Is The Doctor In?

[Sola]

Frost 88 4622 Late-Morning

Luna's priorities for her first day in Amoren were limited to a few crucial tasks. Firstly, securing a place to live was a priority, but more importantly, she needed to find a source of income. As a backup plan, she hoped to connect with someone knowledgeable in Necromancy who could assist her. She made good use of her morning and asked around and found a handful of places to check out. However, none of them were interested in hiring or teaching her.

It was only when she sat at a tavern for a late breakfast did a bartender say that he’d heard of someone who was trying to ring up customers. Luna decided that she didn’t really have many options left, so she got the address from the bartender and went off into Amoren to find the Necrodoctor he spoke of.

Luna eventually found herself at a flat. It was a stark contrast to the businesses that she’d visited earlier that had actual dedicated locations just to practice necrodoctoring. Judging by the outside of the building, the flat was just someone’s home. Luna thought, “no wonder they’re trying to drum up some business.” She sighed and accepted that this might be her best shot.

Luna knocked on the door and called out, “hello? I’m looking for a necrodoctor and I was told they live here.” Luna was wearing a moderate amount of makeup and one of her better sets of clothes. She carried her necromancy kit with one hand and had her bow slung around her shoulders. She only had a handful of arrows on her that were in a quiver worn at her hip. Her hair was worn in an up-do ponytail and looked like it was well taken care of, though it was a little disheveled after a whole morning of walking around in the cold.

[Tilda]

Frost 88 4622

Tilda's back was hunched from crouching on the floor beside her table, where her necromancy equipment had spilt from the more organised piles above to a cluttered system around her. Currently, she was crushing tissue in a mortar and pestle, working in one way, then the other, wrist sore from the movements she had been at all morning. Covered bowls of sinew foam from her previous attempts scattered around her, with various degrees of success. Some was frothy with being overworked, some was was only half done, most was perfectly good sinew foam to a casual eye. But Tilda had a discerning look, and was trying to understand exactly how the different textures existed - and whether there was any point to them. She hadn't quite figured out the latter, struggling to find a good way to test it. At least for now, she was building her technique to make the milky structure she was most familiar with.

A knock came at the door and the break to the relative silence caused Tilda to jump, knocking the foam across the floor. Not wanting to drag her dress through the foam, she sidestepped around it and towards the door. She opened the door to reveal a rather well dressed woman, at least as far as Tilda could tell. She was done up like the well paying customers that used to frequent Igor's business, makeup and hairstyle all sorted. Next to her, Tilda looked undressed - partly because she was, for Daravin standards. All she wore was a light flowing grey dress, her skin flush and red, and her hair was a mess that hadn't been kept to, pulled back out of her face. She hadn't been expecting company, that was clear, and she didn't look like someone who kept up appearances between excursions and appointments.

Tilda nodded at the woman at her door, trying to figure out her purpose. She scanned past the updo and the fancy clothes and landed on kit held in one hand. Now, that was definitely something she recognised. Another necromancer. But that was strange - the people who did knock on her door, as rare as they were, were seeking her for a skill they did no possess. This necromancer didn't seem to be in much need of urgent treatment of any sort, at least from the way she stood there, and the kit implied she was looking to practise more than to be practised on.

"I am the necrodoctor," Tilda announced, although she was sure that anyone who was familiar with necromancy would be able to guess from the equipment spread out behind her, "My name is Tilda. Please, come in."

She gestured her in, stepping back away from the door to allow a better entrance. With another quick glance back at her flat, she made way for the table, pushing aside sickles and tongs she had laid out for her investigations on an earlier day and moving a box of transistors off the chair. With another sweeping arm gesture, she beckoned for the woman to sit. The room was still a mess - the faint smell of the spilt sinew foam starting to soak through the air - but this hardly felt like the moment to clean. Still gripping the box of transistors, Tilda moved to the other chair on the opposite side of the table. There was stuff on that, too. She opted to stand, placing one hand on the back of the chair as if she had planned this all along.

"Tell me, how can I help? Was there anything in particular you came in here today for?" Tilda asked, keeping her tone business-like as she watched the woman who had knocked at her door, trying to spy if there was a hidden injury that could be the reason. "I'd be happy to help however I best can."

[Sola]

Luna didn’t have to wait long before the door was answered. As the door swung open Luna was surprised to see a young woman standing there before her. She couldn’t have been that much older than herself. Luna smiled at her and inhaled deeply when the scent of sinew foam tickled her nose. That was a dead giveaway that she was dealing with a real necrodoctor and not someone who was just pretending.

