บท 416: The Plague (1)
"Narsis, Morrowind*
In the middle of an encampment stationed in the main plaza of Narsis, a lot of people and Hlaalu guards were running in and out carrying other people and medical supplies.
"Krilon! Krilon! That girl is dying!" Mirren ran in carrying a small Dunmer child.
"Dammit! Put her down. She needs cold water... Cool down the fever at all costs. Use Frost Spells on the water and then put the girl in slowly. Listen, Folks, your top priority is to cool the damn fever down. Until we know what we're dealing with, no one leaves the quarantine zone."
"Sir Krilon. We're having a situation." A Hlaalu Guard came running.
"Out with it."
"Some people inside the city are trying to break out?"
"Sick or not sick, no one goes in Narsis and no one goes out. If a single rat sneaks out then the whole damn Morrowind is fucked." Jon shouted.
"But Sir... These are Hlaalu Family members." The Guard said.
"Mirren, leave the girl to a nurse and go break their noble legs."
"Sir..."
"On it." Mirren didn't even argue.
"Galam, what the fuck are you doing?" Jon shouted.
"I... I think I'm sick too." Galam, who was lying on a mattress, said with a weak voice.
"Do you want to eat so bad or not to eat all? Do you have sores on your body?"
"No... but I feel like shit."
"Then don't lay your ass down here. You have a Filter Mask and if you feel ill, drink up a Prevention Potion. I want all hands on deck!"
Jon shouted in the people helping him take care of the ill and kept checking a tent after tent.
"Krilon!" Isha came running to him.
"How can I help?"
"Krilon... this is terrible. It's Miranda... she fell ill."
"Dammit."
***
*3 Days Earlier - on the road to Narsis*
A Carriage pulled by four Guars traveled on the road to Narsis surrounded by a number of guards on guarbacks and horsebacks. Jon rode on Joergen near the carriage and greeted the ladies inside. These were Old Cat and her granddaughter Karly as well as Nefertiti taking a nap on the Old Woman's lap.
"Must be nice going out of Mournhold, Old Cat." Jon spoke to the women in the carriage.
"Yes indeed, my friend. The road to Narsis in this No Man's Land now became like that time when Potema Septim waged war on the Empire all by herself. The girl was maddened by the loss of her son to the point that she cursed the very life itself... What others don't remember was how she forbade death on her bones becoming a Lich. One woman carried by all the rage and envy in the world could do the same damage that was caused by two whole nations in a war. Gives you something to think about." The Old Woman said.
"You've seen the Wolf Queen of Solitude?"
"I fought against her and her son. Poor child was driven by that bad envy of hers. The Ruby Throne... that's what she wanted all her life. Once her son was burnt to death and she fortified herself in Solitude, I was sent to her as a peace envoy. I offered her everything but a cornered wolf who lost her cub hears anything but reason. And for ten years we fought. Ten bloody years that would make the Planemeld and the Oblivion Crisis look like amateur works."
The Old Woman's tone was very remorseful.
"... Wow!" Jon was heart and soul focused on the story.
"You like my tales, Krilon?" Old Cat asked.
"They are actually great. I've recorded them by magic just now."
The Old Woman smiled.
"All is left with for me now is nothing but old bones. If I were younger, I wouldn't have stayed in one place like I do now."
"You are not called the Old Woman of Mournhold for no reason..."
"Aye. That's true." She agreed bitterly.
"... But I tend to disagree." Jon added.
The Old Woman and her granddaughter curiously looked at him.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"Ever heard of the Placebo Effect?" Jon asked.
"No."
"It is when you are suffering from a mild pain for example then I give you some water with lemon on it and tell you this will cure you while in fact, it is just juice."
"I understand now. I did that a lot with my children... hehe. Once..."
"No stories for now, please. Opposite of the Placebo Effect is the Nocebo Effect like when I give you some sour juice and tell you this will make you vomit so you do vomit."
"Aha."
"In both cases, the mind has the power to create its own reality and an effect will appear on the body. Studies show that it appears naturally mostly due to stress as some physical symptoms. But most importantly and like any disorder, it can be contagious.
