True to her word, Khaz keeps watch with the others over Kyson's safety. On her watch, she prays through the night to a tiny candle. Deliberately burning her fingers five times, she whispers the name of her companions and murmurs in her mother tongue.
She takes a breath, no more, and continues, offering another finger to the flame.
"Blessed Day Bringer, Joy of this world and the world above, please share that love with our Brother in Arms, Dargon. Though he be of the Dwarven race, hold it not against him when distributing your blessings and sparing your reprisals, for in his heart burns a goodness that can only have come from you. His body is a temple for all that is good and mighty; bless it that he may work to your glory, even in ignorance. "
"Mistress of the Purifying Flame, warm the mind and power of Zstelian. Aged and burdened with knowledge of both man and beast, lend him your light, that he may find our way to the the skulking assassin on this vessel."
"Lady of Guidance and Redemption, Shine your light through your prism, Kyson Tirc in the coming day. As faithful as the heavy heat of noon and as good as the blessed relief granted in the early morning hours, let him be a beacon of your desire that sears to the heart of injustice and depravity."
Another breath and blister, Khaz recommits to her beseeching prayers:
"Flaming Fire of Justice, guide the Silvio's hand. Though he knows not that he walks in your light, still he flames bright like a sunset on roiling waves. Let his blade be the ray of your Will and pierce through to the heart of Evil that walks this ship in shadow."
"Finally, I pray, let us be as many colored lights that become a beam of white hot light. Shape each of our gifts and blend them into the searing beam of your command. Let us shine with your Glory, Blast through to the Truth, and Administer the Flame of your purifying Justice."
As the creep of the sun through the portal puts the tiny light of her candle to shame, she pinches out the candle and whispers a resolute "Amen" into the morning light.
Kyson sleeps fitfully, worried about his own health, and eager to find safety in the sun's warm embrace.
Yesterday was not a good day. Today is not looking good either.
Kyson stumbles over to Sekathral to wake him up.
Kyson smiles as Seka eventually shows life.
"Come along, Seka! The sun greets most strongly with the rise!"
Kyson dresses and goes up to lead morning prayer, taking a moment to think upon what Zstelian asks him.
"Possibly...possibly yes and not. I'll see what the sun can reveal."
Emerging onto the deck, Kyson will breath deep of the morning air and pat his stomach with eagerness to commune with Sarenrae and the sun.
Kyson will go to his usual prayer spot, making nice with pleasantries (mostly to hide his own growing fear) with other parishioners.
Kyson will face the sun and pray. He'll commune with the sun and ask it's blessings for the day.
For you, Sarenrae. For you.
Spluttering, cold, wet, and rudely awoken from a lovely dream about trollops, Sekathral launches himself at Kyson, but only succeeds in missing his target completely and slamming head-first into a bulkhead. Thus neutralised, he's in no position to resistwhen the cleric cheerily manhandles him up onto deck, although his muttered prayers don't seem to quite match up with the young priest's perky warblings...
Though frayed around the edges, Khaz joins Kyson and Sekathral for morning prayers. As there is no changing her spell list, Khaz simply keeps guard.
"I'll keep watch this morning; you two pray." she says, her eyes watching the deck for anything untoward.
Kyson cracks open an eye to see if Seka is making due diligence to the sun and hadn't passed out or been attacked or died on the spot.
Pleased to see the elf's ministrations at prayer, Kyson smiles briefly and returns to the sun's embrace.
3: Fireball, H20Breathing, Dispel Magic
2: Produce Flame, Lsr Restoration*2, Delay Poison
1: Bless, Command, Liberating Command, Shield of Faith
0: Detect Poison, Create H20, Detect Magic, Stabilize
When the prayers are done, Kyson will again enjoin with Sekathral in quiet additional prayer.
"Okay, Sekathral, let's get you feeling better, shant we?" Kyson smiles at the elf who saved him from drowning.
Maybe someday I'll save him from drowning in alcohol.
"Repeat after me, Seka:"
"Warm sun, giver of life,"
"Give your warmth to Golarion,"
"Let my light be as pure as yours,"
"For I am not worthy of your shine,"
"Blessed be the lights and lightbringers,"
"Hail Sarenrae, Light above Lights."
