2011-05-18: A Worn Monk's Diary

A Worn Monk's Diary

Author: Mark of Britain

Published: May 18, 2011

Note, this was written by a player. However, the EMs adopted it as 'official' EM storyline fiction.

October 10

I have just completed the last of my training as a healer at Empathy Abby. I was amazed at how much more in depth it was then I expected. The salves and poultices and the knowledge of treating disease was so much harder then expected. My skills with treating broken bones and tissue wounds surprised all my teachers except of course for Senior Brother Markus who brought me here from my past life. He has kept my secret and I owe him so much for that. I cannot wait to see what my new assignment will be. I will be keeping this record as suggested by Brother Markus as a way to improve my writing skills.

October 12

Well I didn’t have to wait long. I am supposed to travel before the first snows fall to the City of Paws (Chesapeake) to help care for the sick. Most of the new monks have been sent to the many towns as healers and a few to the Britain Shrine of Virtue. I myself had hoped to be one of the luck few chosen to be itinerant, but that was not to be. Instead I have been chosen to go assist Brother Markus who is heading to Paws (Chesapeake) as a their senior healer there has fallen ill. We must move quickly so we intend to set out in a mere three days and head for the moongate. From there we shall use that portal to take us to Trinsic and then head north. I confessed to Brother Markus that I am afraid that I may be recognized traveling past Trinsic and the two guard stations between there and Paws (Chesapeake), but he has told me to simply keep my head inside my cowl while we pass by there. I am not sure why but I have decided to pack in the bottom of my things the last remaining possession from my past life. I have been looking at it to remind me of how far I have come from my past life. I admit I am thrilled to be going with him. That man is the reason that I am here today, he is the closest thing to a father I have ever had. There is no way I could have come so far without him.

October 16

After a day of travel we have finally arrived. The small city is beautiful and is mostly normal. That is except for the South west where our infirmary is located. From there you can hear coughing quite a distance away. There is a small stone quarter that we have build around and in there is our main hearth. Around that is a stout wooden building that can house many sick. There are a few different areas where we send the sick depending on their ailments. There is also an area to prepare food near the main hearth and an area for storing our supplies and making the potions and poultices that we use to heal. Of course not all of the town is sick, there are many farms and an Inn. All the way far to the west is a foul swamp, but that does mean that we can get Mandrake root easily. I will be staying in a small stone house all the way on the east side of town which means that I will have a nice walk to the infirmary. I believe they tend to keep the homes of those that are not sick on the west side as much as possible as the winds tend to blow off the sea to our East and even though sometimes you can smell the sawmp its still better then being downwind of those that are ill. I hope that my skills are up to the task of easing their suffering but with Brother Markus here I feel confident that we can assist, of course first we must find out why Sister Hayley is so ill.

October 17

I have no idea what is affecting Sister Hayley, and while that is no surprise to me I am a bit disturbed that neither does Brother Markus. I am sure he will figure out before to long though as he is very experienced in matters like this. I have unpacked into what will be my new home. Its a small stone house with a kitchen area and a bed. Both are quite nice and it seems to stay warm enough which is good as the first chills that portend winter are upon us and in a coastal village like this I am sure cold winds indeed will blow upon us.

October 20

This town despite all the sick is a beautiful place and the you can almost sense the humility that she is famed for. The people are notable farmers and those who are not ill are most industrious and have been welcoming to us. I think I have done a great deal to improve my name in the area after setting the local blacksmiths, Horace, hand after he smashed it yesterday. He is a huge tower of a man and also one of the tougher folks I have ever met. He was showing no pain. On a sadder note Sister Hayley still does not seem to be getting any better and we still have no idea what is wrong with him.

*undated*

Check cloth amounts *checked off*
Send for ginsing and mandrake root *checked off*
Collect herbs *checked off*
Set up to dry herbs
Check on Brother Thomas *checked off*
Gather fire wood *checked off*
Get more Serpentwyne

November 10

I have been getting neglectful in my writing I will have to try to remedy that. The other day I forgot to properly dry some healing herbs that I had gathered and completely forgot to get any Serpentwyne, I hope that this is not to serious an issue, but I had to help treat the wounds of Sven a lumberjack after his ax handle broke and the head dug into his leg. After setting it and applying the bandages I think it will heal well, but he is going to have to stay off of it for a while.

November 12

It seems that more and more of the townsfolk have been coming down with the affliction effecting Sister Hayley. I have to admit that I am worried as Brother Markus has told me that it must be something new and that his treatments are not curing the affliction but it appears that she has not gotten much worse so that is positive. The entire town is bracing for what looks to be a cold winter.

