08. text

[baldrshand]

[The following photo appears on the network:]



Hello, everyone! Welcome to anyone who's new here. My name is Ethlyn. I run the Willow Clinic here in town--if you're sick or injured, or if you want a check-up, or if you just want to drop by and ask some questions about what it's like to be here, do drop in!

And if you're wondering what to do with yourself, we're always happy to take on new people. Even if you only have the most basic knowledge of first aid, you can always learn. I certainly have!

It's strange to think that I'm beginning my second year here. So much has happened, so many people have come and gone in that time. I've been thinking a lot about it lately.

So I have a question for anyone who'd like to answer: How long have you been here? And... how do you feel about that?

Comments

[baldrshand]

[Hah. Yes, he guessed right about who she'd bring with that button... but only after her children, and she's sure Quan would agree. She doesn't know how they feel about her--Altena especially, but Leif too, what does he think of his parents and their failures--but all she has seen of them is that they are old before their time. She would bring them here and endure their hatred if it came to it, if it meant she could protect them even to the smallest degree.]

We do. I did when I got married; there was much in my new home to adjust to, even if I had visited the place before.

I think I'm getting better at luring people into my healer-ly clutches when they're feeling too prideful to admit that they need help from something else. It's satisfying. I think I almost missed it from my days on the battlefield.

[feintofhart]

Luring them in with your wiles rather than imminent threat of death, Healer Ethlyn? Say it ain't so.

I can understand that, though. I know that healing was far easier on Marianne than fighting was. She was a far better warrior than she fancied herself, but her heart lay with helping people, not hurting them. It's much more satisfying than sticking a bunch of arrows into someone.

I rather think that if you were a commoner, perhaps you'd wind up as a healer from the get-go.

[baldrshand]

I'm driven to it, I tell you! It isn't my fault that some people here seem to find "imminent thread of death" more appealing than dealing with me--I know my bedside manner isn't that terrible.

It's true... Marianne was made for healing, much more than battle. And you may be right about me, too. I'm proud of my swordfighting skills and those of my family, but I do feel the satisfaction in a job well done much more when I see a wound close and heal under my care.

If you had been born common, how do you think you would have lived your life? Running an apothecary and knowing too much about everyone?

[feintofhart]

If I were born common... I suppose I'd be out stomping among the fields taking samples all the same. It's not lost on me that most commoners don't have the funds it takes to pursue an education. Chances are I wouldn't even be literate.

But if I were not the leader of my country but still had a hefty coin purse at my disposal, I like to think that I'd become an academic. I can think of fewer ways to spend a happy life than one surrounded by books and the pursuit of knowledge.

And to be able to cause a little ruckus while I'm at it.