Healing

 

While we’ve already seen that Empaths can fulfill many different roles in Plat, other characters will undoubtedly call upon you for healing, and regardless of the path you choose to take later in life, you will have to heal early in your career to advance your skills.  In many ways, healing is the sine qua non of our guild, and it’s important to have a solid understanding of how it works before you get started.  Even though most people reading this guide will already know their way around the guild, I’m going to give a quick outline of the healing process for people who may be new to it entirely.

 

The first step to healing a patient is establishing a diagnostic link.  You accomplish this by use of the TOUCH verb.  When you touch a patient, a chart describing his injuries and general health status will appear.  It is your choice whether you wish to use the familiar window in your front end to segregate this information.  When you establish your initial diagnostic link it will look like this:

 

 

>touch idril

You touch Idril.

 

You sense a successful empathic link has been forged between you and Idril.

You feel the burning fire of pain and suffering building slowly as you instinctively draw out the truth behind Idril's injuries.

 

Idril's injuries include...

Wounds to the HEAD:

  Fresh External:  light scratches -- negligible

  Scars External:  slight discoloration -- insignificant

  Fresh Internal:  slightly tender -- negligible

  Scars Internal:  minor internal scarring -- insignificant

 

Idril has an abundance of vitality.

 

The link indicates 1) which body parts are injured, 2) whether those injuries are external or internal, 3) whether they are fresh or scars, 4) the severity of the injuries, and 5) the patient’s general level of health (vitality).  If present, the link will also indicate if the patient is fatigued, poisoned, diseased, dying, unconscious, or under the influence of an acid.

 

At this point, you must decide which and how much of the patient’s injuries to transfer to your own body.  In DragonRealms healing is quite a bit different than you may have experience with from other games – rather than using magic to heal the injuries directly, Empaths must go through the painful and laborious process of taking those injuries on to themselves.  We then use magic to heal those injuries on our own bodies.  It is through this process of TRANSFERRNCE that you will learn the skill EMPATHY, our guild’s primary skill, until you have reached a sufficient level of experience to use other methods of learning.

 

There are two ways to transfer a wound:  TAKE and TRANSFER.  It’s really just a matter of your personal preference.  You will have to specify which body part you wish to transfer and whether the wound is fresh or a scar.  Here are a few examples based on the diagnostic link above:

 

TAKE IDRIL EXTERNAL HEAD

TAKE IDRIL EXTERNAL SCAR HEAD

TAKE IDRIL INTERNAL HEAD
TAKE IDRIL INTERNAL SCAR HEAD

 

            ~~or you may abbreviate~~

 

TAKE IDR EXT HEAD
TAKE IDR EXT SCAR HEAD
TAKE IDR INT HEAD
TAKE IDR INT SCAR HEAD

 

            ~~notice that there is no need to specify fresh~~

 

Once you have initiated the transfer, all you have to do is wait for the process to finish.  It you are successful, the wound you have specified will have moved from the patient to your own body where you can heal it with herbs or magic.

 

When you are just starting out, the process of transferring wounds will be slow.  Your stamina, discipline, and concentration will only allow you to take so much at one time.  Moreover, you will only have the ability to transfer fresh external wounds until you gain a few ranks of empathy.  Eventually, you will be able to transfer internal fresh wounds, external scars, and internal scars, respectively, each after a few more ranks of empathy.  As you grow further in experience, you will eventually be able to transfer poison (around 12th circle) and disease (around 15th circle).

 

For poison you have a couple of options: (for purposes of this example, Idril has a poisoned left hand)

 

TAKE IDRIL POISON will do the trick

TAKE IDRIL POISON LEFT HAND works, too

            ~~if you use both methods at once, you can transfer the poison faster~~

            ~~if your patient has multiple poisons definitely be specific~~

 

For disease:

 

TAKE IDRIL DISEASE

 

 

The limitations on transfer for young Empaths makes sense because you will only have one spell to begin with.  We’ll discuss more about spell choices in a bit, but in general most empaths choose the core healing spells as their first four spells.  Those spells advance in the same order as your ability to transfer wounds.  From the very beginning, you will be able to transfer a patient’s loss of vitality to your own body – until you have learned the VITALITY HEALING spell, be very wary of doing this unless the patient’s need is very great.  Often times, you will be healing a character with vastly more stamina than your own, and in this scenario, even a relatively modest transfer of vitality loss can result in your death.