November 14

There are rumors from a young woman come in from Britain with a sickness I believe her name is Maribeth of the discovery of an artifact of immense power that has been discovered and then lost again when the ship carrying it went down at sea. I wish I could hear more of this but she has a terrible cough and I do not want to weaken her by asking her foolish questions. 2 more have come down with the same sickness it seems as Sister Hayley, of course at this time of year anyone could come down with something like that as the winter winds lower their defenses against illness.

November 19

Sister Hayley has died, but most of the others we feared had contracted the same illness appear to be getting better. I guess they had a lesser case, but I am glad as the healers area is filling up with those sick with the usual ailments of the season. I am sure that it will be a quiet winter here and hopefully peaceful.

November 21

Our first snow has fallen and the city is beautiful. I never would have expected it to look so magnificent. A curious shield was found by the widow Camille and her son Tobias while tending their carrot patch. They showed Brother Markus and he asked me to look at it knowing about my past. I had to tell him that I had never seen anything like it, and while it is quite old it still looks very sturdy to me.

November 22

The last supply caravan from Britain arrived today and its unlikely anything more shall be coming from Trinsic either. At least we got some Serpentwyne as we were completely out, but it appears that my entries will have to cease until the fall or something truly interesting happens as we only really have enough ink to maintain our records.

December 20

Have treated 20 townsfolk so far this season. Took a look at my old sword and wondered why I brought it. Helped heal burns of child Tobias his mother gave me the shield they found as a token of gratitude.

January 3

A ship ran aground but we were able to salvage everything off of it. There is now plenty of ink for me and bales of cotton we are storing until the thaw. We have had to keep it everywhere my own home is crowded with it, but I was glad to help the crew and the poor master of the ship from seeing his cargo lost. They are being put up in the Inn by Timothy at no charge. That man is truly a paragon of virute.

January 10

The winter is going by quickly but not quickly enough I can’t wait for the warmth to come back into our world as it is truly getting tiresome being cold almost all the time. I guess that is what happens when there are no walls surrounding a town.

January 15

Had to go out today to look for more firewood, as I was running low. It was not to hard to find some. It seems most of the town is in good health as winter drags on, I am glad for that as both as it gives me time to resume studying the finer points both of healing and Virtue with Brother Markus. Plus having something to do will help me forget all the wool bales still filling my small home.

January 20

A deep snow has fallen making travel even around town difficult. Its amazing how much snow can fall on one quiet little town. I wonder how much more we will get before the thaws start.

February 3

Finally something other then snow it rained today and that has really helped clear up many of the paths in town. The snow is still thickly carpeted out of the town though. I wonder how young Tobias is doing? I will have to wait a bit longer to visit him and his mother again.

February 7

Its getting warmer earlier then I had thought. While its still pretty cold the snow is clearing up some and its possible to travel out to the outlying farms if you must. Of course it takes almost a whole day to make the trip one way, so still no chance of me getting out to see anyone.

February 10

I am so sick of the smell of wool. I know its important to show Compassion to the ships master, Max, but by the Virtues it is hard to deal with all the wool.

February 15

Tobias came into town today to get a few things for the family farm. He has mended quite well and in all honesty I am please with my work. I suppose that isn’t very humble of me, I still have much to do if I wish to live my life in a virtuous way, but I guess my Honesty to myself in that regard is a good start.

February 17

Today was very warm. It was good to stroll outside and see all the melt that is going on. I can hardly wait for the spring! I guess its a good thing that patience isn’t a virtue or I would be having trouble dealing with that one too.

February 20

Today it struck me that for the first time in my entire life I have spent an entire winter in one place living among the same kind and simple people. I have no need to resume or move or do anything with the coming thaw except to collect more mandrake from around the Fens. But that is so different from the life I led before heading to the Abby if it wasn’t for my old sword I would only have guessed that life to be a dream its amazing how much these few short years have taught me, and how much this one winter has done. Brother Markus seems to be noticing the change too and he seems happy about how comfortable I am becoming.

February 23

Tomorrow the first caravan of both supplies and the sick will be coming in. I wonder how many new people will need our help. This spring I expect to take on a much larger role in treating the sick then I did in the short period before the snows.

February 24

Well 12 new sick arrived today from Britain and we set about getting them comfortable. We still need to keep them warm at night as it still gets quite cold, but firewood is now much easier to find as the snow is now only big in a few areas where the wind swept it into large drifts.

