Foreign Visitor

Kallista nodded delicately.

"I don't know if there's much you can do. I've been to several clerics already. They all say it's just a matter of time and work."

She paused to take a breath, even talking was not easy after her coughing fit.

"Apparently a good deal of the damage was spiritual and psychic as well as physical. I'd welcome whatever help you think you can give me, though."

Merlyn nodded, setting aside his glass. "Time and work will always help, but I have some advantages other healers don't have." He stood, pushing back his sleeves. While he did have some tattoos, the swirling green markings that ran down his left arm from somewhere higher up, reaching almost to his fingertips, were clearly a dragon mark of some sort. "It might help if you told me a little bit about what happened - the injury, I mean. You don't have to tell me how it happened, if that's not comfortable for you. Also, this will work better for me with skin to skin contact, and the closer to the wound - or wounds, as the case may be, the better. Just let me know what you're comfortable with."

Kallista sat quietly for a moment, as if thinking about how best to phrase her next sentence.

"Well... I kinda had a demon pulled out of me through my soul. I honestly don't know how better to describe it than that. As for where the wound is... well, it's kind of all over. But..."

She leaned forward and began the arduous process of untying and shrugging off the furred robe she was wearing. Beneath it she wore only a silk halter top and matching shorts. Among her myriad minor scars and tattoos the three wavy marks of Avandra's symbol stood out starkly on the pink skin of her stomach.

"...that might be a good place to start."

Merlyn smiled broadly when he saw the mark. "I think we're both lucky today." He rubbed his hands together so that they would be comfortingly warm, then placed his left over the mark. Kallista nodded for him to go ahead, and his dragonmark and eyes both glowed a soft green, highlighted with flecks of gold. He could feel the lingering damage - people often asked him what it was like, and the best analogy he could come up with was that it was like trying to comb out tangled hair. In this case there were some snarls he could smooth, following up on the work begun by other healers, and by the work Kallista herself had been doing, but there were some things that would need some more extreme measures. After a few minutes, the green glow faded and he turned his head to face her. "How is that?"

When his warm hand pressed gently on her stomach Kallista inhaled sharply, feeling the energy that he was channeling ebbing into her. It felt like he was reaching inside of her. The warmth spread up into her torso and down through her legs. She closed her eyes and sighed, feeling pains that had been her constant companions for the last six months ebb slowly into the background. They weren't gone by any stretch, but they were dulled. Her muscles felt a little stronger, her mind a little keener, than they had been before.

His hand slid around to her side, just under her ribcage, as he continued probing and straightening the kinks in her spiritual energy. As the light in his eyes faded she put her hand lightly on top of his.

"You're good with your hands. That... that was amazing."

"I actually get that a lot."  Merlyn grinned wickedly, turning over his palm to squeeze her hand.  "I'm happy to help.  I think there is actually more I could do, with a little bit of preparation. In terms of healing, that is."

"In terms of healing?" Kallista asked, smiling, "Are you saying you have other talents?"

"Well, so I'm told." Merlyn was starting to see why Vedran had assure him that they would probably get along fine. "But you're welcome to find out for yourself."

"I would love to," Kallista said with a whistful smile, "But I'm honestly not sure I'm in any condition to be testing anyone's talents. I can barely stand."

Merlyn laughed, giving her hand another squeeze. "You might surprise yourself, but we''ll have you walking, and more, soon enough. I wouldn't recommend overexerting yourself too much yet, though - you'll still need to build your strength back up."

Kallista grinned and ran her thumb over the back of his hand.

"Well then we'll both have something to work towards."

Merlyn made arrangements with the Union to use one of their ritual spaces. It had been a while since he'd used anything so formal, but with Vedran's influence and his offer to help with training and healing needs while he was there. He been busy all morning, some with duties, some just chatting with people about the places they'd been and seen, but he made sure to arrive early to get the room better prepared.

Honestly there wasn't much too it. He preferred to travel light, and he had pared down his ritual kit as much as possible. He tended to get by on borrowing and scavenging most of the time anyway, and it was no different for rituals. In this case, he'd managed to get a cot brought in, and had padded it with some extra pillows and blankets that he hoped would help make her comfortable for the duration.

Now all he had to do was wait for her to show up.

It had been a long time since Kallista had set foot in the Explorer's Union. Now she stood out front of the entrance, looking up at the large wooden doors and wondering how she was going to open them. She leaned on her two canes and sighed. Brenn's Chauffeur had dropped her off in front of the building, but she had declined his help to walk inside. She felt like it was something she had to do herself. Now she was kind of regretting that decision.

