A Cure For Hunger

Log Info

• Title: A Cure For Hunger

• Emitter: Schara

• Characters: Harkashan, Schara

• Place: Wuja Docar, Mictlan

• Summary: Schara is staying outside of the village out of concern for the disease she contracted, and Harkashan leaves to check on her.

Wuja Docar, late afternoon.

The exploration party had returned from their epedition to collect themselves and rest. And for some, there was a lot of collecting to do. Schara had elected to not join the others in the walls for the time being. Instead, the artificer had kept outside. A crude, but functional lean-to had been woven between two trees, with a small fire crackling nearby. Underneath the structure was the artificer, arms removed and set to one side while the rest of the armor remained, and it was difficult to tell at a glance if they were sleeping or not.

There's always a few Hunters of the Sith-makar outside of the walls. Keeping watch. Going around. But there is always a discomfort when there are those considered less 'experience' in the ability to survive within Am'shere. As such, after hearing that Schara was spending some time outside, Harkashan took some food and went to meet her.

When he finds her with her small built fire, Harkashan makes his presence known and slowly sits with her. Reaching into a pouch and removing a bit of food from within the walls. He doesn't make too much noise, and instead just sits some of the food in front of her, clearly prepared to take watch.

The artificer is not asleep, as the moment the sound of someone getting closer, the suit of armor looks up, and over, before violently shaking it's head. The movement looks, off. Moving less smoothly than usual, and slower. "Peace on your nest mister Harkashan, it is good to see you but also not good to see you, as I would ask you to get to close to me." The artificer warns, not sounding static filled or deep, just their usual quiet voice, muffled by the helmet. "I do not know if I am contagious to other people, there were no sith-makari with me when we left, and I do not wish for you to contract anything on my account."

Harkashan rumbles a sound; "Ah, this is about the matter of the disease you and some allies contracted." He remarks, taking note of her. He had to deal with the matter of Rune and this strange disease already, so he at least knows how to handle it. "I have a spell that removes diseases available to me that will do away with the problem." He promises her.

He lets those words linger in the air, leaning one arm on his leg, and offering his food with the other. "Food, if you wish for it." He notes. "I know it must be difficult right now."

The artificer pauses their ramblings, and the helmet tilts slightly, before nodding slowly once. "Yes, it is about the disease, I think. I don't want to put anyone at risk in there, or cause anyone trouble." The artificer answers, before she pauses. "I thought that it was impossible to recover from, and Skielstregar was an incredibly rare exception? I do not wish for false hope, but if it will make me safe to be around other people, alive or not, then that would likely be a good idea. I would just need some time."

She looks down to the food, and audibly sighs. "Thank you though, I should not feel a need for more food, it is unecessary nutrition, yet I find myself so hungry regardless. I am used to not being hungry, so it feels even further wrong."

Harkashan shakes his head; "No, I think there is a misunderstanding. What makes a Forgotten a Forgotten... it's something that cannot happen with your people. It only happens to us, the Sith-makar." He explains to her. "The disease is not what causes one to become Forgotten. It is the devouring of ones of our own kind."

The man lets out a sorrowful sound at this, before he lifts his hand. "Do you wish for me to heal you now?" He then asks of her. "It should not be much work. But I can only cast this gift a few times a day. Which will make this a big problem if this happens on a large scale."

The artificer tilts their head again. "But, the, oh, they were hungry, but they were also probably sick with this." The elf considers, before deflating with a long sigh. "I am glad that it is a different disease, but concerned, you're right. I wouldn't want anyone to be hurt by it."

Schara considers the offer for a moment, before she nods again, and one foot drags the wooden arm over. "If there is no one else who has need of aid for any diseases at the moment, then yes, otherwise I am sure I could stand being hungry longer. Letting me know it is not the same before I did anything irreversible is welcome enought."

"I wish it was so simple as the Forgotten being a disease." Harkashan rumbles. "If it was a disease, it could be cured. But this... it's more like an irreversible transformation. A change not just of who, but also /what/ one is." He remarks.

He then reaches out, touching her arm. A pulse and wave of grey erupts across her body, rippling through her veins, making them glow with red light for a moment from within, before that 'hunger' disappates.

"That should help." He rumbles, before leaning back.

