| A Question of Snot |
| Summary: | Mortimer seeks Dania's advice |
| Date: | Oct/2012 |
| Related Logs: | None |
| Players: |
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| Various, Terrick's Roost |
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| Streets and Keelin's Cottage. |
| Fri Sep 28, 289 |
It's almost the weekend. Not that that actually means much to Mortimer's daily routine but it's still sometimes worth noting. Towards the end of the day he finds himself taking a leisurely stroll through the streets surrounding the town square. He's not out looking for anything in particular, just keeping his eyes and ears open to see what is going on and who is out and about. It's true that he has half an eye open for a certain person, but it seems that the local convicted thief is hard at work elsewhere, or at least elsewhere.
A woman tall and sturdy looking in her appearance moves down the cobbled road. Over her shoulder she carries a saddle bags and over her right arm is satchel. Her long brown hair has been braided and pinned up underneath a wide brim straw hat. She clothing is neat though it does fit her loosely and the weave of the cloth is a little finer than most. As she passes Mortimer she pauses and offers him curtsey. Her blue eyes though hidden the shadow of her hat are bright. "Good day." She says to him in greeting as is polite.
"Mistress Dorsey," Mortimer greets with a respectful nod. Noting the saddle and satchel he asks conversationally, not being in any particular hurry himself, "are you leaving us for a while?" and then, "would you like a hand with those?"
"Yes I will, Ser." Dania tells him. "I am not sure when I will be back this time. Thank you for the offer but I am careful with the bags. How is your day going?" She asks him. "There are other Maesters and other healers here. I just stick out like a sore thumb I suppose. " She smiles as she talks and it adds warmth to her words.
Mortimer smiles back, evidently amused by something. He nods as she declines his offer he then fills her in with what it was that made him grin. "I am afraid I am no knight Mistress, simply an old soldier who now works for the Lord Sheriff." Turning so as he can accompany her for awhile at least and continue the conversation he continues, "I must confess Mistress that while today is going well enough, I had been hoping to find either yourself or the Maester when not busy with other things." Looking faintly apologetic he then adds, "of course, if your travel is urgent then I can try and seek the man out when I am next in the keep."
"Nay it is not that urgent is wanderlust and a heart that needs healing, but it does not cloud my judgment. What can I do for you and how can I help you? I am just wandering from the stables where Sparrow is now eating his grain and apple, you will not be bothering me I promise." She tells him as she walks with him and her smile turns to a grin. "All the better good Master, I have a hard time telling who is who and I have found it better to error on the side of caution."
"Not a bad policy I'll admit," he replies with a smile, after all, people who don't have titles tend to react better to being accidentally given one than those who do react to having them taken away. Back to the matter at hand though he starts to explain. "During the Ironborn invasion, at the Battle of Alderbrook, I decided that the best way to stop a flying handaxe from decapitating the man behind me was to catch it with my own skull." Lifting one hand up to brush away the hair from part of his scalp he tilts his head forward so that she can see the scar should she choose to. "It took a while before I was back on my feet again but since then, and before this past fortnight or so it hasn't bothered me at all. These past two weeks though, well, I've been waking up with headaches, splitting ones."
"Have you had any falls or blows to the head recently?" Dania asks. "Is the pain from the front of the head or the back of the head or around your eyes?" She comes to a halt and if he does come to a halt as well he will find her reaching up to place her hand on his face she presses her fingers lightly against his cheek bones. "Does that hurt?" She asks. She then reaches up to touch his old wound. "Any dropping sickness? Waking up on the floor and finding you had a bit of incontinence? Blackouts or anger?" She asks him. "Would you mind following me back to my brother's cottage or I could follow you home and see what we can do and or we can try to find the root of your issue?"
Mortimer frowns a little as she presses his cheek bones, but it's more out of curiosity than anything else. "A little," he confesses, reaching his own hand up to repeat the experiment himself before answering her other questions. "No trips, falls or blows," he says, thinking back to make sure, "no dropping or any of the other really," shrugging slightly he then adds, "well, I may have been a bit grumpy after waking, but I figured that was just because of the pain itself." As for where to go next he reckons that Ser Keelin's cottage is closer and so indicates that she should lead the way.
