OTA - Let that yawn out;

[20likes]

Who: Heartman and OTA, plus a few closed starters
What: Good News: Heartman knows how to make warding amulets against the Darkwalker. Bad news: he's got Pneumonia because of it.
When: Just after the latest darkwalker attacks + just before the town meeeting
Where: Heartman's makeshift lab + cabin

Content Warnings: TBD

i. closed to Fraser;

[ To say he's grateful to the Mountie once he sees him would be the understatement of the century. To Heartman's credit, he's managed to walk most of the way to his cabin by himself before he has to lean against the nearest wall, out of breath, the room spinning. It's not an unfamiliar sensation but it is a very, very unwelcome one.

He doesn't regret it. Heartman's sweating in the cold, his coughs are painful and his heart feels like it's working overtime despite his issue being a lung infection--he suspects he may still be immunocompromised in Milton as well, considering his condition--but if he just takes a few minutes to rest...

He looks up after trying to stop the dizziness, pushing off of the wall only to see a familiar sight: clean shaven, square jaw, red uniform. He half-waves. ]

Is it safe to presume you're rescuing me a second time? [ His smile is faint, face pale as he fights the urge to fall--best he lean back on the side of the wall again. He's clearly visibly relieved despite his small, tiny joke. ]

ii. OTA - visits while ill;

[ The door to his cabin and makeshift lab remains unlocked as it always does. Courtesy of a few kind people looking out for him, there's a constant fire as Heartman stays underneath thick, warm blankets on the couch. He's no stranger to falling in and out of sleep, although it's perhaps a sign he really is sick when his body completely stops its natural 20 minute cycles and he remains napping for a long, long while, only his own coughing or someone entering waking him up.

He keeps busy: he reads books, some found in his place already and some from the library if he can sucker a poor soul into going for him. He's always welcoming guests, even if he's drifting in and out of it. Dief is curled up at his feet or on top of him at times, clearly a very important part in healing.

That's not to say he isn't bored. Restlessness comes easy when he feels like he can do something--should be doing something--and a visitor who gets him on one of these moments may get him attempting to sit up, speaking after a flurry of coughs. ]

Please, stay--company would be wonderful. I'm in dire need of someone to fill me in on what I've missed. What happened while I've been gone?

iii. OTA - darkwalker warding;

[ When he feels well enough--at the very least when he can actually concentrate on something other than a few pages at a time in whatever book he's got on him--he'll get to work. After the town meeting, if anyone comes in there will be two small piles of stones on the coffee table by where he's lying or sitting down. Heartman, knife in hand as he's in the middle of carving something, will raise it slightly in a greeting. ]

Do forgive the mess.

[ It is rather cluttered. Asides from the two piles of stones and the stacks of books scattered around his spot there is also an absurd amount of scraps of paper strewn about with his handwriting as he theorizes and tries to put together pieces of a puzzle he's unsure if he'll ever solve. Stranger or friend alike, the half-smile is the same. ]

Did Fraser reach out to you about the talismans? Please, have a seat.

Comments

[meadqueen]

So much has happened that I don't know where to start! I can hardly believe that you've barely been gone for a month.

Do you know Louis? Mr. du Lac [He had asked her to call him that after hurting himself with a hammer.] He has opened a small trading post in town. There was a party with musicians for an opening, but there was a… minor incident involving mushrooms… [Poor Bigby.] So I'm certain that plenty of people will be talking about that.

Other things, decidedly less pleasant. There was some kind of horrible brawl among the sailors at the hall recently. I don't know what we’re going to do about that, but we can't allow it if we want the group to survive.

Edward Kenway left to the east to try and scout a way out. [If Heartman knew him he may recognize that she's wearing one of his leather bracers.]

And… [she sighs] I'm sure that you heard about the attack at the god’s house. Four dead. Bigby Wolf is organizing a meeting about it.

[20likes]

[ This is gossip. Truly! Heartman gives the tell-tale sign of his approval, although the thumbs-up is a bit less enthusiastic than he'd like courtesy of his body desperately fighting off pneumonia.

