Re: Tricks of the Trade

[Flora the Faun]

Flora stares at Borin, incredulous for a second, before handing him a second bottle of the Orcish intoxicant.

She takes the catgut, scalpel, and the retractors from Keket and fetches a third bottle from her bag as well as a small jar of paste. This bottle has a chunk of limestone at the bottom and bubbles slightly as reagents swirl around the stone. The jar of paste is a blue-black colour and smells of mouldy bread.

[Joy Rosewood]

*Joy looks at the bubbling bottle*

"Uh, vats going on vith ze bottle? Eet appears to be bubbling.. iz zis alchemy? I don't know anyzing about ze alchemy.. und vat are you going to use ze mouldy bread for?"

[Keket]

keket looks on intrested in the bottle-

"ooh thats new what does that do? also that was alot stuff he just had isnt that maybe to much for him?!"

[Flora the Faun]

"Nah, Dwarves are hardy folk. It'll just knock him out, hopefully. This bottle," She says holding up the fizzing limestone "Is in case it doesn't. I usually keep this in a smaller container but since I'm running low on the stuff I decided to whip up a fresh batch. This is chloroform, a nasty concoction made from acidic limestone and alcohol that can instantly knock someone out. If the procedure is minor I try to use alcohol but if I can't knock the person out or if I need to do a long surgery, this little bottle is very handy."

She moves on to the spices, honey, and mould. "These things are to keep away infectious agents. If you leave a wound open to the air it purifies and then bad stuff starts growing in it. Bread moulds, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and honey, all of these can keep out the bad things and help the wound heal faster. Honey also has the added benefit of preventing scar tissue from forming so if we put it on after a surgery the wound closes up nicer."

Flora checks to see if Borin is unconscious.

[Joy Rosewood]

*Joy is taking notes in her diary*

"Zis iz goot, yah, zis iz goot... So how are ve going to fix zat knee?"

[OOG: Chloroform would be a useful substance in game for certain situations...]

[Flora the Faun]

[OOG: Fairly sure chloroform is a Flora-only thing ]

"Well, first we're going to open up the joint and repair the internal knee structures. After that we are going to close up the knee as cleanly as possible and create a splint so that while his knee is healing Borin can still walk around. That's what the metal rods are for. I've got some tough black fabric in my bag we can use keep the splints in place. Its not gonna be to messy as joints are relatively clean but you can bet it will be complicated. Knees and shoulders are the worst joints to repair after spinal injuries.

[Joy Rosewood]

*Joy closes her book and looks at Flora*

"So, iz zere anyzing I can do ven you open up ze knee?"

[Flora the Faun]

"Stop the bleeding with some bandages and failing that, get that iron spike from my bad and heat it up using the fire then apply it to the site to cauterize the wound."

Despite the Orcish brew Borin is still conscious albeit incredibly drunk off his ass. Flora grabs the chloroform and douses a bandage in it. She applies it to Borin's face but after twenty seconds he is still conscious.

"Bloody hell!" she says incredulously. "By sea and tide how are you still conscious!" Frustrated Flora begins punching him in the arm. "Why-*punch*-won't-*punch*-you-*punch*-just-*punch*-pass-*punch*-out-*punch*-dammit-*punch*!" Borin smiles drunkenly and reaches for the Dwarven ale. He misses and falls backwards off the bench. He lands on the ground still conscious. Flora picks up both bottles of "night night juice" and drops them strategically on Borin's head from a height to knock him unconscious. As an added bonus she douses his beard in chloroform.

"Finally!" She drags him onto the bench prepared by Joy.

[Keket]

- keket would be wacthing just abit shocked about the chorlaform - well that's new so what does ... oh oh oh my flora! Holy moons Was that needed! He so drunk he didn't pass out so you hit a bunch? Drop the bottles on him then do that thing again! Do we always have do that?"

- she's looks confused and shocked and slightly amused as she covers her face abit to hide a small smile -

[Flora the Faun]

"Some of it wasn't entirely needed but it was deeply satisfying."

"Now," she says turning to her pile of instruments. "We need to fix that knee." She rolls up Borin's trouser leg to expose his damaged knee. Bone is sticking out.

"Right, we need to make an incision here," she says pointing along the joint line, "and then use the retractors here," she points to the upper flap of exposed skin above the bone. "And here," she points to the lower flap of skin "to open up the joint space." She hands Keket the retractors.

"Heat up that spike Nurse Joy, we are gonna need it." She cleans the knee with alcohol and then begins cutting into the mangled flesh. Blood begins leaking out of the incision.

[Keket]

Keket blinked seeing was going on she hesitated for a min then she to hold Onto the retaours then would do as She was told she'd would go to open up the wound now as blood started to come out of it wacthing closet now to everything new and old making sure to open the right cut as she did so she'd looked at all of what was in side at its at state of mess it was in then to flora-
" oh moons it's a mess in here!"

