[The Sunn Monastery] Novice Healing (Snake Eye)

[Tacelyn Armagil]

Early Brightening. The Thirteenth of Junctior in the Season of Autumn, Era XIV Post Fractum.


Tacelyn watched the sun rise and chase darkness from the sky. Today the sun was not a hateful creature, but a benevolent being, shedding light on her circumstances, and bringing warmth to a chill morning.

Strength crept back into her system much more slowly than it had in previous episodes of her illness. Tacelyn wondered whether her condition was worsening, or perhaps if the Sunn Monks had done something to cause the change.

Surely they would not have harmed her intentionally.. would they?
But no. They didn’t understand how her illness worked. Some of the younger less experienced monks seemed to fear her, or at least fear her disease. Always they had a pleasant smile and a nod for her, if she passed them by, but she could feel their unease at her presence.

It was, perhaps, unfortunate for them, but she would have to remain for some time yet.

She had come to Zinn’Sunn to track down the doctor.. a doctor who’s name she did not even know. A trail, which had had nearly, six patterns to grow cold. All this in her own quest to understand her illness, and the troubles that plagued her family.

But then she remembered what the Monk had told her when she’d first awoken in the Monastery.

‘You have been sick, but your fever seems to have lessoned.. I would like to attest this blessing to my own skill, but I speculate the resilience of your spirit is the true culprit.’


It was true, certainly, that her body had fought off the illness largely on its own.. but the people who had brought her to the Monastery had done so with a good reason. These men were healers.. not the magic kind, but the kind who strove to understand disease and treat it accordingly.

These were people, perhaps, who could help her to battle her own illness.

It struck on a fairly predictable basis.. but what if there were actually a medicine to curtail it? Was she to chase the fantasy of locating the crooked doctor and forcing him to fix her somehow?

Or did it not make more sense to learn what she could from the monks?

She decided that the best course of action was to find someone who would teach her the basics.. a place to start. At least then, when she caught up with the doctor, she might have a clearer idea of what she needed, and he wouldn’t be able to pull the wool over her eyes so easily.

"Serale, and pardon me, " she said, to a monk who had been busying himself sweeping the steps with a large bristled broom, "Is there someone in the Monastery who would be able to teach me a little bit about the art of healing?"

[Snake Eye]

Novice Healing

The monk stopped his sweeping and turned to the elf. "Serale," he said in a very mild manner, bowing to her. "A healer you say." He scratched at his bald head. "Well we do have a school for that sort of thing. But alas I do not know the tuition."

He gazed at the elf. He had heard of this one. The one with the sickness. The one people seemed to fear. He could see why she would want to learn the art. His observation also concluded that she could probably not afford the class. So an alternative came to mind.

"Pardon if I sound rude, for I mean no harm. You have been a guest of ours at the Monastery. We have helped you as we could. I fear that taking the class here may jeopardize your learning." A sad look formed in his eyes as he looked at her. "I can offer a second choice. I have a friend here who just might be willing to teach you. It would cost you nothing except supplies. More one on one."

The monk left it at that. The elf had two choices. One that required entering a school with other students, the other a more private approach. Whichever her decision the monk would point her in the right direction.

[Tacelyn Armagil]

Tacelyn could see the sense in what the man was saying.. or else she had developed her own interpretation.

In the monastery now, she was known.. and not in the most positive way.. at best she was viewed as a subject.. an experiment for study.. not as a student for teaching. At worst, they viewed her as a plague carrier, who could spread her disease if she remained. She had overstayed her welcome.

They had done what they could to help her, and it was a kindness.. these monks, they had asked little in return.. really only that she help others in turn, and carry the kindness forward.

It was truly a foreign concept to Tacelyn.


The option posed to her by the monk seemed much more agreeable. She would learn faster in a one on one environment, and if there was no tuition involved, then the price was certainly right.

The monk was looking at her sadly, as he explained her options. She wondered just why the monk seemed unhappy. Not on account of herself, surely?

"Well, thank you." She responded, agreeably, "I take no offense to good advice. It might be that seeking out the friend you speak of, would be the best course of action, given the specifics of my.. situation."

She smiled gently, "I suppose my mind is made up then.. I would like to meet the friend you speak of."

[Snake Eye]

The monk was pleased by her choice. "You will not regret your choice. His name is Miyagi. He is one of the eldest Kemites at the Monastery. He knows his medicine. I am sure he knows of you." The autumn sun bounced off the bald man's head.