Luna said, “excellent! nice to meet you too. I’m Luna,” as she entered the home and looked around. It was cluttered and a bit of a mess which was understandable. Luna did not keep a very tidy living space either so she didn’t judge Tilda for it. She was a little amused as Tilda cleared space to sit down and would have commented about the need for a larger location if she didn’t know first hand how tough it was for someone their age to afford a workshop.

Once space was made, Luna unslung her longbow and set it aside then took a seat and put her kit on her lap. Then she waited patiently for Tilda to ready herself. Finally, Luna said with a relaxed and calm tone, “I’m looking for a teacher. See, I’ve bought myself this necromancy kit about a month ago, and I’ve fiddled around with some of the tools but most of them remain a complete mystery to me.” Luna tapped her bag with one hand while stifling a yawn with the other. “Sorry about that. Anyways, I don’t think I’d take up too much of your time, and I’d be happy to compensate you. And it’s not like I’m clueless about this stuff; I know enough to make and shape sinew foam.”

Luna’s throat was feeling dry from all the talking she’d done today since she’d given a similar pitch to so many people already. She felt a little more hopeful that Tilda would have time for her because people weren’t exactly flocking here looking for care. On the flip side, it might be difficult to actually learn anything practical without a living test subject.

[Tilda]

Frost 88 4622

The woman was friendly, and seemingly unbothered by the state of Tilda's room. Her bow unslung - Tilda eyed it carefully, unsure what to make of the weapon - Luna took the chair. It wasn't often that she saw people carrying around weapons, especially not a bow. Small personal daggers, she would understand, but most of her clientele were too poor to afford anything or rich enough not to bother. Was the bow serving as a way of protection, in case Tilda hadn't turned out to be herself, but some necrodoctor preying on his victims? Was it designed to intimidate? Was it just something the girl carried around out of habit?

Trying not to overthink it, Tilda focused again on what Luna was actually saying. She was seeking a teacher. Tilda hardly considered herself a teacher. It was only up until recently that she was the one being taught. She still had so much to learn - her eyes darted across the room again, from bowl to bowl of failed sinew foam. Yet somehow, this girl had not only heard her name, but had decided to show up to her door and ask.

"Why me?" Tilda found herself asking, more as a thought accidentally spoken aloud then an actual interrogation. "I can teach you," she added, hoping she hadn't just scared away someone who could pay, "I can teach you. You said you can compensate? How much were you thinking?" Not that she knew how much was appropriate. When she had been taught, she had repaid Igor with her services, but that wasn't something Tilda was interested in. She was struggling enough to get enough customers to feed herself. There was far too little work to need the extra help. But cash would be nice, and she hoped Luna had a good amount to offer.

"What did you want to learn?" Tilda continued, hoping the talk of compensation and questioning of why she was being asked hadn't put Luna off from the whole thing. "You mentioned you know about sinew foam? How much?" Again, Tilda's eyes met with the bowls around her. Seeing a good way to test where Luna would be starting from, she grabbed a bowl that she had been very embarrassed with herself. Uncovering it, she placed it on the table between them. The sinew foam had not been worked properly, not mixed properly, and there were places where the foam was runny and thin and others where the texture was thicker, like cottage cheese. "If I asked you what was wrong with this, what would you say? Do you know what would happen if you tried to use it?"

She hadn't intended it to be such a quiz. It must have seemed like she was working out whether Luna was worth wasting her time with. Truly, Tilda just wanted to know whether she'd even be able to teach her anything.

[Sola]

Luna didn’t know how to politely tell the woman that she was the first necrodoctor she’d met that day that wasn’t too busy attending to patients to even give her eye contact. So, she decided not to mention that fact. She hummed slightly and instead said, “I was asking around town and someone at a tavern mentioned that you were looking for customers. So, I thought that you might have time for a student. As for payment, hmm…”

Luna hadn’t really thought about an exact number yet. She didn’t even know where she was going to be spending the night tomorrow, let alone how many lessons she could commit to. She also didn’t know how much a necrodoctor of Tilda’s skill ought to be paid. Luna knew that she made about 50df per day and she was a crème de la crème courtesan, so she did some rough math in her head while putting a hand to her chin to rub it pensively.

She eventually looked up and said, “how does 100 per lesson sound? And we could have them from time to time throughout the season as needed. I don’t think I’d really need more than a handful of lessons since I plan on doing much of my learning on my own. I just need you to tell me what all the different tools do and nudge me in the right direction.”

