isleofavalon | February catch-all (open log)

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final fantasy xiv: emet-selch

February catch-all (open log)

🧙 WHO: Emet-Selch and anyone
⚔️️ WHAT: Ascian keeps himself busy by taking on quests and learning new magic
🕒 WHEN: February
🗺️ WHERE: Around Camelot etc.
⚠️ WARNINGS: Potential NPC death as certain prompts progress

(I will match the format of your tags!)

ONE. Libyrinth 🗡️

The tops of these library shelves are some of the most uncomfortable surfaces he has ever slept upon - and this coming from someone who had napped on the large boughs in the Rak'tika Greatwood. He surfaces from his restless dreams after closing, squinting in the dark. There is a dim bobbing light some ways away which he presumes is the librarian, patrolling after hours.

He is not one for stealth but he isn't a fool. He sets his mouth and tries to stretch out his aching limbs as quietly as possible before looking askance at whoever it is that has chosen to accompany him into the library after dark.

No words from him. Merely a slight tilt of the head to indicate they should get going.

TWO. Pure of Heart 🛡️ (cw: possible NPC death)

"You tricked me!" he says furiously, lunging for Morganna. The witch simply disappears with his golden crystal in hand, leaving him with an old man who is slowly succumbing to poison. Emet-Selch checks over their vital signs, takes their pulse and listens to their breath. Any knowledge of poisons is limited to his world's own, and the longer he waits the less likely it is they will survive.

He makes his choice. Slamming his way out of the old man's cottage, he glances about in the hope that someone happens to be passing by.

"I NEED A HEALER!" he shouts.

THREE. Save a Beast, Kill a Man 🗡️ (cw: possible NPC death)

a) Indecision

Emet-Selch doesn't consider himself a righteous man. He doesn't even consider himself a good one. As he stares at the listing though, that nagging thought that he can't simply let such an injustice go crosses his mind over and over. Turn around and walk away - that is what he would have done once. It isn't his business to save others. It isn't his business to indulge in heroics.

Surely...surely one of the Warriors will take it upon themselves to slay the man. Yes?

He continues to stare at the notice, quite heedless of the people on the street passing behind him. "'Tis none of my business," he mutters. "'Tis none of my business, yet..."

b) Hunting down the pelt

There is the man. There is the pelt, lying amongst their supplies further up the beach. And there is the kraken, watching the man approach as it waves its long arms in warning. Double the pay if he manages to halt the offender before they can kill the creature, the notice had said, but Emet-Selch doesn't particularly feel anything for the beast. It and the man have locked eyes and all he cares is that the clash will provide him the opportunity to sneak down and make off with the selkie's pelt.

Easier said than done though. He's no rogue. He has no magicks with which to conceal himself. Whatever he decides to do, he knows he will have to act soon. Once the fighting starts, he'll have limited time to snatch the pelt.

"Would that I could bend the shadows to my whim again," he mutters aloud. Perhaps you're there with him, or perhaps you're elsewhere waiting for a chance to dash in for the pelt yourself. If no-one else interferes, Emet-Selch will move once the man and kraken begin to fight.

FOUR. Sync Up

Learning new magic is a chance he will never forego. Who knows? Mayhap his magic will be enough to alter the state of larger things, improving its possible applications in combat.

At least, that was the naive way he thought of it until he found himself trapped in one of the tents with someone he doesn't know. There is a suggestion called from the local outside that they ask each other questions or partake of the liquor, but Emet-Selch makes his thoughts on that very clearly known.

"I'll not be forced into this with a stranger!" he snarls, glaring at the silhouette of their local guide. "Let me out immediately!"

FIVE. Wildcard

Got an idea? Feel free to run it by me via PM to either this account or ch1ps0h0y

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He had come because he felt uneasy about the whole thing (because he felt if it were Gu Yun he would definitely had gone to make sure).

It was the right idea, it seemed, when he saw a familiar person burst out of the cottage. He didn't seem flustered or surprised, but he approached with a little more haste, a slight furrow in his brow the only indication of concern.

"What happened?"

"The old man was poisoned. By what, I do not know." He points back towards the hut. He's not one to give in blindly to panic but he knows well how urgently the man needs medical attention. "That woman, Morganna - she tricked me into thinking her concoction was the poison! Instead it was the antidote!"

She will get comeuppance for that someday. This he swears.

So that's how it is.

Something so obvious had to have been a trap was what he'd thought though what the nature of the trap was he hadn't been able to guess at all.

At least now he knew.

"I'll see what I can do." He didn't hesitate to step forward. Hesitation will serve no one here. Either he can or he can't heal the poison...he won't know until he tries. "Do you know what sort of poison he's been afflicted by?"

"No. But I still have this." He holds out the bottle which that woman had tried to persuade him into slipping the man. Said man looks well into the later stage of poisoning. "I think it may be too late for it to take effect however. It looks as though he may soon pass. Are you able to use curative magic?"

Emet-Selch doesn't know why he cares. The man's life means little and less to him...yet standing by and watching them suffer seems cruel.

