Of Madness and Mayhem

[Dulcie]

The red haired Doctor's assistant had never really left Myrken, though like many others of the township Janessa liked to keep to herself and really only involved herself in the affairs of the town when it was medically necessary, as it seemed that things were beginning to become. It had started slowly, as it often did around Myrken, first with a few madmen, but by now the cases of people coming about the Rememdium telling stories about faces in the night and feeling that people were watching them were increasing. It was by no means epidemic, but with rooms starting to fill with people who refused to leave the safety of the Rememdium she was beginning to become concerned. There had been little she could do to ease the minds of these worried townspeople besides giving them a light sedative to help them sleep through the night. It had been the only solution readily at her disposal, but it had been one that had at least freed up some of the rooms.

It was on the evening of the ball that Janessa was pacing about the Rememdium, her long red braid swinging down her back in contrast to the white gown that she wore, her shoes clicking softly on the solid stone floors as she made her rounds checking on patients and supplies when the doors to the building slammed open and a little scruffily dressed boy burst in.

"Been hearing things at the ball Miss Janessa! Lots of screaming and noises coming from inside, I came running over here straight away to let you know!" The boy hollered down the hall at her, beaming when he had finished his message. The street urchin had found that information around the town was valuable and that the Doctor's assistant appreciated information so much that when he stopped by with something of worth she was bound to make sure he got a hot meal and a place to sleep for the night if there was space around. The assistant's nod of her head was all he needed to know that he had permission to head off into the kitchen and with another grin the boy would be off to go collect his meal.

The news itself was unsettling however and she pressed her lips together a bit in contemplation. It was a good thing she had decided against going to that ball, not that she preferred Myrken's social events anyhow.

"I suppose we had best start preparing." She said to one of the other assistants who had popped her head out from one of the rooms at the sound of the boy's announcement. Her own pace quickened then and she started bringing supplies into the rooms that were left open for patients, stocking them with all the tools she would need for binding wounds and stitching flesh.

[Drache]

Lilani padded quietly through the streets, not altogether comfortable when surrounded by the unnaturalness of the city. Carved shell and antler beads clinked musically in her sunny strawberry blonde hair as a soft gust stole around the corner of a nearby building. The rune-carved quarterstaff in her hand, taller than she was, tapped lightly on the dusty cobbles as she wound her way towards the Rememdium. Her hourglass figure was slightly obscured by the lumpy leather apron she wore, its many pockets worn with use and stained by grass and earth. With just another pretty face, it was easy to overlook her in favor of the huge fox-like beast that trotted easily at her heels. The maned wolf's eye glanced nervously at each passing pedestrian and noisy horsecart, calmed only by the special connection to the one he followed. Most people overlooked the pair, seeing nothing but a leather-clad young woman and a large orange dog following behind her.

It wasn't long before she came to the Rememdium, allowing herself inside and holding the door so her Companion could follow her. The creature was copper coloured with onyx black legs and narrow muzzle. But unlike the foxes he resembled, he was as large as a typical wolf, though lankier, which made his slight mistress look even smaller than she was. A ruff of thick black fur that gave his species their namesake stiffened slightly.

The Druid paused in the entrance, gripping her staff tightly, the runes carved into its length coruscating with a gentle white-green glow. She glanced about with sea-green irises ringed with navy blue, the expression on her heart-shaped face one of calm intelligence and curiosity. Looking at her, one couldn't help think of wilderness and growing things, ocean breezes and verdant forests and snow-capped mountain peaks. She reached up to tuck a stray blonde lock behind a pointed ear. "Hello?" she called in a cheerful musical voice.

[Dulcie]

Janessa was still laying instruments about the room that she was in when she heard the door to the Rememdium open and a voice call out. Surely this would be one of the people from the ball that the boy had told her about and as she hurried out of the little room she'd emerge into the hallway that was directed towards the main lobby in a flurry of simple white skirts and the swinging of her red braid. She knew how important every minute was when it came to saving a life.

