• Solo • Decisions for the Future

[Seira Shiryu]

37th Saun, 721


Seira looked up from petting Ryu when her sister walked into the room. Unhappy at the shift in Seira's attention, Ryu batted her hand with her paw, and looked hopeful when Seira looked down at her. Seira felt a strong rush of affection for the small cat, and resumed her petting. But she kept her eyes on Seri.

"Hey Seri...do you think that we should join the Order of Adunih?" she asked.

It was something that Seira had been thinking about off and on for quite some time now. While becoming a healer wasn't exactly what she wanted to do with herself...or rather, it wasn't all that she wanted to do with herself, healing others was a way of helping people. And that was at the root of what she wanted to do; help those who were in need. Part of that was helping the Lightning Knights, of course. Their mother was a Lightning Knight, and Seira wanted to help her in every and any way that she could. Deep down she felt that she owed it to her mother even though she knew that their mother would never see it that way. But it was more than that. She knew what it was to be afraid. She knew what it was to be hungry, and to not know when you would get your next meal. And now that she was no longer in a position to be in need herself, she wanted to help others who were.

Seri gave Seira a measured look, and Seira sensed that her sister was less thrilled with the idea than she was.

"I don't know. Not really. I mean...I want to help the Knights, Seira. And I'm not sure that joining the Order is the right way to do that. As healers, that would have to be our primary focus. Healing people. Finding ways to use herbs as weapons, or devising medical kits that Knights could take with them and use easily, or coming up with drum or arrow codes and the rest of it...that would all have to be pushed aside. Made into a hobby. And I'm not ready to do that. Besides...I don't like people all that much. I mean...I love you and mom, of course. I like our friends. And I want to help others the same as you do. But...I'd rather help others by donating to a good cause, or by making something that will help them. Volunteering in the soup kitchen as a cook, and stuff like that. I don't like dealing with people I don't know directly. Knowing that, I think I'd make a pretty lousy healer. I'd have no problem making herbal remedies for people, but I'd hate being the one to see patients and treat them directly."

Seira nodded slowly. That was something to consider, of course. Seira didn't want to give up working on all of the vague ideas that they had that might help the Lightning Knights. But she didn't think that being a healer would mean that she couldn't do both. Lightning Knights needed to be healed as much as anyone else when they were injured or sick, after all. And healing would be a way that Seira could help many different people who were in need.

As for Seri's other point...Seira understood where it was coming from. There had been a time in their lives where trusting in strangers was asking for trouble. And it was very difficult to like someone that you couldn't trust. But while Seira still did not give her trust lightly, she had come a long way from the wary child that she had been. She was willing to give others a chance to earn her trust, and she didn't mind interacting with people she didn't know directly. If Seri did...she was right. She wouldn't make a good healer if she resented having to interact with her patients.

Seira frowned pensively. Did she want to join the Order without Seri? They did everything together. Seira relied on her sister, and she knew that Seri relied on her in return. They spent most of their time together...to the point that it felt strange when they were apart for more than a few breaks at a time. If she were to join the Order, a lot of her time would be focused on that. She would be learning how to treat patients, how to make more herbal remedies than she knew how to make now, and all sorts of other things. Things that she wouldn't be allowed to teach Seri. She knew that much because she had learned that the man who had been teaching them when they had volunteered with the Order in the past had gotten into trouble for doing so. She and Seri didn't keep secrets from each other. Or they very rarely did, and even when they tried, they wouldn't be able to do so for long. Did she want to have to keep secrets from her twin? It wouldn't be the same as keeping secrets really...but it kind of would be if she was learning things that she couldn't share with her twin. And yet...

"Seira...if you want to join the Order of Adunih, then I think you should. Don't let me stop you from doing something that you want to do. I would hate that. Besides...I think that you would make a good healer."

Seira smiled at her twin.

"Do you really think so?"

"Yes, I do. You want to help others in any way that you can, and learning how to heal people is a good way of doing that." Seri said firmly.

"Thanks, Seri."

"So are you going to go see if you can join the Order, or what?"

"I think I will."

[Seira Shiryu]

Seira made her way to the Earth Quarter slowly because she was lost in thought as she walked. Was she absolutely certain that she wanted to join the Order? Even if it would mean that she wouldn't have much time for her twin if she did? Oh, she'd see Seri in passing, of course. They did live together, after all. And they would still be able to eat some meals together. But probably not every meal every trial as they had been.

