Timmean Finally Gets Iron-Knee

[Horns]

(OOG: I'm unsure about timestamp for this; it's the 18th at the earliest, if Borin and Horns worked through the night of the 16th, and probably the day of the 17th, then Horns slept the night of the 17th, before the surgery. Could be much later, though)

Horns, refreshed from a good night's sleep and rearing to go, busts into the tavern singing a merry song. He has his medkit over his shoulder and a metal bucket in his hand. Inside the bucket is a pair of tongs and the prosthetic knee. He quickly lays the medkit and bucket down near the door, grabs a pot from under the kitchen counter, and fills it with water. He puts the pot on the stove to heat and turns to Timmean.

"Good morning! Are you ready for the most incredible surgery of the century? The most impressive use of medical skill and ingenuity which has ever graced this place? Are you ready to be the first recipient of a fake, fully functional, knee?" Horns can barely contain his excitement.

[Timmean]

Timmean stares back, dumbfounded at the energy and enthusiasm this surgery his caused; the prospect of being cut open so thoroughly does nothing but fill him with dread. He manages to stammer out, "Uh... s... sure. Just please, knock me out first."

(OOG: I'd put the timestamp around Aug. 22. That leaves a little time between the earlier thread and this one, for the other conversation thread I've got going)

[Horns]

"Of course!" Horns laughs. "This would be much more complicated if you were awake! I wont put you out quite yet; though. I've just got to take care of a few more things!" Horns goes back to singing, and begins setting up the tavern. He lays out a fresh, clean, surgical sheet, and helps Timmean get on top of it. He uses alcohol to sterilize his instruments, including the bucket, knee, and tongs. When the water is hot enough, he then uses it to re-sterilize his instruments, the bucket, and the tongs, but not the knee. The knee he puts in the hot water, which he puts back on the stove, and allows to heat. If Torvallis! is not already in the inn, Horns sends someone to fetch them.

Horns waits about twenty minutes, takes the knee out of the hot water, and puts it in the metal bucket so that it can cool. He doesn't want it to cool completely, as the heat will ensure sterility, but it needs to cool at least somewhat to ensure it does not burn Timmean upon going in. Horns then empties the pot of water, and refills it. He puts the pot back on the stove. He then very thoroughly cleans his hands.

Horns grabs a bandage, a vial and his scalpel from his medkit, kneels next to Timmean, and tells him to lie down. When Timmean is comfortable, he lays the bandage next to his head. Horns finds the carotid artery on the right of Timmean's neck, positions his vial next to it, tells Torvallis! to watch closely, and makes a quick incision. He quickly covers the incision with the opening of the vial, and allows the vial to fill. He waits five seconds (Dealing five damage), as Timmean's brain is being robbed of the oxygenated blood it needs to function. Timmean passes out, and Horns very deftly switches the positions of the vial and the bandage. He applies pressure to the wound he made, and tightly wraps the bandage around the wound, to prevent any further blood loss. He caps the vial, labels it "Human Mage Blood: Five Units", and moves himself and his medkit over to Timmean's knee.

Horns cuts down Timmean's knee, starting slightly above it and ending slightly below it. He then cuts horizontally next to those end points, so that he can move the skin away, giving himself an unobstructed view of the bones, muscles, and most importantly, bone-shards.

He starts with the largest shard; it wasn't particularly large, but it was the largest, and it was relatively in place. Horns first cuts the tendons which connected the bone to the quadricep muscles, and the ligaments which connected it to surrounding bones. When finished, he lays his scalpel in a metal bowl he had laid beside him, picks up the shard of knee, and lays it in the bowl as well. Horns then picks up his tweezers and beings picking out the shards, one by one.

Most of the shards were close to where they should be, and unconnected to any tendons and/or ligaments. These he simply grabs with the tweezers and drops in the bowl. Some where still connected to connective tissue, so he disconnects the tissue with his scalpel, grabs the shards with his tweezers, and places them with the rest. Others, still, were farther from the area than they should have been. Horns grumbles something about Timmean moving more than he was supposed to and rounds those up, as well, although he has to increase the size of the incision above and below the kneecap.

Certain that he had found all the shards, Horns moves to the most exciting part; the metal knee.

Horns brings his hand close to the surface of the metal, still sitting in its bucket, to check it's temperature. Deciding it was cool enough to not burn Timmean, Horns grabs the knee with the tongs and places it in the appropriate spot. Grabbing his tweezers again, Horns reattaches the tendons to the knee, slowly, one by one. Then, the ligaments, in the same fashion. He finishes up with the them and moves back, to ensure everything looked good. He then got closer, to double check the position of the connective tissue, and to see if there was anything he had missed. Nodding, he folds the skin back over the area, threads a needle, and sews up the wound.

Very tired, but exhilarated, Horns gathers his tools and moves them up onto the table. He turns to Torvallis! and says, "You're up! I need you to sew up the incision I made in his neck using the technique you would use in the field. Then, I want you to finish healing him using the standard medical techniques. Meanwhile, I'll watch you and clean my surgery supplies with the water, and afterwards I'll see how well you did. Got it?"

------

(OOG: "The technique you would use in the field," if that wasn't clear, is the Medic 3 ability to raise someone to 1 HP in 1 minute while not in a sterile environment.)

[Torvallis!]

Torvallis! nodded and picked up their needle and began working, sewing the careful way that Horns had shown them on some leather scraps a few days ago. After a little longer than a minute, they nodded, satisfied at their work.

With a quick glance at Horns to confirm, they then refreshed the operating theatre to make it sterile again, and began using more complicated techniques. After 5 more minutes, Torvallis! called over to Horns:"I think I've done a mostly good job and that he's almost fully able again, what do you think? Have I done a good job so far, and should I finish it up or let you tend to the last bit to make sure he's in the best shape possible?" ((OOG: I do believe Timmean should be at 4HP? 1HP from field medic and then 3HP from 5 minutes work from medic 3))

[AD]

((OOG: Yup, Tim's at 4HP)

[Horns]

Horns finishes up with his cleaning and kneels back down next to Torvallis! and the wound. "This is very good!" Horns smiles. "Very, very good. This isn't a criticism, but more of a suggestion; it would be easier for you if you did fewer stitches; you don't necessarily need as many as you have. Also, the end of your field-stitch seems a little rushed; make sure you take your time. The stitch is fine, but rushing yourself can cause bad results." Horns then looks more closely. "Also, here, in some of your complicated stitches, you need to go a little deeper." Horns snips the offending stitches and resews them himself, to demonstrate. "Notice that I use a little more force than you might expect; skin is thicker and tougher than most realize, as I'm sure you noticed." Horns, now showing off, finishes the wound with a particularly complicated stitch his father showed him when last Horns saw him. "There, good as new! And a very good showing, Torvallis!! I am very impressed." Centering his attention at the likely-groggy but newly-healed Timmean, Horns says, "How do you feel?"

------

(OOG: I'll now sign off on Medic 2 and Medic 3 for Torvallis!! Also, Timmean should be at full health, now.)

[Timmean]

Timmean blinks and raises his left hand to wipe his eyes. After taking a moment to think and to slightly flex a few muscles, he answers: "Light-headed, mostly. And a bit stiff, around my leg and neck. But overall, not too bad. Ahh..." He reaches into his mana pouch and draws out an earth mana. Touching it to his chest, he utters, "The earth will heal you (4 points). Ahh, there... that's much better. I don't mean to undermine your medical skills, but I'd rather speed up the natural healing process."

(OOG: with everything now in approximately in the right place, what would the result of that spell be?)

[AD]

((OOG:The spell is now healing as it should))

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