From being an Abandoned who had rarely left the Hollowed Grounds, to embracing the call of adventure, to dying and being reborn first as an Ascended and then as an Ancient, Maea has gone through quite the amount of changes in her life. One thing remains common, though, in her attempts to find out just where she belongs; she’s always had a craving for knowledge which has brought her to so many places and to meet so many people here in Caido. We can’t wait to see what else is in store for her!
Congratulations, Maea!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
It had taken time. Lots of planning and conversations with Phoebe, flustered and unsure of his new position in the College. But here at last he is, as prepared as he could possibly be and vibrating with a cocktail of emotions from excitement to dread.
The lecture hall is massive, unaffected by Phoebe's blight-induced rampage. At the front of the hall there is a long table that he has stocked up with a variety of items ranging from simple gauze bandages to moss. The college items were on standby, but he hadn't decided that he particularly needed them. Not when this lesson was intending to focus upon how to make the most of a bad situation with what was immediately on hand.
There are plenty of hand-written signs guiding the way to the lecture hall, and he stands at the front, taking deep breaths and going over his plans for the afternoon. The doors are open in welcome of any who choose to join, and Cera stands at the front with a smile and welcoming aura to the first stragglers who make their way inside. There is no rush or pressure to start at a certain time, but the newly appointed Professor cannot help but worry that perhaps not many others are concerned enough with healing to make their way into the College.
Hopefully lives can be saved or extended with this lesson, no matter how he may fumble it.
Welcome to a lecture on triage guidelines in preparation for LongNight! The aim is to give in-character education on how to deal with wounds. Volunteers are appreciated!
tell me Atlas what is heavier? the world or its peoples hearts?
I believe that the darkness reminds us where light can be
Phoebe arrived early, planning to watch more than participate. She wanted to assess Cera's skills and teaching methods, to ensure that he was fit for a placement as a professor in the College's ranks. As the only guild with a ranking system, she wanted to make sure the example they set for others was exemplary, in addition to ensuring high quality and accurate information.
She entered the room and gave Cera and encouraging smile. Pim of course accompanied her, though he couldn't have cared less about whatever nonsense the humans were up to now. The Dean and her dragon took a seat off to the side near the back, where she could observe without being obtrusive.
Phoebe is attending the PQ as an observer, but Cera may ask her to participate or volunteer if needed!
The ratio of students to professors at the medical college was entirely one-sided, which supposedly worked out in Loren’s favor, seeing as he was the only student. Indeed, as he walked into the lecture hall, there were two teachers and him, and that was it. Although the Launceleyn was surprised to see that Cera was apparently leading this class, the summoner nodded at the other man and at Phoebe, before taking up a seat at the front of the hall and taking out a journal, a quill, and an inkpot. Whatever else Loren was, he’d always been a good student and an eager learner.
The moment she heard about the lecture about first aid going on in the College, Senu knew that she had to attend. Her first experience with the Long Night since her arrival would be coming soon, and based on the stories she’d heard about it, she knew that that it was good to keep herself prepared. She knew the basics of first aid, but this was a new world, and she wanted to know if there was anything different from the medical treatments that she was so accustomed to. Finding the College had not been terribly difficult, and definitely less challenging than she had imagined it to be. The hand-written signs that guided her path to the lecture hall ensured that she found herself arriving at the right place for the lecture.
For a moment, she’d thought that she had lost her way after all, what with there being only three people present. Had she gotten the time wrong? Was it already over? She’d assumed that this would be an important lecture to be in, but perhaps, the rest of the populace was already familiar enough with the Long Night to not bother themselves with something as simple as first-aid? Knowing not a single soul, she stepped into the hall, and found herself a seat next to the only other student. Opening up a worn notebook, she got ready a quill and an ink pot.
Granger had found his way to the lecture hall with little reluctance. It was simple. Outside was cold, while the inside was warm and inviting. Even with too many faces that the young boy didn't know increased his heartbeat, calloused hands fidgeting at his side as he sat as far back as he could while feasibly still seeing whatever it was that was set out on the tables in the front.
He's not surprised to see Cera's face at the front of the class but it doesn't stop his shoulders from pulling up to his ears in an effort to blend in as much as he could with the wood of his chair. The man was too kind for his own good, of course he would be a healer. The brunette rolls his eyes before leaning back in his chair.
Evie isn't exactly the prime example of a Medical College student. She kind of just...inserts herself where she's needed. Her apothecary is her base of operations, and she doesn't generally venture beyond it, except in cases where Phoebe's blight and the world kind of going to shit around them led to her helping out wherever she was needed. So though she's confident that she has enough medical expertise from her own studies, business, and learning beneath Amalia's mother, Evie attends nonetheless. Support your peers, or what have you. When she enters, she's one of the last - and few, though she's not surprised by that with the "jump first ask questions later" attitude of most of the citizens in Caido - but she recognizes Loren and Senu. Smiling, she makes her way to sit next to Senu, flashing her a silent smile of greeting before grabbing a piece of paper and an inkwell, finding she likely won't be taking as many notes but open to learning more.