She slowed a bit when she saw who was waiting in the lobby however, her pale green eyes scanning over the woman and the wolf that were there in the doorway, her eyes looking for signs of blood, injury or distress and when she didn't see any immediately she'd resume a more normal pace, approaching the pair slowly, and with the caution of someone who had certainly seen violence before.

"Welcome." She'd say in a soft, almost musical voice. In another life the assistant could have been a singer or a bard perhaps, though her gentle tone was a gift for this place that she worked in. "My name's Janessa.. I'm the lead assistant to the Doctor here at the Rememdium, is there something I can help you with?"

Janessa waited then, patiently for an answer. She herself wasn't terribly remarkable, perhaps in her mid thirties and dressed in a simple white cotton gown with sleeves that had been rolled up. She had a slight figure, almost delicately so and a certain air of gentleness about her that radiated a sense of calm to those who were in her presence.

[Drache]

Two pairs of eyes turned to watch Janessa approach, one pair almond-shaped and smiling, the other flashed round, yellow and feral. The wolf stood stiffly, his overlarge ears fixed in Janessa's direction. He may be a special sort of animal, being connected to the Druid as he was, but he was still every bit a wild animal.

Lilani smiled, her nearly fae-like beauty undiminished by the leather and furs that clung to her willowy frame. Dimples puckered her cheeks.

"Hello Janessa. I am called Lilani and I am a Healer and herbalist. I am recently returned to the area and looking for work. There will be a need for those like me very soon." Her voice was pleasant, her tone confident.

She gestured to the wolf with a small, hand. "And this is Hikoti. He is my friend and will not harm you." The wolf glanced at the elfkin standing beside him and slowly sat back on his haunches.

[Dulcie]

She watched the other woman with that same patient, quiet manner that she had while she listened to the answer about who she was, not missing for a moment the confidence that the other woman emitted when she stated that she would be needed here very soon. It was possible that the woman had simply overheard the young boy running through the street to warn the Rememdium staff, but the red haired woman seemed to consider it in another manner, sensing something about the woman that spoke of truthfulness.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Lilani, and you are quite right, we'll be needing a healer very soon. It seems that there's trouble in the town." The Rememdium itself was set off a little ways from the township, located in closer distance to the Broken Dagger than it was to many of the houses and shops in the town itself.

"How soon would you be able to start? I have to admit we're in dire need. Our doctor has been gone for a number of years and the other assistant disappeared. We've been making do with me and a few others who assist me, but we arn't prepared for anything beyond stitching up wounds and setting a few bones." She almost seemed a little ashamed at that, knowing there were times when lives or limbs might have been saved if it weren't for her own short comings.

"I know a little healing magic myself, very little but I know herbs well and I'd be grateful to have someone who knows them both to help prepare this place. We've managed but I worry that it won't be much longer before the next crisis comes our way. It's only been maybe four years since the plague and we lost so many then." She paused then, a flush coming to her pale cheeks as she inclined her head a little.

"Forgive my rambling please, I hope I haven't scared you off. It's not every day that someone comes through those doors looking for work and offering services. If you're still willing to stay we'd be lucky to have you at your earliest convenience." She was clearly well spoken, almost an oddity in a place like this that thrived on farming and mercenary work.

She smiled as the wolf was explained and she bent down then, to look at the wolf for a moment. "Hello Hikoti" She'd say softly, glancing back up at Lilani then. "Is he your familiar?" She asked with the tone of someone who quite obviously knew what she was talking about.

[Drache]

Lilani continued to smile kindly, but there was a fierceness in her gaze like the far-seeing hawk or the slithering snake. "And more trouble coming if I can believe what I hear from the wind in the trees."

The fact that the Rememdium wasn't in the center of the town's bustle was a critical factor in Lilani's decision to present herself here. Too far away from the wild sprawl of the forestland and she would have passed this town by completely.

"I can begin immediately. I sense that others of my kind have been absent from here for far too long. The balance is offset and darkness lurks. I fear that there may soon be injuries that potion and bandage can not help." She glanced around, looking up at the ceiling and down the hallways.

