Of Madness and Mayhem

[Dulcie]

"There's no chapel here." She admitted to Lilani as she started to make her way down the hallway in the direction of the room that she had mentioned. "I don't believe the Doctor was a very religious man, his work was greatly focused on science, though it served him well. I have read most of his notes quite thoroughly and I'm convinced that he was brilliant, although I'd feel even better if he would return to interpret them." She said with a gentle smile as they continued. "The people of this town are not very spiritual at all I fear. There may be some but I believe that most have lost faith with their Gods if they had ever known them to begin with. I suppose a lifetime of hardship can do that to someone." Spoken in such a way that it was becoming a little clearer that Janessa was not a Myrken native.

The comment the other woman made drew a loft of a brow from the red haired healer and she paused for a moment in her stride to look at Lilani curiously. "Do you think it's the work of a necromancer?" It had been the one possibility she hadn't considered yet. "That would certainly change matters if it were..." For one thing it would mean that all of these people weren't crazy, which was perhaps a more disturbing thought than the assumption that they were.

"Ellie's just inside this room." She'd say then before knocking lightly on the door and stepping inside to look about for the elderly woman, spotting her sitting in the one chair in the room, talking quite contentedly to something that wasn't there, only pausing when she saw Janessa and Lilani, the elderly woman motioning the pair in.

"Ah Miss Janessa. Have you brought another to try to convince me to go home? David is here now, right there." The elderly woman said motioning to the bed across from her. "There's certainly no way I'll leave him here alone, but you and your friend are welcome to come in and visit if you'd like."

[Drache]

The Druid moved down the hallway beside the Healer, her wild hair undyed buckskin outfit a strong contrast to the orderly human in her pristine white robe. She nodded politely as Janessa spoke of the Doctor, but it was clear that the tree guardian had no use for someone who was not here to get his elbows dirty alongside them. "Thankfully he left something useful behind him when he traveled. I have sometimes wondered if it would be beneficial to myself to keep a diary of sorts, but books and manuscripts are heavy and hard to keep when you're on the move and face the elements. I suppose that's why Druidic tomes are so rare."

Lilani pouted thoughtfully, an almost childlike expression that made her countenance no less than strikingly alluring in a wild sort of way. "No chapel? An infirmary without a place of worship attached to it challenges my preconceptions, I must admit. Those closest to death frequently turn to the Gods when they never did before. Religion and spirituality are very different things. It's unfortunate that the people who need spirituality the most are those least likely to seek it. I've found that those who manage to attain that inner balance are much easier to heal than others."

The frank way she spoke her mind about such a topic was indicative of someone who didn't spend a lot of time chatting with those who could answer back. It might have even been offensive if it wasn't evident that she thought she was joining the other Healer in a philosophical discussion of things concerning both of their chosen professions.

When Janessa paused, so did she. She shrugged her sun-warmed shoulders and shook her head slightly, shells and antler bone clanking musically together. "I do not know the source, be it a necromancer or a Blighter or a dark cleric or something else. There are many things that can cause the stirrings I feel in the earth. Many things that can cause the wounds of the mind to reopen. I may be able to tell you more after seeing to those who have already come looking for relief. Your Rememdium isn't often this full of those whose ailments are not physical, correct? For this many people to find dementia at the same time seems...extraordinarily unlikely." Her sea-hued eyes searched Janessa's face briefly, as though she suspected she was mirroring the Healer's thoughts.

She followed Janessa into the the little room, her eyes instinctively searching for the closest window. Over time one might come to find that this was a nearly obsessive habit for the wild half-elf. But after the fleeting moment it took to satisfy her compulsion, Lilani beamed brightly at the elderly woman.

"Good evening, elder," she heralded respectfully, moving serenely across the room and crouching gracefully to kneel next to the old woman, sitting back on her heels as her thick shapeless apron creased oddly around her knees. Interestingly, she released her grip on the oaken quarterstaff and the rune-carved weapon remained rigid next to her.

