12th Ashan, 718
She had taken his blood, both of their blood, on a number of occasions now and Faith had come to an inexorable conclusion. This condition they had, it was a parasitic one. Yet, in Nalin the parasite behaved in one way and in Lavender it behaved in another. Whether that was because of their different genders or just pure bad luck, Faith did not know. However, all the reading she had done suggested that Inkbloom impacted males in the family lines of certain families here. She was determined to find out what caused it, if she could. It had been going for a long time though, from all the reading she'd done. There was scarce information out there on it, but what there was, she'd read avidly and poured over. Then, into her office at the University, where she'd done her best to put the information on the spread of the disease on to one of the overlays, so that she could start plotting it. It was all just beginning, she knew that - and the study of this information at this level would take seasons and arcs. She still worked on the overlay of the Rot, after all, adding information as it came in, even though a cure had been discovered.
Faith sighed and looked down at the notes she was making. The similarities between Nalin's and Lavender's blood were many, but there were differences too and she believed that, in those differences might be what the parasite was feeding on. She had a hundred thoughts running through her head, but she had to make sense of it, make it logical. So, she made her way to the library, where she could begin to sort things through in her head.
Rose, the librian, liked Faith. She was quiet, she was respectful and polite and, more than that - she was married and so not in any way any competition with any males. Faith would have been amused had she known, and told Rose about the time she had grown quite possessive with Padraig about him going to the library where there was a single woman who was obviously husband-hunting. Still, that had been a long time ago, well over an arc now and she had come to an unspoken agreement with Rose. The problem she had, she explained to Rose, was the need to fully understand this Ink Bloom. Rose considered it carefully and made her way out to the back room where there were old scrolls, records and so on. She came out with a few large rolled up parchments.
Death records.
Faith had dismissed them as an idea, in truth, because Ink Bloom was so obscure, so rare. Yet, as Rose brought them out she thought about it again. Reasons were put down on them, what the person died from. As obscure as Ink Bloom was, it had very specific symptoms. Maybe there would be something. "Thank you, Rose." Faith said, her voice as quiet as it always was, but her focus not entirely here any more. She was thinking, working things out in her head. This might be useful.
It took breaks of work - and it wasn't trials because of her perfect memory thanks to Vri. Faith started to see a pattern - and that pattern was geographical. She had spent a long time at the University trying to get them to study the spread and incidence of disease - believing most wholeheartedly that the patterns found could help. It had with Lightbane, certainly. Here, too, there were patterns and she cursed herself as foolish for having not seen it.
Harvardr.
What a strange thing. Few cases, but in the same place. In the same families come to that. But she couldn't draw any absolute conclusions there, not yet and not with such incomplete data. Still, it was all pieces of the picture and, eventually, they would fall into place. But Faith had been researching the spread and contagious nature of diseases for a long time now, trying to find patterns and that was something she was used to. Looking at it, she realised when these deaths had occurred. At times when the weather wasn't so awfully cold or incredibly hot. Could that be important? The young woman's brow furrowed and she pulled the parchments closer, examining them. Dates of diagnosis, where they were available, dates of death - yes, the information that she had added up. But Faith knew that even if this was a complete picture it would provide evidence of a pattern - there might be other factors, unconsidered here. More complicated still, though, the picture here was incredibly lacking in details. There could be key information missing which would make an enormous difference.
But it was all she had. Here.
"Thank you, Rose," Faith said, nodding to the librarian once she had returned the parchments in question. Then, she made her way out of the library to continue her notes and research.
Before she went home, Faith stopped at the Order of the Adunih and the University. It was at the University that she got delayed, and in fact she ended up working in her office rather than making her way home. Because there, at least, there was everything she needed and the lab was just a few doors away. It was a slow process and the speed at which she dropped the temperature in his blood was vital. She couldn't go too fast, as she'd told him, but she needed to be effective and not go so slowly that it didn't do what she needed it to. Also, there was the reality of Nalin needing to survive it so this was a set of careful calculations, trial and error. Thankfully, Faith was a careful and meticulous worker and she not only had an eidetic memory but she also kept detailed notes. It allowed her to see patterns, to notice where there were changes, where things stayed the same.
