Windday, the 2nd of Stargazing 3725

It's been a little while since I bothered writing in this book, I suppose it is because we don't tend to think that which is mundane would ever interest someone who reads such things in the future. Perhaps to someone, my long walks in the forest and along the coast, communing with Nature and listening to Her whispered lessons are quite fantastic.

Really, that is all I have been doing as of late. I suppose I should get back into working on carpentry, but I just...I like being outside.

Needless to say, if I'm writing in this book, something out of the ordinary happened to me.

Upon returning to the Temple of Life after several days just wandering within the forests of Antonica, the High Priestess pulled me aside and asked me if I could perhaps do a small assignment for her. Despite noticing the strange looks of the younger priests who passed by us, I accepted the duty from her, as I feel that I owe the Temple much for putting up with me over the years.

She gave me a few documents and parchements, and a small paper with an address on it, smiling perhaps a bit too kindly before sending me on my way.

According to the documents given to me by the High Priestess, the guards brought a severely wounded woman to the Temple about a two or so ago. From what I could gather from the report that was included, she was carried from at least the beaches of Nektulos Forest to the gates of Qeynos without more than minor mending done to her wounds.

The speculation of how much blood was lost was unbelievable to me as everything I've learned over the years suggests a being cannot survive such. Yet she had been alive when the guards left her with the Temple, though just barely so; I'm sure that if it had been even an hour later, the woman would have been dead.

Two wounds were documented, though the first had really been just a minor friction burn across the back of her neck. Such a wound tends to occur when a heavy object is used to knock someone unconcious, and hers had been mostly mended by the time she arrived at the Temple.

It was the second of the two wounds which was to be the focus of my assignment. They had determined that she had been stabbed with some sort of sword, through her shoulder - the blade had barely missed several larger blood pathways, and had come very close to piercing the heart and lungs. Such a wound accounted for the horrible amount of blood loss, and again I found myself wondering exactly how she'd made it with only the basic mendings noted.

There was always much debate upon how to deal with those who suffer extreme blood loss. One side believes that it is best to only partially heal the wounds of the victim, allowing the natural process to occur as it promotes blood production; the other side believes that it is far safer to heal the entire wound and allow the body to reproduce the blood at a slower rate.

In this case, the wound was partially healed, and I was to check up on how it was healing - I was also to determin if the patient was strong enough to have it fully healed.

While rather to the point as far as the wounds were concerned, the documents were rather disturbing as far as the patient's stay within the Temple was concerned. Although her wounds were serious, the woman only stayed at the Temple for roughly five days before she was taken home by a male Teir`dal.

The most disturbing piece of the document was an account from one of the younger priestess concering an even that happened shortly after the woman had awakened for the first time. Apparently she was on the verge of violence, at one point the priestess had even felt her life might be in danger. All because of this dark elf she appearantly lives with - he'd been the one to bring her back to Qeynos, according to the priestess' account, and she was enraged that he'd been arrested over the incident.

I suddenly understood why the younger priests had been staring at me so strangely - for once it had nothing to do with my cursed awkwardness. They did not wish to provide care for this woman, and I suspected that much of it came from prejudice.

At first I was nearly amused that the odd one in the priesthood would be caring for those found odd by society at large, and I was angered that those withing the priesthood would allow it to keep them from their divine duty...until I recalled my reactions to the Teir`dal monk at the Rat's Eye Pub. The thought strengthened my resolve to provide the couple aid to the best of my abilities.

Upon reaching the Willow Wood, I realized that Faeadean would have my hide if she ever found out I remained within a house that contained a Teir`dal, however my luck was better than it usually is and I found the woman alone.

To be honest, I was quite surprised to see someone barely older than myself resting against the many pillows on the bed. For some reason, I expected that someone who was out that far would be much older than myself.

I did not have much time to dwell on that thought, as the first thing the woman did was glare at me. She seemed quite angry and annoyed with my presence, and as I stepped closer to explain why I was there and to work, I almost felt like she might attack at me. However, after a moment she merely sighed and shook her head, and sank back against the pillows as though the anger had exhausted her.

With my assistance, her robe was removed so I could undo the bandages...which is where I encountered trouble. The pattern they were bound in was not one we use at the Temple, though upon inspecting it I realized how sturdy it was compared to what I'd been taught; I knew that I had seen it somewhere before, but at the time I could not remember where I had.

Unfortunately, the pattern causes the ends of the bandages to be nearly invisible, and after several minutes of searching I heard the woman chuckling. She explained that the binding had been done by a monk, who used the pattern they were taught for their armwraps instinctually as the process was quite similar. Try as I might to memorize it as I was undoing the bandages, I can't remember the damn pattern for the life of me.

I suppose that is expected though...as I started undoing the wraps I just couldn't seem to move my arms and hands right. It felt like they were too big again, and that the tiny little motions I was making should have created more motion. It made getting the bandages off such a mess that the woman asked me if I was alright.

Perhaps it is because I thought I would never see the woman again, but for some reason I told her what was wrong. She seemed mildly amused, and asked me if I had experienced a growth spurt or something recently. Of course, I grew up as all Koada`dal grow up, at least physically - gracefully and evenly; the response must have made her think of something, because she muttered how it may not just be teenage awkwardness and that she was sorry for bothering me about it.

Once I had gotten all the bandages off, I sat down behind her and began to peel away the paddings. Thankfully I had regained control of my body once more, and was able to do so without causing any more damage.

Her wound was covered over in most places by rough black and brown scabs, though some blood seeped out from underneath them via the tiny cracks in between them. It was so horrible on her, my mind immediately thought of the demons from my dreams, the wound was that horrifying to me.

Without thinking, I began uttering the words to a healing spell that would heal most of the wound immediately, while a lighter side effect would continue to heal it the rest of the way over an hour or so. Once it had begun the regeneration, I asked her how she felt when she walked around...something I really should have done first.

She explained to me that Tarack - whose name strikes me as familiar for some reason, I've overheard it before - helped her stand up and move through some of the very basic fighting stances he knew, and that she was able to walk around the aparment a few times without his assistance.

The whole time she had an odd expression on her face, and I wonder what she was truly thinking of me. When she mentioned that she'd make sure she was awake and about at the same time next week, I realized that she expected me to come back - for another check up, which I suppose I would have to do anyways.

I agreed I would make sure that I arrived at about the same time next week, and returned to the Temple. The High Priestess was rather surprised by my report, and commended me for my choices...I neglected to tell her the correct order of the events...as it worked out well anyways.

After having to stare at that wound...thinking about those demons...I think I am going to have a long walk...I'm fairly shaken over it, which bothers me even more.

To think, I admitted why I was so awkward to her with the belief we'd never speak again...I'm almost embarassed now...

So much to think about...