March 1

Well March is finally here and it seems all the snow is gone. Tobias and his mother held up well over the winter, but it seems a new sickness is spreading among the town. 12 have come in and complained of a terrible cough that continues day and night. I gave them a remedy that should help them suppress the cough as I suspect it is but a reaction to all the things stirred up with the snows leaving.

March 2

A group of sick from Trinsic came in today. It was a fairly small group of only 4 which bodes well for the people of Trinsic and their winter. With it came in a decent enough supply of Serpentwyne and stocks. Max and his wool have managed to get loaded on the wagons praise the Virtues as now I have my small house back. Of course now it seems huge to me, I guess I must have gotten used to it. Sadly the entire town still smells like wool.

March 3

Well the cough has returned and is going past my best efforts to cure it Brother Markus is checking back on my treatment which is saddening me greatly but I am sure that I treated them correctly.

March 4

Brother Markus cannot fathom what is wrong with the people I treated either so we are asking them all to take it easy and rest. Another group of sick came in this time from all the way in Skara Brae. There were 5 of them one of whom I am sure will soon be dead. The rest seem to have a cough that echos deep in their chests. I believe it is the cough of consumption and have put them in beds in the right area. There are also rumors that we will soon receive a new head guard for our small town.

March 5

Sir Hobie has arrived to take charge of our three guardsmen today with news that orcs are ravaging the countryside near here. We put up sturdy oaken shutters on our main infirmary to make sure that we can protect the sick. I recommended that we also stockpile some food and wood inside there so that if the Orcs do come we can hold up in there for as long as is needed.

March 6

Well today we filled a nice larder in the infirmary and made sure we could hold up in there if we must, although I suspect that rumors of orcs is not true, it would be very early for that to occur. More sick are scheduled for the 10.

March 10

More sick have arrived from Britain 3 which still leaves us with so many empty beds. One if the flat stones that make up our hearth floor has come completely out I have no idea how I am going to fit it back in there and Paws (Chesapeake) has no stone masons at all. Oh well I am sure that I will be able to figure something out.

March 13

Looks like the rains are coming. I am not all that fond of the rain but it does keep the smell of the swamp off of us some. As the winter ends I can smell it more and more. Its rotting smell has been making it a bit difficult to sleep at times. But I still love this village and its residents.

March 15

More sick this time from Vesper. Added 15 more to our list of sick. We have had 2 die so far and we buried them in the graveyard just outside our infirmary. More of the townsfolk are coming in sick again Brother Markus is tending to them as I cannot find what is causing their ailments.

March 16

Tobias and his mother came running in last night with an orc band right upon their tail. Our guards and Sir Hobie responded immediately and were able to turn most of them back, but one of our three guards suffered a fatal wound. The others I was able to treat, but I can now see that the Mayor Sir Simon and the town fathers are worried about how they took down the town walls. I assume with Britain so near and all the structures of both the guards and the Trinsic paladins there should be no worries for us all. In the meantime Tobias will stay with me and his mother will remain at the Inn. It will be nice to have someone sharing my small hut and they boy is such an honest sort, but I fear he looks up to me after my treatment of him during the winter.

March 16

Sir Hobie sent off one of our guards Sir Crawworth to request help from the guards at Britain as the nearest fortification has been vacated as the guards stationed there look for the orcs. Sadly this leaves us with only Sir Hobie and the archer Barren as our only defense. On a more personal note Tobias found my old sword and I had to come up with something to tell him pretty quick. While I really did want to tell him the truth about my past as a brigand I knew I could not. I told him instead it was my fathers sword. I can only hope that he stays true to his word not to tell anyone because while he may not be able to tell the difference between an old passed down blade and a newer one I am fairly sure that Sir Hobie will be able to tell it fairly quick and since I took this blade from a paladin of Trinsic’s corpse I gather it wouldn’t not go well for if he found out. I told Brother Markus and he told me not to worry.

March 17

More rain. Today was dark and dreary but still the smell of the swamp filled my nose this morning. Another convoy of the sick arrived today but it was the smallest to date and we warned those who led the convoy about the orcs as they continued on to Trinsic, despite our urgings to have them stay the night in the Inn. Apparently Paws (Chesapeake) reputation has dropped some with word getting out about Sister Hayley’s death. The rest of Britannia seems to fear us now as a contagious place. I am sure that this opinion will fade soon as folks remember all the good we do here and that most of the town is not sick.

March 18

More rain and now fog. It seems a good deal of the town is now sick but I am sure its simply the weather bothering folks, but Brother Markus does seem worried.

