Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

Over the last five trials, Faith had been refining her work on Nalin's blood. The Ink Bloom, the disease both Nalin and his sister had, was a strange one - a parasite of the blood, it attacked only certain families it seemed. Those were families in certain areas of Scalvoris and Faith did not doubt that there was a great deal of information still to be found out about the disease. What made it so very specific, what caused it to impact one gender but not the other, or not in the same way? What about females caused the parasite to mutate? These, and many others like them, were questions which Faith simply could not answer.


Yet

But she didn't need to be able to answer them in order to do this - and she was now quite sure that she had the ice treatment planned as well as she could without a live subject to work on. That was the next step but because of that everything had to be completely as planned as it could possibly be. The parasite in Nalin's blood reacted to the dropping of temperature, there was no doubt of it in Faith's mind - and every test she had done indicated the same. But she had grown more convinced over the last few trials that it made it dormant, rather than killed it. She would know for sure when she was working with a live subject, but until then Faith could know no more.

So, she needed to work on how to kill it once she'd put it to sleep, if that was what she'd done.

In the initial tests, the parasite had been largely unaffected by heat, but if exposed to extremes of heat while dormant, Faith didn't know. So, she determined that she was going to find out. Because she needed something which would hit all of his blood simultaneously, equally and not miss anywhere. As far as she could see, she had two options and so she had considered them both. She could give him a shock of static, like she and Padraig often got from Quattro, their four tailed electrified cat - but that was a very inexact thing. Here, with one of the abilities granted to her by Famula she would be able to heat up Nalin's blood - even while the rest of him was still cold.

Which would definitely need testing, here.

So, she got the area ready and tried to make sure that she had controlled all the variables possible. That would be key then, and it was key in the tests. To make the environment as specific and controlled as possible was vital to not damaging the blood and that was vital on many levels. Of course the least damage she did was for the best. Also, the more she could minimise the pain Nalin would undoubtedly feel. However, of equal if not greater importance to Faith was the need to purify the blood without damaging it. Working in Famula's name meant her focus on the blood was vital, fundamental to the whole task - and instinctual for her in a very real sense.

Faith looked down at what she had here, the samples of blood and how they were held in the cold boxes. Each box was at a different temperature, from the optimal down a few degrees and up a few. She made sure that everything was ready and then, she breathed a prayer to Famula to guide her in this endeavor, and she started to work.
594 words

It took a lot of breaks of work and Faith maintained her focus throughout; had she not done so it would be for naught, after all. Rubbing the back of her neck as she looked at the final results, meticulously measured and recorded, she frowned. There were patterns, there was no doubt and it seemed to her that there was a moment when the heating of the blood would work most effectively. It was at a degree or two lower than she would like it to be that she found the heat most effective and most quickly. That speed would be vital, but the dropping of the temperature would be something which Faith needed to monitor incredibly closely.

Sitting and looking at the results, Faith's mind went back to the trial where she had died, murdered by a woman enraged and grief filled. It had been so cold, she recalled - that had been a major part of the experience of dying. The way that her body had felt, the cooling down and slowing of her breathing, the beating of her heart.

That was it.

That was it

She needed to slow down his heart, his respiration and all of his bodily systems. Having done that, she could drop him to the temperature she wanted and needed to and then she would be able to increase the heat in his blood. Faith knew that this was going to be more than a fine balancing act, it was going to be quite something else. In fact, she figured, she knew exactly what it was. "I rather suppose I am asking for another miracle, my Lady. It will not be our first." Nor, if Faith had anything to do with it, would it be their last. But yes, she was sure ~ this was the answer. This was the missing piece in the puzzle.

Medicinally, there were all sorts of herbs and medicines which she could use in order to suppress his system. Many of them, most of them in fact, could be used as poison in different circumstances, but in this one, she'd be using the mixture she would come up with very carefully. Nalin was already weak, although they had spent a lot of trials building him up. Everything from his carefully crafted menu to the supplements he'd been taking and each and every aspect of his stay here - of both their stay. Faith was convinced that this would help, but she needed to test it.

Faith could not, would not ever test on a subject with a soul when the risk was so great but, instead, she knew she would have to work with animals in the next stage, in order to ascertain what happened. If she was able to do this well, then there should be no long term effect on the animals in question, but she had to be sure. Because she could not do this for the first time on Nalin if there was another option and there was. So, Faith sighed and made her way to the area of the university where she could requisition some animals for testing. She didn't like it, but it was what it was and so, she accepted it and got on. 543 words

It took more breaks of work again, but Faith was ready. Or, she was as close to ready as she was going to be. She had gone to the university and experimented as she needed to. She believed that she was ready, but before she went and spoke to Nalin and Lavender, Faith sat and made the notes she needed to.

It was vital that these were made, these notes. If something went wrong, if she died, or whatever might happen, there must be copies of these ready to go. Looking down at it she considered that she was probably ready to start. So, Faith left the university, but she did not go to the Order of the Adunih.

Not yet.

First, she went to the Glass Temple and she smiled and waved to Stan, the tunawa who oversaw the place and then she made her way to the shrines which were her usual visit. To Famula's shrine, first, where she sat and prayed for some time. She knew that she had to do this, she understood that it was vital that she did, but sometimes, Faith truly felt the weight of the responsibilities she held on her shoulders. "It's the difference, I know, between service and slavery," she said, softly. The Immortal had not marked her, after all, until after she was free and able to choose who she served and how. "I thought I understood," Faith whispered. She'd thought she was responsible. Now, she knew she was not, not until her success or failure was her responsibility, not on the orders of another. If she were a slave, she would tell her owner what she had found, inform them of what the chances were, the risks and so on and the decision would be theirs. Ultimately theirs.

Such was life for a teapot, Faith considered and she smiled a slight smile. "Unto my final breath and beyond. I serve." By choice. Stand or fall she did it on her own and that was that. She prayed and then moved on to the shrine to Vri. There she prayed that she might remember that every person she treated was loved, their death would cause sorrow and their memory would be bother painful and a treasure. Remembering that would allow her to serve to her best. Then, Moseke's shrine in the temple and here Faith prayed that, should it be the will of all the Immortals involved, Moseke saw fit to maintain the life of Nalin. That he live and remember her name.

Finally, Faith went to Ymiden's shrine, where she prayed that, with the dawn Nalin would experience a rebirth, whole and healed. Able to look forward to a future, not doomed to die. Once she had visited each shrine, Faith moved back to Famula's. It was something she did regularly, that, did her circuit and then came back to where she began. "The first time I met you, in the park in Andaris, you told me that it was mine to serve others for the greater good and aiding the dead. Pursuit of that has led me to so many places. Thank you for each lesson, for believing in me." Everything which had happened since that fateful night had been done in the pursuit of service and this? This was no different.

So, with a deep, respectful bow, Faith got to work.