen before, untreated infection causing death.

She led him to a treatment table and gestured for him to sit, collecting bowls of water with salt added to it. She knew that it would need to be cleaned, even though she had not looked at it. Even if by some miracle he had avoided infection, it would need to be cleaned to make certain that the wound didn’t fester.

”I’ll just do a quick examination and then we’ll see what needs to be done, allright?” The boy nodded in agreement as she took a seat beside him, reaching out for the patient’s hand.

[Waisana]

The healer began to unwrap the bandage with some distaste. The cloth was filthy and Waisana had no idea what he'd been doing with it to get into such a state. All she knew for certain was that it was disgusting and that if the cloth was soiled all the way through then the wound beneath was going to be in a truly terrible state. As the bandage was loosened, she encountered some resistance. The cloth was damp and clung to the flesh and she had to carefully ease it away in order to see. She let out a gasp at the sight of the flesh.

"Gods, why didn't you bring this here in the first place?" she hissed, staring in horror at his hand. The boy had sliced his palm at the flesh at the base of his thumb. The wound site had become terribly swollen and was oozing pus and blood. There was no doubt that infection had set in and the severity of it made her worry: it had become septic. It was going to take a lot of treatment to get it to heal properly, something that could have been treated far more easily if he'd just gone to a healer in the first place. It was treatable but she wasn't sure if the infection had gotten into his blood. His cheeks were a bit flushed and a hand upon his forehead told her that his temperature was raised. A fever came with infection but what if the heat signified something more, something worse?

"Right I need to clean this so it'll hurt. You wouldn't have had this problem if you'd had it seen to in the first place," she explained, reaching for a cloth which she dipped in salt water. She began to clean around the wound, trying to be as careful as possible as she dabbed at the flesh. Gradually, the teen began to work her way inwards, moving closer to the gash in the flesh. It had partially scabbed over and so extra care was needed so as not to dislodge it. At the same time, she needed to press down on it to try to get the pus out from the wound to clean it fully.

"I thought it would be all right. I thought I'd have to spend ages in here and I had work to do so I thought that if I just wrapped up myself that it would be fine," the boy replied through gritted teeth. Waisana let out a humourless laugh. "Is this better? A cut like this would have been fine if it was treated fresh. It would have needed to be checked about now but such an examination would have been quick and probably painless. You've caused yourself unnecessary pain and put your life at risk for no reason. You're losing more time now then you would have if you'd sought treatment immediately. It's come back to bite you."

Her patient seemed stunned into silence by her chastising. Perhaps he hadn't been expecting it but after a chime, he mumbled an apology like a berated child. Hopefully that would mean that the lesson would hit home, something that was vitally important if he was to avoid such stupid action in future. Assuming that he had a future of course. She still wasn't completely sure if he'd survive this infection yet.

Rinsing out her cloth, she repeated her careful cleaning until the site was cleared of blood, pus and dirt. Once clean, she knew that a salve could be applied to it and then it could be bandaged. Jile salve would do she thought, if they had some. It would have to have been made already of course. She didn't have any skill in philtering but if someone showed her how to do such things then she might be able to make it herself someday.

"I'll be right back."

[Waisana]

The teen moved from the treatment table to where a man was making salves and balms. Some were used more often than others and so were constantly being made but what she was looking for once used all that often. The plant that it came from wasn't from around the Sea of Grass and so it was something that they needed to trade for. They got as much of it as they could but it was something that was still used sparingly. Infection could normally be avoided when a wound was treated regularly but times did come when they needed a salve to kill infection off. Waisana was hoping that there'd be some already made because a salve took time to cool and set and she didn't want to leave her patient waiting.

"Excuse me, Jorrhan, isn't it? Do we have any jile salve?" The man looked up from his work and smiled in greeting. "Oh I'll just check, I'm not sure if we do or not. We should," the man replied, rooting through the little containers that they had ready. He withdrew his hand, holding a near empty container of a creamy substance. It clung to the bottom of the jar, just about covering the surface but it was clear that there was only enough left for a single usage. He frowned at it and then went looking through the containers again.

"I think that's all that we have left. Seeing as you're using the end if it, you can make the refill," Jorrhan told her, handing the container to her. Waisana paused in the act of taking it from him, shaking her head. "I don't know how to make salves so I can't replace it," she admitted, taking the salve from him. He looked surprised and he had reason to be. It was strange for one like herself to lack the skill to make such simple medical supplies but she had never had the chance to learn. She'd always been focused on other things when it came to medicine. She usually knew what a particular salve was for and could gather medicinal herbs for them but she couldn't actually make them.

"Oh right. How about this then? You deal with your patient and then I'll make up a new batch of jile salve and you can watch me do it. Sound fair?" the doctor suggested, regarding her with an eyebrow raised. Waisana nodded eagerly, glad of the opportunity to remedy her ignorance. If she learned to make the more basic things then perhaps she'd be able to create more advanced medicines in future. Signing her thanks and eagerness, the healer carried her jar of salve back to her patient.