 

In Plat, most other characters are quite understanding of the limitations that young empaths face, and most will be more than willing to offer you practice on their external wounds until you have the skill to deal with all of them.  In general, characters tend to be much more deferential toward empaths in Plat than in Prime.  In our community, we have no choice but to rely on each other, and that leads to a different sort of interaction.  No doubt, you will come across patients who demand healing or otherwise express dissatisfaction with a novice Empath’s limitations – it’s your choice as to how you deal with this sort of patient, and there are lots of options which can lead to fun role playing, but remember you have the upper hand!  Some day, big mouth is going to need you.

 

That having been said, it makes a lot of sense to work with other empaths if they are around.  Again, most experienced empaths in Plat are more than happy to share the load with novices.  Never hesitate to ask to take part or to ask for help if you or your patient need it.  Just try to avoid over-healing so heavily that you often have to call upon others to heal your wounds.

 

Until you are more experienced, it is smart to begin by transferring one or two wounds at the time.  Each attempt at transferring a wound will deplete your concentration and fatigue pools, and the more important the body part you are transferring, the more concentration it will take.  The last thing you or your patient needs is for your link to fail or for you to collapse from fatigue because you have taken too many wounds too quickly.  The moral of the story is:  pace yourself!  Most characters will understand, and if they don’t you’ll probably both end up having fun anyway.  As you grow in experience, you will be able to take more wounds at the same time, and eventually you will be able to link with and transfer wounds from multiple patients at the same time.

 

Another important consideration is that you must take into account the severity of your own wounds.  For instance, if you already have cuts and bruises on your own chest and transfer a fresh external chest wound, you will likely end up with a bleeding chest.  This can be particularly bad if you have a nearly fatal wound on your own body and transfer additional wounds to that body part – you will end up dead and not much use to your patient.  Again, pace yourself and take time to heal your wounds as you go. 

 

When you are young, there’s a built-in safety valve of sorts because as you transfer more and more wounds to the same body part, each transfer becomes more difficult.  You will find that until you heal that body part, you will be unable to maintain a link with your patient.  The greatest danger comes when you are advanced enough to take serious wounds quickly but still inexperienced enough that healing yourself is still a problem.  Be wary of over-healing.

 

            Whether you are young or old in the guild, the BREAK verb is your friend.  When you sense yourself getting to the point where your healing is pulling you down, too, don’t hesitate to break your links with your patient.  A dead Empath isn’t doing anyone any good! (unless of course, you’re doing it for role playing purposes, in which case, have fun!)

 

In Plat over-healing can be particularly problematic because there are so few empaths around at any given time.  It is important to practice good triage with your patients – assess which patients are in the most need and which wounds need the most attention.  Prioritize and work down the list slowly, taking ample time to heal yourself as you go.  Luckily, Plat’s small population also means that you’re unlikely to face hordes of dying patients except during invasions or wars.

 

Another important side effect of the lower population is that non-empaths in Plat tend to rely more heavily on healing herbs and auto-paths (non-player-characters or NPCs that can heal wounds for a price) than they do in Prime.  As a result, you are likely to come across patients with fewer fresh wounds and lots of scars.  You are also likely to run into trouble finding enough patients to keep you busy, but of course that depends on what times and in which locales your character is around.  One way to deal with this problem is to advertise your location and willingness to heal over the gwethdesuan (a device that allows you to project your thoughts via telepathy using the THINK verb) or using the CHAT verb.

 

While you are young, you will also want to rely on the sparing use of herbs, especially for wounds you can transfer from your patients but for which you have not yet chosen a healing spell.  It will be especially important to keep a supply of general scar herbs until you learn the scar healing spells.  Use the following chart to guide you:

 

 

External

Internal

Head

Nemoih Root

Eghmok Potion/Moss

Neck

Georin Salve/Grass

Blocil Potion/Berries

Chest

Plovik Leaf

Ithor Potion

Back

Hulnik Grass

Junilar Stem

Abdomen

Nilos Salve/Grass

Muljin Sap

Eyes

Sufil Sap

****

Limbs

Jadice Flower

Yelith Root

Skin

Aloe Leaf

****

General Scars

Cebi Root

Hisan Salve

 

There are other herbs, especially those for specific scars and nervous disorders, but they aren’t something you’re likely to come across early in your career.  I have noted both the natural form and alchemical concoction for those herbs which are effective in both forms – in general, the alchemical form is more potent.  For those herbs where I haven’t noted a potion, salve, etc., the natural form is more potent.