"Oh. So there isn't a way to fix it?" Schara asks, sounding saddened by that answer. "I guess Skielstregar is still an exception. There were so many in the village, and I had to defend myself and the others from them. It is strange, I feel glad in one way that it couldn't be fixed, because I had no choice but to slay them at the village, and knowing I could have done something would make me feel worse. But the fact that there isn't a solution means they need to be stopped from causing any more to be transformed."

The artificer hesitates as the healing magics take effect, and she nods once, pulling off their helmet after levering it against a few pieces of armor. The elf smiles once. "Thank you, mister Harkashan." They thank, no longer muffled, at least until they begin re attaching their left arm and pulling various straps.

"There isn't. That is indeed why Skielstregar is <the exception>." He answers her with that same sorrow in his voice. "I've had to lay down my fair share of Forgotten in my days. So I can understand the... horrible feeling of dealing with them in multiple ways." He huffs, leaning back.

"And please, Shaman Harkashan. 'Mister' feels so... stuffy." Which is strange when used against the idea of a title. He then watches her re-attach her arm.

The artificer is busy with putting the right wooden arm back on, which is not overly difficult with it fitting into the armor as well. She tests the movement a few times, pulling a few more straps, until it falls back into her lap. "I am sorry you had to do that. I hope when we are done, more won't be coming from there, at least."

Schara blinks, and tilts her head. "What is stuffy about being called mister? You are male, I can tell by your facial structure and other features, but I understand regardless if you would not wish to be called that." Schara asked. "Are you still offering that food by the way? I know I said I don't usually feel hungry, but I still need to eat, and haven't today."

"It feels 'old' I suppose, rather than 'stuffy'." He admits to her with a bemusement of his tone. "I've been seeing people bidding me all kinds of respect as of late. And while it is... not something I am unused to, it is getting to be a bit much when it comes from people I consider my equals." He explains to her, touching his hand as he speaks.

He then lowers his hand, and indeed re-offers the food. "Please, by all means. I got the least spicy thing I could find. I believe to recall you did not do so well with the spices. But I may be misremembering." He rumbles.

"Oh, but I don't think you're old." The elf answers, a bit surprised. "I'm just trying to be polite, that's all, but if you don't like it then the polite thing would be to not refer to you as mister."

Schara reaches to take the food, balancing it in the wooden hand and taking a few bites. "I like spicy food, I believe it was either Rune or Fidget who did not? I can not remember as I was too concerned about the talking dead body in the room at the time, usually I am better at remembering such things otherwise." She answers after a few spites. "Speaking of which, how is Rune and Carver and Fidget and Simony? I haven't seen them since returning, I didn't want to cause them further trouble."

"Fidget. That's right. Rune actually quite enjoys spicy food." He notes, snapping his finger. Remembering now. Harkashan is normally good at remembering things. "As for the others. I have not yet spoken to Carver, Fidget and Simony. But I believe Simony is working on healing the others." He answers her.

He then leans his elbows to his legs and leans forward a bit. Curling his tail to the side. Thinking for a moment. "I wonder where they are going with this. Creating more Forgotten like this." He shakes his head.

"Well, as long as they're okay, then that's good. I wouldn't want them to still be having trouble while I'm feeling better." The elf sighs, taking another bite, before tilting her head again. "And Rune is okay? You didn't say how she was doing, and you seem to be good friends with her. If she needs any further help, or you, I can always do what I can."

She stops to eat some more, consider the question, head tilting one way, then the other several times. "I don't know, I struggle to understand normal people as it is, and those Charn people that I met here are even harder to understand. I can't stop to think what would make someone okay doing what they are doing, and I can't think of anything which would justify their actions. Forgotten wouldn't even be useful for slave labor as far as I'm aware, so the only thing which would come to mind is a need to disrupt Am'shere for some reason, or a need for people to fight something, which if that is the case, why wouldn't they just ask for help? I guess I wouldn't help them if they asked at this point, so that would explain that."

"She's okay. She was feeling a bit bitey." He jokes awkwardly, before nodding his head. He leans back a bit moments later. Normally, he can sit still as a stone. But this day, he's more nervous. His tail's tip flicking anxiously. His people are under assault, and he's not sure how to best deal with the situation right now.

