Late this morning a messenger from the North Gate arrived at the church. A mercenary group, the Ruthless Blades, arrived early in the morning from the High Road. They had a sweating sickness and a few didn't survive. The head Mortarch tasked me, as the newest cleric, with selecting a group of novices to join me in tending to their sick and wounded, collecting their dead, and preparing the bodies for the morning's burial. I was so nervous and honored to complete my first official task. Before going to the novice's quarters, I checked to make sure my badge of Kelemvor, with its new iron stripe, is resting straight over my left breast.
Less than an hour later Dennison, Polly, Gusta, Rustling of a Deer, and I walked into the Northyard and found the guard in charge. She brought us over to the mercenary group, there were less than a dozen of them and a few of them still looked pale and clammy. Their leader, a fire genasi named Pyre, told me they lost three of their company and four of them were still recovering. The rest either had completely recovered or never fell sick. I sent Dennison and Gusta to tend to the sick and wounded mercenaries. They're both excellent healers and are the oldest of the novices. I knew they would be capable of caring for the sick and wounded unsupervised. I brought Deer and Polly with me to start preparing the dead for transport back to the church.
When we stepped into the place the bodies had been stored I expected the smell, Pyre had told me they had been camped several days out when the sickness started. I didn't expect to see HIM tending to one of the dead. At least I think it's him, from the back I saw the fur on the top of his head is short like in my dream, but it flows about halfway down the back of his head and around his rounded ears. I stood in the doorway frozen, just staring as he arranged his companion's clothing, straightening the uniform so the man looked neat and tidy. And outside of the obvious shock of seeing the man from yesterday's dream, I've never seen someone outside the faith look so comfortable with death. He was tending to his companion as if the man were still alive, all the while talking quietly to his friend.
Deer pulled me out of my stupor with a sharp poke to the ribs and loudly hissed my name.
I took a second to compose myself and then said, "Umm… Excuse me… I uh…"
Get yourself together Zira this is not the first dream you've had come true.
I started again, "Excuse me. Hi, I'm Zira from the church of Kelemvor."
When he turned around I saw the face from my dream, his lips and nose are a silky dark gray and I swear those piercing blue eyes can see right into your soul.
He stood up military straight, "Oh, hello. I'm Valentiniano Peacetalon, but most people prefer just Val. I'll answer to either. It's nice to meet you." and he held his fur cover hand out to me.
I stepped forward and shook Val's hand, "Nice to meet you. We've come to tend the dead and transport them back to the church for burial."
"I'm glad you've come. Abner, Beatrice, and Crumbford deserve a proper burial and funeral. That's why I insisted we bring them back to Water Deep. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"No, but thank you. Deer, Polly, and I can take it from here."
"I leave them to your care. Good day." Val bowed and stepped past us out the door.
I charged Polly and Deer with the preparation of two of the dead and I care for the third. Deer broke the silence of our work by asking me about what just happened because I am not easily rattled.
"Zira, what was that?" Deer said.
"I've seen him before, in a dream." The two of them tried to suppress their giggles.
Polly teased, "A dream," she giggled, "I wish I dreamed of a dreamy tabaxi… and then to meet…"
Deer interrupted her, "I don't know what he is, but he's definitely not a tabaxi."
"Well, whatever he is, he is dreamy. Oh, and the look of his eyes…" Polly practically swoons.
I can feel my face turning pink, "This is not the time or place for this discussion." I admonished, "It's disrespectful to the dead, and we need to get these bodies taken care of and back to the church. I'm going to check on Dennison and Gusta. You two finish up here."
The two of them bowed their heads and said, "Yes mamm. We're sorry." They quietly turned to their work while I turned and stepped out the door.
After I stepped out the door, I paused for a moment, took a deep breath of the fresh air, and collected myself. I found Gusta and Dennison; Gusta was washing the sweat and grime off one of the mercenaries while Dennison was encouraging another one to drink more water.
"Oh good. Zira, I'm glad you're here. It's not too bad of a sickness. They just need to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated. I think that's why the other three didn't survive. Nobody pushed water on them… they didn't know." Gusta informs me.
"And are they contagious?"
"Oh no. They're past the worst of it and are recovering. I was told these three were near the tail end of it when the company started towards the city. The rest of the group, if they haven't fallen sick yet, should be just fine."
"Good. Thank you, Gusta. I'll inform Pyre and the head guard. Once Deer and Polly have finished with the dead, we'll load up the cart and head back."
Dennison looked up and said, "We'll finish up here and help the others with the dead. Gusta sent for a healer from the House of the Moon to care for their injured."
"Several of them were beyond our capabilities," Gusta added.
I nodded, "Good work. Thank you." I scanned the group, found Pyre and the guard talking near the edge, and headed that way. I may have also been searching for Val, I feel drawn to him in a way I've never been drawn to a person before. Tymora smiled on me and I spotted Val going through his gear while sitting and talking with a female elf.
After informing Pyre and the guard of the situation, I gave Pyre directions to the church. And I let him know Kelemvor's priests are always available to talk with and comfort any survivors, should they feel the need. I saw Gusta and Dennison helping Polly and Deer load up the cart as I headed their way. I helped them finish, then we headed back to the church.
Behind the church are beautiful gardens where folks are welcome to come, sit, and walk around to help find peace with death. It's the most peaceful place in Waterdeep and where I go whenever I need to reflect and escape. And these past two days sure have a lot to reflect on. My head feels like it's spinning.
I'm here at my favorite spot, under a willow tree that may be as old as time itself. It's time for me to set my journal aside, settle in, take several deep, relaxing, cleansing breaths, and reach out to Marat. I'm hoping they may be willing to counsel me. I'm hoping to find my path, and I wonder how all this will lead to my destiny.
Z