He can absolutely be social and not just talk about science. Randvi is proof of that, this is proof of that, clearly. His smile is weak but bright--until the mention of the attack. ]

Ah.

[ His shoulders drop, face slackening. ]

I... think I might have something that might help.

[meadqueen]

[She's returning to Heartman’s side to sit while she waits for the water to boil when he says that he might know a way to help with the attacks.]

Truly? Something learned in your time away?

[20likes]

A number of things. [ Heartman watches as Randvi takes a seat next to him again, making an effort to sit up a little more proper. It's the least he can do. It's time to shift into ramble mode, though: ]

The main one is the knowledge of a talisman to ward against the Darkwalker. It looks like a rune of sorts, which if you'd be so kind as to hand me a pen and paper, I know you just sat down, apologies--with your knowledge and the time period your from, perhaps you'll have better luck identifying it.

[meadqueen]

Do not apologize! If what you've learned can protect us even a little it's well worth the effort. Let me get it.

[She stands again and after a moment returns with a pen and paper.]

These pens really are incredible.

[20likes]

[ Heartman takes a quiet moment to marvel--here he'd been, morose over the fact that the computer on his cufflinks is irrelevant and doesn't work and he'd have to resort solely to pens--and here Randvi is, finding joy in the simple act of ink on paper.

He'd thought he was over taking things for granted. It's a humbling situation. ]

They are. In my world, we have something even better. Computers--not quite like the ones you see littered about here.

[ He'll sketch it out, sliding the paper over to Randvi when finished. ]

[meadqueen]

The ink is inside them! When I first saw one I could scarcely believe it. [This is probably the moment for a thumbs up.]

I've heard people speak of computers but I'm not sure what they are. They do calculations?

[It could be a really advanced abacus.

Randvi takes the paper and examines the rune seriously.]

I have never seen such a rune before. He says this is a ward?

[20likes]

[ Heartman will give the other an enthusiastic thumbs up as well. Perfect spirit! He can feel the 20 likes being sent into the aether! He nods at the calculations comment, too, and answers the last question verbally. ]

Part of it. It needs to be carved into a stone, and then baptized in blood.

[meadqueen]

I see. Does it matter, the type of stone? Or blood? [If they're appealing to a god to protect them, it could be an animal that god favours, but otherwise it could be a creature that would ward the Darkwalker directly somehow, perhaps a wolf.]

[20likes]

That's the beauty of it.

[ Beauty isn't the right word at all, and Heartman illustrates this with a few errant quotation marks from his hands. ]

It will most likely take some experimenting. Trial and error, though.... as exciting as new information is, and a new problem to try to solve, it's the 'error' part that I find myself not liking very much.

[ It means people will die. Heartman glances at Randvi, tight lipped and stern. ]

[meadqueen]

[Randvi predates the use of quotation marks by several centuries, so the exact meaning of that gesture evades her, but his tone gets the idea across.]

We will need to try as many combinations as we can, then. [And hope that's enough to save even one of them. This is better than nothing but it's still going to be difficult.] I wonder whether any of the bodies discovered here were wearing such things. It might help us to eliminate some materials.

[20likes]

You're certainly onto something.

[ Randvi seems to be practical in a way that Heartman genuinely appreciates, and smart to boot. She'd do well in BRIDGES, he thinks. Maybe even get along with Fragile. She's more than a ghost from his past, though: she's here, kind enough to visit him, and offering ideas that Heartman's either too sick or too in his own head to think of. ]

I suppose I couldn't trouble you to...ehm... look? Once I'm well enough to leave I'd help you, of course.

[meadqueen]

Of course. I'll see if I can find some tools as well, for working the stone.

If we can create many of these sigils, people could wear more than one until we know which combination of materials works best.

[20likes]

You're quite resourceful. Although I suppose we all have to be...

[ Heartman nods, even if the simple act of nodding makes him just a little bit more dizzy. ]

Thank you, Randvi.

[meadqueen]

Of course.

[It's a little alarming to see him go so pale after nodding.]

Rest a moment. I'll prepare the tea for you.