I lay there, bleeding and moaning, struggling to get a healing potion into my mouth. My opponent, so far as I could see, was doing the same. These weren't the high potions, that worked instantly; I had no access to those. I had a moment of dread – did my opponent have such access?
Between bouts of sneezing blood, I managed to swallow.
My feet, I dimly remembered I had to get my feet beneath me. No, not curled like that. Stand.
Oh gods, why? It seemed like such an effort.
But my opponent was leveraging his lance as a crutch. I knew I couldn't let him rise first.
"Commoners may not touch the steps of the king's altar!" the Throne Lurker said. Hadn't I just learned his name? Stupid [Concussion]. At least there was no [Brain Damage]; his name would return to me in time.
If I could stand. If I didn't die before then.
Using the forbidden steps, I pushed myself to a sitting position. From there…
So, Charisma score or not, I hope that the glaring mistakes of etiquette are apparent. To you the reader; Rhishisikk... isn't used to high court life yet.
I wasn't intending this to be an entire chapter on its own, let alone extend into next. My goal is to get things on the road, both literally and figuratively.
As always, thank you for your continued readership. If I'm coughing up blood, I'll take the healing potion, please and thank you. But when I'm not, your support means more to me than a healing potion that'll just go bad with the next shift of the moon.