Luckily, within a few moments the door opened and a large orc with a battleaxe walked out. He glanced down at her and smiled, holding the door courteously while she limped inside. She didn't know the young orc, which drove home to her how long it had been since she'd been to the Union. There was a time when she knew virtually every adventurer in the Union on a first name basis.

It took nearly ten minutes to get down the two halls to the ritual areas, but she found the right room easily enough and pushed open the door with one cane.

"Sorry if I'm late..." she said, sweat beading on her forehead, Brenn got called to an emergency meeting, but he said he would be along as soon as possible. He almost didn't go, but I managed to convince him I'd be able to make it on my own."

She exhaled loudly and collapsed onto the blanketed cot.

"And I fucking well did."

Merlyn smiled. "That's great Kallista - its good to see you moving around so much, even if it is hard... Though hopefully we can get rid of the rest of the lingering damage today. After we're through, things will get a little easier on your body as you build your strength back up." He brought her over a small drink of water from a pitcher in the corner.

"Before we start, I want to get you as relaxed as possible, so if you just want to lie down for a little bit, that's fine. I'm not in any rush."

"Oh, thank the gods..." Kallista muttered as she lay back on the cot. She slowly propped her feet up on one of the pillows and felt her breathing begin to return to normal.

"What exactly are you gonna be doing?" she asked, almost as an after-thought.

Merlyn walked around to the head of the cot and started slowly running his fingers through Kallista's hair. "I'm basically going to be realigning some of the energies in your body, making sure things are working together properly. The ritual lets me have finer control, as well as greater power, to make sure that everything is aligned properly, and bound back together the way it was meant to be."

"Mmmm..." Kallista purred, "Keep doing what you're doing and I may not need the ritual. I'll just float out of here."

"Oh, I'm just getting started. I said I wanted you relaxed. If you like, I can help you turn over, and get your back, too."

"Sure, twist my arm, why don't you."

Kallista pushed herself up onto her side and rolled over onto her stomach with Merlyn's help.

"Ooh, that's a good idea, actually. My arms are aching from those canes. If you were to offer to give them a massage, I wouldn't say no."

"I can do arms, and whatever other assorted body parts you'd like." Merlyn stepped away to grab a little bottle of lavender scented oil he'd snagged from Vedran. "Actually, this might be easier with your clothes off, if you don't mind." He paused, because taken together it all sounded a little more flirtatious than he's intended. "If you're not comfortable with that, its alright."

Kallista laughed.

"Man, I guess Vedran didn't really tell you much about me, did he?"

She tried to lift herself up with her arms but found it was easier to get at her loose-fitting shirt if she rolled back onto her side. She managed to shrug it off relatively easily once she got it pulled over her head. Her range of motion was significantly better since he had used his healing on her.

"I may need some help with the pants..." she said, blushing slightly redder than her normal pink shade, "If YOU'RE comfortable with that."

"He told me enough." Merlyn smiled, coming back around to help her out of her clothes.. "But I'd rather take your word than his."

Once she was settled more comfortably on the cot, he uncorked the bottle and brought it around for her to sniff. "I grabbed some other ones if you don't like lavender, but it is supposed to be relaxing."

Kallista sniffed the floral oil and nodded her approval, feeling somewhat spoiled by the Cleric's attentions.

"Do all of your patients get this much hands on treatment?" she asked playfully as she settled back in.

"If I have the luxury, I try. I'm used to dealing with people who are on the whole much less trusting, though."

He warmed some oil in his hands as he spoke, running them lightly down from Kallista's shoulder to her hand, just getting a sense of the shape of her muscles, and where any tense and tender places were. If was easy enough as he went to ease any of the minor strains he noticed before he started applying any pressure.

"Being a healer makes it easier, I think. I can help people directly, and I'm looking for anything in return. Even then though, I'm still an [outsider] who follows a foreign god." He used the Ahkasic term for foreigner - he couldn't think of a term in Nerathi that carried quite the same connotations.

"Well, I know what being an outsider is like... well... not like, an "Outsider" outsider, but you know what I mean."

She moaned in relaxation as Merlyn found a sore spot in her wrist.

"So what made you decide to leave Nerath originally? Were you just spreading Avandra's gifts, or was it something else?"