[centre][h1][color=39b54a][b]Arnannel[/b][/color][/h1][/centre]

Arnannel sighed as he waited just outside of Alula's clinic. The clinic, resting on top of one of the numerous treetop buildings in Alula, was rather small and underequipped compared to the one in Haven cities, though it was still a marked improvement over what they had before, when Alula was still a settlement of the Simian people.

As a former member of the Sylrowen Clan, who acted as the overseer of the forest, naturally Arnannel was familiar with the settlements around Fanewick, especially one such as Alula, located somewhat in the vicinity of Clan Sylrowen's main settlement. And this clinic, established by the Haven settlers—despite appearing dilapidated in the eyes of a Havenite who had never stepped a foot outside its bigger cities—still offered better healthcare than probably most, if not all, of the healing services offered in Fanewick before Haven.

It was not as if they had bad healthcare, per se. They developed their own salves, tinctures, potions, and other remedies using resources available in Fanewick. And, of course, they had access to healing arts through druidic magic. So in terms of 'healing magnitude' so to speak, Arnannel did not think they were all that behind Haven. And yet, despite that, to Arnannel it was also undeniable that the narrative of 'Haven improved the quality of life in Fanewick' was true, in terms of healing in this particular case. The difference lies in the quantity. For one, Haven's more industrious civilisation allowed the manufacturing of medical supplies that far exceeded what Fanewick's old inhabitants were able to produce. Furthermore, the development of medical equipment and medical science paved the way for advanced mundane medical techniques, thus allowing more than just powerful druids—of which most settlements only had a handful of, if that—treat wounds and maladies with great efficacy.

Such was the product of civilisation that his own clan spurned, preferring to be one with nature. Exactly the sort of reason that had led Arnannel to be a turncoat, helping the 'occupier' instead. Some said that his actions trampled upon Fanewick's dignity, but frankly, dignity was not worth all the advancement Haven brought, which improved the general quality of life. And it was not as if they had a chance of winning, anyway. The desperation his clan and other rebels turned to by the end of the war...to Arnannel, that already tarnished what 'dignity' they had.

But he digressed.

The point was, though his employer—a somewhat famous alchemist from Haven's capital—balked at the state of Alula's clinic, it was more than sufficient to treat his injuries. Which was merely a sprained ankle and some shallow lacerations.

The alchemist had hired Arnannel as a guide to a small patch of land in the wilderness where some Lady's Veil had been spotted. Nowadays, just about every settlement of Haven in Fanewick cultivated Lady's Veil. But this particular alchemist had the hypothesis that wild Lady's Veil would be more 'touched' by the Witherwild, and thus just as Witherwild seemingly imbued vitality into the beasts and plants in Fanewick, some wild Lady's Veil might possess unique properties such as an even more potent effect against the Serpent's Disease.

The expedition itself went fairly well. Arnannel knew the area they spoke of, and led the alchemist along with his assistants and guards there, before they managed to harvest some samples. It was on their way back, that they were attacked by a massive boar that had grown to such size courtesy of the Witherwild. Though their main focus was alchemy, many among the group were also wizards, capable of casting some spells. And so, if only they had listened to his orders properly, together with Arnannel and the guards they brought, they would have been able to take down the boar with little to no issue. Alas, they had little combat experience, and thus panicked. In particular, the alchemist ran in the wrong direction and sprained his ankle when retreating to safety, forcing Arnannel to deflect the boars tusks with his blades to give others in their group some time to help him up. It resulted in his blades being broken, but he managed to buy enough time, before the guards they hired helped him up and engaged the boar, allowing Arnannel to fall back to the treetops and used sniped the boar with an arrow.

Given the injuries suffered by the alchemist and some of his assistants, Arnannel decided to postpone their return and brought them to Alula instead, where they might get some medical attention. Their injuries were not severe, but it would probably take a few days at the very least before they could safely make the trek back to Haven territory.

Some of the alchemists were still being treated, and thus, as someone who was familiar with Alula—well, 'familiar', he had not been to the village after it was taken over by Haven, and Haven transformed it quite a bit—he had been asked to secure their lodging for the night. After asking for directions from the workers in the clinic, he had been directed to a rather famous local inn. Probably the best in Alula, though how that would measure to his client's standard was another question, but given that this was a village in the 'frontier' of Haven's newly acquired territory, he just had to make do.

After securing the pouch of money he had been given to acquire lodging in his pocket, Arnannel swiftly made his way through the wooden bridges, having traversed Alula back before these amenities were installed by Haven, the wooden bridges posed little issue.

He heard that the inn served good food and drink, so he might as well partake while he was there.