"You will find him on the first floor in the northwest corner. It will be the only door in the place. Not hard to find. Please knock. He likes to keep to himself. You may find him odd, but he is a fine person, if you look past his quirks."

The monk went back to his sweeping. "You have a wonderful rest of the brightening, young one." The broom pushed away the dirt from the steps. "I am sure you will do just fine."

[Tacelyn Armagil]

The monk seemed please by her choice. Perhaps pleased at the idea of the ‘plagued one’ (as she had heard herself sometimes referred to in whispers) removing herself, and thus causing no more stress or difficulty for his fellows.

"Miyagi." Magpied Tacelyn thoughtfully. She would ask the man if he knew of the crooked doctor, but she was doubtful. The doctor was not a Kemite, and surely not the sort of person who would have ever set foot in a Monastery.

It made Tacelyn mildly uncomfortable to think of all these people.. this huge Monastery of monks, all knowing exactly who she was, and knowing about her problems, when they all remained strangers to her. It seemed creepy.

Tacelyn wondered what the monk referred to when he said odd and quirks, but she smiled it away, "Well, if he’s odd and has quirks, then we should get along splendidly, as these are qualities I share," she assured the helpful monk. "Thank you for your help."

Then she ambled off towards the proscribed Northwest corner.

As promised, the door stood alone, in a harmless looking sort of way, and after a moment’s hesitation, Tacelyn rapped upon it gently.

[Snake Eye]

The monk smiled at the elf's comment and went back to his sweeping. He lifted his head ans watched her walk off. In his mind, this would be a good fit. His oath, like those before him was to provide help for those that needed it.

Tacelyn made her way to northwest. It was nice that the door she needed was on the first floor. As she walked through the hall, the eyes of the others paid notice. At least she would not have to endure their stares for long.

She stood before the door. Plain and ordinary. Much like they ways of the monks. She glanced around to double check that this was the only door. It was. There was silence on the other side. A staccato of taps were initiated.

"What? What is it?" came a voice from somewhere beyond the door. "Go away! I want to be alone."

[Tacelyn Armagil]

The best laid plans of mice and men..

Tacelyn glanced back, trying to spy the monk who had been clearing the stairway with his broom, but he was lost from sight.

Various monks in the vicinity, who she would have sworn were staring at her moments ago all seemed to be very absorbed in the menial tasks of their daily chores.

Life seemed to be full of obstacles. Even this, a simple door, now seemed as solid as an iron safe. She could only guess at the combination.. she pondered the words of the monk who had sent her on the short trip to this destination.

The man inside was an elder.. odd.. quirky.. solitary.. eccentric perhaps? And he knew of her.. it seemed best to identify herself in some way or other.

"I apologize for the disturbance," Tacelyn replied, through the door, "My name is Tacelyn, and I was advised to seek out a skilled healer named Miyagi.. but if he wishes to be alone, I would not disturb his solitude. If only I may be told when I might call again?"

[Snake Eye]

"What? Who would tell you of such a fool thing?" The voice was gruff. The sound reminded Tacelyn of the squawk of a parrot. She glance back over her shoulder to look for the monk, but he was gone. So too it seemed were the others that had been milling about. It was as if his words caused a quiet panic.

Behind the door, the elf could hear movement. It was unclear if the sounds were moving towards the door or away. Clarification came when a small slit revealed a grey eye. "There are many healers loitering around this monastery. From the looks of it elf, you need one." The eye just hovered in the opening. "Why is it Miyagi you seek? Some fool's errand?"

[Tacelyn Armagil]

Tacelyn opened her mouth, to object.. then thought better of it and closed it.. then opened it again to complain.. then closed it once more, having thought better.. then opened it again to scream.. and shut it a third time, none of these solutions seemed likely to assist her with her situation.

Her observation of the monks.. or lack thereof.. left her wondering, and indeed worried, that she’d been most notoriously abused. Had the monk she’d gone to for help purposely gotten her into trouble so that she’d be removed from the monastery? Were monks allowed to do that sort of thing?

With all the vanished monks, it felt to her paranoid mind as if the entire monastery were in on this little conspiracy against her.

Before she could gather her wits, and make a response, she found an eye peering at her through a tight gap. It’s owner made a comment about her current pitiful state of being, and seemed content to send her on her way. This was almost too much for her to bear.

Gritting her teeth a moment, she reminded herself that this was an elderly man, and an eccentric one at that. If the monks who had sent her here were honest.. and she supposed that they really ought to be, they were, after all, monks.. she had to be patient, and try again.

