you obtain rooms without incident, and are able to secure a bath and laundering for your clothes. You go to your rest on an actual bed for the first time in weeks, even if the beds are none too soft and the blankets thin.
During the night, however, Kien, Luca, and Dante are awakened by Tyrus shouting in his sleep. The old man is babbling incoherently, apparently still asleep but occasionally opening his eyes and looking about - sometimes in fear, others in anger.
Suddenly, his shouting stops, and Tyrus sits up, fully awake.
Too exhausted to care, Kien strips and bathes and collapses for the night, nursing his still-sore shoulder. Tomorrow is another day, when he can worry about the way of this world and his place in it. But for now, rest...
Kien wakes with a start, gripping his bedposts so tight the wood cracks. Once he realizes they're not under attack he calms his suddenly-pounding heart, moving to Tyrus's side. "Tyrus, Tyrus! Wake up old man!" Kien shakes him, hard enough to be rude but not so hard as to hurt the frail man.
"What's going on!?" Luca yelped as Tyrus started yelling - and there was a distinct note of panic in her tone as she flailed about, trying to reach out for everything at once in the hope that it might help. It was fairly clear that she had no idea what was going on, though.
"Shhhh Kara." Tyrus says as he sits up, his eyes looking somehow younger than normal. "You'll wake the baby."
He looks to Kien, his mind struggling. "Antonius? What's up. Did you have a bad dream? You can't keep having mumma put you to sleep with magic, you need to learn for yourself."
Kien leers back warily, looking at Luca for a moment, then back at Tyrus. Damn...the old man would be the person I would ask about this. He glances at Luca. And even though we treat her like an adult, she's still a child. I'm sure she knows even less about what this is than I do. Still, he can't help but remember some of his fellow soldiers waking up with screams in the middle of the night. This was different though. Did I push him too hard?..
"Tyrus. Look at me. Look at this bruised ugly mug. It's Kienyach, Kien. Luca is with us too. Come on. We just fought off a bunch of orcs."
Tyrus struggles with the information, his mind finally starting to orient.
"What?" the older man starts to struggle. "Kien? Luca? Tyrus? Wait... Luca. I remember Luca. Little Luca. Kien... I know that name. Yes! I know you! You killed a monster! I remember! Who is Tyrus?"
"Tyrus...you're Tyrus." Kien softens as he remembers the man's frailty and how hard he pushed himself. "Luca, would we be able to find a cleric in town?" He asks.
"Um... here?" Luca looked out the window for a moment. "Maybe one or two. People with callings like 'Stacia's are rare enough to begin with."
"I-I think he needs food and rest for the moment. I, um, I-I might be able to help i-if he gets any weirder, b-but we shouldn't do that unless we really have to. I can k-keep an eye on him if you want to try and find someone who can help."
Kien sucks in air between his teeth. I shouldn't leave her alone with him. "No, you go for help. I will stay here. Do what you can."
"I'm fine!" Tyrus does his best to lever himself up. "There's nothing wrong with me, except I'm tired! Why do you keep calling me Tyrus? I'm Tertius! Assistant lecturer on Alchemy at the Collegium! Husband to Kara. Father of Antonius, Sarah, Gaius, Jill and..." he hesitates "baby Marius." He looks around again "Where am I? Where's my wife?!"
Torble slithers out of his mug, antenna waving furiously. The little oozebug slimes his way over to the wizard's corpulent leg.
"What?" Tyrus startles loudly, eyes locked on Torble. "I am calm!" he shouts angrily. "What's happening?"
Luca sucked in a deep breath - and felt a pang of fear clutch hold of her. She wasn't special, she wasn't brave, but... Tyrus had been there for her. And she needed to be here for him.
"You're confused!" she said, moving over to him. "That's all in the past now. Look around! You're not in your home! You're not even in your climate anymore!" She was pretty sure he hadn't lived in the jungle, anyway. This humidity. "You just started yelling - be quiet, listen to Torble, and let us help you!"
With that, she tried - with what little strength she had - to hold him down.
Tyrus was held trapped as much by the revelations as by Luca.