 

In Prime a great deal of an Empath’s life can be spent in the guild infirmaries or healeries, but in Plat very few people congregate in those areas.  Because of the smaller population, it makes more sense for the whole community to have one gathering place because there simply aren’t enough of us around to populate all the hot spots from Prime.  Our chosen spot is right outside the northeast gate of Crossing, and that’s where you’re going to have the best shot at finding patients.

 

One final note on healing:  for Wizard users, I highly recommend the program Kitrinx’s Crutch which provides you with a graphical panel that controls healing.  To find out more, look here:  http://www.kitrinx.com/.  Just be careful not to over-heal because it’s so much faster than typing it all out!

 

 

Empath Magic

 

So now you’ve found a patient, transferred her wounds, and you’re wondering what to do next.  Welcome to the wonderful world of Empath Magic!  However, healing spells are far from the end of our magical abilities.

 

Before we launch into a discussion of spells and spell choices, there are a few preliminary points to be considered.  The first is the importance of the POWER PERCEPTION skill to Empaths in Plat.  By the time you reach you mid-teens in circle, you will begin to notice that the lower population no longer provides enough wounds to satisfy your ever increasing hunger for experience.  Luckily, through perceive health, we have a wonderful new option for learning empathy, but since the ability is based on both empathy and power perception it is essential that you train this skill hard early in your career.  Take every opportunity to power walk.

 

A special emphasis on power perception leads us to our next point – the lack of wounds in Plat will impact on your ability to learn magic as well as empathy.  Your magic skills will lag unless you make it a special point to use every opportunity to gain experience through magical self-healing.  Herbs have their place, to be sure, especially in triage, but when you have the option and patience heal yourself.  You’ll thank yourself later when you have exemplary magic skills.  Indirectly, this fact of life in Plat has led to the way many Empaths deal with herbs on the role playing level as we’ve discusses elsewhere.  I’ll leave you to figure out which prominent Plat Empath believes it was the use of herbs that made her go bald!

 

The third preliminary point isn’t specific to Plat, but it’s highly important to a well rounded and successful Empath.  Train your MAGICAL DEVICES skill early and often.  Not only will it allow you to make the most of your limited magical resources early on, but it also opens the door to some of the wonderful new Empath abilities like charging flower charms and magical masks.  Get a runestone as early in your career as possible and FOCUS on it often – this is easily achieved in Plat as there are often runestones in the basket outside the northeast gate.  Then move up to cambrinth once you have the skill and coin to use them.

 

Now onto the meat of the matter, spells and spell choices.  Currently, Empaths can choose from the following spell books (I will discuss each one in turn):

 

 

 

 

The Healing Book:

 

            These spells do exactly what you would think they do – they allow you to heal the wounds you have transferred to yourself.  The first four are our core healing spells, and I recommend you choose them as your first four spells in order.

 

EXTERNAL WOUND HEALING (EWH) – low mana spell that you can snap cast early on in your career.  Who needs jadice flower?

 

INTERNAL WOUND HEALING (IWH) – uses lots more mana and takes more time to effectively prep.  This is where you need to have a good supply of yelith root just in case.

 

EXTERNAL SCAR HEALING (ESH) – an efficient, easy spell.  You can see all those external scars without having another Empath check you, so if you need to save money on herbs, skip the cebi root.

 

INTERNAL SCAR HEADING (ISH) – stock up on hisan salve if you can afford it.  You’re probably going to hate this spell before you love it.

 

VITALITY HEALING (VH) – this spell is an essential part of the Empath’s arsenal, and you should consider choosing it early on, but not too early.  I recommend considering carefully which direction you choose to go.  If gaining FIRST AID skill is important to you, wait to choose this spell until you are more advanced.  As we’ve already discussed, you should be very careful about transferring vitality until you have enough stamina and discipline to handle it.

 

The last three spells in this book are very difficult to use effectively until you have reached approximately 40th circle.  I recommend waiting until at least that time to choose them.  When you do choose them, it will be important to have good skill with devices because cambrinth is essential as HW and HS are mana hogs.  Work your HARNESS skill hard to be able to effectively use regenerate.