No detail was too small and Faith maintained an attention to those details which was what she needed.
Every time she worked, every test she did she ran three groups. Room temperature, held at a constant warm and the temperature she was testing. That way, she had two control groups, not just one. That was what she needed, because once she had ascertained what the optimum temperature was and how long she had to keep him there, Faith could begin to experiment with how quickly she could drop his temperature. There was no doubting that this was a tricky disease and if she slipped up, she could kill him she knew that. Once she'd got this, though, it should be a fairly straightforward treatment, if an arduous one which would be hard on the patient. So long as she could control his temperature the way she wanted and needed to, that would be the key.
There were lots of things which she could use to help, Faith considered. The Scalvoris sand and the sheets she made would help to keep the ambient temperature down. So, too, she could keep the temperature in the room low. But the speed of the drop was vital and Faith was probably prone to over caution, she knew, when it came to things like that. Unfortunately in this case, over cautious might be just as bad as reckless and so she had to work it out properly.
Once she had what she considered, after test and retest of the blood, to be the optimum conditions, Faith had to work out how to do it. This whole thing, everything she did, was in Famula's name but here this was Faith's devotion in its extreme. To Famula and Moseke, she dedicated the work which prolonged life by curing the sacred blood. To Vri, she dedicated the chance to allow love to continue between siblings, should it be the will of the three Immortals. Any work with blood was an act of extreme devotion for Faith and that this parasite tainted the blood of the patient made it an affront to Famula.
Which meant, of course, that she had to cure it. To kill it.
Therein was something of an issue for her. The creatures were so small that all she could ascertain, even with the most powerful magnification device, was that they were not moving. Did they live? Were they hibernating? That, Faith did not know and so she sent a prayer to the Immortal of Blood, Souls, Service and Resurrection that she might destroy this taint on the blood of these families in Her name.
Because frankly, this was a lot of work in order to make those little parasites just have a snooze. But only time would tell, she knew. Only time.
Speaking of which, Faith lifted her head and realised that the dawn was poking it's first light over the horizon. With a deep bow of respect to Ymiden the Immortal of the dawn she smiled, rather sadly. "I have to get better at going home and sleeping." However, there was work to be done and she'd be starting her classes in a few breaks, so Faith simply closed up her books and made her way home to see her children for those few breaks before coming back. 1552 Words
.
Faith sighed and looked down at the notes she was making. The similarities between Nalin's and Lavender's blood were many, but there were differences too and she believed that, in those differences might be what the parasite was feeding on. She had a hundred thoughts running through her head, but she had to make sense of it, make it logical. So, she made her way to the library, where she could begin to sort things through in her head.
Rose, the librian, liked Faith. She was quiet, she was respectful and polite and, more than that - she was married and so not in any way any competition with any males. Faith would have been amused had she known, and told Rose about the time she had grown quite possessive with Padraig about him going to the library where there was a single woman who was obviously husband-hunting. Still, that had been a long time ago, well over an arc now and she had come to an unspoken agreement with Rose. The problem she had, she explained to Rose, was the need to fully understand this Ink Bloom. Rose considered it carefully and made her way out to the back room where there were old scrolls, records and so on. She came out with a few large rolled up parchments.
Death records.
Faith had dismissed them as an idea, in truth, because Ink Bloom was so obscure, so rare. Yet, as Rose brought them out she thought about it again. Reasons were put down on them, what the person died from. As obscure as Ink Bloom was, it had very specific symptoms. Maybe there would be something. "Thank you, Rose." Faith said, her voice as quiet as it always was, but her focus not entirely here any more. She was thinking, working things out in her head. This might be useful.
It took breaks of work - and it wasn't trials because of her perfect memory thanks to Vri. Faith started to see a pattern - and that pattern was geographical. She had spent a long time at the University trying to get them to study the spread and incidence of disease - believing most wholeheartedly that the patterns found could help. It had with Lightbane, certainly. Here, too, there were patterns and she cursed herself as foolish for having not seen it.