The moment he's close enough, he takes the man's wrist and feels for the pulse, trying to gauge where the poison was attacking...only to find the situation was indeed very dire.

Chang Geng's expression remains calm and without any hesitation but also without any hurry he releases the man's wrist.

"I can." He wasn't sure how much it will help but there's no time for hesitation. He places his hands over the man's chest. After a moment, his hands begin to glow. At first there's no change but after a while, slowly but surely the man's face eases as the pain lessens.

Still, by then a few heart-stopping moments had passed. There's sweat on his brow as he continues to pour healing energy into the poisoned man.

"Do you know how to take someone's pulse?" He means more than just checking if they were alive, forgetting for a moment that other places may not use the same methods to diagnose health issues.

"I..."

He hesitates, realising that the means by which he used to gauge how close a soul was to passing is no longer available to him. He shakes his head, frustrated with himself.

"No," he admits. "I can find it but that is all. In the past, I have always been able to look at a man and know."

He kept his focus on pouring healing magic into the man's body. He doesn't look up or show any reaction to that admission.

"Then start by finding the pulse on his wrist. His pulse was abnormal and uneven. When you feel it has returned to a steady rhythm please let me know."

And then he can take a more detailed reading.

He sinks to his knees beside the old man and takes their wrist again, using his fingers to feel the faint, erratic pulse beneath frail skin. How surreal, he thinks to himself. He has gone from destroying worlds to saving strangers he has never met before. It is no penance - there is no penance great enough to absolve his sins.

"...'Tis not settling," he says, beginning to worry although it hasn't been all that long.

He nods and keeps pushing healing magic into the body beneath his hands. His expression and his voice when he speaks is completely calm.

"If whatever it is is strong enough it may not settle so quickly. Just let me know of any changes."

After all, Chang Geng is new to all this. It shows in the way sweat begins to bead on his forehead from his efforts, the way his fingers shake...but his look in his eyes didn't change at all.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity even though it wasn't very long at all, the old man's breathing evens out and his pulse, though weakened returns to something like a steady rhythm. Chang Geng won't stop though, until he has confirmation that the situation has improved.

It is somewhat frustrating to be kneeling here, not knowing whether Chang Geng's efforts are having any effect. Once, he would have been able to see the flow of aether - magic - as a person spent it. Here, he is blind. How in Zodiark's name do lesser men get by?

"...I think..." He frowns, concentrating on the faint beat beneath his fingers. "Yes, 'tis settling. Whatever you did, it appears to have worked."

He nods to acknowledge the update but continues using healing magic for a moment longer before stopping. As far as he knows at the moment, there isn't any true side effect of healing magic so this is a case where 'more' can only help.

When he stops, he moves over to take the man's wrist himself, holding three fingers to the wrist, applying more pressure with each finger in turn. Only when he's gotten a good read of the man's pulse did he finally relax...though with how calm he's been this entire time it'd be hard to tell. The only indication is the slightest softening of his posture. But his complexion is also a little pale after all this so it could easily be mistaken for exhaustion even if it was spotted.

"The organs all appear to be fine now. At least, the worst of it is over."

Emet-Selch lets out a little sigh, surprised to find that he's relieved. He would have been disappointed if the old man had ended up perishing, and it's no thanks to that witch.

"I'll not soon trust that Morganna again," he says grimly. "My thanks for saving this man. Was it taxing to cleanse the poison from his body?"

He stands unsteadily as he talks, heading to see what the old man has in their kitchen. Both healer and patient, he assumes, likely needs some sustenance after that ordeal.

"She's definitely less than trustworthy." He'd come here precisely because he hadn't trusted her words or intentions with the potion.

He smiled a little wryly. "I think it was taxing mostly because I am inexperienced. It seems I still have much learning to do."

He considers standing up but he felt like he should probably stay sitting for a little longer lest he embarrass himself.

"Though there's no need for thanks. I could hardly just leave him to die if I might be able to do something about it."

"Fortunate that you happened to be nearby then. Or were you on your way here as well?"

Finding nothing substantial that he would serve someone recovering from poison, he returns with a loaf of bread and some water. Surely that would be agreeable to a weak stomach?

"Let us watch and wait until the old man wakes. 'Twould be cruel to leave them without so much as a whisper.

"I was. In fact, I got the same offer from Morgana." He settled down in a comfortable position where he was sitting, occasionally checking the pulse of the old man. "The whole thing sounded too much like a trick but as I wasn't sure what the trick was, I came anyway."

To see where things were headed...and in case the man was not an accomplice but a victim.

He nods though, to the assertion that they should stay. "I would also like to ensure that he is recovering." And that the recovery wasn't temporary or liable to flare up again.

He nods and similarly settles in to wait. If Chang Geng feels like engaging in idle chatter, he will respond. But otherwise Emet-Selch is content to remain taciturn.

Eventually, the old man does stir. Emet-Selch, not really being the gentle, reassuring sort, allows the other man to take the lead in that regard. For his part, he offers the old man the glass of water.

"How fare you?" he asks.

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February catch-all (open log)

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