"Thank you for inviting us in. I am not here to force you to go home. I am curious about your beloved David and why you are able to see him while we cannot. Will you tell me about him?" The heart-shaped face smiled up at the old woman, Lilani's pretty eyes round with interest, her cheeks dimpled. She reached up to take one of the elder's hand in her own smaller one, waiting for her reply.

[Dulcie]

Janessa herself didn't seem to worry very much about what the Druid said about spirituality and there being a lack of a chapel. Obviously Janessa had demonstrated herself to be a spiritual person so more than likely she would be in agreement with Lilani rather than in disagreement. The door opening and Ellie's comments would stop Janessa from indulging in any further conversation on the matter however, which was a bit of a disappointment considering that she really did enjoy a good philisophical discussion on faith and theology from time to time. But as with all things there was a time and a place.

Pale green eyes watched Lilani's actions curiously, the way she searched for the window and seemed to find comfort in it when she did. Given time the Druid would find that most of the patient rooms were constructed in a similar manner, with a bed, a chair and a little counter with cupboards to store supplies. All of the rooms also had a window located just behind the end of the bed.

There was one question that Lilani had asked that needed answering and she'd nod somewhat in agreement.

"You're quite right, we usually don't have quite so many, but I can't honestly say this has been the first time. About three years ago there was another rash of this sort of thing, but I believe the people then were hallucinating, they were seeing things that quite obviously weren't there and it was accompanied with violence. I never did find out the cause but the people afflicted healed naturally on their own with time. I've found other records in the Doctor's notes of these sorts of things, though no two are exactly the same or seem to have the same cause. I believe that they're all unrelated, though I can't be certain." She admitted, watching as Lilani entered then to greet Ellie, smiling a little at the Druid's easy nature with the woman. Janessa wouldn't interrupt them, instead moving to the counter area to lean there lightly and watch the Druid at work.

Ellie smiled at Lilani, especially when the woman told her that she wasn't about to try to force her to go home. Her hand was easily taken as the other woman asked her the questions about David, each one bringing another sort of warmth and happiness to the woman's face.

"Oh, how I wish you could see him." The older woman said. "David is my world, he lit up the sun and filled this whole town with joy. When he was alive he was always doing what he could for the little orphans and the sickly children you know. I think that's what did him in at the end, his poor heart just couldn't give any longer." Her last statement said with a bit of melancholy before she perked up again. "But he's come back to me now, he comes and goes of course, but always back to this room, right there, right behind where you're sitting. I wish you could meet him."

[Drache]

Lilani nodded at Janessa's recollection of past events, and came to the conclusion that perhaps Myrken was a hot target for the vile workings of the unsavoury. It made sense, she supposed, with its lack of population compared to other cities and subsequent lack of powerful defenses. This was the kind of place evil started before it marched on to bigger goals.

The petite half-elf listened avidly to the oldster's description of her dearly departed, each sentence divulging crucial information. The woman was clearly aware that David had died. That was important. As was the fact that his spirit seemed drawn to the spot where he had passed on. That was common, but not always the case. The touch of Lilani's small but callused hand wasn't simply for compassion. One or two of the runes on her staff glimmered faintly as she used her skill to assess Ellie's health. It was the kind of wholesome touch that sparked of life, though a mundane human with no inclination in that area might not notice a thing.

"I would like to. He sounds like he was a kind and generous man. But surely someone like him is needed in the next life. Has he said why he keeps coming back? Is he asking you to go with him?" She resisted the urge to turn and look over her shoulder to see if she could see someone standing there. The hand not clasped in Ellie's was rummaging surreptitiously into the many pockets on her worn apron, drawing a few innocuous-seeming objects into her small lap.

[Dulcie]

The red haired healer watched the whole affair and while the elderly woman didn't notice the runes, Janessa certainly did. All the same however she kept her peace, remaining silent as she left the two to their conversation, ever vigilant over the proceedings.