"They're useful as shock troops. They have been used outside of Am'shere by the Charn as well, from my understanding." Harkashan seeks to explain. "And they're quite good at it. As for the Charn, from my understanding they are from an area so desolate and low on natural resources, to battle and find ways to survive means a constant need to go about things as... well... like this. Throwing ethics and morals to the side in order to survive."

"I guess she would be really hungry, too. I'm sorry, if I did a better job, I don't think she would have gotten hurt by them and contracted that." Schara frowns, the food cleared away in surprisingly short time. "I can see the value, even if I don't agree with the practice in the slightest."

The elf continues thinking for a moment, and her head tilts. "You are not comfortable sitting there. Is it the talk, or something else?" She wonders. "I don't know sith-makari, and tails seem difficult to understand, but at least I think you're uncomfortable in some manner shaman Harkashan, and I should and want to do my best to help if I can."

"Don't blame yourself like that. There's no way you could even have known. Not to mention, Rune is pretty quick on her feet. If things are laying hands on her... they must have been fairly troublesome foes." He rumbles.

He then motions a hand. "No, it's the situation. It's worrying about how this may affect my people. We understand getting taken, being forced to feed. But a disease like this... if that spread, it may be catastrophic." He explains to her. "I am hoping that whomever devised this disease didn't write it down. And that we can take them down. Because if this spreads..."

Harkashan shakes his head. "It could be the end for us."

"I understand, I guess, but I will blame myself at least a bit for my mistakes. I know that everyone does so, but I wish that the results of my mistake weren't so badly on that occasion. Everyone was so bloody, and badly hurt following that." She responds. "But you are right, they were quite dangerous, along with the mage they were with. I am glad no one was killed in the process, it all got so close several times."

The elf stops, and closes her eyes, taking a few breaths before nodding. "At least, I don't know if it is different for makari who contract it, but it just made me very hungry, but not for anything in particular. It may be wise to contact other tribes to stockpile food in case of emergencies, so they could be kept fed until curing it is an option. But that depends on a lot of factors, and shouldn't be relied on. Getting rid of this research station is the first thing to be done, and I won't fail another time. I wouldn't want Jesk or any of your family getting hurt, and I will do what I can to stop it."

"You aren't a healer. While you can heal, there's strength in each of us that is unique." Harkashan answers her, touching a hand to his lap. "Do not worry yourself too much over what you could not do, and focus on the things you could do." He rumbles.

He then slowly begins to stand, running a hand along one of his horns. "For the Makari, when they are left hungry constantly, I imagine it is bad. If we can't find food... well... people are food. As much as anyone would like to say they would never." He remarks.

"But yes, let's work on getting rid of this research station." He then notes. "I will try to avoid coming along, so I don't risk getting infected myself. That way, if anything happens, I know what spells to be prepared with." He notes.

"I'm not a healer, which is why I need to be better at what I can do." The elf sighs. "I don't want to let my friends down, when I can do better. And I need to do better, in some ways. I won't hold it against myself, though, but I won't just stop and not fix what I can when I can."

"No, you're right, it would be bad, and I doubt even food would fix it, I kept feeling hungry even when I did eat. It would be mentally draining over a long enough period of time." She sgrees with a sigh. "That's a good idea harkashan, you should focus on keeping you and your family safe. My family is safe back home, so it's not a big deal if anything happens to me."

Harkashan, standing now, offers a hand. "Come on. Let's get back into the wall. I will be worried sick if you are out here all the time. I know Kyfe will likely watch over you, but still. There's wild creatures out here." And who knows what else now.

He motions his head.

The elf blinks, and nods as she gathers up her things in her arm, and begins kicking out the fire. "Sorry, I'd take your hand, but I need it at the moment." Schara quietly laughs. "I guess there isn't reason to stay out here now that I know I won't be a harm to everyone in there, and Kyfe has enough to worry about."

The artificer kicks out the small fire, and stomps on it a few times for good measure. "I should see how Jesk is doing with her work."

"All good." Harkashan will wait for her to pack everything up. And when she's done, will walk her back to the camp. "Jesk was getting nervous. She's the one who told me you were out here to begin with." He rumbles. "Seems she's rather fond of you."

Schara stops for a moment, and the elf frowns. "Jes was worried, and fond of me? I'm sorry, I was making people here worried." The elf says quietly, mostly to herself. "I want to help her improve and do the best she can. Thank you for helping me to do that, Harkashan."

Schara shakes her head one last time, and follows him into the village.