"It is tutelage, which I come seeking." Tacelyn began.

"It is true that I am unwell and could benefit from a healer today, and there are as many of those loitering about here as there are fishermen loitering by the river," she agreed, in as reasonable a voice as she could muster.

"My people say that in giving a elf a fish, you feed him for the day. In teaching a elf to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. Hence, I seek Miyagi that I may be taught to heal myself, and others, for a lifetime.. not just for today."

Tacelyn certainly hoped she was making more sense than she seemed to be in her own mind. If it was indeed a fool who has sent her on this errand she was going to make painfully sure that the aforementioned fool did not repeat his error.

[Snake Eye]

The eye blinked at the young elf's comments. "Tutelage you say?" The voice squawked. "You would like to learn the art of healing?" The eye gave the female a good hard stare. Tacelyn watched it as it slowly looked down then back up where it caught her gaze.

"From the look of you, there appears to be some powerful sickness dwelling throughout your body." He gave her the look again. "I have but a simple question for you." He paused for what seemed an eternity. "Do you promise to do as I say?" The question was said as Miyagi's eye bore deep into her own. The single eye staring at her was starting to creep her out.

[Tacelyn Armagil]

"Yes, I would like to learn the art.. the art of healing," Tacelyn responded in kind. The single eye was freaking her out. She began to believe that was all that this Miyagi was.. just a lonely floating eye which owned an exceptionally well trained parrot..

As the eye traveled up and down her body, she felt very nearly violated. She wished that she had been wearing more clothing. Miyagi’s eye seemed to pick her apart.

Tacelyn didn’t think she still looked so ill. Her sickness had mostly passed, and now she was just weak and dehydrated a lot.. most people who saw her now probably would have guessed that was just getting over a common cold. This Miyagi saw much, indeed. She hoped that this training wouldn't require her to develop such creepy eyes.

After a lifetime or so, Miyagi posed his simple question, which struck Tacelyn as by no means simple. Would she do as he said? If he asked her to prepare a bandage.. sure.. if he asked her to jump off a cliff, well.. this sort of question might have been simple to ask, but surely one should be careful how one would answer. Miyagi was, after all, a little bit odd.

"As I am here to learn," replied Tacelyn, trying to pretend Miyagi’s eye was halfway across the world, or being boiled in a nice lentil soup somewhere.. "I will promise to do as you say, so long as it causes no.. undeserved harm to anyone." Miyagi’s eye was simply unnatural.. didn’t the man ever blink?? To such a creepy man, she was loath to promise everything, and hoped her clause would be found acceptable. She felt as if the man’s eye were performing undeserved harm upon her at that very moment.

[Snake Eye]

The eye of Miyagi watched the expression of the elf as he asked his question. It was the answer he has wanted. "Very well. A trainer you seek, a trainer you shall have." The eye disappeared and the slit of an opening suddenly became wider. The room that held the eye was revealed. "Enter and close the door behind you."

To Tacelyn's amazement, the room was very plain. This did not look like the room of someone that practiced medicine. The look reminded the elf of a dormitory. A small bed was pushed into the left corner of the room. A dresser was along the right wall with a single stick of incense burning. The thin smoke trail dying out before hitting the ceiling. A crimson colored rug looked as though it was place perfectly in the center of the room.

The only thing that was not plain in this room was the man standing in it. Miyagi. At first glance he looked to be a short man dressed in a long white robe. A crimson sash, much like the rug, held it closed. Turning with his back to the elf, a large noticeable hump protruded from his neckline. This caused him to hunch over. His hair, or what was left, was tinted in white.

"Please sit and tell me about yourself." The healer sat upon the rug with his back to the window. He motioned Tacelyn to sit opposite of his. Though it looked painful for him to sit, he showed no sign.

[Tacelyn Armagil]

It seemed to Tacelyn that the whole previous uncomfortable conversation could have gone over much easier, in a more sensible universe. Whoever this man was, she wasn’t sure he’d be able to help her.. but for the moment she was content just to stop having that solitary eye scanning her.

She was almost surprised to find no parrot in the next room. She wondered if she had been directed to Miyagi at his place of business, or his bedroom.. or both? What sort of medicine did this queer old man dabble in?

Miyagi, now that he was no longer just an eye, was not much more pleasing to look at. Not that Tacelyn had much of a care for such aesthetics.. she wondered how old he was, keeping in mind that a man could age nearly this much in as many patterns as an elf such as her had seen.

