29 Fyrva, 350BFD, 8 Ur
Public Medical Facilities
Level 1, Shevezz City
Kanda-Nor’s first thought as he began to awaken was how ravenous he felt, not having eaten more than a single apple during his first day at Shevezz. This second thought reminded him that he could not make his breakfast, because he was in fact, in the medical wing of that selfsame city.
But I am alive, so that’ll have to do, I guess, he begrudgingly accepted as his stomach grumbled with impatience.
As if summoned by it, Watcher Syndat marched over to his bed, with a pad of papyrus.
"Ah, Sair-Kor, welcome back to the land of the living," he intoned, causing Kanda to frown with confusion.
"You’re oddly…chipper, for someone who’s probably worked through the night."
"Working through the night is normal for me," the medic clarified, "but I say, there's nothing quite like risking an Overseer’s ire to help you to
treat a patient that
extra bit better," he smiled tightly, "that, and my shift ends once you get breakfast and a Carer takes over. Isn’t that
marvellous?"
With a grunt, Kanda managed to sit up and give him a grin.
"Still delirious, I see?"
"Now, now Kanda-Nor," chuckled Vazkyr, as she returned to his bedside with a bowl of chopped fruit, "no need to be mean to poor Syndat."
The Elelup shook his head, as Vazkyr sat and began to carefully eat her fruit.
"Nonsense, he was not being mean. Just giving me a taste of, how shall I put it, my own
medicine?"
"But the
best medicine right now would be breakfast, so can I start eating my apples now? It wouldn’t do to keep a loyal Watcher from his beauty sleep," Kanda asked, giving him a wink.
"Apples, Sair-Kor?" asked Syndat in mock surprise, brushing past the comment on his favourite pastime - being unconscious, "apples should be
inter-consumption hydration, not a replacement for proper meals. No, Shevezz may lack a certain volume of water, but we have, or source, plenty of food. Once I take your readings and order your breakfast I’ll be free…uhm," he coughed nervously, "that is to say, I will leave you in peace."
"Don't mind me either," Vazkyr said with an apologetic upheld hand, "I just returned from a salt shower and now I need to rehydrate."
Bordering on a multicultural town, Shevezz benefited from many imported goods, and exported some of its own in the process. Building materials, food preservatives and medical treatments were three of those it sold to its neighbour. What had not been possible was to tap into whichever source of water fed
Béjaiber'ghas, a secret known only by those in very privileged positions within that city. As such, while the Queendom of Shevezz contained vast libraries, research facilities and was home to technological marvels, basics that other civilisations barely considered were a challenge.
It had a complex sewer system, which ran through tunnels at all levels of the city, being treated with some of their own potions, re-treated with extracted salt and finally filtered before being funnelled back into the Bluelight Ocean. However, bathing was one difficulty that affected every member of society, from the new arrivals to the Queen Herself.
There were two main systems. The first method included scheduled, post-sunset ocean swimming sessions. These had to be no more than ten minutes per person due to its dehydrating effects, and were split into males, females, family groups and those who, for ten minutes, did not really care who they swam with. Almost all citizens had full-coverage "swim-wash wear", in short, any outfit which covered them enough but allowed the water to reach their skin, and one the wearer was not too emotionally attached to. Overexposure on the Shevezzi coast could cause a person’s skin to appear blue for a few days, so clothes were often dyed with the same hue. "Invisible swimwear" became a joke to tease outsiders with, for once a swimmer was in the Bluelight, you could only see whichever areas of their body were not covered.
The second method of bathing was a "salt shower" - a snug cubicle contained in a slightly larger changing area. Above the cubicle was, as the locals called it "a giant sieve", but was actually a bath with two base layers. The first held the water in, while the second contained small, perforated holes which allowed water to dribble down into the cubicle. Once someone was ready for their shower, a pull-cord unhinged the containing layer from the one above it, allowing the holes to do their jobs. In the floor of the cubicle, as one might expect, was another hole which caught the water and, a long way from the showering unit, joined the sewer system for cleansing. A person had until the bath ran out to wash themselves, which was approximately nine minutes, because it too was filled with pure Bluelight water.