"I prefer to work my magic outdoors under the sun and the stars, but this should work. Is there an herb garden here? I should like to see it immediately." She nodded in approval at Janessa's dismay at the plight of the understaffed, under prepared hospital. Though Lilani appeared young, her appearance almost sunny and childlike, there was something hard and businesslike about her too. The tendrils of her hair drifted, toyed with by an unfelt breeze.

"I am a Druid, Janessa. I go where I am needed. My purpose is to heal and make things grow. Working here will take away the time I normally use to to wander and search the woodland for what I need, so I will require food and a place to stay nearby." She spoke frankly, apparently not wanting to leave much room for misunderstandings.

Hikoti lowered his head slightly as Janessa crouched, but did not growl. He seemed to come to some sort of approval because his tail raised gently.

"Yes, you could call him that. He goes where I go and at present our lives are joined together."

[Dulcie]

She watched Lilani with careful eyes, the way she seemed to note what was coming and what would happen and she was busy making her own assessments about what the woman was and what she was capable of. It was something that gave her a small measure of peace.

"We do have a garden, it's something that I've been keeping up since I arrived here, and there's an area out back where the patients like to sit in the sun on a nice day where you could have space to work your magic if you wanted to." She said, motioning for the woman to follow her, leading the way through the Rememdium towards the back door, the pair passing by the dozen rooms or so, half of them filled with those who were mad with the talk of things they were seeing in the night whom she hadn't been able to sedate and send home.

"We have something strange happening already, people who claim to see their loved ones, or people in their dreams. There's been a handful of them who have come here but it's getting worse, I gave five of them medicine to help them sleep and sent them home today but there are more already." She sounded concerned about that, but she wasn't going to ask the other woman to do anything about it just yet, she had only just arrived.

At the comment that the other woman made about being a Druid the red haired woman would glance over her shoulder and smile slightly. "I know. It's been a long time since I've seen a Druid, and I have definitely not met one here. We are lucky that you have come our way." She'd listen to her comments about food and shelter, nodding a little then at her statements of her needs.

"There's an inn and tavern across the way that I can have a room and boarding arranged for you if you like. If you don't you're welcome to board with me in my home. I have a small house a little ways from here back in the woods, our other assistant used to live there as well, but as I've said it's just been me for awhile."

She'd motion Lilani to follow then as she opened up the back door for her, holding it open so that the Druid could pass through into the garden.

[Drache]

The lovely Druid listened attentively and then followed as Janessa lead the way. On every alternate step, her oaken staff tapped woodenly on the floor. As Hikoti followed at a steady trot, his claws clacked in a steady rhythm.

Her wildling gaze peered into the various rooms, and more than once she stopped briefly to look inside. "It is very difficult to treat those whose illness is not in the body."

"The inn will be fine until I can grow a Grove. But that takes time, especially when there is a blight on the land."

She smiled cheerfully as she moved out into the garden, bending down to press her face into a clump of licorice-scented Anise. The carefully manicured rows of plants made her giggle almost mischievously. She moved further into the lines of greenery, touching a leaf here, plucking one there and bringing it to her lips or nose to smell or taste. The runes on her staff started to glow. Hikoti stayed back, standing attentively near but still apart from the human.

There was a hissing sound, something like running water or steam, but it creaked and stretched and the plants started to rustle. In the evening light, the rows of herbs lifted their leafy heads and started to grow, and the sound they made was simply the growing of plants of fast-forward. Leaves spread and little tendrils crept and coiled. Buds burst and bloomed with light poppings and those that bore fruit or seed or nut bent under heavy loads. Plants who had started out no higher than Lilani's ankle were quickly reaching her slim waist. Though they were crowded now, they remained more or less in their original rows. A gust of warm wind breezed through the space, setting Lilani's hair to flying and clinking with its decorations.

Smiling almost impishly like a wild spirit, she turned to face Janessa. "These will need to be harvested soon. If you'll allow it, I have many more that will need planting, but I can't cut and dry them fast enough on my own. If there is something affecting the minds of those here, we will need to help protect them. Is there a safe place I can grow things like foxglove? Perhaps near your house?"

