Chapter 22 A Fish in a Bowl
****Article Format****
Mystery Illness Causes Unprecedented Hospitalizations
Kirland James
Over the last week, temple hospitals around the country have had an influx of patients. According to Healer Hilderbrand of Amoris Temple Esau, "We are at capacity, our sister temples are trying to help with the influx of patients but I am uncertain how long we can keep going without further aid from the government."
Healers are working around the clock but to little good. The first patients of this illness were hospitalized roughly around the same time thirteen days ago. The only connecting factor is that every patient had been to King Gustav's Island within the last year. Many of whom were winners in the kingdom-wide lottery.
There was an initial conclusion that this illness only affects those who'd been to The Island. However, this week has proven that theory wrong. Children and young people from around the country suddenly, and with very little warning, began falling ill.
"There seems to be no end in sight," says Hilderbrand as he motions to the rows of cots filling the temple's hallways. "My advice is to stay away from the infected, don't try to care for them at home, make certain they get to a temple immediately. This is a life-threatening illness that should not be taken lightly."
He goes on to discuss how they are uncertain how the illness spreads but is adamant about cautionary measures. Initial symptoms are a prolonged rash followed by increasingly high fever and intense pain.
"All the medical temples in the kingdom are working together on this. It is our top priority but we are being hampered by bureaucratic nonsense from the capital. We need help. We need equipment. We need answers and as of now we aren't getting anywhere," Hilderbrand sighs as he pulls the sheet over a young woman. There are more covered cots in the halls than there are living patients.
The advice of this reporter is not to wait. If you suspect that you may be falling ill don't wait. Time could be a deciding factor in survival.
Young People Target for Virus
Kirkland James
It has been two weeks since the initial reports of the mysterious illness that has racked this nation first came to light. Originally, it was thought that only people who'd visited King Gustav's Island were infected. Now it is believed that those from The Island only exhibited symptoms first due to the unique vaccinations they received during their visits. The vaccinations, meant to keep the people safe, seem to be the focus of recent studies.
At this time most researchers believe it to be a virus. How the virus is spread is unclear but it is thought that carriers of the virus may seem well for weeks until the initial signs of the plague manifest. During this period carriers may unknowingly transfer the virus to others around them.
Schools have been shut down in the wake of this epidemic. School-aged children are the most affected by this plague. Close contact between the children may have led to the unusually high infection rate among the young.
There is some weight behind this theory since many of the initial victims were school teachers and nurses who'd been to The Island after winning the kingdom-wide lottery last summer. Patient Zero, the first recorded patient of this epidemic, was a secondary school teacher from Frendrick's Cove. However, it should be pointed out that it is unlikely that Patient Zero spread the plague single-handedly. Cities around the kingdom have reported on their own 'patient zeros'.
Healers urge parents to keep their children home. Don't do any unnecessary traveling and stay out of busy shopping centers. While it is likely that those infected have been so for weeks healers urge utmost caution during these times.
While healers are giving sound advice the capital remains silent on the issue. Giving a brief statement of condolence yesterday King Gustav stated that he is working with his top researchers to formulate a plan of action.
A little too late for the mother of Gregory Tippens who had to bury her 5-year-old son this morning.
"I'm angry, I'm so angry. This never should have happened. If they knew The Island was dangerous they never should have let people on it to begin with." Margory Tippens referred to the initial reports of The Island's unique vaccinations being a cause.
She urged for testing of all the visitors that had been to The Island. Her plan isn't a bad one and healers are in the process of checking all the visitors to see if they show signs of the plague. It is slow going though since the influx of patients has all the medical temples filled to capacity. This reporter hopes that these cautionary measures will finally bring an end to this epidemic.
Monsters Overrun Farming Town Few Survivors
Lord Abernathy Hollowood
The town of Little Haddox, south of North Haddox, has been overrun by monsters. There are a few survivors but refugees have found little welcome.
The plague still rages through the country and Inns and Boarding houses have been shut down to discourage travel.
"We haven't been able to find many adventurers willing to head out under the circumstance," says Guild Leader Morrow of North Haddox.
The plague combined with the travel ban has made keeping the monster population manageable difficult. Little Haddox is not the first town that has been attacked in recent weeks, but it is the first to fall completely.
"You can't fight monsters when your family is dying around you," says one middle-aged survivor who wishes to remain anonymous. "I've buried three of my children and my mother. My wife is pregnant with our fourth child. My job is to farm. I am a farmer. I can beat off a Goblin or two but when they come in groups of ten or twenty? No, no man without training would be able to fight them off alone. It kills me to leave the farm during plantin', but we have no choice."
