Heretic's Game: Plague

SEISHAK

 

 

Spring fevers kill enough people each year, but whatever is going around right now is even worse. The healers over at Solcan's temple don't seem to have any effect. Many of the people that go to seek the aid of healers are directed here. Rydal's mercy is the mercy of a quick and painless death. Unfortunately, whatever plague is sweeping through all of Direnla is not so kind.

People come in with boils and open sores dripping with pus, blood streaming from their mouths and the corners of their eyes. They have a mild fever, until the very end stages of the disease, when they convulse and spread blood, pus, and mucus everywhere. I and the healers from Solcan's temple have been trying to find a way to keep the caretakers from contracting the disease. It's only a simple magical barrier put onto our normal clothing, but we've already seen a tremendous effect.

The Rydal monks seem to have the best protection, simply out of tradition. The covers for our faces are especially useful for protecting us against the convulsing patients. Solcan's healers have started taking up the idea, in their white and gold robes. All of us have started wearing gloves.

Although it might be against protocol, tradition, and everything else, priests and monks from Solcan's order have started helping perform the duties normally reserved for Rydal monks. Since those of my order are so few, it helps ease the burden I had when the plague first started.

Hundreds have died. Direnla is one of the largest cities in Dalmaek, and a busy trade city. We've been treating people from both at home and the travelers coming here to trade their goods. All they keep bringing is ruin.

The religious in the city are flocking to the temple, praying as hard as they can. Some claim that the plague is Rydal reminding us how fickle our lives are to him. Others only pray that the plague is not their chosen death, or if it is, then let it come to them quickly. It's not something that I can understand all that well.

All the same, I have my duties to perform. I try to remind myself of Ellie, of my promise to her, and the impact that each death may have on the world. But when I try to work my way through hundreds of sick and dying people, with more coming in each day, it's hard to try and think of all that. There's nothing I can do to help them aside from making sure that their deaths are painless and not drawn-out the way it could be.

The veil is pulled over my face, and I notice that some of Solcan's monks are just starting their shift along with me. One of them has modified their robes to mimic my own. With my face hidden from view, I have to smile. At least she is smart enough to have taken a useful idea, even if it flouts protocol.

As the resident Rydal monk, I take the liberty of opening the door and signalling the end of the previous shift. The monks, weary of their own work, start to leave. One of them stops in front of me. He signs to me, quick little gestures that I just barely recognize. A large number of people came in, all of them sick. It makes me want to start swearing, and loudly.

I manage to restrain myself, though, and simply nod my head. There's so much to do, and a very long shift of killing and cremation to be done. I signal to the other monks, motioning to the large room full of the sick patients. They hesitate, before spreading out as evenly as they can. I reach into my robes, pulling out the dagger tucked in there.

Some of the people right near me don't look quite as sick as the others. They may have just caught the plague, and their features look more Sakamiyo than anything else. I imagine a trade ship came in, with the crew sick from this strange disease. But that's only a guess, and it doesn't really matter anyways. They all still have to die.