Accepting his invitation to sit, Tacelyn folder her legs under her and placed herself opposite the man. ‘Tell me about yourself’ was a difficult question to answer in brief, and Tacelyn wasn’t sure what aspects of her life would qualify as items of interest, nor which parts she was keen to share. "About myself.." she considered, "well, I was born and raised in the city of Pale elves.. I should say born, not raised.. very little pain was taken to raise me. In fact, my father despised me, and had as little to do with me as possible. His only care was for producing a son."

Tacelyn shrugged as she continued, "After mother died, he locked me away, out of sight out of mind. And so I was kept very much to myself, until he too passed on, and I was released. But my family has never shown me kindness, and so I took the opportunity to leave, and make a start for myself in the world.. but it is difficult, particularly because of my disease."

Tacelyn wondered what she should tell him about it, or about the doctor? "Well, the illness I have strikes me on a predictable basis, in accordance with the phase of the moon. Usually I can predict and prepare for it. When it strikes, I lose control, go into a frenzy.. then unconsciousness.. a high fever, and the black eyes and veins.. that lasts for up to five days. After that, I become dehydrated, but otherwise back to normal."

She nodded to Miyagi, "And so here I am, looking for a way to help myself get better, and thinking that if I can learn it, I might as well make my way as a healer, for I’ve little other talent to get by on."

Pausing for a moment, she added, "I originally chose to come to Zinn’Sunn, in an attempt to find the doctor who brought me into this world. I believe he may know something about my condition.. but I fear he is long gone now."

[Snake Eye]

The monk sat riveted at the tale of the elf. "It seems that you not only need to have some bodily healing but your mind needs it at well." To the elf, his voice was not the squeaky parrot voice, but a rather calm mature, almost fatherly tone.

"The other monks have gossiped about your being here in their care." He gazed upon her with now two grey colored eyes. "There was little they could do for there was little they understood." A queer smile formed on his lips. "I was unsure of you as well." He watched her eyes widen. "Yes I too looked after you. The others I had to shoo away. To many wanted to study you."

"While under my care, you spoke of this doctor. You spoke of learning about medicine. I knew you would come." The smile grew bigger. "I already had you pointed in my direction."

He stood, which the elf could tell took effort, and walked to his dresser. Opening the top most drawer, the old man removed a small pouch. "I have taken the liberty of providing you with one of the many tools you will need." He handed the pouch to the elf and returned to a seated position on the ground. "This is your medical kit. There are still many items that will need to be purchased by you. That is a disadvantage of you being here. Had you have enter the academy, your supplies would have been provided. But you would have needed to pay your tuition." He motioned her to untied and open the pouch.

Opening the pouch, revealed a small number of items. "Please remove the items and place them be fore you." The elf produced the following items: a small sewing kit, a roll of fabric, a short rod, and about ten squares of parchment. "I would like you to look over the items and tell me their use. Consider this a type of preliminary test."

[Tacelyn Armagil]

Tacelyn’s mind was swimming. Although she counted off the items in the pouch, her thoughts were on what the man had just said.

"Sewing kit.. I can use it to stitch up cuts.. maybe take a small amount of blood with a needle prick.. or heat the needle to burn something cleanly."

Tacelyn was struggling to keep her composure, and at this point, she wasn’t even sure why. Was this man purposely trying to piss her off?

"The fabric.. could be used as a tourniquet, or sling.. along with the rod, it could be used to brace a broken bone, maybe.."

He’d openly admitted to it.. as if it were a joke to him. He’d gone right ahead and manipulated her. In her weakness, pushed her in this direction.. Controlled her, just as the other doctor.. Viewed her as an experiment, just as the other doctor. They all viewed her as something to be put under a magnifying glass and studied.

Was it because she was an elf? Did humans show this same sort of treatment to each other?

"The parchment.. probably could be used as a makeshift bandage, just to forestall the bleeding.. for a while.. look.."

Although feeling like she might be shooting an arrow at her foot, Tacelyn could not remain silent about it.

"I’m sorry but.. You.. heard what I had to say, about that fiendish doctor, toying with my existence.. Controlling what I would become.. you knew what misery he’d inflicted on my life.. and still you felt it was your place to manipulate my behavior?!" her voice rose as she spoke, her temper getting mixed up in it. "And now.. you’re just gonna sit here and tell me that.. and .. and I’m supposed to be okay with it!?"

Tacelyn felt that she was giving herself a headache. The different sources of stress seemed endless.