04: text

[baldrshand]

Hello, everyone.

I'm going to host a community class next week for first aid and 'CPR' (it stands for Cardio-Pulmonary Ressucitation. It's a method to help manually pump a person's heart if it's stopped). Anyone is welcome to come, whether you've been here for a week or for months. In fact, I think everyone should come! With how intense emergencies are here, there's no knowing when you'll be in a situation where someone is bleeding profusely, burned, or has a broken bone. If you have any questions or want to help, let me know.

Also, if you have an interest in joining the Arztenritter, my door is always open and I'm more than happy to teach anyone who doesn't have experience. If you're not fond of horses, we do have chocobos now, and they're much different riding animals. A few of our members have departed in the past couple of months, and right now there are only four of us.

With that said... I have a separate question. And if it's too personal or philosophical, feel free to ignore it. I know many of you view this place as a prison, and that is understandable. But what if you've arrived here after dying? You can think about it hypothetically if you want, however... it isn't hypothetical for me, and I don't think I'm the only one that applies to.

[ooc: W/r/t the Arztenritter, see here for information! Also, characters will see this recruiting poster around town... she hired a local who told her "graphic design is my passion.]

Comments

Text; Charm

[conflictresolution]

Does one need to sign up somewhere for the medical class that you're offering?

I died before being brought here, and while I still consider it a prison in a sense, it also provides a secondary opportunity at tying up loose ends and fulfilling my old life obligations. How do you consider this place?

Text; Charm

[baldrshand]

No, it's open to anyone who'd like to come. I'd say we need to know how many to make tea for, but I'm sure the clinic staff will take care of any extra.

[they can consume quite a lot.]

My idea of a prison is walls and bars at the bottom of a castle... not an open, airy village. I suppose technically it is, but I feel the same way about it being an opportunity. It's given me a chance to know the future in a way I never would have had I not been brought here.

Text; Charm

[conflictresolution]

I will consider participating. It seems an important skill, given how few hazards we know about yet.

Everyone has their own interpretation of a prison. It can be physical, mental and emotional and all of those prisons can appear differently. How you do plan on spending this new found opportunity? It seems you're establishing yourself.

Text; Charm

[baldrshand]

Wonderful! I hope to see you there--it is an important skill, and unfortunately, one we do have to put into practice more often than you'd expect for such a peaceful-looking place.

[It's funny he should ask that. Ethlyn has been here for almost a year now and yet she has spent so much time trying to suppress her feelings about her death and her fears for her family that she hasn't much thought about this as an opportunity.]

I'm only just now starting to think of this as an opportunity... but even so, I've learned so much more about the healing arts than I could ever have at home, even if I had lived to be a hundred. The knowledge of how the body works and where diseases come from is centuries ahead of where we were.

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[murderingjustice]

a medical class sounds excellent. there are plenty of us who can't rely on magical skills, so making sure that everyone is educated on the first-aid is essential.

as for your question: i don't see how it matters whether you're dead or not in your own world. you are still brought here without your consent, giving no way means to leave. that is classic definition of imprisonment.

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[baldrshand]

Exactly. Everyone can learn how to clean a wound with iodine, make a splint, and perform chest compressions, even if they couldn't use a healing staff. It could save lives during the next crisis we have.

Ah, I don't see this as a classic prison, as you put it. We aren't confined--we can come and go as we please in this town, own businesses and freely discuss what we will, and even carry weapons. That's not how any gaol in my homeland is managed.

[murderingjustice]

I might drop by to refresh my own skills.


What you are talking about is a detention center, a very literal meaning of prison. Where I'm from we have different levels of imprisonment. Some are placed under a house arrest or allowed to move around a limited area while being under a surveillance. And those are just options given to humans. Seeing that we don't posses any rights or citizenship in here it is really hard to see us being equal to the locals.

[Charm - Text]

[cursegod]

I'm surprised how many dead people are here. I'm somewhat in the same boat, but it must be nice to get a second chance.

What's a chocobo?

[Charm - Text]

[baldrshand]

To tell the truth, when I arrived I assumed that this was the afterlife. I don't think I have thought of it as a second chance, exactly... [too busy trying to not think about it.] But that is a good way to look at it.

A chocobo is a very large yellow bird, large enough to ride the way you would a horse. They have very different personalities, though.

[cursegod]

For people like you, it's better that it's not the spirit realm either. You wouldn't want your soul to decay. You can use this time to refine it. Work on any regrets you may have had.