Our anonymous source is camped out on the outskirts of North Haddox. A camp of refugees unwelcome in the city. Supplies and necessary items are supplied but once simple things like medical care and rooms at an inn are denied them.
"It's only going to get worse without the plantin'," he tells me as he shakes his head.
If the trend continues, he may just be right. Cities like North Haddox rely on the little farming towns for their source of food. It is feared that if the farms aren't planted on time food shortages may occur come this summer and fall.
Attack on the Prince- 19 Men to be Hung
Prince Ayman Kingsman Duke of Elderbourgh was on his way to North Bridgeway for the Annual Spring Boat Festival when his party was set upon by a ban of supposed thieves. Two guards and one assailant was killed in the squirmish. It is reported that it was a close affair until Lady Margot stepped in.
Many will remember the scandal when Prince married his adventuress wife. Lady Margot Kingsman was a world-renowned adventurer in her day. Achieving a Guild ranking of A at a very young age then shocking the world when she decided to retire to marry.
"You forget just how strong she is," says Lord Karl Louertin head guard in charge of Prince Ayman and his family. "She looks like a frail old grandmother and you forget that she could blast the entire squad away if she had a mind to."
Lady Margot is well known for her healing skills. She was given an honorary ladyship separate from her married titles for her work during the Obsidian Wars. However, it is often forgotten that Lady Margot gained her A ranking due to her proficiency at Lightning and Air Magic. It is no exaggeration to say that she could blast away entire squads in the battlefield then back to the healing tents to mend the wounded.
"But young folk, they forget themselves," Lord Karl says in his statement. "If we, her guard can forget, I guess it's to be expected that the young folk who didn't live through that war should forget."
When Lady Margot stepped out of her carriage a young 'thief' fell upon her and was unceremoniously blasted into the trees. This would be the last casualty. Lady Margot quickly stunned the rest of the attackers.
"The entire attack, from beginning to end, was only three minutes. Two of our men fell immediately due to surprise and it left us struggling to fight off the band of twenty."
After questioning, it was determined that the 'thieves' were not thieves at all. Highway robbery, even of a Prince, has a far lesser charge than intentional assassination.
But these men were not trained assassins. They were everyday working men from nearby towns.
Why were normal men trying to kill the Prince?
"We believe it stems from this idea that people who'd been to The Island are plague carriers," says Lord Karl.
There have been mixed reports, from this paper as well, as to what first started the epidemic that began only a few short weeks ago and has decimated the population. Many still believe that it is The Island that is responsible for the Plague. However, that has been denied by official sources since the majority of those who have succumbed to the illness had never been on, or in contact with anyone who had been on, The Island.
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Still, superstition and misinformation abound and this isn't the first such case of attacks of Island survivors in recent days.
Lady Sarah Awther, daughter of Earl Awther of Wren Haven was found killed in her cell in Amberley Prison on Saturday. She was jailed this winter for another attack on Prince Ayman. She was due to be released after one year served.
It is unclear who the assailant was in Lady Sarah's case but the King's Own has taken on the investigation. The King's Own only step in on cases where it is impossible for the local guard to take on the investigation due to conflicting interests.
The case of Prince Ayman's would-be assassins is clear though. 19 men will be hung at the end of the week. There is no rule or leeway in the law that would allow for any lesser sentence. It is a sad case since all the men going to the gallows have recently lost a child to the Plague.
There is no consideration for the faulty mental state when it comes to assassination against royal parties. No matter how sad the case or how mislead they were.
Come Friday, there will be 19 new widows will be placing their husbands' ashes inside the family tombs beside their children.
In most cases of assassination, this right familial respect is not given. However, it is said that Prince Ayman himself requested the exemption saying. "These men are as much victims of the Plague and its aftermath as their children."
It is yet to be seen how the waves of aftermath will yet infect the Amber Kingdom.
Nutritional Needs Met by Guild in Major Port Cities
The recent food riots around the kingdom has caused the Guild to take action. As of Monday, Food pantries will be opened to the needy at all Guild locations in all major cities.
The Guild of Amber Kingdom has used its unique merchant system to pull surplus foodstuffs from other kingdoms. This surplus will come at a cost to the kingdom but will be free to the needy.
One visit per week per family for as long as the food crisis lasts or until they run out of surplus. Every family will be guaranteed a ration of flour, salt, and miscellaneous other grains. Miscellaneous salted monster meat will also be available in abundance for those not opposed to eating it. Animal meat will not be available but bags of dried fruit and nuts may be substituted for the meat.
