[center][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjY2LmZlZTMwMC5SWHBsYTJsbGJDQktiM0pwYjI0LjA/angel-bandit-demo.regular.webp[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/Cq67IYB.gif[/img][/center]
[color=FEE300]Race:[/color] Aasimar
[color=FEE300]Class:[/color] Paladin
[color=FEE300]Location:[/color] Stormrider; Engine Control Room/Scratch’s Quarters
[color=FEE300]Interactions:[/color]Scratch & Val [@Apex Sunburn], 
[color=FEE300]Equipment:[/color] His longsword; [url=https://i.imgur.com/0dnfaQH.jpeg]Retribution[/url] and a [url=https://i.imgur.com/TAGHTJ2.jpeg]healing amulet[/url]. A [url=https://i.imgur.com/92lzGaT.jpeg]backpack[/url] with supplies and his [url=https://i.imgur.com/pSHLAct.jpeg]lute[/url]. 
[color=FEE300]Attire:[/color] [url=https://i.imgur.com/cVUVpsf.jpeg]Clothing[/url] and [url=https://i.imgur.com/pezKStD.jpeg]gloves[/url]
[color=FEE300]Gold Balance:[/color] 97
[color=FEE300]Injuries:[/color] New injuries; concussion, fractured ribs, giant splinter in his leg, injured shoulder, all bruised up. Old injuries include a missing eye, numerous iridescent scars, and a knee that aches when it rains.
[hr]

[color=silver]
[color=EBA536]“You need to be careful with Venn, especially with her head. Last thing she needs is a skull fracture on top of everything that’s already wrong with her. But don’t be slow. Stormrider’s not going to wait for us. It doesn’t have that sort of time, I think.”[/color]

[color=FEE300]“Of course.”[/color] Ezekiel replied to Scratch as he once again lifted Venn’s fragile form and kept her head resting against his shoulder. He wondered if perhaps Scratch spent little time conversing with other adults or if the elf thought Ezekiel was planning to use Venn’s head to check for weak points in the walls. He guessed it was the former. 

Scratch then followed up his statement with a question about the shard of crystal and before Ezekiel could answer, Val spoke up. 

[color=E579FF]“I think it looks cool,”[/color] Ezekiel’s eyebrow lifted just slightly in surprise. He’d figured he had long since aged out of the years where he could still be considered “cool” by the youths of the next generation. Even though he had nothing to do with the piece of crystal that had lodged itself in his socket, he was taking the complement for the rare boon that it was nonetheless. He offered a solemn nod of thanks in return. 

[color=E579FF]“U-Unless it hurts, Eyepatch, then it’s not that cool anymore.”[/color]

[color=FEE300]“It does not hurt.”[/color] Or if it did, it wasn’t bad enough to be noticed amongst his other injuries. Based on how Scratch and Val both acted, he assumed their shards had not inflicted any notable pain either. [color=FEE300]“I imagine it feels like yours, and Scratch’s; strange and difficult not to notice, but not painful.”[/color] A sharp contrast to the jagged wooden shrapnel still lodged in his leg which was entirely unpleasant but not a problem that needed mentioning to the child. Even if she was a surgeon’s assistant. 

He kept up with Scratch’s pace and the conversation between the elf and his young assistant faded into background noise. His attention shifted back to the crystal and its unfamiliar magic but his attempts to focus in on magic’s intents proved fruitless. It was deeply concerning that the shards' appearance had coincided with the attack by the red hooded figures; the connection between the two events inspired an ominous feeling. Ezekiel was simply left to worry that they had been infected by something malevolent and corrupting.

[color=EBA536]“One, don’t touch anything without my permission. If you’re not sure about anything, ask me. If I’m busy, ask Val. Two, in there, I’ve the final word. If I tell you to stop, you stop. If I tell you to do something, you do it. If I tell you to run, you run. That goes for you as well, Venn. The rest of this ship’s yours, but this part of it is mine. Just want to make sure that’s clear. Three, and most importantly, it’s cramped in there, so watch where you put yourself. I don’t want any buttons pressed, or levers pushed, or switches flipped by accident.”[/color]

[color=FEE300]“Touch nothing and follow your lead.”[/color] Ezekiel repeated back the instructions to indicate he understood. Then he followed the other two into the engine control room and ducked his head beneath the shallow doorway. He sincerely doubted he’d be tempted to push random buttons or mess with any of the ships control without any knowledge of how the airship ran, such an impulse seemed a recipe for disaster anyhow. He did however wonder what good running would do in the event that the airship was either about to crash or explode, not that he particularly felt up to anything more than a brisk walk at the moment. 

[color=EBA536]“Eyepatch, take Venn to my quarters–”[/color] Ezekiel’s eye followed to the curtain veiled archway Scratch pointed out. 

[color=EBA536]“–and do what you can for her wounds. You can place her on my bunk, and use whatever you find. I’ve some medical supplies in there. They’re not hard to find, just rummage around. It’s already a mess, so don’t worry about making it a bigger one.”[/color]

Scratch then handed Venn a faintly glowing battery and the injured crew member kept hold of it. 
[color=EBA536]“I don’t know if you can pull power from one of these, but if you can, use it. I don’t need you passing out as well. If you can’t though…Keep it anyway. It might come in handy, some time, and I’m already up to my eyeballs in arcane batteries as it is.”[/color]

[color=FEE300]“I’ll do what I can. May the Flame light your path and the Gods guide your hands.”[/color] He said, wishing Scratch and Val luck as they went to work attempting to correct the disturbance with the airship. Ezekiel then disappeared behind the curtain into Scratch’s quarters. 

He laid Venn down on the bunk and briefly rested his fingers on her neck, checking her pulse as he glanced around the room. Scratch was neither kidding nor exaggerating about the mess and the paladin could only wonder how the other man ever managed to find anything in this room. As he looked around for various medical supplies he often had to stop himself from organizing the abundance of clutter that littered the elf’s quarters. 

Ezekiel set to work cleaning and dressing Venn’s injuries and filling the silence with open-ended questions meant to keep Venn focused on talking. Keeping her awake and as alert as possible as he worked. Once he had done all he could for Venn he cleaned and bandaged as many of his own injuries as he could while continuing to converse with Venn. He debated on the risk of removing the jagged chunk of wood from his leg, but without knowing what other challenges they might also have to face next, now seemed as good a time as any. 

He thanked the holy flame that he did not begin to bleed out as he pulled the largest bit of shrapnel from his flesh. If the ship didn’t explode, or fall out of the skies, he’d have one of the doctors at medbay take a look at it, but for now he fixed it up as best he could and then focused on trying to tap into the arcane battery Scratch had handed Venn. He could vaguely hear Scratch and Val shouting out strings of numbers back and forth. [/color]