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Josy - Monday, October 04, 1999, 6:51 PM
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The following is a roleplay-log from SouCon MUSH (soucon.godlike.com 4201). The world of Pern is copyright to Anne McCaffrey.
You walk over to the Council Rooms.
Telinda nods to Aeriel, "Big bones, can you imagine splinting that?" she also nods to Dyani and Nareisa, "Both valid points too. If they have a broken wing, it's not a huge problem, but a broken leg, especially a rear one, can be!"
Late, as is her custom, Joslyn slips in and finds someplace in the back where she won't bother anyone or be in the way or anything. Dropping into one chair and propping her feet on the other, she looks attentive and stuff.
Telinda says "Thankfully, it's rare if a dragon does break a hindleg, the bones are constructed in such a way to cushion most impacts. Broken wingbones are much more common."
Nareisa frowns. "Hm, what would you splint it with?" her hand starts drawing a splint on the desk next to the hide, since she's not watching what she's doing again.
Dyani purses her lips at this latter information. "Why would a broken rear leg be worse than a broken wing?" she queries, still making notes on her hide scrap. "Oh wait, because then they couldn't take off or land, much less walk correctly, right?"
Telinda nods to Joslyn as she continues, "Patients, or riders of patients" she adds with a smile, "may tell you they heard a cracking noise -- will come to that in a minute, Nareisa, and yes, Dyani, exactly. How can you move a dragon that can't move? That's an interesting problem! -- and will always have difficulty moving the broken area."
Aeriel keeps nodding as she sits back in her seat. Her eyes glance towards Joslyn as she arrives before turning her attention back over to Telinda.
"Uhm." Joslyn looks a bit lost over something, her brows drawn to a knit and her chin given a thoughtful rubbing. "How CAN you move a dragon that..." Oh, wait. Realization dawns and Josy shuts up: Don't ask questions; just pay attention.
Dyani nods again as she jots this information down, putting a star next to it. "Shards, that's something that doesn't cause as much of a problem with humans," she observes absently.
Telinda nods, "It doesn't, but it's something to think about in a dragon. In the case where the dragon is still in the air, you can have them supported in the air, and get them to land where they'll stay, and cushion their impact using the other dragons to help. If they're already on the ground, you'll have a hard time of it. Now, there's likely to be distortion in the area, and some swelling too, and both dragon and rider are likely very distressed."
Nareisa continues her doodling on the desk, all unawares that she's gone off the hide again. "RIght. Later." The splint becomes a tree. "I saw a dragon with a broken leg that went right through the skin once." Then its her turn to blush. Shut up Reis..
Joslyn notices everyone else taking notes - finally. She peers over at the desk next to hers, whispering something about borrowing a hide even as she fishes through her pockets for some sort of writing utensil. Which she hasn't got so it's a moot point.
Dyani winces at Nareisa's comment. "Ugh, open fractures. Not fun to treat." At least diagnosing fractures is something she's had practice with, even if it's only in humans and not dragonkind.
Telinda says "So, the first thing you need to do is calm the pair down, take weight off the area, and support it if necessary. For a wing, you'd get another dragon to help you, and let them support the weight.""
Aeriel wonders. "How would you support a fractured leg?" Her brows furrow as she thinks this through, still watching Telinda.
Nareisa shuts up and writes. On the hide this time, since she's actually looking at what she's doing. In between writing she tries to scrub the picture of the tree off the table without anyone noticing.
Telinda nods to Aeriel, "Good question. You can use another dragon, you can use a tree, a table, it depends which limb, how bad, and where the fracture is. You can also have them lay on their side, which will help enormously too." She taps the table again, "Then, when you've done this, you take the bone and pull steadily in line with it, keeping it as straight as possible. Obviously, there's no way you can do this, even with several others, so you need dragon assistance."
Nareisa asks the question reserved for the clueless people. "Why do you pull the bone?"
Joslyn extends her own arm, peering down the length of it as if this might help her better visualize this theory. "Why do you - " She leans over and looks Nareisa's way, grinning as the words are taken right out of her mouth. Mumbled good-naturedly, "What she said..."
Dyani frowns at Telinda's words, then turns to Nareisa. "Because you want it back in line the way it should be. Otherwise it'll heal wrong and you'll have to break it again to set it right."