"There is no reason for any citizen to go hungry now," Guild Master Hemilich says. "If someone is hungry they can just come here. I understand the fear of not wanting to venture out during this time, but needs must be met."
The Guild will be handing out food between the hours of 10 am to 4 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Each family will have to sign a register and show their citizenship papers to receive their weekly allotment.
Plague Ridden and the Islanders to be Quarantined for Safety
Murders around the country lead to a voluntary quarantine among those who've been to The Island. The uninfected are to be sent back to The Island by the end of the week. They will be joined by the few survivors who are infected.
"This is for everyone's overall safety until more is known," says Island director Mr. Reince.
The Island has top of the line research facilities that are easily converted into medical wards. Volunteer healers will follow on the boats.
"As of yet there have been no attacks on the plague-ridden, but considering the volatile climate surrounding the misinformation..."
I stopped reading. Well, of course, no one tried to kill any of the plague victims. No one in their right mind would want to do anything that would piss off the gods. Committing murder in a healers temple was bound to piss a few of them off. No, no one wanted that.
But where were the gods? Surely, something as bad as this epidemic was enough to have them intervene? They didn't do it often but when they did it was usually a somewhat positive outcome. It really depended on which god decided to help. Some gods liked the misery a good plague would cause. None of the major ones, of course, but not all gods were sunshine, sparkles, and baby lambs.
Maybe they were intervening but in more subtle ways? There wasn't anything in this huge pile of papers to suggest that a god or two had decided to take a walkabout in plague-infested Amber Kingdom. So perhaps they were working more behind the scenes. It was better than thinking they had been abandoned entirely.
I pushed away from the table and using the wheelchair rolled to the window. I was told Mom was somewhere up there on the hill. Among all the trees of the dense forest. Maple had survived. They'd been quick to tell me that, but she was immobile. Why she was immobile they hadn't been very clear. They sort of skipped over the topic with words like hardened joints and barking. What the hell was barking?
I could get around in the chair for certain lengths of time but eventually had to be submerged into my tank. I was told that a wheelchair would be unable to traverse the terrain to get to Mom. So I was stuck.
I hadn't had any contact with any of the other survivors at all. If I didn't know better, I'd swear I was the only one. They were keeping me secluded. Watching my every move, analyzing my every sneeze. The only female water type. I was some sort of super rare creature they wanted to keep all to themselves. Caged... bowled...tanked?
I was caged. Not quite a jail but still my freedoms had been greatly limited to wheeling myself around the small building that had been refurbished to house the incoming water types. Even then they'd designated the smallest building to the water types. Somehow they knew that the survival rate would be nearly nill.
You could see the huge complex up on the hill if you turned the chair enough. That was where the earth types were. Well, where they started. They eventually ended up in the forest. Did monsters harass them there? She would have to remember to ask.
This had originally been a research lab to study the unique monsters of The Island. The Volcano with its surplus of unusually colored Fire Lizards were the initial draw. Imagine, Fire Lizards living in a Volcano. Normally, they stalked the southern deserts. It really was amazing to find them living in a volcano. Not many creatures could withstand the temperatures.
Now the volcanic research lab was home to the fire types. The fire types, when they weren't bursting into flame, tended to like being around the volcano and remarkably the Fire Lizards liked them. They became like pet dogs to the fire types.
Aggie, Agatha my nurse, had told me that the fire types wouldn't ever be allowed to leave The Island. Something about the fire transformation made them go 'balmy', as Aggie put it. They weren't quite insane but they were so caught up in the fire that they forgot that humans weren't meant to burst into flames. They were incurable pyromaniacs, every single one so obsessed with the flames that they forgot all else around them.
I figured that it had to be bad for them to make that assertion so early on. Incurable. Well, the entire lot of the survivors seemed to be incurable. Who wouldn't be changed to some degree over this? I think I was personally still in a state of shock.
It had been three days since I'd woken and it still didn't seem real. None of this seemed real. I felt like I should wake up any second and discover that this was all a really vivid sick dream.
Shock.
Or denial.
Take your pick. Either really worked. I didn't really want to be faced with the realities of the situation. I wanted to forget that my legs were gone and that for the few hours I spent in my chair I paid for it by having to stay submerged in my tank for double that amount of time.
The skin on my inner elbow began to itch. That was the first sign that I needed to get back into the water. If I waited, my skin would really start to itch then start to flake off like a bad sunburn. I wondered what would happen if I pushed myself past that point, but I was never allowed to try. Aggie always appeared from somewhere and would take control of my chair. She'd scold me for waiting so long and would help me into my tank.
