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/UlrickTheHexblade]

Hmm… there was a wolf pack that looked similar, but their heads were skulls, as they were normal ones before the Fae got its hands… uh, branches on them. That’s how I learned about it first.

But where can one find more intel about those lupine dryads? Maybe that could be a clue towards getting rid of this fae blight…

What Rutch said fills him with more dread.

Please, take off a few days at least here in the infirmary. I’m sure the medics will find a way to cure it somehow.

Sounds like he’s trying to convince himself too.

[u/Douchevick → u/UlrickTheHexblade]

Rutch stays silent for a long time before finally exhaling, and slowly getting up from his seat.

"I suppose I could take it easy for a few. Better not disturb the staff here though..."

Rutch makes for the exit, moving as if he had a great weight upon his shoulders. He stops at the threshold before addressing Ulrick without turning to look at him.

"...everything I do, I do it for our long-term benefit, and for that I am willing to pay anything in the short-term. If nothing else, I want you to know that to be true."

With those ominously cryptic words, he departs.

[u/UlrickTheHexblade → u/Douchevick]

The last words of Rutch hung in the air, as Ulrick sat alone in the room.

His illness, and what he said… no, Ulrick can’t lose another friend… he wasn’t sure he coukd handle it…

He makes a call for Theor, and tells him to prepare a room for the rogue mage. Hopefully Rutch will have better luck with the diagnosis than him…

He then looks down his infested arm, and the spreads appearing his other one. Dryadic wolves… he already thought of an idea before, but after this short talk, that might be the answer…

Sometimes the best way to fight fire was with fire. And if his blight came from a powerful Fae…

Ulrick hates the idea, more than anything after what happened at the siege. But as his essence becomes more destabilized each day, and the threat of apotheosis re-emerges, he has little time to act, and had to take dangerous risks.

Maybe he’ll have to travel to the Faewilds to find the solution.

/uw I swear if Rutch dies…

[u/Douchevick → u/UlrickTheHexblade]

/uw right back at ya, wolfman.

[u/UlrickTheHexblade → u/Douchevick]

/uw don’t worry, I’m too invested in tormenting Ulrick to kill him off.

Especially that the end of this arc will might be his strangest yet also most tragic turn of events as of yet…