When that is completed, Kyson will lead Seka through it twice again while casting Lesser Restoration.
Ability Healing
Ability Healing
Edit:
Despite -- or perhaps because of -- your preparations, the next few days pass uneventfully, Sekathral recovering quickly with Kyson and Sarenrae's help and the two ships skimming through clear, sunny days.
The calm is broken one morning as those in the common quarters are woken by the sound of retching. Father Feres, looking flushed, moans deliriously in obvious pain.
"Oooh, make it stop. Everything's too bright, and soft around the edges."
You don't detect any poison, Zstelian.
Kyson moves to tend to the Father.
"What's the matter? Did you eat Seka's food?"
Heal Check
Sekathral, coming down from a spell on deck, moves over to the old priest and squints at him.
Kyson, you find a strange, pulsing growth in the man's stomach, though he tries to curl up in a ball as you prod it.
"Uhm....he's preggo. Pregnant. There is definitely something in there," Kyson announces.
Kyson steps back.
"Maybe he's going to explode."
"uhm.... I don't think that's how pregnant works, Kyson." Still, Khaz tries to look around the gathered crowd to see the pregnant sailor.
Kyson, unsure of what to do, ponders his options.
"Uhm...get him on the table! Uh...I'll need alcohol. Lots of alcohol! And then find me something to clean the wounds that I'm about to inflict!" Kyson barks out orders like he's never barked them before.
"I might need to try to cut it out...unless any of you have better ideas?!" Kyson really wishes they did have better ideas.
"Kyson! I don't think you need to be Seka shape while cutting on this man!" She shakes her head at the image of Sekathral doing the cutting.
"...but would it help if he was bigger? I can make him bigger if that will make it easier... or stupider...and uhm, maybe I can lend a hand... from a distance." Khaz ponders how to be helpful.
"Oi!
Sekathral takes umbrage at Khaz's comments.
"I'm the steadiest hand with a knife there is, mate, whether p*ssed or sober. Don't worry", he says reassuringly to Kyson.
"I'll hold yer swabs and clamps and what have you."
He drops his voice to a whisper. " Should we put 'im out first, though?", waving a marlin spike in the air at the same time and miming the act of socking the "patient" on the back of the head, hopefully out of the old priest's line of sight, .
Khaz casts a dubious eye at Sekathral, but can't fault his logic; except when he was poisoned, she can't remember a time when his hand wasn't steady on a blade.
Zstelian finds a nice large table and clears the surface.
"Lay him down over here", the old ranger says.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing Kyson?"
"Of course Kyson knows what he's doing. He is a skilled healer and a fine surgeon. Silvio does not like the way that looks, it must come out! It reminds Silvio of..." Silvio says and then trails of into a livid retelling of a story containing some kind of plant monster that he may or may not have experienced.
Kyson looks at Zstelian with a bit of fear in his face.
"Why would I know what I'm doing? I've copied a few books on the anatomy of the kobold...how different can this be?" Kyson's eyes flicker to the man in pain.
Kyson looks for that alcohol he called for.
This ain't going to be pleasant. Also it will probably suck for the patient...
* * *
Kyson looks at Sekathral and nods, trying to think things through.
"I'm not sure that's better...not sure what is going to be better: cutting him open while awake or beating him unconscious while we work. Uh...uh..." Kyson *REALLY* needs that drink now.
Kyson addresses his nurses and staffers.
"Uhm...I'm going to cut him open...I need you all to hold him down and let him let me do my work. I can heal him after I finish so his pain *might* be temporary. But I need to be able to cut him open cleanly. AND WILL SOMEONE GET ME A DRINK!?!"
Kyson looks around for a knife to use to do the surgery and begins to try to unsheathe this bloody, rusty scimitar. Round 1 of 2 round action, unless stopped.
"Huh? Oh yeah, I'll go get it. Let's hope the poisoner hasn't gotten to it, though. Khaz runs off and comes back with the strongest stuff she can find.
"Here you go, Kyson. Just ahhh, not too much in the drinking, ok?"
"An excellent idea", Silvio says in the middle of his story and snatches the scimitar from Kyson's hands and hands him the dagger from his belt. Then the chelaxian continues his retelling.