"So the pain is to the back of your head or the front or does it feel like it is your eyes and does light bother you?" Dania asks him as she leads the way towards Keelin's cottage. She opens the door and holds it open for him. The place is clean, so clean that stone floor gleams and there are no rushes. There are a few accents here and there that show a feminine touch. Flowers and herbs hang from a drying rack. There is also a clay vase in the middle of a table that is filled with wild flower blooms. She motions for him to take a seat at the table. She puts her satchel and saddle bags down and then she goes to a pitcher and basin to wash her hands with harsh soap. It is almost a ritual for her. She washes her hands with the soap three times. Then she dries them on a clean soft cloth before she goes and puts an apron on. When she is done with that she is back to looking at him with a keen eye.
Mortimer watches silently as the the healer goes through her rituals, it's almost as if his job involves observing. Once she returns to him though he runs through the answers she wants as best he can. "The front," he says simply, and raises his hand to indicate the area immediately around the scar. "I haven't noticed any problems with light, well beyond the same irritation related to having to get up," he ponders that for a moment then shrugs, "I think."
"Are you married? Has your wife or bed warmer as I like to put it noticed anything?" She moves to touch his skull again with her clean hands she gently presses the area around the wound testing and feeling the skull. See if there is anything new. "Head wounds are tricky, but with the pain around your eyes and down by your nose makes we wonder if it could be another issues. But we will get into that in a moment. Head depending on the severity can cause a person grief many moons after the fact. The only explanation that we have for it is that it unbalances the body and causes pressure and pain, sometimes people can even develop the dropping sickness. If you have not hear of it please let me know and I can explain. Have you taken anything for i
"I am," Mortimer replies with a genuine smile, "and she hasn't mentioned anything. I will admit though that neither have I mentioned anything to her." He's mostly hoping to get it all sorted before she notices, she's had enough to worry about this year already he reckons. As for the dropping sickness, "I've heard of it Mistress, and I'm not at all versed in healing arts so have not saught to take anything without guidance from those who are."
"I am going to give you a few things. The first you are to take today and before the headache comes on, preferably the afternoon as it sounds like the headache comes on at night. It is an herb called feverfew it is going to taste horrible but I will give it to you in a tincture form, you can chase it down with a cup of chamomile tea. The next is white willow bark tea, this you take when the headache comes on. If the head ache continues to get worse you must let me know or let a Maester, I was thinking of heading to Herons Hurst. I can be reached. You should let your wife know what is going on in case you blackout" She tells him. "My second thought can be answered by this, what color is your snot when you blow your nose?"
Mortimer listens carefully as the instructions are given. He can probably remember that himself but he's certain that once he tells his better half then she will ensure it, by whatever means she finds necessary. "Afternoon or evening?" he queries, leaning forward a little to rest his elbows on his thighs, "or should I try and vary it to see what works best?" Her question though gives him pause and he actually has to think about that. "I'm afraid it's not something I've been keeping track of," he admits after a few moments, "but I haven't noticed anything odd if that helps?"
"The feverfew in the afternoon for now and the willowbark tea when you feel the headache come on. You can put honey in it to help with the taste." Dania tells him. "If feels like you maybe having another issue happening with the tenderness around your eyes and nose, but we will keep an eye on it. If you do start to have green or yellow snot, boil sea water and snort the water up nose then blow your nose and get it out. You will need to do it three times a day." She tells him. "Do you and your wife read?"
Mortimer looks decidedly uncertain at the idea of snorting salt water. He's been swimming enough to know that salt water stings. He does, reluctantly nod his agreement though, given she is the healer. "I'll watch out," he agrees before then nodding once, "I do, but only a little I'm afraid." Enough to do his job, but he's not going to be winning any speed reading contests.
"I will write the directions down for you, also if you need anything let me know. I will be back in town in a month." Dania tells him as she moves to go and get a quill, ink and parchment of paper. She takes seat and goes to write out the directions for him. her handwriting is neat. "Let me know if they get worse, send word, I am in Heronshurst." She finishes writing it and holds it out to him. "Do you have any questions or concerns?"