Nareisa screws up her eyes and says in a pained tone "Break it again?"
Telinda grins, "Another good question" she tries to hide the surprise that it came from Nareisa, "Well, you need to have it straight. A non-straight bone is not going to support, or take the same weight, and it may lead to other problems in the future. Muscles will have to readjust. Think of it this way. You break your leg, and we just let it heal as it is, then you will walk around with a bent out of shape leg, instead of a straight one, don't you think that'd be hard?
Aeriel's eyes flicker from Dyani to Nareisa to Telinda, just following the action.
Dyani nods slowly. "Aye. It's not a fun thing to subject a patient to, but that's the only way they'll get full use of the limb back. Possibly," she adds with a frown. "Even a bone that's set correctly doesn't always heal right."
Nareisa ews again. "Er... yes," she says, which apparently is the right answer. Actually, she's turning pink. "Sorry for interrupting."
Telinda says "They won't like it at all, and this is when you'll need a gold dragon to clamp down on their minds, only painkiller they have."
Joslyn looks more than mildly uncomfortable now, going so far as to squirm a little in her seat. "Or get 'em really drunk," she comments to herself, musing a moment over drunk dragons. What a dedicated little student, really.
Aeriel interrupts, leaning forward slightly. "When you pull the bone out, or if you need to rebreak it?"
Dyani blinks. "Only painkiller? What about fellis?" It's pretty obvious she's used to human healing.
Nareisa writes down 'get the dragons drunk'. She frowns over that for a while, and crosses it out.
Telinda chuckles at Joslyn, "I'd hate to think of the beer needed to get a dragon drunk, but yes, get the rider drunk! Both, Aeriel, they really really aren't going to like it. Ah, Dyani, there's an interesting thing. Bad thing though. Fellis will kill a dragon!"
Nareisa writes 'rider' over the crossed-out 'dragon', her tongue peeking out of the side of her mouth again. "KILL them?!?
Telinda nods, "Kill, yes."
Dyani gapes in surprise at Telinda's words. "Fellis is lethal to dragons? Shells." She makes a note of this in big capital letters, underlining it several times for emphasis.
Nareisa looks like it's been imprinted on her brain, she's so horrified. "Oh my," she says.
Telinda nods, very seriously, "Very lethal. That's one of the things Aeriel's going to look into in her assignment."
"No killing dragons with fellis," Joslyn contributes sagely, a firm nod as she punctuates this point in her mind - having no other place to keep notes. "What if it was a queen what got... that got hurt? Who'd be her pain killer?"
"Back to the wine again." Aeriel mutters something under her breath before becoming serious again. Her eyes narrow at the mention of fellis, and she nods. Twice, as the tie-in to her side work is brought up.
Nareisa chimes in 'yeah' after Josy's comment. Two riders sharing the same head.
Telinda smiles, "Well, in that case you use the most senior queen, Josy. For instance, for Feilynth, Hannenth, and Jeuneth, that'd be Tiarnath, if Tiarnath got injured, then we could ask for Honshu or Eastern or anyone else's senior, to help."
Dyani whistles quietly as she makes one last underline in her notes. "No fellis for dragons. Right." She looks up at the Weyrwoman in curiousity as Joslyn voices her question.
Nareisa wonders "Does a queen actually stop them hurting?"
Telinda shakes her head, "No, not really, but it's hard to explain. It's like Niaeth might do what he wants, until Tiarnath says something different, and then he'll do what she wants. It's very hieraical."
Joslyn rubs at her nose, trying to ponder through all of this and not doing very well. Not that anyone should be surprised by this. "I think I get it," she decides by and by, though there is some hesitancy in her tone.
Nareisa ohs "So it still hurts but..." she gives up. "So you get the gold to talk to them, and another dragon to pull the bone straight."
Aeriel nods as she listens, settling back into her seat slowly.
Telinda nods to Nareisa, "Exactly!"
Telinda says "The next, and only thing you can do, is to splint the injury. Splint it with bamboo canes for the wingbones, which are delicate, or with tree trunks for the legs. You can use branches for smaller bones, like the forelimbs. There's usually one or two already stripped of bark and things, by the entrance to the infirmary.""