Joining the Order was a huge commitment. Doing so would mean that she would spend most of each trial in the Order clinic, especially in the beginning. There was so much she would need to learn. And in an attempt to learn faster, she would likely need to study medicine at the Rharne Institute in addition to the things she would be learning and doing at the Order clinic. Much of her time outside the clinic would be spent studying, or sleeping. And she wouldn't be able to study with Seri because she would not be allowed to share the knowledge that she was learning with her twin. If she was going to be truly serious about joining the Order, it would mean giving up her twin sister in a very real sense. Temporarily, at least. Rather than doing things with Seri, she would be devoting time and energy to the Order. Instead of spending most of her time with her twin, she would only see her in passing more often than not. And not even that much every trial. To give anything less than her all to the Order would be doing them a disservice. And it would be awfully selfish of her to want to spend time with her twin that she could spend doing things for the Order or learning about new herbs or how to tend patients.

Was it possible to balance time with her family and time working for the Order? Seira didn't think so. Not until she had learned enough to make herself useful, and start to use what she was learning to find ways to help the Lightning Knights besides just healing them. Could she do that? Give up her twin sister? Did she want to? Want to...well no, she didn't. But was she willing to? Seri thought that she should join the Order, and she did really want to become a healer. So maybe she could do it as long as it wouldn't be forever. She would try, at least. Even if it did feel as though she was losing a part of herself in the process.

When she reached the two story building, Seira went inside. She was quickly greeted by a green cloaked woman who asked her if she was injured or feeling ill even as she looked Seira over for any signs of obvious injury. Seira explained that she was hoping to join the Order, and asked who she needed to speak to in order to do so. The woman smiled at her and introduced herself as Kaira before guiding her over to a waiting area and telling her that someone named Mattieus would come to interview her when he had the chance to do so. After asking if Seira needed anything while she waited, Kaira rushed off once more.

The name Mattieus was familiar to Seira, and after a few bits, she remembered that Mattieus was the name of the healer who had come to see her and help her deal with the trauma she had suffered while helping to search for survivors when part of the Dust Quarter had collapsed last Ymiden. Seira wondered if the Mattieus who would interview her was the same one that had helped her last Ymiden.

She didn't have to wait for long, and when she saw the Ithecal approaching her, she knew that it was the same Mattieus that had treated her last Ymiden. He recognized her as well, and after a polite greeting, he led her into his office.

"Kaira tells me that you would like to join the Order of Adunih?" he asked, beginning the interview.

Seira nodded.

"I would, yes."

"May I ask why?"

The question gave Seira pause for a trill, but she realized that it was a reasonable one. Mattieus would want to know that she wanted to join the Order for the right reasons...or rather because she wanted it for herself rather than to join out of any sense of obligation to him o to the Order for helping her overcome her trauma last Ymiden.

"I want to help people. Learning how to heal is one way for me to be able to do that. Joining the Order of Adunih is something that I have been thinking about for quite some time now."

She hesitated before continuing.

"When I was a child, I lived on the streets of Rynmere for all intents and purposes. My sister and I had a house we could stay in, but we were completely on our own until we were adopted by Vivian Shiryu. She brought us here, and raised us. Our mother would never ask it of us, but we both want to help her the way she she helped us. And since she is a Lightning Knight, we want to find a way to help them as well. But it's more than that for me. Now that I am not in a position to be in need of help myself, I want to help others who are in need. I've learned about the uses of some herbs, and how to make some herbal remedies. It's something I am good at, and I am fascinated by it. As a healer, I would be able to learn more of such things, and use that knowledge to help others."

Mattieus listened carefully as she spoke, saying nothing until she was finished. Seira wasn't certain what he thought about it at first. And she wondered if wanting to help people was enough of a reason to become a healer when there were so many other ways she could help people who were in need. But he nodded, and smiled, putting Seira's fears to rest. She realized that he really had just wanted to make certain that she wanted to join for her own reasons rather than out of any sense of obligation she might feel towards him. And truthfully, that had not occurred to her until this interview had began.

"An interest in making medicines and herbal remedies, and a desire to help people are as good as reasons to learn how to heal as any. Welcome to the Order of Adunih." he said at last.