Please don't
ever become a strange whose laugh
I could recognize anywhere
Cera is unbothered by the small crowd. Healing had not been a well-researched effort in his homeland either. People generally put more weight on battle skill and strength than mending what was inevitably broken in the process. Still, he's pleased to see Granger, the only familiar face aside from Phoebe who watches on. If he were a man of younger soul, perhaps he would be nervous beneath her gaze. But he is not, and the age of his body in this land is meaningless in the face of the past time he has lived. He is confident in his knowledge, and when it seems nobody else is coming, he claps his hands together and smiles beatifically.
"Thank you for attending the lecture today! I understand there is a lot to be done prior to LongNight, and I appreciate you taking the time to do so. My name is Cera, and I'll be leading the lecture under our Dean, Phoebe." A small gesture here to Phoebe, in case anyone may have questions as to why she will not necessarily be participating yet. Verdant eyes cast out across the meager gathering, counting heads, and adjusting his plans as he goes. Four aside from Phoebe, perfect. "For this first lesson, I'll be having you work in pairs. We will be going over methods to keep yourself alive if you are injured alone later." His arms come up to pair the four together, unaware of their names.
"The first and most important part of dealing with any emergency situation is taking stock. Keep a level head, take a deep breath, and evaluate the injury. Now, the most common injuries against monsters and animals alike are broken bones and gashes of any sort. So we're going to start with how to clot blood for any general wound." It was the easiest place to start, but one of the most important. Head wounds were far more complex, too complex for a brief lecture on preparation, but any other injured body part with free-flowing blood was fair game for emergency care. Gesturing to Phoebe with a smile, he hopes she will come down to be his model.
"If there is nothing obstructing the wound, the first thing you want to do is apply pressure. Use an article of clothing if you have no supplies, the cleanest you can find and preferably one that does not have stray threads that can get into the wound. Then you'll want to press down hard, applying consistent pressure. Keep the injured awake and judge their coherency. Only once the bleeding has stopped can you flush the wound with clean water, but be careful not to agitate the clots or the bleeding will renew. Infection is as serious a killer as bloodloss." Proper hygiene was always the most overlooked part of wound care, and it often had dire consequences.
"If the bleeding is too intense or the wound is too deep, pressure alone will not work. So we're going to practice on our partners how to apply a tourniquet! This is generally only used on limbs. Remember, the brighter the blood, the more urgent the bleed, so use that to gauge when a tourniquet is needed. It can be painful, so warn the injured person before proceeding. Then, clear the area." Here he turns to Phoebe, and politely holds his hand out for her arm, free of cloth. Then he glances back at the class, and waits for them to decide on who goes first. Gives them time to settle and grab their materials before proceeding, not wanting to lose anyone who may be too shy to speak up. "You need the thickest band you can find. Rope chafes, but can do in a pinch. Clothing or fabric folded into a thick strip is also a good option. Now, measure about one palm's width up from the wound, towards the heart." Cera lays his fingers flat on Phoebe's forearm, just below her elbow, a clinical and brief touch.
"Once the band is on, tie it off with a square knot." Here he walks through the steps slowly, calling them out as he goes as it is a little harder to see. It's a simplistic knot, but very effective. "Then you will need a short instrument of some kind, like a stick or handle. Secure it to the knot with another square knot using the free ends, and begin to twist. It will be painful when in the emergency situation, so do not go too far with your partner. Just enough to make sure the band is tightening and that you have the motion down." They didn't need to create any injuries here, after all. That would just make all their lives harder. Cera uses a triangular cloth on Phoebe's forearm, winding it around and knotting it down, his chosen windless a simple pestle handle. No need for fanciful tools if his students wouldn't have the luxury.
"Keep tightening until the blood flowing out has completely stopped, and no further. We are aiming to save the limb, and if it's too tight the limb will die. Then tie off the object to keep it in place." He turns the pestle a few times, careful not to hurt Phoebe, and ties it off. Then he displays Phoebe's arm to everyone, and looks over the current progress of the students.
"This is not a cure all. You will need to find someone to apply sutures or someone with medical magic within the following few hours, or you risk the health of the limb. But it will give you time to find someone, and your patient will still be alive. How are you all doing? Any questions so far?" Smiling, the professor goes to take a look at the progress of his students, ready to help correct technique.
The pairs are as follows: Evie & Granger, Senu & Loren
No pressure for long posts! There will be a lot of explaining dialogue. Time to practice a tourniquet on your partner! Supplies are at the front. Pick who is the patient and proceed!
No posting order.
tell me Atlas what is heavier? the world or its peoples hearts?