[catch]

There was a stag coming through the darkened wood A stag, or perhaps a horse, it's rider lost, or simply sending his steed on a mad course when a clear path lay just there, on the other side of the Rememdium. It was a large animal, either way, and it's hard, sharp feet fell wherever they may, without any fear that they may be placed in a hole, or caught in ditch or log, and snapped. The nature-born wind did nothing to hide the crashing noise, tossing shrub and tree so that something silver could be seen, a bright, piercing light, that at once was far too alien in such a sacred house of nature, and yet seemed as natural as lunar-blooming flowers.

Anticipation hung, as the creature suddenly stopped, and in the middle of that flickering, bright light was Catch. His clothing was torn, the beautifully-made things rent and torn , cuffs barely hanging to his wrists, and his pale skin pulsed under the tears, tinged with the red of scratches and branch-whips. His eyes were wild, unseeing, and his mouth gaped in horror at the building that he was used to. That he had been, a time or two.

And now it was filled with people, ghastly people with oozing sores and pus-dripped warts, wandering the courtyards and gardens with blank, confused eyes, and here and there one would cough, and ghostly blood that was not blood spattered the ground, flew about the two very-real women and their beast.

"Knew better, Oi did," said a man next to Catch, conversationally, and his eyes were nothing more than bloodied pits in his head, great slashes cut across his throat and down his abdomen. He turned his empty, torn face to Catch, and he sighed in pity and sadness. "Knew better'n t'take that one in. But I done it. Can't trust no strangers 'ere, lad. No sir."

The man turned to cough in turn, as if the plague-victims had somehow infected him in his death.

'There are people in there, Wolf-Keeper. Nice people, with bitter herbs and doe-skin chains...'

Just as abruptly as he had appeared to the two women, the strange, wild man turned, and just as quickly fled, and it was two feet who made the noise of four, the bushes thrashing shut on his luminescent form.

[Dulcie]

The red haired assistant watched the Druid at work with a soft smile on those gentle lips. It wasn't the first time that she had seen such an undertaking but it had been a very long time since she had and it was heartwarming to see the garden that she had started coming to life, and to see that there was help to be had. For so long she had managed the Rememdium all on her own and she was more than willing to relinquish some of that control to someone with more talent and ability than she had, she could only hope that the Druid would stay for awhile.

"I'll be happy to help with the cutting and drying, I'm quite familiar with that technique at least, and you're more than welcome to use some of the land near my home to plant others. I'm just grateful to have the help." She said graciously in that same soft tone that she always used.

There was a crackle of branches in the woods then and her pale green eyes would shift in it's direction, watching with a bit of caution though perhaps the Druid would notice the glance that was given her, almost as if Janessa was checking to see if the other woman had heard the same noise. It was verification that this was not another one of those instances that she thought she had seen or heard something that wasn't there, and while she would never admit it to those in the Rememdium she had started having the same types of dreams that her patients had complained of. Despite fear and worry however the healer maintained a deep sense of calm about her, quelling what she felt for the benefit of others.

From the crackling emerged a man, a man who was clearly in crisis with his clothes torn and a great scar upon his forehead, but with a glow about him that was so deeply unnatural that she knew that something else was at work than just what it appeared to be. While she couldn't see the ghostly beings that surrounded her, the feeling of a presence was with her and for a moment she wondered if these things were related, the trouble at the ball, the dreams and whisperings amongst mad men and this strange man errupting from the woods.

"Do you need help Sir?" She'd call out to the man who stood there gazing at things that weren't there, frowning when he ran away in the opposite direction. Things were not right, not right at all. As the man darted off she'd pause a moment there in that garden that bloomed of life and was clogged with unseen death she'd bow her head a moment and whisper a quiet prayer to a God that she so rarely acknowledged these days before turning to Lilani.

"I think perhaps we should start our preparations for those who might be injured this evening. What will you need?"

[Drache]

Lilani hummed softly as she examined her handiwork, her apron creasing as she bent down to pluck a leaf from a spearmint and pop it in her mouth. It was clear that someone like her didn't spend a lot of time indoors. Didn't belong there. But for some reason this half-elf Druid had decided to come out of the woods for a time and help fight the tilting of balance into darkness. There was no telling how long she might stay, and she made no promises as to working regular hours, but here she was regardless.