He paused briefly before continuing.

"You spoke of a knowledge of some herbs and herbal remedies. I'd like to get a sense of what you know already. There is a basic class that all new members of the Order must take, but if I have an idea of what you know already, I might be able to suggest some other classes that you may find of interest."

Seira thanked the man, then told him what she had learned so far. Once she had finished, he suggested a few classes that might be of interest to her. He also told her that he was going to be teaching one of the basic classes for new Order members in a couple of breaks, and told her that she could join the lass if she wished. Mattieus told her what would be expected of her as a member of the Order, and who she should speak to in order to be added to the roster. Then he told her who to speak to in order to get her green cloak and medical kit. Finally, he told her that she would be assigned to work with a team of healers, and that she would not be permitted to work in the field without them. This would be done after she had taken the basic class that all new Order members were required to take.

Once the interview was over, he left to go prepare for his class, and Seira went to speak to the person she needed to speak to in order to be added to the roster of healers.

[Seira Shiryu]

By the time that Seira made it to the classroom, she was not the first person to arrive. Neither was she the last because as she made her way to an empty desk in the front she saw three more people enter the room. As she got settled into her seat, the girl sitting next to her leaned towards her.

"Hi, my name is Eiren. I don't recognize you, but I just joined the Order three trials ago. Are you new too?" she asked with a welcoming smile.

Seira nodded.

"I'm Seira, and I just joined totrial."

"We newbies need to stick together. I'm guessing that you didn't know about the basic class that we have to take?"

"Not until I finished my interview, no."

"I have plenty of paper, and an extra pen so you can use these to take notes during class if you like."

Seira thanked Eiren as she took the offered supplies. Mattieus walked in a few trills later, and introduced himself to the class.

"Welcome to the Order of Adunih. Some of you will have been assigned to your teams by now, but others have not. Your teams will be your mentors, and you will learn a lot from them. Some things can be learned in a classroom, but others cannot, and these are the things that you will learn from your teams; things like how to treat your patients properly, what the various symptoms you will learn about in class actually look like, and much more. You will not be allowed to work in the field without a team of skilled healers until you have earned your blue cloaks."

Seira thought that this made a great deal of sense. While she knew some things about herbs and herbal remedies, she didn't know the first thing about treating a patient. And if she was the one who was sick or injured, she knew that she would want to be treated by a healer that knew what they were doing rather than someone who had just joined the Order a few trials ago.

"Medicine is the practice of the diagnosing someone who is either ill or injured, treatment of their ailment, and the prevention of disease. There are many different skills that you will need in order to practice medicine. Knowing how to research and how to study will help you a great deal when it comes to learning everything that a healer must know. This includes knowing what symptoms are to be expected with any given injury or illness, what medications and herbal remedies you will need to treat those symptoms, or even if any are needed at all, what to do if a patient does not respond to the standard treatment of the aliment they have or if they are allergic to the ingredients of the medicine or remedy that is typically used to treat their condition, and many, many more things. A good memory will help you to retain what you learn. Honing your senses will aid your ability to determine what symptoms are present in a patient. It is one thing to know that a fever is one of the symptoms of the flu, and another thing entirely to be able to tell that your patient has a fever."

Seira took notes as quickly as she could. The things that Mattieus was telling the class made a great deal of sense. Seira suspected that some of them were common sense really, but at the same time, she wondered how many people thought about such things without having someone point them out to them.

"What all of this boils down to is that healers do just that; they heal their patients whether those patients are ill, injured, or traumatized in some way. And one of the most important skills that a healer must learn is how to care for the patients that come to them. Caring for a patient comes in many forms. It can mean seeing to the physical needs of a patient who is bedridden due to an injury or illness. Equally, it can mean being supporting and comforting to a patient who is recovering from a serious illness or severe injury and despairs of ever regaining their full strength, or the full use of an injured limb. In the terms of a pregnant woman, it may mean reassuring them that an unpleasant symptom will pass, or that it is perfectly normal when they fear it means that something is horribly wrong with their unborn child. It isn't enough to simply treat the injury or illness that your patient is suffering from. If you don't see to their needs as a person while you are treating them, that can have a very negative effect on their recovery. It may even prevent them from recovering at all."