"What? What's happened?" he asks, terrified now "There's holes in my memory, Luca. I... I remember you. Kien. Dante... Logan?" he lapses into silence as he turns his prodigious intellect on the problem. "Did anything happen recently? There's creatures rumoured to cause this. Diseases - like..." he trails off, then collapses in realisation "Neerim's disease."
"I left it too late. I've had my first major lapse, haven't I?" He sighs bitterly as he exchanges notes telepathically with the ooze bug for a moment. "Yes. Torble says I was close, but too late now. What hope of a cure when I can't even remember what happened to Kara?" He shakes his head "Memory lapses are one of the most obvious symptoms. Personality changes. Confusion. Disassociation. Delusions. Have I displayed any of those?"
A disease? Of the mind? Kien gives an unhappy frown. He is going mad.
Seeing that Tyrus is confused and disorientated but not violent, Kien stands to leave Luca with him, moving towards the main room as quickly as possible.
"...Yes." Luca said, not convinced of her ability to bluff the wily wizard.
Inside, the little voice was still screaming. Everyone was going to leave her, and there was exactly nothing she could do about it. No matter how much she wanted to, though, she couldn't just sit in the corner and cry.
"Is there any magic that can help? A p-priest, or something l-like that?"
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"Yes! Yes there is!" Tyrus brightened "My notebook!" with surprising alacrity the older man grabs the book and flips through. "This... this is brilliant! I wrote this? Wait - we raided a Makon temple?" he visibly pulls himself around "Aha! Yes, I've improved the formula that gives me mental clarity. I should have the supplies for it as well. I can try upping the dose." it becomes clear the old man is talking to himself now "What was I taking? Sixteen ounces a day!" his hand starts shaking "That's already risking kidney failure. Alright. Alright. Deal with the symptom. Memory loss - no, trouble accessing memories. They're still there. Mensha? Too risky - and expensive. Arcane energy could help on a very temporary basis. There's meant to be a spell to do longer term augmentation - but its 2nd order. I've got notes here... for a 3rd order spell! Doesn't seem to have anything to do with memory, just some sort of anaesthetic."
Tyrus - or Tertius - looks down at Torble apparently 'hearing' something. He pauses, breathes deeply and looks up.
"I can rely on Torble to fill some of the holes - he's more intelligent than I remember. I'll take copious notes, and rely on you as well. I should be able to help aid recovery from this attack with alchemy. There's a spell - that I don't know - that should alleviate the symptoms for perhaps an hour at a time, if I can get access to it." Tyrus' voice is calmer, more logical.
He sighs "Otherwise time, bed rest, and fluids. This episode should abate, and I may have anywhere from days to months before the next one. Torble tells me I pushed myself beyond all sensible limits, so I am hopeful this is anomalous - a warning of what is to come."
"I gather I had a line on a potential cure. I need to keep working towards that - I can't afford to spend time in recovery if I've entered stage three. I was working on a new spell, apparently. I'd like to follow that up." he gives an exasperated sigh "Apparently I've decided to stop taking appropriate notes. Half of this is written in margins! I can tell its medical - though it looks more as though it is designed to assist in keeping someone alive, rather than deal with Neerim's."
"Where is Kara? She's the expert in mental illnesses."
"Who... who is Kara?" Luca asked, feeling almost as confused as Tyrus seemed to be. She didn't remember anyone with that name, but maybe her memory was going, too...
Tyrus/Tertius gives Luca a strange look. "My wife. I... I don't remember much... but surely she came with us." Fear crosses his face "Did something happen to her?"
Luca looked at Torble for a few moments, wondering if anyone actually had a normal, decent family. Maybe that was just a rumor... or something the peasants managed? "I don't know where she is right now, but I'm sure she has a good reason for being there, and you definitely handled it at the time." Luca said, hoping she was right. "You're still a little confused - don't try to make any important decisions or stress yourself out. Just rest for now."
"Perhaps... Perhaps you're right. I'll make some of the medicinal tea I use and try to go back to sleep. Could I trouble you for some boiled water, please Luca?"
A moment later he asked about the absent half-elf. "Kien. My memories of you are strong - even if few. I don't remember much about him. He looks... rough. Much rougher than I'd expect. Is he a good boy - er, man I suppose?"