"The tincture each afternoon and the tea when it's bad?" Mortimer offers for confirmation that he's got it right in his head. "Then the boiled sea water if needed." He's hoping to avoid that last one but still it's best to get it clear first. He takes the note and slips it into a small pouch on his belt. "What if I run out, the Maester?"
"Herbalist shop, I will give you enough for a the month. I will be back in a month. You can go to the maester if you run out or the herbalist shop." She adds. She looks at him with a gentle look. "I will admit I am worried about you and the headaches. I am serious when I say you need to let someone know if it gets worse." She pauses.
Mortimer can manage either or both of those re-supply options so he just nods before standing up again. "I was told it might trouble me again, although I had hoped that given the months since that I had been lucky. I will talk to the misses tonight though and let her know. I'm sure she'll see me straight."
"I am worried about the dropping sickness. Tell her to watch you at night." Dania says to him. "If you need to I am here for a few more days and you and her are welcome to seek me out." She pauses. "I wish there was more that we could do. There is very little that we can do. We could use silver to help it if you still had hole in that area."
Mortimer is as well, now it's been brought up, but he's not quite ready to admit that yet. To keep the topic of conversation away from that though he replies simply "I would imagine that she will want to speak with you, probably tomorrow as it won't be long before we'll be busy putting the lad to sleep and so on. I'll be sure to send her your way through."
"Do so and I mean it. I am concerned. There are other issues that worry me. But let us start here and see what happens. How is that son of yours?" She asks him. "Is he your only child or are you going to have more kids?" She asks him as she senses he is not wanting to focus on the topic at hand.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire as they say. Reaching up to off-handedly scratch the back of his neck Mortimer answers after a moment, "he's the only one, he had a sister, a twin, but she's.. Well officially she's still missing but after all this time.." Letting his hand drop again he pats the pouch that now contains the instructions and finishes with, "I've probably taken up enough of your time already."
"What happen to her?" Dania asks. She rises from where she was seated and she goes to open a cupboard to get him the tinctures and the herbs he will need. Once they are all gathered up she wraps up the clay jar and gets him the herbs. She then hands them to him. "Here you go my dear." She tells him.
Mortimer finds places to stow the jar and herbs before turning back to face Dania once more. "The Ironborn," he says resignedly, "she got separated as Freya, my wife, not the one who was arrested with the bandits, was making for the keep." A fairly common story it seems, but at least given the twins were only 5 at the time he figures he can rule out some of the least savoury fates. That helps. A little.
"I will keep an eye out for her on my travels. What does she look like and what is her name?" Dania asks him. She looks tired for a moment and then the weariness is gone in a flash. She moves to go and make them both a cup of tea and she also readies him his first dosage of the tincture. "Take seat and take the first dosage of the tincture." She pours the correct amount into a spoon and has him take it. The water is now in the kettle and is starting to boil.
Mortimer shakes his head slowly, "thank you for your offer, it is most kind, but she is gone and we have to face that." He does sit down again though and almost manages not to pull a face at the taste of it. "I fear that you were right, it does taste terrible, does it at least get better with time?"
"No it does not. Tell me about her." Dania tells him as she makes them both a cup of chamomile tea. "This will help the taste." She puts the tea in front of him so he can drink it. "Sometimes talking and remember helps ease the pain." Her voice is gentle.
Mortimer looks confused for a moment or two, then his brain catches up with his ears and he "ahhs" quietly. Looking equal parts embarrassed and awkward. "I'm sorry Mistress," he replies, reverting automatically to the more formal address. "I was meaning the tincture."
"I was commenting on both?" Dania tells him. "The tincture does not get better." She smiles. "The other as well. The loss of the child will ease with time but it still sting." She tells him.
Taking the tea offered Mortimer lets it cool for a moment before having a drink. Not his usual brew but certainly a grand improvement on the tincture. "Then here is to hoping that things will have settled after a this month then," he states simply enough before another question occurs to him, "is there anything I should be avoiding while taking this?" Mostly he's thinking ale, but there could be other things.