Mattieus paused his lecture to ask if anyone had any questions. A few of the students did, and Seira paid as close attention to the questions, and the answers that Mattieus gave them as she did to the lecture itself.

"I just finished saying that healers heal their patients. That is what they do. But it is also important to know the exception to this. As healers, there will be times that you will fail. We try to save everyone that we can. And I would like to believe that a time will come when we can save everyone who comes to us for healing. But for now, there are people that cannot be healed. There are illnesses that do not yet have a cure, and some of those are fatal. Some injuries are so severe that they are beyond our ability to heal fully. Sometimes this means that the patient will lose a limb, or the use of one. Other times, they will be left with lingering pain or weakness for the rest of their lives. And sometimes those injuries are fatal ones, and we lose the patient themselves. This may be due to the nature of the injury itself, or because the patient simply loses the will to live, and stops fighting to survive. The latter may at times be prevented by a healer who cares for their patient as a whole person and encourages them to fight for their own recovery, but there are times when our best efforts will not be enough. It is important to know this, and to know that as long as you give your all to curing your patient you will not be at fault if you are unable to save them. In these cases, it is very important that you see to your own healing, and that you make certain that you are fully recovered from the loss of your patient before you treat anyone else."

Once again, Mattieus paused to ask if anyone had questions. This time, no one did. Seira couldn't help but wonder if that was because no one wanted to think too hard about the possibility of losing a patient.

"There are many different fields of medicine. And not all of them involve treating patients directly. No one can master them all. Some of you will likely choose to specialize in one or two areas that interest you the most. Others may choose to learn the basics of each field, but be a master of none of them. Both paths are perfectly acceptable."

Seira jotted down a few notes, but for the most part she just listened intently. It came as a surprise to her that there were different fields of medicine...and at the same time, it made perfect sense. There were many different kinds of illnesses and injuries, after all. Was it really reasonable to think that any one healer would be able to treat them all? Seira was interested in learning about the fields that didn't involve treating patients directly. She knew that Seri didn't want to join the Order because she wasn't comfortable with dealing with people that she didn't know. But she did want to help people just as much as Seira did. Seira knew that very well. Perhaps Seri could learn one of the branches of medicine that didn't involve treating patients directly if she wanted to? It was something worth mentioning to Seri at least.

"The different branches include midwives, field medics, surgeons, general practice, pediatric medicine, palliative care, medical research, medical innovation, apothecary, and mental health. Midwives specialize in pregnancies, and child birth. Field medics specialize in treating patients in a combat environment. Surgeons specialize in surgery; treating injuries and conditions that require one to cut into a patient's body. This can mean anything from amputating a limb to removing an unborn child from its mother's womb during childbirth as a result of complications to...well, there are many reasons why surgery is necessary. General practitioners are the healers who specialize in common medical conditions. They are the ones who diagnose a patient and treat the ones they can while calling in a specialist to treat those who have illnesses and injuries beyond what they can handle."

Mattieus stopped his lecture when one Eiren raised her hand.

"Are general practitioners the ones who know the basics of most fields but don't specialize in any?" she asked.

"Yes they are."

Seira took careful notes on everything that Mattieus had told them. So far she had learned more about what she didn't want to do than what field she did want to pursue. Being a general practitioner or a midwife didn't sound bad, but she really didn't want to be a field medic or a surgeon. And none of the fields Mattieus had spoken of so far dealt with herbs and making herbal remedies, which is what she was really interested in.

"Pediatricians specialize in treating children. Palliative care involves caring for those who have a terminal illness. Medical researchers are those who develop new treatments and cures while medical innovators are the ones who develop new medical inventions. The Raft is one such invention. Medical research and medical innovation are the two fields of medicine that do not involve treating patients directly."

Again Mattieus paused, and Seira took the opportunity to double check her notes to make certain she had gotten everything. Medical innovation and medical research both sounded very interesting, and she had the feeling that Seri might be interested in them as well. Then again, she might not since even though those fields did not involve treating patients, they were more limiting than what Seri really wanted to do.

"Apothecary is the field of medicine that involves harvesting herbs and making medicines out of them. And finally, mental health deals with mental illnesses and emotional trauma rather than physical injuries and illnesses."