[Flora the Faun]

"That it is princess, but that's what we are here to do!" Flora has finished making the incision, and, thanks to Keket can now see the inside of the joint, easily lifting up the kneecap. "Come over here Joy and have a look. Right so the meniscus looks torn and the anterior cruciate ligament looks stretched as is the lateral collateral ligament." She points to the ligaments in the centre and on the outside of the knee as well as the rubbery cushions within the joint.

"Our job is to tighten these ligaments using catgut and then shave down the torn bits of the meniscus so it stops catching and causing pain. I'll shave down the meniscus but I'm going to get Joy to take over the retractors once she has that blood controlled and get you, princess, to sew up those ligaments."

[Joy Rosewood]

*Joy quickly gets the iron spike into the fire*

"At times like zis, I vish I had fire magic. Faerie's testicles, vhy von't zis spike heat up faster?"

*She gets some bandages and starts cleaning up some of the blood. She also looks where Flora is pointing*

"Ve don't vant blood going everyvere, ve have to eat here!"

[Flora the Faun]

"Its fine, he won't be bleeding for long." Flora begins shaving down the torn parts of the meniscus. "Its not even that bad, the bleeding has slowed now and the joint space itself is clean. Honestly you should see a femoral artery bleed! A person can die in minutes if that happens!"

[Joy Rosewood]

"Yah, ze bleeding has gone down.. let me do ze retracting now.*

[OOG: To speed this up, I'm assuming Keket is going to hand Joy the retractors]

*Joy gets the retractors from Keket and starts opening up joint space*

[Keket]

-keket now ready to work with Flora after passing the retractors over to joy as shes looks at the seeing shes doing the shaving now shed would start to to sew up the ligaments as shes looks at flora to make sure it was done right-

"like this it looks right"

[Flora the Faun]

"Yup just make sure they are nice and tight. Ligaments stretch naturally so if its too tight now it will relax over time." Flora finishes cleaning up the meniscus and waits for Keket to finish stitching the ligaments.

"I'll take over the retractors Joy. You grab those spices I pulled out, the mould, and the honey and start mixing it into a poultice, a paste like substance. Keket when you are done sewing the ligaments I'll remove the retractors and we'll close up the knee."

[Joy Rosewood]

*Joy gives the retractors to Flora and starts mixing the poultice*

*giggles* "Zis iz so gross. Almost as gross as dissection."

[Keket]

keket would then start to tightly tie up the legments with a good many knots making sure to go over it a seconded time to make sure it was tight as shed made many of knot then cutting it off the catgut that was not needed as shes smiles looking at her work-

"there we go that looks better! not so bad looking that bone hopefully now with that handy work will stay in if not i dont want to swear on the moon!"

-shed said this looking at flora with a smile-

[Flora the Faun]

"That it should. The bone should stay in place now and not come out of the knee joint, and once this laceration is cleaned up it shouldn't poke out through the skin." Flora then hands a finer thread of catgut to Keket and a fresh needle.

"Ok I'm going to get you to close up the knee once I get the kneecap back in place." She then removes the retractors and brings the flap of muscle containing the kneecap back down. She sews the muscle fibres of the patellar tendon back into place and lowers the skin down on top of it. "All yours princess." Flora winks at Keket and makes room for her to close up the knee.

"How are things going nurse Joy? Once you get that poultice done I'm going to need you to smear that goo all over the stitches Keket makes to close up the knee, then we'll bandage him up and make that splint."

[Keket]

-keket would wait as shes takes the new catgut and new fresh needle as shes waits as flora closes up the kneecape and skin and this part is something shes more used to the most easy but yet can easy still can mess up on but she would take her time as shes smiles as shed winked at from flora as she would now start to sew the skin up making sure its tightly closed and well sticthing as crossing them over as she went getting to the end tieing it off well and then cuts it off-

"there we go that should do it"

[Joy Rosewood]

"Eets done. I hope zis iz as effective as eet iz gross."

*Joy smears the poultice across the wounds on Borin's knee*

[Flora the Faun]

"We'll make a proper surgeon out of you yet princess! And you Nurse Joy are well on your way to being a doctor, mark my words! Now, has anyone seen Herr with those metal rods? If not I'm going to have to ask one of you to fetch some out of Borin's bag. He won't be too happy about not being able to sell them but at least his leg will work."

While Keket and Joy are searching, Flora begins putting her metal tools in the washbasin of the inn and after finding the soap starts to wash them up. Once she is finished she places the ends of her retractors, the iron spike, and the tips of her needles in the coals of the fire to sterilize them.

[Flora the Faun]

"By the way, if either of you ladies ever want some additional training I'm usually available. I'll be going away for the next month or so but I should be back by Midsummer's Day and, well, I mean there is always the option to follow me about and learn some things along the way if y'all don't mind a bit of sea travel."

[Keket]

keket smiled as she said this-

"thank you flora ill have to keep you up on that i think i mite want to learn more if there is more to learn! i dont know were im going right yet i may come with you or go back to the moon for abit but sea travel sounds fun to!"

- shed be watching flora for abit-

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