Ellie smiled at Lilani with the look of someone who clearly knew things that the other didn't. "David never crossed over to the next life. He's been here all this time, watching over me." She said with a warm smile at the spot on the bed that she had mentioned that David had been returning to. "He's not trying to hurry me to the end of my life, he's sharing it." She'd take a breath then, sighing softly in completly and utterly unaware that the other woman was assessing her health. The Druid would likely find that the elderly woman was neither in good health nor in poor health which was likely to be expected for her age. Her body was beginning to wear and organs that once functioned perfectly now did so at a slower rate, but she was certainly in no danger of leaving her mortal life any time soon, for all intents and purposes Ellie could be expected to live a good many more years barring any sort of accident.

[Drache]

It may have seemed as though Lilani had completely forgotten the presence of the Healer until her gaze flicked in her direction as the faint glimmer of her staff faded. It was a pointed glance, one that verified Janessa's supposition. Lilani couldn't find anything wrong with Ellie either.

"Did he not? Would that all of us had the pleasure of our loved ones waiting for us when it came time to go on." A curious thing for a Druid to say, considering most of them lived solitary and almost hermit-like lives.

"But perhaps there is a way for me to see him. If you don't mind, of course."

Without waiting for the elderly woman's reply, Lilani lifted a small phial made from the hollow tip of some kind of animal horn. It was stoppered with a screw-on cap and inside was some kind of tallow. Once it was open she opened a small leather herb sachet with her other hand and lifted a pinch of saffron and mushroom powder to sprinkle into the horn. Once that was done, the herb pouch disappeared into her apron and with one finger she mixed the powder with the rendered fat. After a few moments she lifted her fingertip and the runes on her staff flared more brightly than they had since she had arrived. She touched her fingertip to each of her eyes and blinked slowly as the spell of True Seeing had time to take affect.

After a few moments, she glanced at Janessa, and turned to look behind her.

[Dulcie]

Janessa was the picture perfect example of discretion as Lilani looked at her, not even revealing for an instant to Ellie the confirmation or the unspoken words that were exchanged between the two healers. There was only a slight incline of her head the spoke of her agreement before she went back to watching the exchange between the two.

"Oh no, I don't mind at all. David loves company. He would have found you absolutely delightful." Ellie said with a smile, perhaps implying that the ghost of a man wasn't with them at the moment.

The red haired healer took a particular interest in Lilani's actions with the herbs then, unfamiliar with the spell the woman was casting and curious what the effects of it would be, though she had a distinct feeling of trust that the other woman's intentions were honorable.

As the druid would find her true sight what it revealed could certainly be quite chilling. Not only was David sitting there on the edge of the bed gazing lovingly at his beloved wife there were also dozens of other spirits with their appearance, all fixed in various points of life or death. While some like David had died peaceful deaths there were others of whom Catch had seen with their oozing puss filled wounds and their gaping sores that crowded about the bed and the chair where they had died so many years ago. There were others that had seen the violence of Myrken, where chunks of skin had been removed by the sharp jaws of a beast or the cut of a blade, their wounds still dripping ghostly blood upon the hospital bed only to disappear and begin once more in an endless cycle of death and decay.

When Lilani would look back towards Janessa there would be a rather large rotund looking man with that same ghostly look about him as the others, though this man's eyes were intent on the back of the healer's neck, glaring hotly at her as blood trickled down from the open stab wound in his chest. If Lilani could hear the voices of these spirits there would be the moans and the pained screams of the wounded and decayed, and curses with promises for revenge from the man that lingered behind Janessa. If Lilani was spared from those sounds however it would be more than evident the appearance of those howls of pain and desperation from the mouths of the victims.

[Drache]

Lilani was confident that her orison would allow her to see the spirit of Ellie's husband and as the spell blurred and changed her vision she stood and reached to grasp her staff. She didn't often use the spell of True Seeing to look into the ethereal. What did lingering spirits of the dead matter to someone who was focused on the balance of life and death? It was only that they were now affecting the living that they concerned the Druid.

She gazed for many long moments, her sea-hued gaze traveling around the room, obviously seeing something now that hadn't been visible before. Her expression darkened briefly, the sight of the insubstantial ghosts inciting a similar revulsion to what she felt when looking upon the walking dead. But then her eyes softened with pity and she faced David more directly.