While refreshing, due to its teeth-chatteringly cold temperatures, both of these methods rendered the bather thirsty, wrinkled and dehydrated, so provision of fruit and coconut milk was made available for ocean baths and publicly-accessible showers. Due to this cost, all citizens were required to bathe every three days, or every two if working above ground. Only in exceptional circumstances were people allowed to use Bluelight water for bathing every day, but this did include medical staff, patients and anyone who was visiting the facilities. That is not to say people did not wash daily, the city did have some clean water supplies, but that they could not use the ocean's water for that purpose outside of the authorised patterns.
"Smells nice," said Kanda.
"Fairly fresh pineapple and starfruit, in coconut milk," Vazkyr explained, wiping some juice into her mouth.
"That smells good too," Kanda replied wistfully, glancing sideways at Syndat to see his bemused expression. Vazkyr tried not to choke on her pineapple, holding back a laugh against her own will.
"The, erm, wild goat-milk soap…is of…Shevezzi origin," she barely managed to explain with a straight face, "with a little grit from the South of Sablesand and flowers from the Pymat Zentas, which is where it gets its distinct aroma. It supposedly suits more native Shevezzi, those with darker skin, but in all honesty, I can’t see why it wouldn't be fine for you."
Syndat tutted as he expertly removed tubes from Kanda’s feet and applied pressure with gloved hands until the slight bleeding stopped, then wrapped a bandage around the top and undersides of his feet, not too tightly so his patient’s blood-flow was not disrupted.
"If you want to smell of flowers, you can be my guest. When
did you last bathe, Sair-Kor?"
Oh, now that’s a loaded question, Kanda thought.
"Well, it definitely wasn’t yesterday, and I only arrived the day before, which was a travel day. Before that was…a day I would rather never remember again," he added grimacing.
The medic turned in horror wondering how far over three days it would be, and why Sair-Kor did not smell like the sewers.
"Oh," Kandà remembered, "on my journey I had a two-hour refreshing rain and wind shower. So, theoretically, I was cleansed by nature just two days ago."
"All the same, take a salt shower please," Syndat almost sounded as though he were begging, "now, for your final checks."
As the Watcher set about his task, Kanda observed him, a fact noted by Vazkyr, who had been enjoying a reprieve from her concerns of the day before. As she had told Kanda, the medics had been hydrating him through insertions in his feet. These were attached to tiny pipes that came from, and were fed by, a room-wide distillation system. A vat of what seemed to be labelled "Ash-ooze" was split into two, clear glass containers, one with clear liquid, and the other, blue. The clear liquid was funnelled into the distillation system, with the cleaned water then piped to the "Rehydration and Medical Sanitation" vat, and carried around the room. A small tap on each bed end could be adjusted to allow more, or less, water out as needed. Kanda noticed that, periodically, a medic or staff member replaced the salt product from the distillation back into the blue liquid vat, which was stirred and them emptied via a flap, which led somewhere outside the rooms.
"We can get
medicinal water from the ocean," Vazkyr explained, "but we also have to put back as much as possible, most of the salt too. We daren't disrupt ocean levels, especially during Summer, the season we are in now, so it's often necessary to add other liquids into the sewer system for cleansing to help keep the levels around what is normal for the time of year."
Kanda nodded, his eyes drifting hungrily to her almost-empty bowl.
"There can’t be much 'other liquid' going around, though?"
"There isn't," Syndat replied, despite not having been addressed, "but even small amounts of fruit pulp, or, as distasteful as this sounds, blood from the animals we use for meats can help. Naturally, we treat blood with our own alchemy before allowing it into the sewer system. Plus, well, sentients create fluids too," he coughed.
"That balance is why you can’t really use the Bluelight Ocean for freshwater?" Kanda asked.
"Not yet, but anything's possible eventually," Syndat acknowledged, "not that we could process that amount of water if we were given a chance."
"Do you get rain?"
Vazkyr nodded slowly.