 

HEAL WOUNDS (HW) – of little use until you have the skill to back it up.  EWH and IWH will serve you much better unless you are in a very high mana pool area.

 

HEAL SCARS (HS) – I started using this spell first from the second tier healing spells.  It’s not much harder than ISH to cast, though it does use mana less efficiently, but it will seriously reduce your self-healing time.  Don’t bother with it unless you see lots of streams around you.

 

REGENERATE (held mana) – I started getting use out of this spell once I got PM and HARNESS well over 200 ranks.  I’m still having trouble getting internal scars on difficult body parts like head, neck, chest, abdomen and back.  Since the spell doesn’t heal nerves, you have to be careful not to fry yourself too badly.  I’ve noticed that the spell is reduced greatly in effectiveness once you notice visible nerve damage, so release the spell every few minutes to heal your nerves.

 

 

The Body Purification Book:

 

After the four core healing spells, I recommend taking a hard look at this book.  Not only will these spells make you more efficient at being able to heal your patients, but they are essential to furthering your career in other regards.

 

BLOOD STAUNCHING (BS) – This spell is a prerequisite for the other spells in the book.  It’s very useful in triage healing, but I recommend choosing it as your fifth spell because of the doors it opens, especially for cure disease.

 

FLUSH POISON (FP) – An excellent spell, but pass it by until you have cure disease.

 

CURE DISEASE (CD) – Even though you acquire the ability to transfer poison before disease, choose this spell sixth.  You won’t be able to transfer disease when you choose it, but the spell will allow you to learn FIRST AID more easily.  While pet bleeders are a bit bothersome in the OOC department, tending is still the best way to learn FA, and other methods to learn FA like blood suckers usually lead to disease, too.  You won’t be sorry to have this spell in your arsenal early in your career.

 

 

The Protection Book:

 

            These spells are most important for Empaths who plan on spending a lot of time in the field.

 

SPHERE OF PROTECTION (SOP) – a wonderful spell for magical practice as well as the defensive bonus it gives you (and your group once you get to around 150 ranks in PRIMARY MAGIC).

 

INNOCENCE – of lesser usefulness, but still a good spell.  Be warned that innocence is of very brief duration and have the opposite effect on undead opponents.  This spell is essentially for emergencies.  Luckily, it’s pretty effective at low mana snap casts.

 

GUARDIAN SPIRIT (GS) – a mana hog if you want to get long durations, but this is my favorite spell of the book.  I wish guardians had more familiar/companion like functionality, but they make wonderful companions, defenders, and role playing opportunities.  Watch the blood drain from everyone’s face when an avenger walks into the fray during an invasion!

 

 

The Mental Preparation Book:

 

            These spells are most effective for older Empaths.  I don’t recommend choosing them until you are at least 30th circle.

 

HEART LINK (HL) – this spell is especially useful in advanced healing and triage situations.  You can use it to slow the patient’s heart rate, and thus the rate of the bleeding and the advance of poison and disease.

 

NISSA’S BINDING (NB) – this spell also has use in healing as it nearly, but not completely, stops bleeding, poison, and disease, giving you and your patient time to recover some of your strength.  The downside is that it ends up putting you both to sleep for the duration of the spell.  You must have established a heart link before casting.  Given the relatively low skill levels among empaths in Plat, this spell is most useful in role playing scenarios.  Since Empaths can’t deal with things in an aggressive way, we tend to take the passive aggressive path.  If that bully wont shut up, put him to sleep!

 

 

The Life Force Manipulation Book:

 

            Unless you plan to spend a great deal of time in combat, I recommend turning your attention to these spells after you have already chosen all three spells from the Purification Book and Vitality Healing.

 

REFRESH – an essential spell for your late teens or early twenties.  As you grow in ability to take more and more wounds more quickly, your stamina may not grow quite as fast.  This spell, cast before healing, will allow you to work faster and longer.  It’s also smart to cast this spell before using raise power.

 

AESANDRY DARLAETH (AD) – This isn’t my favorite spell.  You get all the fun of fried nerves without much in the way of a bonus.