For a few minutes, Luca considered the way Kien had helped them throughout the temple, standing up in front of things to beat them down. "Yes." she said firmly as she went to go boil the water. "I don't know too much about him, but he went into danger with us. That's about as good as you can ask from someone."
...Wait, where did that put the creatures it kept sending? No, that couldn't be right. Just going into danger with people wasn't enough to really say they were good. On the other hand, she was pretty sure Kien was much less of a problem overall - you could actually walk around with him without getting lynched by a mob. Uuuuuuuunless he had some shady past the rest of them weren't aware of... which made him, what, a rescue?
She tottered back over with the water a moment later. There were no adults here, and Tyrus was down for the moment, s-so she had to be brave and do things herself, even if it was scary.
You head to the nearby outpost belonging to the Order of Illein. There are always clerics on duty.
"Father, I need your help! My friend has a sickness of the mind, I don't know what to do. He is resting at our inn room."
You are completely unprepared for the cleric's reaction to your simple request for help from someone who is - supposedly - oath-bound to provide it. The cleric, a dwarf just into his middle-age, rounds on you with a surly growl. "If he has a sickness of the mind, then there's no bloody danger in bringing him here, is there? Load him on a stretcher or drag him behind a horse for all I care, but I'm not leaving the chapter house unattended for anything less than a zombie invasion!
Kien's fist clenches, but he grits his teeth and stands still. "Than could you kindly point me to another cleric who is a little less busy?" He asks through his teeth.
"Where do you think you'd find them? Go to the damned fortress, imbecile!"
The very, very rude priest turns his back on you.
After controlling his temper and going to the fortress, Kien returns to Tyrus with a cleric in tow. "Tyrus, Luca, you two doing alright? I brought help."
"Um... well, I don't think he's getting any worse. Does that count as alright?" Luca asked, entirely unversed in what was good and what was bad for patients. She'd done her best, but that was a very limited value.
Tyrus sits up, stretching. "I'm fine - well, all things considered. Help, you say?" Tyrus looks to the healer "You have a familiar look about you. My apologies if I'm being rude in not offering greeting. I'm afraid I'm suffering from some memory issues."
He pulls out his book "Neerim's. I've been charting my progress. Apparently this is my first major episode. I've lost..." he hesitates "I'm not sure, but looking at these dates, I'd say at least a year." he points to a complex alchemical equation "I've worked on the standard alchemical formula - apparently - and seem to have found some improvements, but I am told I pushed myself rather hard yesterday, and seem to have triggered the onset."
He hesitates and looks to the others "We were walking, yes? Has my health been generally failing?"
Kien hangs his head. "Yes, I would say you have been pushing yourself rather hard." Although I hadn't noticed him getting this sick, I thought he was just old.
The cleric following behind Kienyach starts at the sight of his patient and Luca's mention of his name. "Tyrus? Felathren embrace you, old man! What's the matter?"
The cleric, an elf of the Order of Illein, moves quickly to Tyrus's bedside and begins a cursory examination without asking any more questions.
"Neither block, bulge, nor breach, thankfully," the elf says, peering carefully into Tyrus's eyes as he holds up a candle flame. "And it is not the result of a spell, by all appearances. There seems to be no immediate danger to his life. You do not remember me, Tyrus? What is your last lucid memory before waking?"
To Kien and Luca, he asks: "Exerting himself physically? How about mentally? Heavy spellcasting? Were there toxins, or perhaps deleterious magics involved?"
Would you have shared details of your illness with the other doctors in the Order? Only with those who were closest to you? Etc?
"Erhm, yes. Lots of spellcasting..." Kien mumbles.
"Uh, and escaping from the orcs in the jungle." Luca said, shuffling backward and trying to stay as far out of the cleric's sight as possible. The last thing she needed was to get noticed by someone's god. She already had enough mysterious powers telling her what to do. "Um, i-is he going to get better?"
Tyrus blinks at Kien's answer - but his jaw drops at Luca's.