When Mattieus paused again, Seira hurriedly finished taking notes on what she had just learned. When she finished, she glanced through the notes she had taken in order to make certain that she hadn't missed anything while the knowledge was fresh in her mind. With her fascination for learning more about herbs and herbal remedies, she knew that the apothecary field was the one that she wanted to focus on the most. But Mattieus had mentioned that some healers chose to specialize in more than one thing, and that appealed to Seira very much. General practice seemed like a good field to study because it sounded as if that was the basics of healing in a way. Diagnosing a patient so that you would know what kind of treatment they needed and whether you were qualified to handle it yourself or if you needed to call in a specialist. That could also be applied to the field she was most interested in because knowing what was wrong with a patient would tell her which herbal remedy they needed...and if an herbal remedy would help them in the first place.

Seira put a star next to the word apothecary in her notes since that was going to be her main focus. A knowledge of herbs would help her in other ways too, after all. Things like a knowledge of stinging nettles. She was hopeful that she would be able to use them as a weapon for the Knights in some way. After a few trills she put a dot next to the words general practice. She liked the idea of treating children as well, so she also put a dot beside the words pediatric medicine. The star and dots made the words beside them stand out, and Seira realized that she would notice them more readily than other words if she were to skim through her notes. And by standing out, Seira knew that she would see them as important while she was studying. Within that, she believed that the word with the star beside it would stand out more, therefore marking it as more important than the ones with the dots. And so it should be since her primary focus would be studying the apothecary field while her secondary focuses would be general practice and pediatric medicine. As Seira looked at the changes she had made to her notes, she realized that she could do something similar any time she took notes on something. She made a mental note of that.

"While it is important to know what the different fields of medicine are so you can get an idea of what you might want to specialize in in the future, you will not be permitted to specialize in a specific field until you pass your basic training. This class is the start of that training, but most of it will come from what you learn in the team that you are assigned to as a green cloak."

Seira nodded to herself, and she saw some of the other students doing the same thing. It made a lot of sense to her that that would be the case.

"Does anyone have any questions?"

There were several. Seira didn't have any questions she wanted answered, so she took careful notes on both the questions, and the answers that Mattieus gave. When Mattieus had finished answering everyone's questions, he reminded them that they would not be permitted to work in the field without the groups they had been assigned to. Then he dismissed the class, but he asked Seira to stay for a few trills. He told her that he would let her know who she would be working with in a few trials and that she could do things to help the Order that wouldn't involve patients in any way until then. Seira nodded to show that she understood. Then she packed up her notes and made her way home.

[Pig Boy]

Hi Seira,

This thread was forwarded for Mod attention, and has been considered by a number of the staff team. Following discussion, the following issues have been identified.

1. This thread takes place in Saun. This has 3 issues:
a) That's 2 Cycles ago. If Seira was a member of the Order when she donated money, for example , that would have been impacted.
b) This is a reoccurrence of the "living in placeholders" issue which caused this.
c) You were not given mod approval to join the Order until Feb 23rd when Pigs told you you could write the thread then. If this was a request which should be GF'd in, you should have made that clear.

If Seira wishes to join the Order of the Adunih, it will need to be in the current season at the time of writing. Also, please be aware of the issues with placeholders and very grandfathered threads you've had and don't begin to repeat that. It is only fair to point out that there are issues which would be identified even if we had not got the issue in 1 above. These are:

2. Skills & NPC
Seira is an Expert in Medicine. It would be entirely logical for the Order to ask her about her knowledge, and when they find out that she's an expert, they'll work within that.

3. Knowledge Request:
Please review your knowledge in light of the comments viewtopic.php?f=353&t=27912&p=180994#p180994 here. Seira is an expert in Medicine, for example.

Two examples from this thread which would not have been awarded even if the thread was not intervened on due to issue 1:

Medicine: there are many different fields within the medical field that one can specialize in - as an expert medic, Seira knows this.

Medicine: not every field of medicine requires you to treat patients directly; some involve inventing new cures and tools to make treating patients easier. - since she has gained almost all of her knowledge for medicine from studying herbs, this is also something she knows

In the future, please note that the knowledge you request and that Seira earns ought to be congruent with the level of skill you're at.

Also note, that the initial lessons she receives as an expert medic from the Order of the Adunih, will be focused on the Order's ethos, and their faction philosophy, how they do things, and so on.

Should you have any questions about this intervention, please forward them to the PSF.