March 19

I swear it seems like the swamp has grown overnight. Today Sir Hobie asked me to help with guard duties at night as we are still afraid of the orcs. I told him I was but a healer and he laughed. Apparently he knew about my past from the moment he got here. He is asking me to help and says I don’t have to bring anything but my staff. I had to agree.

March 20

The whole town is in a panic as the swamp has jumped the channel in but one night. I have no idea what is going on but I fear its something dark. The town is all afluster as we try to decide whether we should head off into the every deepening fog or stay here. I would say that half of the town has decided to go but Brother Markus and myself must stay to help the sick Sir Hobie and Sir Simon seem to want to stay but Barren must be sent off to help lead those leaving I am glad that Tobias and his mother are both remaining as well as Timothy are staying.

March 21

It seems the swamp is still advancing and now I feel I know why. I heard what I swear to be a demon last night coming from the swamp. I guess its time to admit that I must strap on my sword and use that old shield that Camille gave to me as I am fearing the worst is still yet to come. I will be staying with the sick because if the swamp grows any further it will be upon my small house. Brother Markus says he feels a darkening evil. I must confess that I am more afraid then I have ever been but I am trying to live up to my duties.

March 22

We lost half the town in one night. There are demons and they carried away Camille last night. I could not save her from the demon. I failed her. The first person that I tried to protect and I failed her utterly. Late last night we held a meeting and Sir Hobie and Sir Simon both agreed that all those who could walk should attempt to escape and raise the alarm in Britain and Trinsic, perhaps they could have send mages but now that is not possible after what happened to Camille. Sir Hobie, Sir Simon, Brother Markus, and Tobias are over at Sir Simons office. Not but two streets away. Of course it may as well be on our Moon as there is no way they can get to me and Timothy here in the infirmary. The sick seem to be worried, but I have promised that I will not abandon them. I must confess for the first time in my life I feel that I would rather die then let them down and I think the paladin whose sword I am carrying would welcome the change. The blade does feel different in my hand then it ever did before. Like its willing to help me instead of seeing me fall. We have been yelling a plan back and forth that at midday I will sally forth and try and help Sir Hobie and Sir Simon slow the demons long enough for Brother Markus and Tobias to get inside the Infirmary and we will hold out until help comes. We all believe that someone must have made it out to get help and that it will arrive shortly. Lord British and his forces may still save us from whatever dark fate these demons have planned for us.

All is lost. I am writing now only to provide a record of what has happened to us here at Paws (Chesapeake). Most of the town is in flames and the only way we here in the infirmary are keeping from burning with them is all of the sick assisting with buckets from the well inside. Sir Hobie is dead fallen to 3 demons. He should be remembered for he slayed 4 of the fell beasts himself before the three were able to take him. Sir Simon lost his sword arm when a demon cleaved it off. Worst of all Brother Markus, the man who helped me through all of this was carried off by the largest demon I have ever heard about. A huge beast that reeked of corruption and sulfur. When it arrived hell hounds took to our streets and they have been burning the rest of the town ever since. That old shield saved my life and that of Tobias it seemed to have some power to harm the demons. Of course that didn’t stop the big one, not even a little. For the first time in my life my sword was working for good, it helped me hew through demons watching them fall left and right, but when I ran forward to save Brother Markus from that huge demon I swung at him full of fury my sword struck and shattered. I could see pieces falling and the shield was ripped from my grasp and now the demon has it. We have barricaded ourselves in the infirmary but I am sure that soon we will all die. I can only hope that this small record of what happens here survives and may give some aid to those that attempt to fight these demons. The shield was old and made of metal, it had the serpent on it and was a shade of white. I feel this could help any who attempt to fight these demons. It may not have been the most impressive shield but it glowed when I joined the fight with these demons and I am sure in more worthy hands then mine it could make a difference. I should also leave my last confession. I am known as Mark and for much of my 29 summers was a brigand and a thief. I was raised on the streets of East Britain and grew up a thief until I got caught and escaped to rob those traveling form Britain to Trinsic. For this I am sorry and I humbly beg forgiveness. I mended my ways only with the help of Brother Markus and the other monks at Empathy Abby who showed me the path to Virtue. I hope that the small acts since awaking to that true are enough to atone for all the wrong I have done. I am going to hide this book under the stone that came out of our hearth. Hopefully this will be able to keep it safe until it can be found. May the Virtues protect you as you push back this demon horde.

Mark of Britain, healer.

References:

• Stratics Post