"Yes, but if it’s from a Westward Wind, it’s likely to be salty rain, having originated over the ocean. You would think that the sun-evaporated ocean might be salt-free, but it's not. Not completely anyway," she corrected herself, "if we can catch it, it is good for cleaning wounds and the like. So, even the rain can laugh at us - and, before you ask, we rarely get rain from the North."
But mist and dew are possibilities, Kanda thought, making a mental note to add those to his research.
"Which is why," Syndat continued, "we are genuinely grateful for moisture-retaining foods, some of which even come from
Sablesand Dunes. I really do not need to know how such a thing was discovered, but being aware of which meats have that property would be really useful. Usually all meat must be eaten the day it is killed here. If it retained water, some might be kept in colder storage. Especially in Fyrva and Núhana."
The Elelup waved to another staff member on the opposite side of the chambre who nodded and disappeared through a darkened archway.
"Excuse this new-arrival's question," Kanda ventured, having noted the month names being in
Foyiitùn, "but 'Fyrvà' and 'Núhana' don't sound Shevezzi."
Vazkyr shook her head, and wanted to smile but could not bring herself to do so.
"They’re not, they’re…the names the
Aevyormii used so we adopted them. Centuries ago in fact, when the Queendom was founded, to make treating with their new allies easier," she explained, "there are a few other references, mostly relating to time, such as
Ur and
Ana, which were probably integrated at the same time, for the same reasons. We also use
Parànt and the Shevezzi word
Homus interchangeably when referring to humans, even so-called 'High-Paràntii', those descended from the stronger original Shevezzii, unlike me."
Even here, my deeds are echoing, Kanda rued,
how long before they find out what happened at the Nectar Glen?
"Well, your water flow appears as normal as we can make it," Syndat concluded, leaving his notes at Kanda's bedside, "your breakfast of meats, cheese and, of course, fruit will here shortly. Once the on-duty Carer has performed her final checks, you will be issued with a manufactured water crystal, eye-drops and your two-day allowance of coin to help you get back into the swing of whatever your life looked like before you were carried in here. But please do take a salt shower before you leave."
Kanda nodded, his eyes already at the archway where he could see another Elelup peering round and carrying a tray of what he hoped would be tasty sustenance.
"I will," he agreed, then nodded at Syndat, "thanks for the care and, uhm," he looked to the ceiling, "stay cool and hydrated, and all that."
Syndat smirked.
"I will take
your advice. I suggest you do the same. I am off for, what did you call it? Beauty sleep. Good night."
With that, he half-bowed and strode out like a gambler who had just won all of a challenger's ale money for a month. Kanda rolled his eyes, and accepted his tray of breakfast with relish and gratitude. As he tucked into the fresh, seeded bread, sea-salted butter, meat (
best not to ask which meat, he thought) and fruit, he glanced quickly at Vazkyr who seemed lost in thought, if not concerned.
She knew he had looked her way, and that it was not in the same playful way as before. She had kept Findat's wishes and ensured Kanda-Nor had all his possessions, which was not a technically-challenging task, given how few there were. What had surprised her was that he held a device that appeared to be for magicks, though it certainly did not seem to be radiating energy at present. Her
Flow Compass, a custom-built device for finding energy and heat sources, did not move even a tic on the dial when she placed it near Kanda’s device. And, though she tried, she could not determine what type of incantations it would be used for and did not attempt to properly pick it up, in case it was touch-sensitive. She had, however, mentally checked the symbology engraved on it and, finding nothing of a nefarious or evil nature, she decided not to pry any further. Only a small tuft of white fluff that stuck out of a join seemed out of place in a brand constructed mostly from precious metals. Such features were just as likely for sentimental value as any arcane capability, but after seeing so many Aevyormii feathers earlier, the Shield had concerns she was seeing them everywhere.
Even when I’m supposed to be off-duty, my concerns follow me, she rued,
how long before we can find out what happened at the Nectar Glen?
This chapter had been previously released on early access to three people but was never published publicly on my WA site. If this disqualifies it from WorldEmber, I'll understand, but at least I've been upfront. I hope you enjoyed it, whether it qualifies or not. - FJB
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