 

RAISE POWER (RP) – I find this spell quite useful, but I didn’t start using it until I was already experienced in the guild.  RP drains the life force (read fatigue pool) of you and anyone joined to you, using that energy to augment the life mana streams in your area, leaving you exhausted.  As long as you remember to cast refresh before RP, you will recover quickly and be casting again in no time.  Also remember to refresh those in your group who have sacrificed their fatigue with you.  This spell is great for battle field triage.

 

GIFT OF LIFE (GOL) – and absolutely wonderful spell, but it requires a good bit of skill with magic before you can cast it effectively.  GOL is an Empath’s version of the Courage spell in that it gives you a temporary boost to stamina.  This stamina buff can dramatically improve your ability to take more wounds more quickly from more patients.  It also has the effect of reducing your burden which can be a lifesaver when swimming, dodging critters, and any number of other scenarios where encumbrance matters.  GOL is also a great way to learn PM and harness once you’ve reached the point that healing minor wounds begins to piddle off.

LETHARGY (LETH) – our newest spell, and a great combat innovation.  When used in tandem with manipulation, lethargy gives Empath’s an almost viable way to hunt!

 

 

 

 

Learning

 

 

            There’s no doubt about it: being a novice Empath in Plat isn’t an easy business.  Most likely, you’re going to find yourself looking hard for enough wounds to get those first twenty ranks of Empathy, but don’t despair.  Just to review, here are a few tips for getting started right:

 

  • Find other Empaths to triage with – you heal the easy fresh wounds and let a more experienced Empath heal scars or more difficult internals.

 

  • Whenever patience allows, park yourself at the Northeast Gate of the Crossing.  It’s the most active gathering spot in Elanthia, and the most likely location for healing experience. 

 

  • Once you’re able, announce your presence via gwethdesuan and/or chat.  People in Plat tend to be self-sufficient, but they will come to you if they know you are there.

 

  • Finally, never let an opportunity pass to perceive the streams of power where you are.  Once your Power Perceive and Empathy skills combined equal about fifty, you should be able to learn Empathy by perceiving the health of other Empaths (including NPC Empaths)

 

But Empathy isn’t the whole story (though at times it will seem that way).   Remember, you’re in a lore primary guild.  Take advantage of that bonus and train your other lores hard – not only are some required, but the extra TDPs will allow you more flexibility in training your character the way you want them to be. 

 

  • While you’re foraging up that firewood for Mags, don’t forget to forage up some grass for braiding – it’s an excellent way to learn appraisal and mechanical lore.  Even when Mags stops accepting your wood, keep on foraging and carve staves to pawn – the coins and experience aren’t anything spectacular, but they’ll help.

 

  • Make every effort to be teaching or listening to class whenever practical – even if you have no desire to learn targeted magic or staff slings, the scholarship you learn will one day stand you in good stead.  Make a few other “young” friends and specialize in one special skill each (for instance, each pick an instrument type to focus on), and take turns teaching each other to learn teaching and scholarship.

 

  • Buy or borrow (or steal if your ranks allow) a musical instrument or three to practice on – you may not be healthy enough often, but consistent practice will pay off in the long run. 

 

  • Buy yourself a hide scraper and welcome tips in the form of hides, skins, and pelts – not only will you learn a good bit of skinning by scraping them, but you’ll be pleasantly surprised as you watch your mechanical lore ranks swell, too.

 

  • Don’t sell all those gems you get in tips at the gem buyer’s shop – save a few dozen in a gem pouch and appraise it every so often.  Appraisal is an underestimated skill, and it’s very easy to learn as an Empath.

 

 

Survivals can be just as important:

 

·        Don’t try to keep a pet bleeder (a repeat bleeder you keep only for FA experience) until you have the Cure Disease spell (but as I’ve already noted, make that spell a priority when choosing spells).  Before that point, your best bets will be tending others (especially Empaths), tending your own bleeder with a senior Empath present, or going to red sand leeches in Muspar’i (you’ll need a more senior healer to accompany you until you have VH, CD, and around 50 ranks of FA).

 

·        Forage, forage, forage.  You have access to the forage CAREFUL option – use it.  Pick three or four items within your ability and forage they carefully in rotation.  This should lock you quickly.  Refer to Olwyyd’s wonderful foraging guide for more info (http://www.olwydd.org/)

 

·        Work climbing and swimming into your routine every day.

