D1: Ashin's Commission (El Jefe judging)

[El Jefe]

"The smelling salts have only improved with age. Just wave the stopper under his nose for a second -- it should clear his head. And his sinuses."

He hands the bottle to Kneeler.

"Kneeler" seemed unsure about using the medicine, but gingerly gave it a try. It seemed to work well..."Stander's" head jerked, and he quickly waved away the offending bottle. He coughed a couple of times, and his eyes seemed to clear.

"What's your name? 'Hey You' is going to get old for both of us real fast."

"I'm Private Khulig, 19th Fallon Volunteer Infantry", came the swift reply, a touch of pride in the voice.[sblock=Almayce]Your spell is beginning to fade. Some of the last thoughts you recieve are, "He's a medic, too...that makes sense for a priest." "What god does he serve? I don't recognize his symbol...did he say so earlier?", and "I hope Moar knows what to do, it'll be good to have him come around."[/sblock]

 

[ajanders]

"Private Khulig?"
Michael says the name once, trying to get the pronunciation right.

"Michael Grannion, Builder of Sela, Adept of the White Pillar, Member of the Laughing Stone Sect. For both our sakes, just call me Michael."

Michael flicks his eyes over to Stander.
"And I don't know your name, but I'd encourage you not to be...inappropriately heroic...yet."
Michael indicates the riders around them with a flick of his chin.
"I suspect somebody has made a very serious mistake today, and I'd prefer not to see it compounded."

He goes back to looking at Stander.
"So you need to decide if you're going to sit calmly and sensibly in the shade where I can get you tended to or if I need to preemptively splint you for a thigh fracture."

 

[El Jefe]

Michael flicks his eyes over to Stander.
"And I don't know your name, but I'd encourage you not to be...inappropriately heroic...yet."

"Corporal Moar, 19th Eff-Vee-Eye", "Stander" croaked. From his injuries, he certainly didn't appear like he would be in "heroic" condition for a day or so yet.

"So you need to decide if you're going to sit calmly and sensibly in the shade where I can get you tended to or if I need to preemptively splint you for a thigh fracture."

Corporal Moar's arched eyebrow served as the nonverbal equivalent of, "You must be joking".

 

[ajanders]

Michael finds this reassuring, if sadly so.
Better to let them hurt a bit then heal them than to heal them and let them give Zaeryl an excuse to kill them.

"Corporal, I'm a medic. Your injuries and your men's injuries have been stabilized, but your Private Khulig mentioned something about a sickness. I'm hoping you'll give him permission to speak to me about this sickness so I can make sure you and your men are treated for that as well. This will let you rest your voice and the rest of you peacefully."

"Private Khulig, I'm hoping you'll help me get the information I need to see your comrades are properly cared for."

 

[El Jefe]

"I'm hoping you'll give him permission to speak to me about this sickness so I can make sure you and your men are treated for that as well."

The two men's eyes met for a moment. Michael read the look in the Corporal's eyes to mean, "Tell him, but don't shoot your fool mouth off."

Khulig turned back to Michael. "Shouldn't be any need for that, we shouldn't be infected, unless we caught something from you." He pointed to Zaeryl. "Has he always acted funny, or just since the last week or so? He might be infected, the way he acts."

 

[ajanders]

Michael rolls his eyes.
I really wanted us to be the only stupid people, not them.

"Private Khulig, I'm the medic here, and I'm trying to do my job. Tell me about the disease, please. Your cooperation here is vital, because he hasn't been anywhere near Duvik: he came from Orussus, with me, and he's been like that for as long as I've known him. If he's got a disease, he got it from somewhere else, and he may have given it to a lot of people. We may have an epidemic here. If we do, it's a threat to the world, not just to Duvik and Fallon."

A disease that makes people behave like Zaeryl. That would explain a lot about him.

Michael looks at Corporal Moar sternly.
"Corporal, disease respects no nations, no kings, and no crowns. I would hope that for the sake of humanity, your men, and their families you'd be willing to help here."

 

[El Jefe]

"We may have an epidemic here..."

At that, Khulig collapsed in laughter, interrupting Michael's words. "Did ya hear that, Moar? 'We may have an epidemic here.' Gods help us, we're done for sure. 'We may have an epidemic!' Well, Father Michael, Builder of Sela-or-whatever-your-title-is, sure as the Six Towers stand, you do have an epidemic! The most god-cursed epidemic I've ever seen, and I hope to never see it's like if I live to be a hundred, and that's not damn likely if I'm stuck in these mountains while it runs its course. Tell you what, Brother Michael or Father Michael, no offense if I don't have it right, you see someone lurking in these hills gibbering that that crazy fella, (here he pointed to Zaeryl) you better have the best disease-curing magic any priest of any god can cast, or else just pepper the poor soul with arrows until he drops stone dead. That'd be the most mercy you could do the poor blighter, and may the gods prevent it, but if I ever catch that damned disease, go ahead and give me a soldier's death and save me the suffering. If I caught an animal suffering from that, I'd put him out of his misery, woudn't be right to let even a beast suffer like that. 'May have an epidemic'...yeah, Father Michael, you just 'may have an epidemic' after all." He sat there on the ground next to the other two, giving Michael the sad, desperate grin of a man who's just seen the humor in his own execution, and who was determined to at least try to enjoy the joke before passing to the next world.

 

[ajanders]

Michael waits expressionlessly until Khurik is finished.

"Are people in Duvik acting like him?" He jerks his thumb at Zaeryl.

Because if they are, Ashin can have his horse back and I'm going home. One Zaeryl is bad enough.

 

[El Jefe]

"Are people in Duvik acting like him?"

Khulig squinted at Zaeryl, as if sizing him up. "Maybe a little like him, when they first come down with it", he explained. "But then they get worse, much worse. I didn't see it with my own two eyes, but a Sergeant I know said he saw a woman try to eat one of her own children." He shuddered. "Maybe you think I'm crazy. Maybe you think I'm a fool for believing him. But he's a steady man, and I've heard other tales nearly as bad. You catch this thing", he indicate with a jerk of his head in the direction of the mountains, "You might as well just throw yourself off of one of those cliffs, I know I wouldn't want to turn into something with the mind of an animal."

 

[ajanders]

"What have you seen with your own eyes?"
Michael keeps his voice studiously calm and neutral.
We may have to get these people under a zone of truth after all...

OOC: A Sense Motive check seems appropriate here...
Michael's Sense Motive Check (1d20+3=19)

So, is he putting us on?