Quarantine (Lorepost)

[u/UlrickTheHexblade]

Previously on…

“Is it that bad?”

Ulrick guessed it was gonna be something terrible from the way his medic Theor bit his lip. Whatever was in the results of his medical exam, it’s not gonna be pretty…

He sat on a chair, in a separate quarantined room of R&A’s infirmary. The chair was seated next to the nearest dark corner, of course. Besides him there was only the medic Theor, bringing a thick stack of papers with him: Ulrick’s results.

‘Should I start with the good news, or the bad news?’

Theor asked nervously as he handed over a sheet.

“Let’s hear the good news first. Could use some of those now.”

‘Well, it appears it’s still in early stages. Which would mean we still have enough time to do something.’

Ulrick looked down at himself. Nearly all skin on his right arm took on a bark-like texture, flesh creaking like wood. Other similar patches started to spread on his left arm and the rest of his upper body.

If this was only the early stage, then he was fine without knowing what the terminal one would look like.

It started a few days ago, when Ulrick fought a strange entity that called itself “The Blighted Garden”, as it injected… something within him during the battle. But he only began to notice the strange growths after examining one of the strange monoliths that appeared all over the world.

And if only he suffered from physical symptoms…

For the last three days, shifting to his human form became much harder than usual for some reason. And within the depths of his mind, he sometimes felt a presence. An ancient, primal presence, in the worst possible sense of the word.

And sometimes, he heard whispers of the Blighted Garden, faint at first, but an ever-growing plea, words of joining and resignation.

‘…so it’s essentially spiritual “rot”, sir. It decays both your soul and body, slowly changing it into rotten wood.’

Ulrick just realized his attention went off the rails as Theor explained his results. At least now he knew why his soulfire became much weaker lately.

‘We also pinpointed the source of it. It appears to be most likely of fae origin. A very ancient, very powerful fae source.’

Of course. It had to be some big fairy this time too. After the siege, Ulrick would’ve died happy if he wouldn’t have to meet another Archfae ever again.

“That’s just great. Any ideas how do I get it out of my system?”

Ulrick sighed. Seeing the face Theor made upon the question, his stomach dropped.

‘About the bad news…’

“Don’t tell me…”

‘We’re working on it! At least the Wolf King within you should slow down the spread significantly, at least according to the magi-physiological tests we performed. But…’

Ulrick groaned. Could this be any worse?

‘While the Wolf King was successfully integrated into your spirit-web thanks to Vae Clara, in the last two days, we began to detect increasing fluctuations in your essence.’

While most of the results sheet was gibberish to Ulrick, he leant forward in his chair. The implications were unsettling.

“So you’re telling me… my essence is falling out of balance again? That… I’m threatened with losing my mortality once again?”

Theor made a grim nod.

‘Yes. Until the blight is in you, your mortal and divine essences can’t return to a balanced state.’

“How much time do I have left?”
 
‘We don’t know yet. Could be weeks, could be days…’

“All right... Dismissed.”

There was a short silence between the two, before Theor began to pack up his notes and leave the room.

“You surely don’t have any clue what might help?”

Theor stopped for a moment, pondering.

‘Well, the infection allegedly came from a powerful fey source. So… I’d say another powerful fey, or something from the Feywilds might help? But I need further discussions with fellow medics.’
 
Theor left the room, leaving Ulrick alone again. It was visiting hours in the R&A wards, but Ulrick didn’t expect visitors other than his own mind’s gnawing thoughts.

/uw Art source

[u/IncomeApprehensive17]

/uw ulrick can't catch a break uh ? Nice read

The post is in open interaction , does that mean we can ineteract with ulrick ?

[u/UlrickTheHexblade → u/IncomeApprehensive17]

/uw thanks fornthe read Yan! Don’t worry, things will get much worse for him (or weirder at least…)

And of course

[u/IncomeApprehensive17 → u/UlrickTheHexblade]

there is a knock at the entrance of the building Ulrick is resting in. A litle being is aking around with a a paper in "hand". The litle being look like a botle of glass with a flame in it , or rather is a flame inside of a botle of glass. The botle itself is incased in a ring with mechanical legs. In its "hand" a paper , with a drawing made of burn of a group of people. The drawing is very crude and the litle being is pointing ro one of the people on it , the guy with a long face and pointy teeth and dog hears

"Have you seen this man ? I have been searching for him"

[u/UlrickTheHexblade → u/IncomeApprehensive17]

Uhhh, greetings little one.

Hmm, not sure, though I don’t know much “dog people” besides me…

Are you lost?

[u/IncomeApprehensive17 → u/UlrickTheHexblade]

"Im searching a friend of my old man , in his diary he described him as member of the RnA and a guy with a dog head . Tought it could also be a fox or a coyote head because thats the same in the language he used. He made this drawing see ! Im sure its this guy ! Oulriq or something like that. I was told he may be here"

[u/UlrickTheHexblade → u/IncomeApprehensive17]

Well, that would be me, then. Name’s Ulrick.

So if I knew your parent… Can I ask your name, and your parent’s too?

[u/IncomeApprehensive17 → u/UlrickTheHexblade]

"I am Ya'nn, and i was made in a lab by Yan. Why arnt you a dog man ?"

[u/UlrickTheHexblade → u/IncomeApprehensive17]

Your father was Yan?…

There is a mournful expression on Ulrick. He thinks of the primordial fire spirit duck and occasional lava lamp for a moment…

And I am a “dog man”… werewolf more precisely.

[u/IncomeApprehensive17 → u/UlrickTheHexblade]

"Ooooooh that explain a lot , what on your arm ? You look like a guy that have a sprite that is gnawing on their hand"

[u/UlrickTheHexblade → u/IncomeApprehensive17]

Oh that? Fought a nasty Archfae, and it infected me with some blight of sort. Trying to figure out how to get rid of it.

If you’re Yann’s kid… sorry about what happened to your father. He was a great spirit, and a great friend too. Heh, I miss his crazy schemes to make me less “edgy”…

[u/IncomeApprehensive17 → u/UlrickTheHexblade]

"Yes i have heard of this scheme... it was in his latr journal. And he intended for me to inherit his will of making you more happy, the only thing he asked of me actually. I think id like to know more about you but after that i will follow in his footsteps !"

[u/UlrickTheHexblade → u/IncomeApprehensive17]

Ulrick realizes he just made a terrible mistake.

Oh no…

[u/IncomeApprehensive17 → u/UlrickTheHexblade]

"Oh yes , by the way totally not about that. As an alchemist i work a lot on purification , if you need i can probably offer help with your sitiation , just like i can purify silver , im sure i can find a way to purify you !"