The True Seeing spell did not grant her the ability to hear the clamour of dead voices, but it made her more susceptible to the pervasive magic that was affecting everyone else. Most were nothing more than whispers to her pointed ears, though the one standing behind Janessa was loudest of them all.

"Hello David," she intoned kindly, deciding that the rest of the spirits linger here were likely not the sort of company the dead man would have found delightful. "My name is Lilani, and I need your help."

[Dulcie]

There was the briefest of moments where the spirits looked upon Lilani and realized that she could -see- them. Some moved closer to her, crowding in on her space with quiet muffled pleas for help, some looking for lost families, others for a way out though it was a question of whether or not she could hear the voices that crowded in on her. As the spirits moved closer David looked up from where he had been sitting and looked Lilani.

"You can see us." He said calmly, looking at the crowding spirits and waving his hand a little in their direction. "Back you lot. She can't help you when you're crowding about her like that." It seemed that David had some sway amongst the spirit kind who had gathered, the other ghosts drifting away, back to their gathering about the bed and the chair. The man behind Janessa had never moved, never wavered in his deep hatred for the red haired woman.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Lilani, I wish it were under different terms. I have a feeling that you wouldn't be talking to me if there wasn't something amiss. I haven't been bothering Ellie have I? She's seemed so happy to be able to speak with me. I've tried to encourage her to go home but it's so hard for me to leave this place. A little while longer perhaps... ahh, but that's besides the point isn't it darling. Tell me, how can I help you?"

[Drache]

The Druid couldn't help but take a step back as the spirits pressed in before her reason told her that as of yet, they couldn't touch her no matter how close they came. The runes on her staff shone ever brighter with their divine power and bathed the petite woman in a soft green-white glow. Her eyes flicked over the pained, tortured faces as the incessant voices pressured her for aid she couldn't have given anyways.

"Yes I can, but only for a time," she affirmed grimly, feeling no small sense of relief as David ushered the other ones back a ways. His voice sounded wavery and far away, but she could make out what he was saying. She was aware that Janessa and Ellie could hear every word she said to these dead ones, but she intended to use every moment of the spell wisely and explain things to the other healer later.

"Clearly something is amiss, David. I would expect ghosts to linger, to watch over their still living loved ones. And for other reasons..." her gaze traveled briefly to the malicious one behind Janessa. "But so many? And so many able to push through and be seen? This house of healing should not be full of people who are healthy but too plagued by the departed to carry on with their lives. Ellie stays out of her love for you, but most of the rest are here in fear. What is calling you all back? What gives you the power?"

Her expression and her tone were both stern as she looked around pointedly at the wraiths still paying attention to her.

[Dulcie]

Janessa watched carefully, eyeing the other healer as that glow came about her staff and she began what appeared to be her one sided communication, though at the reference to those other reasons Janessa felt that itching at the back of her neck and briefly looked over her shoulder towards the ghost that haunted her, though she saw nothing there and turned back again to regard Lilani, Ellie and the seemingly invisible David.

From where David lingered he seemed to consider Lilani's questions intently, his formless lips pursed together as his eyes shifted to the ceiling as he contemplated how he could describe such an event.

"I'm not sure how to put it. I've always been here, watching over Ellie. I think when I died I just couldn't stand to be pulled away to the next life, I think I knew that I should.. that I should go somewhere, but I just didn't. I've been waiting for her, watching over her all these years." He began before pausing, realizing that what he said wasn't exactly what she had asked of him.

"It was like one day there was this movement in the wind around all us spirits and we -felt- it. We never feel anything anymore you see, but we could feel this. It was like a chill, the way when you breathe in winter air it makes you feel alive and something just felt different. Some of us thought that perhaps if we could feel that we could start feeling other things and when we pushed at the boundary between this existance and that of the living it had a bit of give. We couldn't touch our loved ones but we could reach their minds, and now I can even reach Ellie's sight when I try hard enough." He smiled at that, as if it were a great accomplishment.