 

·        Don’t be afraid of boxes.  Welcome them (and lockpicks) as tips, then practice your heart out.

 

·        Both foraging and disarming boxes will teach your perception.  You’ll need to use these methods to advance the perception skill until you have around 20 ranks (unless you can find someone willing to attempt but fail stealing or stalking repeatedly in front of you).  Once you have around 20 ranks, invest in some one stone jugglies and start juggling.

 

·        If it fits with your personality, be as stealthy as you want to be – hide, stalk, steal, just be prepared to live with the consequences.

 

Your magic skills should take care of themselves if you don’t rely overly much on herbs.  Unless you’re running out of time, really sick of self-healing, or in a triage situation, avoid the use of herbs – not out of convention, but to give you more opportunities to stretch your spell casting abilities.  Remember to obtain a piece of cambrinth early and work it into your self-healing routine – before that, get a rune (often you’ll find them in the basket at the Gate) and focus it for practice.

 

As always, feel free to ask for advice or help when you need it.  For the most part, we’re a helpful bunch here in Plat, and we’re all very glad that you’re here!  We’ll do our part to make sure things are a little easier for you.  Do remember, though, that part of the fun is in doing things for yourself.  Even with our smaller population, it’s completely possible to do it all on your own, but don’t lose sight of the community and how rewarding it can be to be part of something larger than just one character.  Most importantly, be true to yourself, to you character(s), and have fun!

 

 

 

Warning, Spoilers Below!

 

 

            Province 5, Forfedhar as it is known in game, currently contains an Empath guild hall with a Memory Orb contained within.  This orb can be manipulated to provide several fragments of the memories contained within.  Below is a complete listing of those 4 memories.   Please do not read further if you wish to be surprised!

 

 

 

 

 

The pages are brittle, but surprisingly intact.  In looking at this latest find, which Kantain and Retharn have entrusted to me, I feel a tingling of anticipation along my spine.  Prior to this, all of our findings have involved single documents, sometimes pieces of documents.  Many of them are soiled beyond ciphering some parchments ripped or waterstained.  Those were divided between Kantain and Rethan; by agreement, we have not and will not discuss the contents amongst ourselves.  We know there is more beneath the rubble; in truth, we've only scratched the surface.  Those that sought to eradicate the Imperial Healer's Guild from existence seem to have left some things behind, though it is difficult to tell at this point if the leavings were intentional.  Tomorrow we return to the site to continue digging.  I have hope that we will unearth more treasures like the one I hold in my hands, though for me, none could be more precious than this one.  I think Kan recognized that when the first gleam of burgundy leather touched the open air.  As we brushed more of the sand from its surface and I saw the tiny bird embossed on the corner, I could barely refrain from snatching the journal from its resting place.  The camp has settled for the night.  The bustling and conversation outside has dwindled, and I hear only the wind in the trees now.  It's late and I know tomorrow brings another backbreaking workday, but my mind will not allow me to rest.  My fingers play over the embossed bird, idly rubbing it as my mind tumbles over memories.  The images in my head are jumbled, really; too fresh for me to sort out at an hour when ghosts travel thickly.  She has been gone for only a year now, already a year now.  I feel her absence everywhere.  She is, in many respects, the reason I am here--the reason we are all here.  We thought her lost to us forever.  My finger rubs over the bird again, then flips open the cover to a page only slightly runny from the elements, the writing smudged but legible.  My hands frame the flowing signature on the bottom, the Elven script as tidy as the woman who wrote it.  Tracing out the elaborate "N" with a fingertip, my eyes follow the lines of her writing, and I lose myself in the words of a healer, and my friend.

 

 