Dyani suddenly seems to realize something. "I assume there's harnesses or something the dragon that's doing the straightening uses?" she asks, stylus stopped in mid-line. "Oh, so THAT'S what those are for!" she exclaims as Telinda goes on. "I always wondered why those big branches were there."
Nareisa beams, and looks at everyone else. She got it right! Then of course, the tongue sticks out again as she concentrates on writing 'bamboo', 'trees' 'infirmary', either it's some secret code or she's going to have a lot of trouble following this later."
Aeriel pauses a moment before adding her two marks. "So we would match the splint to the bone, then?"
Telinda nods, "Indeed. We have numerous ways of attaching the splint to the injured limbs, usually twine soaked in numbweed is good."
Telinda grins, "So, that's it for broken bones. Josy's going to tell us all about soft tissue injuries and dislocations, and how she thinks we should treat them in her assigment."
"Really big twine?" Joslyn vetures to guess, looking upward whilst imagining the spool that must be necessary for the task. Her name comes up and she stops that sundream, though, blinking to the Weyrwoman vacantly. "She is?" Er. "I am?" Go figure.
Nareisa helpfully says "You are." What a bluerider!
Telinda nods, "You are" she echoes Nareisa.
Dyani finishes her page of notes and blows on the ink to dry it. "Wow, I never thought there'd be so many differences between human and dragon healing," she muses quietly. "And so many similarities as well."
"Okie, I can do that," Joslyn decides. Like she had much of a choice in the matter. "Is that it?" she inquires, not that she'd ever want to leave class early or anything. Especially since she came late.
Telinda grins, "Which is why human healers aren't always necessary the best for a dragon, especially when one thinks about Fellis."
Telinda nods, "That's it for this evening."
Aeriel pushes herself to her feet, leaning forward onto the table for a moment as she does so. "Mm. Then the assignments are for a sevenday from now?"
Joslyn rubs at the end of her nose, leaning over Nareisa's way as if that was SO discreet. "Hey. Can I borrow those?" she asks, gesturing to the bluerider's notes. She probably ought to ask the actual Healer, but Nareisa's closer and Josy's lazy, so.
Telinda nods to Aeriel, "Indeed they are. Feel free to make use of our records."
Dyani shudders again at the Weyrwoman's words. "Understandable," she agrees. "Who'd have thought?" She tucks her now-dry notes into her satchel, along with the stylus, then stands. "Thank you, Weyrwoman. It was a very informative class."
Telinda smiles, "You're welcome Dyani, I'll see you here, same time, same place, a sevenday from now."
Nareisa tries feverishly to rub the picture off the desk without being obvious about it. "Er... sure," the notes in question are totally incomprehensible.
Oh, yeah. "Thanks, Tel. Good lecture," Joslyn remembers to contribute, smiling brightly at the Weyrwoman. "Next sevenday," she echoes, holding a hand out to receive the incomprehensible notes. "Uhhm. Thanks..." She'll just have to catch Dyani later.
Aeriel leans slightly across the table towards Nareisa, voice low. "That's what weyrlings are for." Without waiting for a reponse, she winks, turns, and heads for the door.
Dyani strides over to the Landing Field.
The notes are not only illegible, they're almost completely possible to interpret. Still REis doesn't seem to notice this. "You're welcome," she says with a bright smile.
"I'll, uhm, get 'em back to you soon," Joslyn assures, trying to look really grateful for the notes and succeeding in looking a little nauseous. "Bring 'em by after I've copied 'em." Or something.
Aeriel walks toward the Landing Field.
Telinda picks up her notes, and stands, "Good night!"
Telinda strides over to the Western Weyrs.
Nareisa nods. "Oh, sure, do you like the picture of...?" oh THAT picture is on the table. She leans on it, trying to cover it with her palm. "Oh, well, um, no problem."
"WHAT picture?" the goldrider naturally inquires, out of her own seat and coming over toward Nareisa's, the very portrait of nosey. "What'd you draw?" she asks, prodding the palm lightly with her pointer finger. "Show me?" Pretty please with a sticky smile and everything.
Nareisa ums. "I didn't MEAN to draw it on the desk."
Grinning, Joslyn says, "So? I ain't gonna tell on you. I just wanna see it." It might be worth telling people later, after all. "Show me?" she adds, again with that sweet lilt. She'd be so cute if she weren't so obvious.