"Ah. Tert..." he gives up and decides to accept the name, concentrating on answering the question "Last memory. Hmmm. It's difficult - my memories are more contextual than organised in a timeline. I was walking home from tutoring. I'd stopped off to buy the makings for dinner - a jar of oil, some wrapped fish, and some potatoes in a sack. One of those scamps from the university prestidigitated a hole into the bottom of the sack, and I had to act quickly to stop the potatoes rolling down the hill. I remember I was wondering if I needed to throw one that had become damaged out, or if I could just wash it and cut out the damaged spot." he shrugs "I remember it was my wife's favourite, and thinking about a trip for our upcoming anniversary..."
He looks askance at the others "This, this escaping from orcs. It doesn't sound like me. And I'm not sure how much spellcasting I could have done - I'm only certified for first order spells. Was I trying to cast something in the second order?"
He pauses "No - there is another memory. The disease - Neerim's. I remember having a minor episode, and doing the test, just to be sure - my grandfather supposedly had it. I remember siting in the healer's office, alone, when he came back. I remember I demanded to see the residue. I repeated the test at home. I was alone there, too. I must have been trying to keep it from my family." he considers "There's fragments after that - classic Neerim's of course - studying up on the disease, looking for cures, trying new alchemy. And for some reason I have an image of being on a ship, and..." he hesitates "A woman made of water? I assume that's a delusion, which is unusual for the onset of secondary stage Neerim's disease."
Kien knows very little about the mental disease he is fighting off. He knows even less about the workings of arcane spells. But he does know Tyrus is a wizard, and wizards keep spellbooks. He kneels, rummaging through Tyrus's pack until he finds it, and hands it to the old man. "Whatever you cast would be in there, right?"
"It seems you've had a great deal of excitement lately," the cleric remarks. "I am remiss. My name is Elanem. Tyrus here knew me when he departed not long ago, but it seems those memories have escaped him for now."
At Tyrus's mention of Neerim's, he cocks his head. "Neerim's? Who told you that's what it was? Obviously I have made only a beginning analysis, but self-diagnosis can be quite suspect, as you know Tyrus."
"What matters is whether or not we can treat him. P-priests are good at that, right?" Luca asked, still scared of attention but caring even more about whether or not Tyrus could get better. She gripped one of her bags a little bit tighter, trying to remain calm enough to stay in the room instead of running away.
"I consulted no end of healers." Tyrus confirms "Though I'll grant the disease is so rare no-one has had first hand experience. Well, till now, I suppose."
Kien leans against the wall, frowning. "So, does this mean you're not going to be traveling with us anymore?" He asks.
"Where we travelling to?" Tyrus asks. "To be honest I am surprised to be travelling at all. There's a note in my journal that suggests I had a lead on a cure?"
"Um... at the moment, we've just been trying to r-raise money. That's why we were out in the forest." Luca explained meekly. "We did find some things, b-but you pushed yourself too hard on the way back."
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"I'm poor?" Tyrus asked incredulously.
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Kien shrugs. "Enough money to go adventuring instead of having a real job." He says in a moment of dry humor.
"May I?" Elanem asks. He skims over the lines Tyrus indicates. "Hmm. Apparitions shouldn't be taken lightly - especially in Keldradt. But if all this spirit or some such did was tell you to seek a college of healing, it seems entirely possible it was simply a dream."
He sets the book down. "That does not, however, mean the advice was bad. The college of Laquar is as good a place as any in the world to seek healing lore, forgotten or new. It is something of a journey, though."
"The what?" Luca asked, not at all familiar with places of higher learning. Or not-so-high learning, for that matter. Her family hadn't exactly sent her off to get proper schooling after what had happened.
Tyrus took the book "Aargh! Curse my shorthand." he showed the others '[symbol]?/[symbol]? n. Kessla -> Laquar -> "College of Healing" != Neerim's.'
"That'd the symbol for dream magic, and the alchemical symbol for ectoplasm. I agree with Elanem that it seems to indicate that there was a dream, or vision, or possibly phantasm? Named Kessla? And I think it indicates a college of healing in Laquar that may be able to help." He sighs "I really need to take more comprehensive notes. Didn't I tell you about this?" he reads around the cryptic section "we were camping in... Keldradt?! I was on watch against Wraiths?!?! Someone Died?!?!?!"
The old man sits down.
"I am forced to consider I may have been possessed. I can only assume something must have possessed me to send me on such foolhardy expeditions! With a young girl!" He shakes his head. "How did I even convince you to join me, Luca?"