Do you eat them too? [THE ONLY THING SHE IMAGINE IS A GIANT CHICKEN.]

Text | tablet

[solitarysoul]

prisons don't have to have walls. i've heard of island being used as prisons.

even if you're dead it's still a place you were forces into and can't leave.

Text | tablet

[baldrshand]

There is that way of looking at it, I suppose. But back home--everything was over. I couldn't do anything at all.

Now, I may have a chance to change that.

[solitarysoul]

how can you change things back home if you're here?

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[drugsnotclubs]

Another dead guy here.

I dunno how I feel about it yet. It's... complicated.

[He's hesitant to write down 'it feels like its wasted on me' because he knows who might be reading this and get pissed about it.]

But I guess end of the day it's like anything else that doesn't go how you expect. You just gotta deal with it however you think's right.

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[baldrshand]

The way you say that, I wonder if we should ask Kotone for some space in her clubhouse.

[GODS WHAT A WEIRD THING TO JOKE ABOUT BUT ALSO.]

It is so very complicated... to own the truth, I spent at least half a year trying to think about it as little as possible. I'm pretty sure that wasn't the right way. Yet even so, I do feel as though I've done some good here.

[drugsnotclubs]

I mean you could? But the people who aren't dead yet are gonna be dead eventually so I guess anyone could join.

[Dead Guys Anonymous. Sounds awful.]

what do you mean, not the 'right' way? It's your death. Feel how you want about it.

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[strength_of_will]

I know this may not be quite the same, but I saw my reincarnation as a second chance at life. In my previous one, I wasted the time I had and amounted to nothing. This time, I have the chance to take my life into my own hands and make of it what I will.

If this world's gods choose to see one of my failures as a crime then that is their prerogative. I don't accept their judgement. The only god whose judgement matters to me is that of my chosen patron.

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[baldrshand]

I have felt much the same thing... when I died, I left my brother behind in a terrible situation, and my children without protection in a world full of enemies. I failed them, but I can try not to fail the people here.

For what it's worth, I agree. I... feel less certain about my culpability for the accusation they've leveled than I used to. But at the same time, I don't know how they can claim to know and understand what happened in my homeworld and all that led up to it. My family's god hasn't appeared to us since he granted his boon to my ancestor, but I have always lived my life in a way I hope honors the worth he saw.

[And that's more than she can say for others of her station.]

[strength_of_will]

The gods do not always make themselves known but I'm sure they're watching. The woman who raised me, Mary, she was devoted to the goddess Mater. Even after she became one of the undead, she prayed to Mater for our daily bread and suffered greatly for it. But after years of punishment, Mater came to her aid when the god of undead, Stagnate, came to take her soul for their eternal army.

So, I'm sure your family's god must be watching as well. Otherwise he would take away what he gave you, wouldn't he?

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[emet_sulk]

If you've trouble taming the birds, let me know and I will see what I can do.

As for your other question, this place may well be both a haven and a prison for me. I'm sure those from my world would celebrate if I could never return, whilst I avoid my inevitable death by remaining here.

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[baldrshand]

That's very kind of you. I'll admit that I've never met birds that are higher than my knee--a big beak looking at me from the same height as a horse is a bit disconcerting, and I'm sure they can tell.

It's so complicated, isn't it... I don't know how my enemies would feel if they knew I was here. I'm sure they would rather I was entirely dead.

[emet_sulk]

A few familiar faces arrived here after I did and they are quite adamant about my remaining alive for some unfathomable reason. Personally, I don't see the point in dragging it out.

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[bulleting]

I'm actually familiar with what you're speaking of. I'm probably long over due a refresher, too, if I'm honest. I only know the very basics in first aid, but I'd love to learn more. It's great that you're offering a chance for everyone to learn something like this. I wouldn't know where to begin in teaching it.

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[baldrshand]

That's good to hear! I'm not surprised, since you're familiar with your advanced weaponry, that you know something of these advanced medical techniques too. I think this will be good for everyone here... when disaster strikes, we rarely have any time to prepare and get to a clinic.

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[bulleting]

I agree. The more people prepared, the better off we'll be if something happens again. And it's only matter of time, given the way things have played out here so far.

[They couldn't know peace and quiet too long. It was only a few short months inbetween the giant monster attack and the maze. She wasn't sure if there was a pattern yet, but she was definitely keeping it in mind.]