My lungs feel sodden with dust; it's hard to breathe in the smoke and harder still to navigate through the rubble.  In the distance, I can still hear the horrified cries:  Around me, though, it is eerily silent, the silence of death.  I close my eyes briefly, extending my senses.  When I open them again, my vision is blurred from the water in my eyes.  Nothing.  I can feel NOTHING.  How can that be?  Trying not to let despair overcome me, I stumble forward.  The lantern on my head wobbles precariously, causing the light to swing in dizzying circles.  The cavern which was once so comforting to many is now broken before me, terrifying in its unfamiliar landscape.  Absently, I register pain as my shin raps sharply against a stone in my path, one that had not been there the day before.  I am distracted for my lantern light has caught something, a glint.  I rush forward as quickly as I can, the glint resolving itself into a solid gold ring with a blood red ruby.  The ring's glint is the only motion.  Standing--oh I cannot stand any longer.  I sink to my knees to ward off the pain but it cannot be defended against for it comes from inside.  Dommic.  Dear moons in the heavens, if Dommic is gone, there is no hope. --It is dark now.  My lantern has gone out.   I have been sitting here, my eyes not moving from the spot where I saw the ring, for I don't know how long.  My legs are bruised from the stones beneath them, and my back aches, but more telling, I cannot bring myself to care about either.  I awkwardly get to my feet, turning away toward the entrance.  I inhale deeply, closing my eyes, bracing myself for the explosion of emptiness.  Oh but there's something...something.  It's faint, weak, but it's there.  It comes from her--no!  It's there!  I turn to my right and stumble wildly, bumping into things willy-nilly because I have no light.  I'm drawn only by the feeling, so very faint.  It's here, here!  My hands scrabble clumsily at the rubble, my nails cracking, my skin slicing across the sharp rocks.  I have no time to heal them as I scratch and claw.  I feel air, precious, stale, musty air, laced with the stench of death yet lightened by something more...the smell of life.  Here, here!  It's here, they're here!  The chant in my head drills to the sounds of my desperate sobs and the keening coming from my throat.  The rocks won't budge fast enough; with strength born from sheer willpower, I heave myself upon the largest boulder, pushing with all my might and something else besides.  With a groan of disappointment, it finally moves aside, and my hands scurry over it.  They cover fingers gritty with dust, fingers that slowly twitch, and then over to grasp mine.  Life.  There is life here, after all.

 

 

It's silly to get so worked up over something so simple.  It's just a party dress, really.  Fabric dressed up in finery designed to trick the eye into believing it clothes something special.  That's all it is.  But it's yellow.  And not just a bland yellow that makes the skin sallow.  A lovely, soft, creamy yellow that's just made to be worn by someone like me.  And it has ruffled sleeves.  And pearls.  And it looks like something a princess should wear.  I'm not a princess though.  Princesses have smooth skin and shining hair and small feet.  And princes.  I don't have any of those.  Princesses have coaches and carriages and prancing white horses.  And they live in these big houses where the roads leading to them are always clear of ox dung.  I just live in a regular home.  And they eat regally, so I'm told.  They have bread without weevils baked in.  And servants bring damp cloths after their meals so they can clean their dainty fingers.  I think it's easier to use my sleeve most of the time.  But I have something they haven't got.  Dreams.  Princesses can't have dreams like my dreams; they already have everything.  I may not BE a princess, but I can dream of becoming one, someday.  Maybe I'll be famous, or I'll rescue someone from certain doom.  But for today, I'll start with a yellow dress.

 

 

All is chaos; it seems that the world has turned on its head.  K'Liovar has tasked me with escaping to Forfedhdar, knowing that I, a simple Empath, am not likely to be followed into that little known land.  If they knew what I carried--K'Midorenne has been executed in an effort to persuade compliance, and my mind cannot fully bend around this fact.  Months have passed and only now can I even begin to process the horrors.  It has only been ten years since the loss of K'Kantain and now--Oh I know; it's not as if we have not known hardship before, but always we seem to struggle.  It is difficult to avoid the bitterness that washes over me when I reflect on the warmth of the hearth in the guildhall that is now overrun with evil, used by the very people who killed my Moda.  And I sit by an icy road in winter, trying to get to a place I've never been to seek refuge from people I don't know.  I operate on sheer hope that what I carry will be enough to give me safe haven; if it is not, this will be the last memory stored here.  I haven't the courage to flood this orb with the images I've seen.  I wouldn't wish that on anyone, and to be truthful, I don't care to relive it myself.  I cannot avoid it when I try to sleep, for they come unbidden.  But here, at least...here in the daylight, however gloomy it is, I can control my thoughts.  For now, it is all I can do at some moments to remember who I am, and why my journey is so important.  I am Anlusian, of the Shard Healer's Hall.  I am a simple healer turned historian in one swift moment of urgency issued forth by K'Liovar.  I, and I alone, can preserve the information kept by the Moda of Ilithi.  If I do not make it...if I do not...it will die with me.