"Great! You must be very strong of heart to run this place for so long. I may have the power of the earth and sky behind me, but your presence is important. Tomorrow would be a good time to plant. There is rain coming. I will want unicorn root and turtlewort..." This last was said mostly to herself as she turned those nature-hued eyes back to the garden. Grass was starting to creep up through the stones at the base of Lilani's staff.

It was Hikoti who noticed the clumsy approach first. His stance stiffened and his yellow eyes flashed out into the night, his ever-twisting ears still. He moved over to stand next to Lilani, who noticed his demeanor and looked up too, just as the sounds were audible to her own ears. They stood together, partners, and made quite the pair.

Lilani's honeyed brows knitted together and her full lips formed a thoughtful pout, her countenance still beautiful even with such an expression. The silvery light coming from the creature before her nearly matched the soft glow coming from the runes on her staff. The nature-bound half-elf appeared to be able to see nor hear the lingering spirits that drifted around her. A Druid's place was in the natural world, and while she often had to contend with the tainted or overly-saturated remnants of both goodly and evil powers, like that awful spot down by the lake, they remained invisible to her for now.

The shining figure turned to leave. Hikoti barked, a hoarse, mournful sound, and Lilani's hand came up to cover her mouth as she gasped in horror. "No! How?" she whispered.

If it hadn't been for the human healer reminding her of her purpose here, the Druid would have quickly plunged into the trees after the distraught creature. She was torn between two responsibilities that were at the very core of her being. On one hand, she knew that the stumbling creature was and that he needed help. There was usually nothing holding her back from chasing down such a need. On the other...the Rememdium and the creeping taint that was blighting the land worse than any frigid winter.

Her face turned towards Janessa, defiant and stubborn. But then it relaxed in reluctant acceptance. "Yes, you're right." She looked down at the narrow face of her Companion, who was staring up at her, his own brow crinkled with a concern and expectancy that betrayed some intelligence.

The small woman crouched down on one deer-hide covered knee and wrapped her arm around the ruffed neck. She pressed her forehead to the wolf's.

"Go, Hikoti! Follow him and come back to me at dawn!" The mane wolf ducked out of her grasp and ran to the edge of the garden. He paused briefly, lifting his head and moaning into the night, his voice loud and hoarser than the songs of the gray wolf cousins. And then he was gone, his nimble-footed shaggy form disappearing stealthily into the trees.

Lilani rose and turned to the Healer, gazing up at the much taller woman as she started to move inside, businesslike and determined once more. "I will need as much felwort, hyssop, and blackbane as you have. And shamblerstalk, though it's very rare and I don't know if you'll have any. We will need hot water, wraps, and bandages. And food. Healing with magic burns my strength quickly. You're certain there will be injuries from this Ball? In-between seeing to them I'd like to take a look at the others."

There was no question that she meant the people who were here because of the nightmares.

[Dulcie]

The whole interaction between Lilani and Hikoti was fascinating to Janessa and she watched it with that quiet polite regard as they seemed to converse about the mad man who went dashing off into the woods. It didn't take one overly sensitive to realize how very strange it was that a two footed man made the noises of a four hooved beast, and she was quite certain that there was something else at work here, especially as the Druid sent her companion running off after him.

"What's Hikoti going to do?" She asked curiously as she moved with Lilani back to the Rememdium, listening to her list of things that she was going to need to work her healing.

"I don't have any Shamblerstalk or hyssop, but I have everything else. I'll show you where it is and where the rooms are and I'll send Billy across the way to the tavern to bring some food back for you. He's a good boy, spends alot of time lurking about here to see if there's some sort of work I can give him. I'd let him stay if he didn't keep running back off to the streets at every opportunity. I do what I can though." She said gently, motioning with her hand down the hallway to show Lilani to the series of rooms, describing the locations of the empty patient rooms, the supply and linen closets and the kitchen, pointing out the cupboards that kept the few herbs that she had already gathered and collected.