"I don't know what gives us the power to do it. I'm trapped here, even when I try I can't seem to follow Ellie out but there are others that move in and out of this place at will. They have said there's places where it is easier to push through than others.. though the only one I know of is the tavern across the way." He would look pointedly then, gazing out the window towards the tavern, and while he couldn't see it Lilani could likely see the dark, pulsating power that seemed to ooze out of the building, sliding like a oil slick from the windows and the doors where it pulsed and radiated to the surrounding area. There were more spirits there of course, in many different states of being, some seemingly drawn to the dark ooze where they breathed or drank it in, their shapes becoming slightly firmer in appearance as if they were one step closer to being corporeal beings.

"Did I help you at all darling? I'm afraid I've never been very good at these things."

[Drache]

The Druid listened intently to David's explanation, straining sometimes to hear the ethereal voice. Her honeyed brows furrowed in consternation as she tried to make sense of his tale. His prideful smile at successfully reaching Ellie's powers of sight earned a pouted lip. If he could do that, how long before other spirits could affect the material realm even more strongly? Like the man hovering behind Janessa?

Her gaze flicked to the window when David mentioned the tavern and considered the dark emanations coming from there. She sighed softly and blinked. The spell was starting to fade.

"You helped some, David, thank you. I only wish the others like you were only lingering out of love. The forces allowing your spirits to come further back into the realm of the living are also raising corpses in the forest and spreading evil. Something must be done about both. I hate to deprive you and Ellie of each other but it would only be for a little while longer."

Lilani was no cleric, but she couldn't abide by such a blight on the land. She knew it was only a matter of time before these ghosts started manifesting and harming the living in more ways than just their minds.

[Dulcie]

"Yes, I worried about that..." Was David's final comment as the spell began to blur his existance for Lilani, his image fading further and further out, while the red haired healer watched the druid with an arch of her brows as she took in the single side to the conversation.

"It's true then.. that we have a danger on our hands and not a madness?" She asked the other woman gently, never losing her calm appearance, though there was that slight glance over her shoulder that she couldn't help for a moment before she looked back to Lilani.

"Many years ago I knew necromancers, but none that would have allowed spirits to simply cross over from the beyond without reason. Do you think that there is some maliceful purpose behind this?" She was putting the pieces together, interpretting what she heard from the human side of the conversation.

[Drache]

Lilani blinked and sagged against her staff, the glow from the runes fading slowly and leaving the half-elf looking more like a tired child than the unfettered ageless nature guardian. The ointment she'd daubed on her eyes dribbled down her pretty cheeks like golden tears before she reached up to wipe them away.

Slowly regaining her composure, she straightened up and turned to nod at Janessa. "Yes. The spirits people are seeing are really there, and unless I'm mistaken they will only gain strength until they can materialize full-strength back into this world. There is little I can do to stop it myself. As Healers all we can do is offer temporary relief."

She shrugged her small shoulders at the question. "The powers of evil don't always follow a simple course. These spirits could simply be a side-effect of the true goal. Or, since Necromancers use the dead to make up their armies, what better than hoards of walking dead and incorporeal spirits? Perhaps if there is one behind all this he or she is waiting until they have gained strength before making their purpose known. I really don't know. But I don't like it and I intend to see the end of it. Is there an order of Clerics here? Or Paladins?"

She turned to smile down at Ellie. "Thank you, elder. Your David was indeed a wonderful man."

[Dulcie]

"I'm not sure... I don't think I've met any Paladins or Clerics since I came to this land, but then I'm afraid I don't get out very often..." Janessa commented, only then catching sight of Ellie's face as she realized they had been having this conversation about necromancers and wicked spirits in front of her.

"Oh Ellie! I'm sure that it won't effect David.. I can't imagine that anyone would want him for anything awful." Janessa assured her in a tone that was so warm and assuring that it almost could have been magical. Almost. Ellie nodded then and while she still seemed somewhat concerned she would offer a soft "you're welcome" to Lilani as thanks was given.

Janessa would usher the other healer out of the room with her then, not wanting to go into any further details in front of her patient.

"If there's anything you can think of that I can do to help just let me know. I'm going to start preparing rooms for the victims from the ball. I can't imagine it will be much longer now before the first one arrives."