Kyson's hands reach for the sheathe even as Silvio easily wrests it from his grasp.
"Hey...that's my sacred blade!" Kyson says before seeing the offered dagger.
"Oh. This might work good too. Thanks."
Cuz you really want to do this?
Nope.
Kyson thanks Khaz for the beverage and takes a mighty swig, managing even to get enough in his mouth to cough and choke.
My gawd that's awful. Kyson makes the ugh face of displeasure, but takes another swig anyway as he's about to do stuff he doesn't want to. One more.
Kyson puts down the drink and surveys the situation.
I have a man in pain and his tummy is about to explode with something wanting to get out.
No, he's not pregnant either...whatevers in there is going to be ugly.
I have a table upon which to operate. I have 'assistants' who will help hold the man still while I carve out whatever that is.
OH SARENRAE! I NEED YOU THIS DAY!
Kyson points to people to hold down the man on the table and begins to cut away the clothes so he can get into cutting the man open.
"Anyone have anything they want to do to help before I begin? PLEASE?!" Kyson gulps deeply while holding the dagger in a shaking, quaking hand.
Father Feres moans in pain as the rest of you grab his limbs to hold him down.
Suddenly, Sekathral remembers his pouch of Flayleaf, and how it's helped him through a number of unpleasant situations in the past. He takes the pouch out, rolls a substantial looking joint, lights it, and after taking a substantial puff himself, introduces the reefer into the mouth of Father Feres.
"Here you go, mate. I'd finish it off if I were you, 'cause you're f***ing well going to need it all"
I wouldn't want that kid rummaging around in *my* essentials. Poor bugger.
Kyson gulps and realizes that he has to do it...and do it now before his courage leaves him. He takes another swig, asks the priest for forgiveness and begins.
"Uh...okay...Sarenrae help me!"
Kyson rubs Silvio's dagger against this shirt to clean it before making the first incision.
Heal Check to perform major surgery on a table upon a pirate ship surrounded by food, pirates, princesses, and even a once-blue-drug-smoking elf.
Khaz watches helplessly from the sidelines. Her mouth moves silently as she thinks more than says an extra prayer to Saranrae to judge well the priest's heart and grant him healing, should he deserve it.
Nervously, Kyson cuts into the hallucinating priest's swollen abdomen, but his caution leads to him cutting a little too shallowly, only spilling a little blood.
His next two attempts are just as unsuccessful and blood begins spilling from three cuts in the man, who begins growing pale.
Kyson gulps, takes another swig of whatever's handy and keeps going.
Heal
C'mon Kyson...get your hand straight!
As Kyson cuts closer to the strange object -- though still not close enough to see what it is or remove it -- Father Feres suddenly stops moving and moaning, falling unconscious as he continues to bleed over the cabin's deck.
Kyson sighs in failure.
"I'm not sure I can do this. Not even sure it's possible."
Hanging his head in shame, Kyson calls upon Sarenrae to fix his mistake.
Sarenrae, it's me, Kyson. I need you. Please.
healing
Kyson puts down the dagger and doesn't know what to do next.
Kyson remains unsure what it is, though he doesn't think it's anything natural.
His channeled energies, however, seem to restore the man to consciousness, and he resumes moaning in pain. "Soooo bright."
"Come on, mate. Want to try one of my knives instead?"
Sekathral hands one of his gleaming, razor sharp daggers to Kyson, hilt first, in an attempt to steady his nerves and give him a bit of encouragement.
"Uh thanks, Seka," Kyson says swapping out the blades but still wishing he had his scimitar. Kyson rises and forces a grim look of determination to his face. Taking a deep breath, Kyson orders people to get ready to do it again (before he loses his nerve).
Heal check
Are you completely useless?
Get it right, Tirc! Quit screwing around!
Kyson tries again.
Heal check
And one more:
Heal check
And, just in case, a CLW:
healing
One last gasp:
Heal check
Though the bloody work takes time -- and Kyson does have to heal Father Feres another time -- he finally extracts what looks like some sort of unnatural egg, which pulses malevolently in the young priest's hands. It seemed as if it almost resisted his attempts to withdraw it, making the work even harder.