Nareisa is unfortunately way too guileless not to fall for it and moves her hand. There's a picture of an excessively badly drawn tree there. "Er.. are you sure you won't tell?"
Joslyn laughs - both at the tree and at the question - and says, "First off, who'm I gonna tell? Telinda? She don't care about a stupid desk, anyway. Second, it ain't THAT bad." That last was just for charity's sake; it's actually pretty bad.
It actually is. The artist, using the term VERY loosely says "YOu really like it?"
"Oh, sure," Joslyn replies - not that anyone in their right mind would believe her with that flippant tone. So Nareisa ought to be convinced, hm? Anyway. "You should do more of this - drawing and stuff. That's a pretty good... uhm... wher - tree! I mean, tree."
Nareisa peers at it. "Is there such a thing as a wher-tree?"
"Oh, sure," says Joslyn in precisely the same tone as before. "They grow in..." Think. Faster! "Igen. Yeah. They grow in Igen. But... only in the wintertime." On a roll, she shrugs and adds, "Very rare. Very rare." Sage nod.
Nareisa wows. "And I managed to draw one without trying."
Joslyn doesn't laugh or anything. She looks serious, except the fact that her face is red with suppressed giggles. "You sure did! Now that, my dear, is talent." She taps the tree-thing with her finger and adds, "You should do more of this drawing stuff. Practice and everything. You're really good about it." Liar.
Nareisa beams. "Do you think so? Maybe I could sell them."
Nareisa peers at the tree and says "I've never even been to Igen. Wow. I must be really good."
"Sure!" Joslyn says brightly, truly interested now that marks have come into play. "You could draw 'em and I could distribute 'em - " For a small fee. " - and we could sell 'em to everyone. Wher-tree art, by the one'n only Nareisa! It'd be great." Not to mention a failure.
Nareisa ponders this. "And we could say N'all is my brother!" lucky N'all to be connected by association to this venture.
Shaking her head rapidly, very very rapidly, "Oh, no! Don't tell people that! We want to actually sell 'em, you know." Joslyn does mean that in the nicest way - oh, who'm I kidding. No, she doesn't. "We'll just keep that part between me'n you," is her sage advice.
Nareisa pouts "What's wrong with N'all?" warning, major hero-worship here.
Joslyn bats a hand at the question, saying, "Oh, nothin', nothin'. He's real great and all that." Keep the artist happy. "It's just that... uhm... we wanna sell these based on your merits. Not somebody else's, y'know?" Good save?
Finn strides over from the Western Weyrs.
Nareisa beams. "He is, isn't he?" she peers at the drawing in a way that might be called professional by anyone who had any talent whatsoever. "So, should I draw other things, or just trees?"
Finn peeks into the council room and is surprised to find someone in it.
"Oh, draw all kindsa things," Joslyn suggests grandly, waving a hand to indicate the council room and the Weyr and everything. "But draw mostly trees, 'cause I think it's th'wher-trees we're gonna make the real marks on." Having yet to notice Finn, she doesn't realize she ought to keep her little venture on the down-low.
Finn coughs descretely to let the duo know she's here.
Nareisa hasn't noticed her either. "You know, I wasn't even looking when I drew this," which, given the quality of the drawing, is hardly surprising. "I didn't realise I had such talent."
Joslyn grins some more, looking over her promising new venture with the eye of a true tunnelsnake. "So just think what you could do if you really tri - " Argh! It's written all over Josy's face when she cuts herself short. "I really gotta jet, Reis, but you take this desk with you when you leave? Or scratch out that drawing or something? Can't let people see the prototype." (Does that word exist on Pern?)
Nareisa tries to lift the desk. "It's heavy," she says. She tries again. "Oh, hello," to Finn. "Are you strong enough to lift a desk?"
Finn can't decide if she should speak or not. She decides to slip out the door.
Finn eeps. "Uhh, I don't think so..."
"Enlist help," is Joslyn's next scrap of advice, herself slipping out when the concept of manual labor actually comes up. Hands in pockets and smug expression donned, she strolls out, just brimming to rake in the marks.
You walk over to the Landing Field.
*** END LOG ***