Of course there are many factors to consider but what we know that in some communities under certain circumstances, an involuntary behavior developed by one person can go viral. Think of something like a Mass Laughing Hysteria or what happens when some bird flocks do some very unnatural but perfectly coordinated movements in the air that researchers can't explain. In the end, it will spread from person to person until the entire community is infected.
By that, if an idea can become an illness and the illness becomes an infection. Think of this... From the Dawn Era to the Fourth Era and throughout the communities of Tamriel, what else about our reality is just an Illusion?"
The Old Woman looked at Jon as if no sound other than his was in the world. She pondered over it and tried to answer his question but wasn't really able to pinpoint a certain idea. In the end, she gave up.
"What is do you consider an Illusion?" She asked.
"Hehe! You know, a Dunmer should answer this Question before any other race on Tamriel just like that." Jon said and snapped with his fingers.
"Then give me time to think." She said.
"As you wish."
"What is that about anyway? How could you put together those ideas?" She asked.
"I'm writing a book." Jon replied.
"A book?"
"Yes. A book about the Magical Psychology. The logical lies and the daring ideas about the magic and the world." Jon said.
The idea of a book written about some crazy obscure subjects like these will be crazy. Knowing that Krilon is Jon Dare, Winterhold's College prodigy, the Old Woman thought of something right away.
"Finish that book before your Labour ends, show it to me, and I'll put you in the Central Hall of Shad Astula Academy to give a lecture and make a discussion about the book with the High Mages over there."
"... Shad Astula Academy... Well, I'll take you up on that."
"Humph! You have to worry about your end of the bargain first. Finish that book, my friend."
"Without you saying."
Shad Astula Academy is one of the most important schools in Morrowind which is considered a gathering for free thinkers just like the College of Winterhold. Also, it is one of the places where the old Ebonheart Pact used to train its leaders, mages and high officials and is still used for the same purpose to this very day.
Jon wouldn't miss the chance for the world. But...
"The book I am writing will be published under my real name. Won't that attract bad attention?" Jon asked.
"Remind me what was your surname again?" The Old Woman teased him back.
"Oh! I see... I just got the 'D' word in a very indirect way. Seriously? Fine. You got me there, Old Cat." Jon laughed and rode ahead.
In the carriage, Karly looked at her grandmother with strange eyes.
"Quite the guy that one. What is his real identity?" She asked.
"I don't disclose information about my friends." The Old Woman said.
"Friends? Aren't you too old for friends? And I thought most of those died a long time ago."
"Some still are alive. The old playboy around Vvardenfell and my friend who sends me gifts from Akavir."
"Hahaha! You really an impression on some strange people despite how wrinkly you've grown."
"What should I say, granddaughter. When I was younger, I was good... very good."
"Hmm... About how many hundred years ago... Why are we stopping?"
The two looked around to see themselves still in the middle of nowhere. Jon's voice sounded talking to someone in the front then he came to the carriage with a Dunmer man.
"Old Cat, this man is Hlaalu Guard. He's carrying a message to you." Jon said.
Beside Jon appeared a Dunmer who seemed to have been through Oblivion.
"Speak, son. What's going on?" Old Cat asked.
"My Lady, thank Azura you're here. Narsis... there is an epidemic taking over the town."
"An epidemic?" The Old Woman tensed all of a sudden.
"What epidemic?" Karly asked.
"We don't know." The man said.
"Tell them the symptoms." Jon urged.
"Yes, around a week ago, some people became very hungry all of a sudden. They ate like pigs and developed a mild fever with slight aches. Four days after, that fever became very high and they refused to eat at all. They also developed some open sores and fell to extreme pain."
"Oblivion!" Karly was horrified.
"I don't know what epidemic is that but you may have just described the Llodos Fever. It should just go with some local herbs and would take weeks to develop a second stage. It is not that contagious either. How on Nirn did a Spring Fever become that violent?" The Old Woman self monologued.
"What should we do? We can't enter an area with such an epidemic." Jon said.
"Too late. You just came across someone who came from the place." Galam said pointing at the man.
"Galam is right. We need to rush to Narsis at this rate."
The Old Woman made a decision and the convoy moved. Narsis was about to witness the harshest spring on Tamriel.
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