She paused a moment then as she looked down the hallway, a figure there a man who was older and with a big round belly that had come from years of enjoying wealth off the backs of others, and he was bleeding, the blood streaming from his chest and pooling on the lobby floor.

"Sir! You need help!" She'd call to him just beginning to start in his direction when she blinked and he was gone. She paled a little, even more so than she was already and glanced sheepishly at Lilani.

"I'm sorry.. I thought I saw someone. I guess this place makes you a little jumpy when you've been here for so long." She said it all so smoothly, not even giving a hint that she didn't truly believe what she had just said, picking right back up with the conversation they had been having.

"Billy said there had been screaming at the ball. Screaming around here usually results with someone being hurt or dead. I can only pray that it's the former rather than the latter. But please by all means, you're welcome to see to the patients that we have until we have a more pressing emergency on our hands."

[Drache]

"He will follow the....the creature we just saw, and come back to me at daybreak to tell me what he knows. That one needs help, probably more than I can give. But I must know."

She didn't offer any explanations for her desire to help a being so obviously in need, trusting that the other Healer would understand instantly.

"No Shamblerstalk," she almost pouted. "Well no matter, I will just have to plant some. There are plenty of plants I will need to harvest that can't be grown in a garden anyways. The felwort will be my next choice."

Following swiftly, she nodded as Janessa gave her a rapid tour. She moved over to the herb cabinets so she could eye the little vials and satchels, the mortar and pestles, the drying racks. But she didn't take too much time at it.

She froze and turned to follow Janessa's gaze, her expression puzzled and slightly concerned as the Healer turned back to her. "Yes, jumpy," she repeated kindly, clearly not believing that for a second.

"I see. Thank you for sending the young man to get me something to eat. Until we know what is going on in town, please show me to some of your patients. If there are any with normal injuries just waiting until they have the strength to go home, show me to them first. Perhaps we can clear some beds."

[Dulcie]

She knew the Druid hadn't believed her from the moment she spoke those words, but from the other woman's reactions Janessa knew that she hadn't seen the figure that she had in the lobby either. It was more than a little unsettling. Perhaps the madness was contagious and she was doing herself a disservice by staying so many hours within these walls. But then again healing was the red haired woman's life and without it she would likely have no other purpose in her existance and that was a thought more terrible than contracting some sort of madness.

At the comment about the patients she would motion Lilani to follow her over to the opposite hall where the mutterings and moanings of those most afflicted could be heard.

"I haven't got anyone with any normal injuries. Wounds I can stitch and bind, I can break a fever, but there hasn't been anything I can do about these people. The ones that were just frightened I was able to send home with a bit of a sedative so that they could sleep normally, but the people that are still here refuse to leave. They've been raving about the dead and their dreams so much that even some of their families don't want them around scaring children and such. At first it was just the addle minded, the sorts that have always been a little off after a tragedy.. the ones that were orphaned young or saw some sort of horrible deed but now I've got the elderly, and stone masons who insist they've seen their fallen spouses or friends. I'm not really sure what to do about it... prayer doesn't seem to be helping much." It was clear that she was a spiritual woman, though her rational look to healing often overtook that.

"If you'd like I can take you to see Ellie. She's the calmest of them all right now. She doesn't want to leave because she said that her husband is here. The thing is though he died last year when his heart stopped beating, right in the very same room that she refuses to move out of. I'm not sure if I can convince her to go home or even try to tell her that she can't possibly be seeing him."

[Drache]

Lilani held her own counsel about what she thought was going on here. She hadn't yet been affected by waking nightmares and whispers in the night, and she was used to the sensation of eyes on her back, friendly and otherwise. But she heard the whispers in the trees, smelt the lingering tinge of death brought back to life, heard the frustrated calls of carrion-eaters going hungry.

She followed with the soft thump of her staff on the floor.

"I see. And unfortunately a house of healing is also a house of death. I will have much work to do, to the grounds as well as the people. I assume there is a chapel here, but the rest of the grounds are not Hallowed. Changing that may help."

She nodded and indicated with a tilt of her staff for Janessa to lead the way. "It sounds as though the dead refuse to rest."