Harvardr.
What a strange thing. Few cases, but in the same place. In the same families come to that. But she couldn't draw any absolute conclusions there, not yet and not with such incomplete data. Still, it was all pieces of the picture and, eventually, they would fall into place. But Faith had been researching the spread and contagious nature of diseases for a long time now, trying to find patterns and that was something she was used to. Looking at it, she realised when these deaths had occurred. At times when the weather wasn't so awfully cold or incredibly hot. Could that be important? The young woman's brow furrowed and she pulled the parchments closer, examining them. Dates of diagnosis, where they were available, dates of death - yes, the information that she had added up. But Faith knew that even if this was a complete picture it would provide evidence of a pattern - there might be other factors, unconsidered here. More complicated still, though, the picture here was incredibly lacking in details. There could be key information missing which would make an enormous difference.
But it was all she had. Here.
"Thank you, Rose," Faith said, nodding to the librarian once she had returned the parchments in question. Then, she made her way out of the library to continue her notes and research.
Before she went home, Faith stopped at the Order of the Adunih and the University. It was at the University that she got delayed, and in fact she ended up working in her office rather than making her way home. Because there, at least, there was everything she needed and the lab was just a few doors away. It was a slow process and the speed at which she dropped the temperature in his blood was vital. She couldn't go too fast, as she'd told him, but she needed to be effective and not go so slowly that it didn't do what she needed it to. Also, there was the reality of Nalin needing to survive it so this was a set of careful calculations, trial and error. Thankfully, Faith was a careful and meticulous worker and she not only had an eidetic memory but she also kept detailed notes. It allowed her to see patterns, to notice where there were changes, where things stayed the same.
No detail was too small and Faith maintained an attention to those details which was what she needed.
Every time she worked, every test she did she ran three groups. Room temperature, held at a constant warm and the temperature she was testing. That way, she had two control groups, not just one. That was what she needed, because once she had ascertained what the optimum temperature was and how long she had to keep him there, Faith could begin to experiment with how quickly she could drop his temperature. There was no doubting that this was a tricky disease and if she slipped up, she could kill him she knew that. Once she'd got this, though, it should be a fairly straightforward treatment, if an arduous one which would be hard on the patient. So long as she could control his temperature the way she wanted and needed to, that would be the key.
There were lots of things which she could use to help, Faith considered. The Scalvoris sand and the sheets she made would help to keep the ambient temperature down. So, too, she could keep the temperature in the room low. But the speed of the drop was vital and Faith was probably prone to over caution, she knew, when it came to things like that. Unfortunately in this case, over cautious might be just as bad as reckless and so she had to work it out properly.
Once she had what she considered, after test and retest of the blood, to be the optimum conditions, Faith had to work out how to do it. This whole thing, everything she did, was in Famula's name but here this was Faith's devotion in its extreme. To Famula and Moseke, she dedicated the work which prolonged life by curing the sacred blood. To Vri, she dedicated the chance to allow love to continue between siblings, should it be the will of the three Immortals. Any work with blood was an act of extreme devotion for Faith and that this parasite tainted the blood of the patient made it an affront to Famula.
Which meant, of course, that she had to cure it. To kill it.
Therein was something of an issue for her. The creatures were so small that all she could ascertain, even with the most powerful magnification device, was that they were not moving. Did they live? Were they hibernating? That, Faith did not know and so she sent a prayer to the Immortal of Blood, Souls, Service and Resurrection that she might destroy this taint on the blood of these families in Her name.
Because frankly, this was a lot of work in order to make those little parasites just have a snooze. But only time would tell, she knew. Only time.
Speaking of which, Faith lifted her head and realised that the dawn was poking it's first light over the horizon. With a deep bow of respect to Ymiden the Immortal of the dawn she smiled, rather sadly. "I have to get better at going home and sleeping." However, there was work to be done and she'd be starting her classes in a few breaks, so Faith simply closed up her books and made her way home to see her children for those few breaks before coming back. 1552 Words
.