"I have what I need now so I'll put this on and wrap your wound up. It'll only take a chime or two and then we'll talk about caring for it," the maiden explained, removing some of the salve from the jar with her fingers. She carefully dabbed it around the wound and then placed the remaining salve onto some wadding and held it against the gash. "Hold that please." Her hands freed up, she was able to wrap a bandage around his hand and tie it in place with the salve covered wadding beneath it.

"Right so I'm done. So now it's up to you to take care of yourself, you hear? Don't get it dirty or wet. I'd prefer if you didn't use at all but that's a foolish wish so as long as it's kept clean, it should be all right. It also needs to be cleaned everyday until you're told otherwise so you need to come to the Opal tents everyday. If you don't bad things can happen. You could lose your hand or if it got very bad, you could lose your life so bear that in mind. Maybe in future you'll think to come here first rather than trying to treat yourself." The boy nodded vigorously, clearly showing that he understood everything she'd said.

She waved the boy out, receiving a hurried thank you in return before he was gone. Apparently he was eager to be out of there. Another few patients had arrived while she was busy with the boy but they were being seen to already so she was free to learn how to make a salve. She approached Jorrhan again.

"I'm ready to get started whenever you are," she informed him, her tone one of eagerness.

[Waisana]

The man smiled at his willing pupil and gestured her to come closer to see what he was doing. He was working at a metal plate, the plate held over a fire that heated it. On the plate were a number of pots used for various things though Waisana had no idea what. There were what looked like oils in some of them, cream and white semi-solids in others. There were glass and ceramic jars beside the plate. Most had been made by the Drykas but some had come from other cities like Riverfall. It was into these jars that freshly made medicines would go. The girl had no idea what to make of it all but she stood to attention beside her teacher.

"All right then, Waisana. We tend to make salves with fat. The best way to do it is to take a bit of clean fat and melt it. You need it in liquid form to be able to take advantage of it and you have to keep stirring it while it's over the fire or else it'll stick and burn. If it does that, you'll know about it. It stinks," Jorrhan told her. As he talked, he took a measure of a white solid from a container and placed it in a pot. He stirred it, allowing it to start melting as he continued to move it around. "Now I need you to go and get some jile berries so that I have something to put in this fat." The girl nodded, moving straight to the place where herbs were kept. It took some searching but she came back with some dark wizened looking berries in a sealed jar. She held them up for Jorrhan's inspection and he nodded to show that they were the ones. She had to use a knife to open the jar, using the blade to break the seal of wax around it. Once it was open, she held it out so that the man could take some of the berries out of the jar.

At this stage she noticed that the fat had become liquid and had covered the bottom of the pot. He only added enough berries to stay below the surface of the liquid fat and then waved the jar away. "I'll seal it after we're done unless you want to do it? I can't let this burn." The girl left him stirring the salve while she collected a small stick of wax from their stores. Using a splint, she lit a flame under the end of it and allowed the hot wax to coat the jar's edge. When it was fully sealed once more, she carried it back to where the herbs were kept and left it there before returning to where the salve was being made. Jorrhan was still stirring it but it had changed colour. It had grown darker. In fact it had taken on the colour of the berries. The salve she'd used before hadn't been like that.

"Jorrhan? Why has it gone that colour? The one I used before was pale and that one is a completely different colour. Is it supposed to be do that?" Waisana asked uncertainly, frowning into the pot. Jorrhan smiled, still stirring the contents, though not as much now. She noticed that he'd moved it off the direct heat. Where it was now would be must cooler and so was unlikely to burn.

"Yeah it's supposed to do that. Fats tend to take on the smell and colour of plants very well. The salve you used earlier would have been made with wax. It's made differently when you do it with wax so it doesn't tend to take on the colour. This is just fine," he told her. They remained silent for another chime or two, the man occasionally stirring the pot. The teen wasn't sure when something more was supposed to happen and we wondered how long the whole process was suppose to take.

Another chime went by and her colleague broke the silence. "And that should do it." The contents of the pot was fairly smooth, the berries seeming to have disintegrated in the heat of the fire. She watched as he poured it into a clean jar and put it to one side. "And we're done. I'll have to store it somewhere cool of course to let it set but other than that, it's done." She flashed him a look of incredulity. She glanced between the jar and the doctor. "That's really it? Well then I guess that it's easier than I thought. Thanks Jorrhan. I'd best be getting back to work then," she told him, moving towards the entrance where a new patient had appeared. It was always go in the Opal tents after all. She couldn't be taking any breaks after all.

[Khida]

Waisana

Skill	Points
Herbalism	+1
Intimidation	+1
Medicine	+3
Observation	+1
Philtering	+1
Teaching	+1

• Intimidation: browbeating with harsh truths
• Medicine: cleanliness matters
• Medicine: jile salve to cure infection
• Medicine: signs of a wound gone septic
• Philtering: salves can be made from wax or fat
• Philtering: making jile salve with fat

Notes

A nice snapshot of Waisana's everyday work. I gave Intimidation and Teaching for her interactions with the kid. I would've awarded Negotiation if she had suggested the compromise to Jorrhan. Maybe next time!

As always, please PM me if you have any concerns. Also, please do edit your request to show this thread has been graded.