I knew they were always watching even now when I was seemingly alone. I wasn't sure how they were watching but I knew they were. Suicide. Many survivors offed themselves. I couldn't really blame them to be honest. It had occurred to me as well. What sort of life would I lead now?
My depressive spiral took many forms but anxiety over the future was paramount. Was I one of the survivors that wouldn't be allowed to leave? I certainly wouldn't be able to maintain the life I'd been leading.
I had money now, though and a growing business. The money may be able to buy a way around the necessities of life. I did have a house that had close access to the ocean and running water fed from its own well. I could have a tank built in the house and use a wheelchair to get around the rest of the town. Sure, upper floors would forever be problematic.
Or I could sell the house? But the orchards on the land really were perfect for the business.
There was a lot of land there. It might even be possible to build a completely new home that would be easier for me to get around in. Turn the main house into a boarding house. That could work.
The money would honestly open up possibilities for me that I never would have had otherwise. If we were the old poor family we once were then there would be no way to integrate myself back into society. I'd probably have to go off and live my life in one of those secluded temples filled with old woman who did nothing but pray for the sins of others. I'd have to live off charity.
Or the ocean. Presumably, I could swim. I hadn't tested out my tail yet, but I could breathe just fine underwater. Though it wasn't really breathing just sort of sucking water in and out of the gills I now had behind my ears. I could also see underwater with the second eyelid closed, just like Aggie said.
So I could, in theory, live in the ocean. If I could find food, shelter, and if I wasn't afraid of being accosted by a Kraken. Damn menace were Kraken. Harmless for the most part but had an unusual curiosity that caused them to get into trouble with the merchant ships.
I could just picture a Kraken coming by to investigate my underwater home one day. Spare a cup of sugar neighbor?
Chuckling a bit at myself at the image of a Kraken housewife trying to wrangle three Kraken kids only to discover she'd run out of sugar.
Sometimes it was the absurd that kept us sane. Stopped us from overthinking. From falling into that folly of what-ifs.
"Nice to see you cheery today 00938." A small woman with dark hair, a large stooping nose, and eyebrows too big for her face walked in carrying the telltale clipboard. One of the many researchers, orderlies, or healers that infested the building. One of my watchers.
00938, it was what they called me. Never Rille. Sometimes Aggie would call me Honey and other pet names but never my real name. She'd explained about so many people dying it was better for the healer's mental health to just refer to the patients by number rather than name. Someone with a name was a person, someone with a number could be treated like just another body in a list of dying.
When I pointed out that I wasn't going to die at this point, or at least I was fairly confident I was in the clear. Aggie mentioned the suicides and the ones who develop mental corruption. It was best to keep an emotional distance even if it did seem like a patient was going to pull through the plague. You never knew what state their mind would be in after. Even healers couldn't fix defects of the mind.
I understood why the number system was in place but it still grated on my nerves to be addressed as a number. I was a person. I had a name. It had only been a few days and I was already beginning to feel less human, the physical changes didn't help that.
"You have friends that have been inquiring about you. It will be up to you whether or not you would like to meet with them," the anonymous woman told me looking at her clipboard.
"My mother?" I asked her. She was the only one I knew that would want to meet with me, but I'd been told that was impossible.
"Hum, no." The woman glanced up and gave me a pitying look. "They say they are your friends and would like to invite you to have lunch with them in the nursery."
The nursery? There was a nursery?
I must have looked as confused as I felt since the woman continued.
"Two women, 00707 and 48306. They insist they know you."
"The numbers mean nothing to me," I said frankly.
"I see," the woman looked at the clipboard again then back up. "A Miss Maize and a Mrs. Marcy Cooperwrite. It is the later that has recently had a child and thus has requested lunch in the nursery."
"Oh, yes," I exclaimed.
Marcy and Maize were here. I had mixed emotions. I was glad they were here but at the same time horrified that they were here. Them being here meant they had the plague as well. They'd lived through it. I was glad my friends were here but I rather wished they were safe on the other side of The Island with the uninfected.
"You will have to go back into your tank now if you want to come out again for lunch," the woman tucked her clipboard under her arm and strode to my chair. Unceremoniously, she began to push the chair back to my room. It was rather too abrupt and forceful to me, but I didn't complain. She was right about my having to spend time in the tank in order to go out again for lunch.
I couldn't stay out long or my skin began to flake itch and I would start coughing because the air was too dry. I hadn't yet pushed my limits on how long I could stay out and it seemed that my watchers wouldn't let me test that either.