Granger hadn't the supplies or ability to take notes in Cera's class. Not that he'd actually expected to be participating aside from maybe nodding his head to indicate a sort of understanding and maybe the fact that he was in here just to stay warm and take a nap. But regardless of his preparation, or lack thereof, the young boy found the lecture to be more interesting than not with LongNight coming up. It couldn't hurt to at least know the basics of first aid and if Cera found it necessary to teach about it... Well, it didn't hurt to listen.
He had no idea who this Evie was but he shuffled down from his seat in the back to grab the materials from the front of the class. He gave Cera a nod of acknowledgment as he brushed calloused fingers over the supplies laid out in front of them on the table. The bandages were easily enough to identify and he's pretty sure that this contraption is what Cera used on that Phoebe lady to turn the tourniquet.
Satisfied and with no questions coming to mind other than why he was actually participating in a partner exercise, he turned around to try and see who hadn't found their partner yet in a process of elimination to find Evie.
Loren was surprised to discover he already knew most of this. While he obviously still dutifully took down Cera’s notes—the man was an excellent teacher, and the summoner would know, given how he was perpetually a student of something or another—the Launceleyn founds his eyes drifting to the others in the room. Most of them were known to him, but it was a rather eclectic group, he decided. Not that there was anything wrong with that.
Applying pressure, applying a tourniquet: these were both skills he’d already learned in emergency medicine classes back in Northaven. While he would probably just heal with magic if a tourniquet was needed, he figured he should practice so he could teach others without his abilities. That was the idea, at least.
Then they were paired off. While he didn’t know who Senu was, there was only one stranger in the room, so he figured that was a good place to start. Making his way over to the front of the room first, he picked up supplies for the items to make a tourniquet, then made his way over to the unfamiliar woman. Journal and writing supplies and tourniquet materials balanced in the crook of his left elbow, he held out his right hand for her. ”Hi Senu. I’m Loren. It’s nice to meet you.” With that, he set his burden down on a nearby desk and sat. ”You can practice on me first, and then we can switch.” He didn’t mind being a patient.
Wessex is very, very late. And she feels very, very, bad about it, especially considering Cera's personal invitation. It was a kind thought and the Queen does try to make an effort to reward, or rather, appear for the personal requests that are few and far between. At least her excuse is legitimate: I'm late because I was busy convalescent from opening a portal in the Mathair, I mean… "Meeting with the Fae." And none of the Fae survived, but that's neither here nor there.
So, in an effort to 'blend in' (ha!), the Ascended woman slowly opens to door to the back of the lecture hall and slips in, closing th door as quietly as she can. The plan is to observe, to be a shadow and nothing more - no voice of objection or praise - just to see what this young man is made of.
She watches as people are divided up into pairs, and then goes over the way she used to see herself up in her head. And then Wessex wonders if she would even need to, or if the fluid would simply stop flowing, would her nanites knit themselves together in time? A small frown of reflection crosses her face. How similar is she to her old self? And how different?
No, I’ll be the stone
I’ll be the hunter, a tower that casts the shade
I lie awake and watch it all
Senu found herself pleasantly surprised to see Evie when she walked in and sat beside her. She felt like the two of them had been on good friendly terms since her first arrival in Caido through the portal and the Egyptian had tried her best to maintain the friendship she had with the generous apothecary.
She returned the other woman’s smile with a warm one of her own before diverting her gaze towards the front as the man with long pale hair began the lesson.
Senu listened as best as she could, but there were still several words here and there that she didn’t understand, for as intelligent as she was, she didn’t consider herself to be highly educated. First-aid was common knowledge enough that she deemed to be important, and so here she was. She scribbled down notes in her book as much as she understood as the teacher taught them about how to bandage and dress a wound.
She knew this, yes, she had done this before, once or twice. Her father had taught her the importance of learning it, and she had seen first hand how much of a difference it can possibly make. As the lesson moved on, she was introduced to something called the tourniquet. She had seen these done by the physicians before, but had never knew what they were called or what they were for.
The scribbling on her book had yet to stop, the eager girl taking down as much information as she could, for she knew that her memory was weak, and this information would be the only piece of knowledge that would remain intact until she mastered the skill and technique. Cera then split them into pairs, so that they would be able to practice with one another.
She knew no one present except for Evie, and so she looked around, hoping that her partner would come to her. A rather suave looking bearded man approached her and introduced himself as her partner. Loren was his name. Senu returned his handshake and returned his greeting. “It is great to meet you as well.” He offered for her to have a go at the practice first, and she simply nodded in response. “I’ll be back with the supplies.”
She returned with a long strips of linen and some rope. “I’ll begin now.” She announced to her partner as she grabbed the linen and measured one palm’s width up from the imaginary wound on his forearm, just below the elbow. Once the band was on, she began to tie it off with a square knot with the rope, hoping she was on the right track.
