002c: Hospital Recovery

On/Under the streets of Yuggoth
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Joshua
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002c: Hospital Recovery

Post by Joshua »

So... Victorian Hospitals are terrifying. Thankfully, Lastfell takes place in modern times, and has enough immigrants who believe in things like hygiene, that while still not modern, they are better. In addition, the tokl metal devices and steampunk nature help them be at least places to recover. Even if surgeries are still... not particularly good.

The old man is kept slightly isolated. While hospitals are subject to overcrowding, anything with a hint of mythos is kept separated as much as possible.

The room, such as it is, is a large area, with a dozen beds, each separated by seven foot tall curtains (with a foot or two gap between the tops of them and the ceiling. He does seem to have a window, and is in the sunlamp light.

He is currently strapped to the bed, struggling weakly, and panicked. The orderly who shows you to him* will lead you in. Thankfully, there are only two other people in the ward today, and not too nearby.

"So, he's been in this terror state since he arrived. We haven't been able to get his name, so, if you can do that, it would help us out a lot." She will sigh and shake her head, checking his files. "The bobby who brought him in said he'd been crushed, but... once we got the grime off, he wasn't injured. He's ... somewhere between seventy and ninety, we're trying to pin that down a bit more. If you need him sedated, I can do that, but we haven't found a dosage that keeps him calm but doesn't knock him out."
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*: Assuming you have your credentials. HIPPA doesn't apply here, but they at least make sure you're a government employee / with the group that found him.
Draylen
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Re: 002c: Hospital Recovery

Post by Draylen »

Getting into the hospital was easy enough, at least, especially with Miles's connections. Convincing the staff to let him see the patient was a little harder, especially alone, but the fact that he was here to investigate the possible Mythos taint made it somewhat easier. Berkley seemed chipper enough as he was lead down the hallway to the appropriate ward, at least.

"Ah, thank you. Please, I know the situation is tenuous, but ensure that we are disturbed as little as possible," Berkley says, nodding to the orderly before shooing him off. He pulls up a chair next to the old man and coughs slightly. "The, uh... hello. I am Professor Berkley... I would like to ask you a few questions."
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Joshua
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Re: 002c: Hospital Recovery

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The old man is wide-eyed in panic. Despite being cleaned up, he smells of death and panic. He's wearing hospital clothes, a basic gown, and his long hair is that kind of deathly white that's gone to almost ethereal.

He pulls away from the initial attempt at communication. "Grain..." he mumbles, transitioning into a shout, "Grain! Grain. Grain!!!"

Some oddities that are immediately apparent... He has all his teeth*, despite being 80+ he's causing the leather straps that are holding him down to strain**, and his shouts cause the other patients to mumble, although they are kinda far away.
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*: It's victorian-ish, so at that age, dentures would be common. and in this situation, they'd have been removed.
**: Str 3-ish? Kinda unusual for someone of that age.
Draylen
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Re: 002c: Hospital Recovery

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"Hey, hey.. it's okay. I just want to-" Berkley says, before frowning. He moves a little closer, and drops his voice to a whisper. "The, the uh, all-seeing blind God sent me. To help you. But, I dont know if I can help you if you dont tell me what's going on."
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Joshua
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Re: 002c: Hospital Recovery

Post by Joshua »

"Cal? Cal! Cal Grain!" He will repeat, wide-eyed and starting to froth a bit*. He's quite a bit broken, and a little beyond you're ability to calm down. With a little bit of this exposure, he's repeating the name of the graveskeeper. With a little time, you might be able to give that some context**, or you might want to bring in a heavy-hitter.
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*: Hey, your untrained Alienism is 4, with a +2 synergy for Elder Lore....
**: You'd need 5 successes for a full explanation, but you might get something useful with 3.
Draylen
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Re: 002c: Hospital Recovery

Post by Draylen »

"Oh. right. Cal Grain was supposed to protect you, of course. That makes perfect sense. He's, um, a little indisposed at the moment, but I'm here to take care of that. you need to listen to me though. i know you've woken up in a strange place, and it's really very scary, but I need you to calm down. I can get you out of here, but you need to talk to me, okay? I'm a, uh, colleague, of sorts?" Berkley frowns a little, exasperated and biting his lip, but he pulls out his notepad and is going to try and draw the rune for the all-seeing blind god, and show it to the man. "Please trust me on this, I'm trying to help like I got asked."
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Joshua
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Re: 002c: Hospital Recovery

Post by Joshua »

The rune, he is clearly terrified off. Absolute irrational panic, which persists for long enough after the exposure, that the orderlies will return. Unless you immediately object, they are going to sedate him so he doesn't have a heart attack*.

Again, his screams are all variations of 'Cal Grain'...
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*: There are two schools of thought on this. Ultimately, he's in enough shock and terror that he needs hours or days with a professional therapist to get much more**.
**: Hopefully there's enough subtext here to make something worth knowing. It makes sense to me, but I know the secret of the adventure...
Draylen
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Re: 002c: Hospital Recovery

Post by Draylen »

Berkley quickly flips closed the notebook and hastily shoves it into his pocket, frowning a little. "I suppose I'll have to track down Cal before there's anything useful," he says, hesitantly and mostly to himself, but stepping out of the way as the orderlies come back into sedate him. "sorry about disrupting him so badly, I was hoping he could give us something concrete. I don't think I have the training for this though... will there be any medical complications from this?"
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Joshua
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Re: 002c: Hospital Recovery

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"Complications? He should have been dead multiple times. I've seen healthy adults in their 30s die from this much stress and this guy is... ancient." The nurse grumbles as the old man drifts off into a drugged stupor. "So, probably not? To be honest, I'm kinda surprised the level of drugs we're giving him haven't caused more complications. It's not... normal for someone his age... But, we're going to get him stable, and see if we can get someone to help.

"The asylum will be sending someone along late afternoon; maybe tomorrow. Unknowns are not a high priority. If you know who he is, that could speed things up."
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Re: 002c: Hospital Recovery

Post by Draylen »

"I... don't know that bit quite yet. He's key to a, uh, missing person's investigation, though? and I know that he isn't Serman Bishop.. which is important enough to mention, I think. I was hoping he'd be coherent enough to shed some light, but I don't really have the training to talk to him." He frowns and looks thoughtful for a minute, before looking up. "But, Miles might know someone who does. When, um, when do you think he'd be responsive, after that level of sedation?" He watches the orderlies finish dosing him and hesitates, frowning. "Is, um, is he going to be responsive again? Even just to the point he was before I came in? I'm no doctor, but that looked enough to put down a horse..."
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