Luna turned her eyes to the sinew foam and said, “I’ve learned enough about the foam to treat basic injuries. From my experimentation, I’ve gathered that the foam replicates what it touches. So, it can turn into bone, skin, muscle, etcetera. It’s not precise and I’ve learned first-hand that it’s not accurate enough treat serious wounds.” She thought back to the man on the boat who’d sustained a knife wound. Stuffing his wound full of foam hadn’t been enough to save him.

She looked more closely at the foam and said, “when I first bought these tools, the salesman was kind enough to demonstrate how to use the pestle and mortar. When I watched him, he simply kept grinding away until it turned a milky white with the same kind of consistency. I’ve never tried using it otherwise so I’ve no clue what would happen if it was used. However I think if you just crushed up the thicker parts more and maybe add some more bone it might have a more uniform consistency.” Luna would then look up expectantly, wondering if she’d answered correctly.

[Tilda]

Frost 88 4622

Tilda nodded along to Luna's explanation, glad at least that her attempts to get knowledge of her services out were working. Working well enough, at least, to attract someone who assumed she had time for a student. The truth was, Tilda had loads of time. While her name was being passed around taverns, she very clearly didn't have anyone else taking notice of it. While Luna calculated how much she would be willing to pay, Tilda waited, ruminating on other ways to get business up. Maybe there was somewhere that attracted people requiring a necrodoctor that she could post her name to?

At Luna's offer of 100df, Tilda's eyes flickered open. The movement was slight, but inside her, she rippled with excitement. 100? That seemed like riches to her. She still didn't really know where to price herself, with almost all her pay up until now receiving food and shelter and all the other necessities for living rather than coin. Still, it seemed to be a lot more than her other customers were able to pay. "That would be just fine." A little disappointing that it wouldn't be more regular, but she could survive a while off that.

Tilda watched closely as Luna tackled her question. She seemed to have had some first hand experience using necromancy to help someone - and seemed to have failed. Tilda nodded along, "You're right, sinew foam isn't enough. It creates a new material, true, but only the first material it touches, so you have to be careful to apply it precisely. When we're looking at something more precise and delicate - more complex organs or blood vessel structures - we have to use something else. Have you heard of sinew cloth and thread?"

It was far more complicated than that, Tilda knew it was. She had seen Igor deal with tools far more complex. But she barely knew about sinew cloth and sinew thread, especially from a practical standpoint, so it hardly seemed right to complicate things where it wasn't needed.

"And you're right, about the sinew foam here," she moved the bowl around, before placing it in an awkward spot at the end of the table, "It's not uniform enough. It definitely needs more work. I'm not sure what it would do either, I wouldn't dare to test it on a patient. But I imagine we'd have all sorts of complications with trying to get it in the right places and shaping it, and I can't imagine it forming very realistic tissue. Well, it seems like you know the basics. Where did you learn, out of curiosity?"

[Sola]

Luna tilted her head to the side and thought hard about what her teacher meant by sinew cloth and thread. She was woefully uneducated when it came to terminology so she said, “I don’t think I know what either of those are. I was able to produce a thread from the long needle tool but I didn’t actually do much with it. I certainly haven’t been able to make anything resembling cloth.” She wondered for a moment if there was even a tool that looked like it was capable of producing a cloth. She couldn’t think of any, unless it was one of the weird metal ones.

Luna was also happy to see that she got the answer right. It was good to know that she wasn’t as clueless as she thought. She responded to Tilda’s question by saying, “I bought all my tools in Radenor where magic is feared so it was hard enough just to find a store that sold them. Apart from a brief demonstration from the salesman I mentioned earlier, I learned everything I know through trial and error. I mostly worked on stuff like dead chickens and rabbits.”

Luna paused for a moment then continued, “that’s why I’m here. I’ve hit a roadblock of sorts. I can’t make sense of most of the tools and there’s only so many things you can do to a dead animal before it gets redundant.” She then sighed and looked around the room once more. She then looked at Tilda expectantly and asked, “how about you? How’d you get into this profession?”

[Tilda]

Frost 88 4622

"Sinew thread and cloth are more advanced," Tilda tried to reassure, although it was certainly impressive that Luna had managed to create a thread. Clearly though, she wasn't properly educated in necromancy. Even far before Tilda was able to create and use the other sinew materials, they had been introduced to her as the goal compared to the unreliable sinew foam. "If you can make thread, or are at least aware of how it is made, as you said, cloth doesn't need much more than that. Sinew cloth is made from sinew threads, they are just bound together." The explanation was simple because Tilda herself hadn't quite figured out what the best way of doing it was. Her sinew cloth, when she made it, was a long and laboured process, full of holes and missed threads.

Luna claimed to have gotten her tools from Raednor. Tilda herself was not very familiar with the world outside Daravin - she was hardly familiar with the towns and cities outside Amoren itself. She knew the place, by name, but beyond that could not share a single fact about it. Her eyes snapped on Luna as the unfamiliar place was mentioned, her interest heightened. "Magic is feared in Raednor? But how do they survive without it?" Her words came with pure innocence, not understanding of a society where magic didn't exist. Surely there were far more benefits to wielding magic, than there were drawbacks from the more dangerous aspects.

Luna's lack of formal understanding became clear as she explained the way she had learnt. Trial and error hardly seemed the best way to learn if you knew none of the basics, such as sinew thread and cloth, to begin with. While Tilda found herself experimenting, she felt happy to do so knowing what there was to experiment with. She couldn't imagine a world where Igor hadn't trained her.

"I was raised by a necrodoctor, and he taught me what he knew," she explained herself, "I trained under him and worked beside him until recently." She left out his mysterious disappearance, because she had no answers for that bit. "He taught me a lot of theory, and now I have the chance to practise." With a gesture of the hand, she pointed around at her bowls of sinew foam. "I can teach you what the tools do. Then you can learn to use them through your own practice. Does that sound alright?"

[Sola]

Luna sat there, her mind reeling from Tilda's explanation of sinew cloth. It seemed so simple, yet she had never even considered it before. The idea of being able to create something that could cover and protect the body like that was exciting to her. She wondered how long it would take to create a large enough patch of cloth, and how difficult it would be to stitch it together. The possibilities seemed endless.

Luna said, "wow, I had no idea that sinew thread could be turned into cloth. That's amazing!" Luna said, her voice filled with wonder.

Luna then said, “Radenor is a peculiar place. They have magic, but mages are kind of like prisoners. They are controlled by a faction that answers to the government. They are not treated very kindly by regular people. Nercomancers and other world magics are an exception. So, you could be a necrodoctor and avoid answering to anyone, but you’d still be viewed in a similar light. The takeaway is don’t go there if you’re a mage, I suppose.” She let out a light chuckle.

As Tilda talked about her background, Luna couldn't help but be impressed. Raised by a necrodoctor and trained in theory, it was clear that Tilda had a strong foundation in necromancy even if she didn’t have significant practice yet. Luna felt a twinge of jealousy as she thought about how different her own upbringing had been. The only magical gift she’d been given was Mentalism and she had learned most of her abilities through trial and error, with no formal training or guidance.

But Luna didn't dwell on her own shortcomings for long. She was too excited about the prospect of learning from Tilda. She leaned forward in her seat, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

"I'm so excited to learn from you, Tilda," Luna said, her voice barely containing her enthusiasm. "I've never had the opportunity to be formally trained before." She looked around to see which tools Tilda would be explaining first.

[Tilda]

Frost 88 4622

Luna's wonder was new to Tilda. While she was intensely curious about necromancy and the details of the craft, her familiarity with it, at least with the parts she knew, had removed most the wonder growing up. It was simply another art, like clothes making or cooking, with its many intricate details, but plain to her all the same. But perhaps, it was the same sort of wonder that Tilda felt when she heard about Raednor. A place where mages were prisoners instead of rulers seemed like madness. The power they held was far more than seemed like it could be kept imprisoned. If even necrodoctors were looked down upon for using a form of magic, it was truly a strange place. "I will keep that in mind if I ever find myself in Raednor then, I suppose."

A flicker of a smile almost crossed Tilda's face at Luna's enthusiasm. Even if she had a lot to learn, an eager student seemed like a good one. "I'd be more than happy to train you."

Tilda made a gesture towards Luna's necromancy kit, "Let's see what you have. Tell me what you don't understand, and I'm sure I can explain it to you." She was relying on the kit being a basic one, nothing out of the ordinary for what Tilda would have seen. Igor's clinic, before it had turned to ashes, had been stocked with a greater variety than most kits needed - more than what Igor seemed to use and Tilda could imagine needing. She had been half convinced some merchant had tricked him to purchase all the oddly curved carving sickles as essentials when he barely switched from his favourite. Still, even with a basic kit, there was a chance Luna would choose something more complicated. Tilda was open to the challenge.