Previous Part
The next day went by in a blur. Rocco was walking the perimeter of the camp, keeping an eye out for Brooke when I woke up. I didn’t really think he’d leave, but it seemed to give Rocco something to do other than being a general menace to society. All of us ate breakfast as normal but no one really said much. I’m not sure if they were still reeling from things they saw yesterday or if they just weren’t in a talking mood. The thought occurred to me that Shaoni may have payed a visit to each of them as well. Prying into what they saw and answering questions they might have. Honestly the whole thing felt like we were guinea pigs. Shaoni didn’t really seem to have a great handle on the trials so far. It was… mildly concerning that the ringmaster of all this didn’t seem 100% in control anymore.
Actually, I’d thought about that a lot last night. Shaoni just sort of left us to our own devices when we went through those “visions” yesterday. It’s not like she backed up her claim that she’d know what we’d seen either. If anything the fact that she came to ask me about it made me even more suspicious that she wasn’t really sure what she was doing. It was the first time I’d ever thought of Shaoni as anything other than in complete control. Slowly but surely it was becoming glaringly obvious that wasn’t the case.
If I was remembering correctly today’s trial was the trial of strength. I sincerely hoped that was a metaphor for something. You’ve got to understand, I’m not a very strong person, not physically anyways. I hoped Shaoni wanted to test mental strength or strength of will something like that. My hopes shattered as we arrived at the coliseum and saw an arena set up. There were several dummies in a corner, the kind you would see used in martial arts or HEMA or something to that effect. At the foot of the dummies were several wooden clubs. I couldn’t see them to clearly but they almost looked clawed from a distance. The real centerpiece was the platform in the middle of the coliseum. It looked like a stage and I’m sure that’s exactly how we were going to use it. The raised wooden platform had been constructed with boards placed across the top. It looked like those boards could be removed and under that was simply the cold hard ground about two feet below.
Katrina’s eyes lit up as she looked over the room.
“Now this is what I’m talking about, a real trial!”
She just about shrieked in excitement, throwing one fist in the air and startling the rest of us to attention. Katrina was the only one that really seemed excited about this. John and Robert just looked accepting and I’m not sure Brooke had put two and two together yet. I’d seen the clubs laid out by the dummies and already figured we’d be sparing with each other.
“Good morning everyone, I hope your ready for today.”
Called Shaoni, emerging unseen from behind us. Anyone who wasn’t fully awake at that point sure was then. There’s just something about Shaoni that makes you really really not want her to show up behind you unannounced. Probably why she kept doing it to us.
“Today I will test your strength, while I’d rather avoid conflict it’s sometimes unavoidable. My ideal candidate not only knows themselves but can handle themselves as well. We will allow you some time to familiarize yourself with the war clubs you’ll be using. Then you will compete against each other to find the strongest, most skilled warrior among you.”
Shaoni explained, Katrina’ excitement growing with every word.
I wasn’t to keen to participate in any of this but, like usual, I didn’t really have much of a choice at this point.
“So will you be sticking around this time then?”
I asked, wondering if Shaoni was going to cut and run again.
“I have other matters to attend to today. While I would like to stay and observe the whole day I need to prepare things for the final trial tomorrow. I’ll be back in time to see you test each other though.”
She replied dismissively, already on her way out. Shaoni seemed almost uninterested in us now. For someone evaluating us she seemed awful happy to pass off the evaluation to her followers. I didn’t say anything else as she walked out of the coliseum and towards the exit.
As I walked over to the little training area I saw the clubs were actually ornate masterpieces. They were carved from a hard dark wood. The handles resembled an eagles talon, curving near the end to grip a wooden orb. Whoever made these was beyond skilled, these things were works of art. I didn’t have much time to admire them before Katrina interrupted me.
“Hey, Keith was it? Want me to show you how to use these things?”
She called over to me, it was more of a command than a question but that’s pretty par for the course with her.
“If you want, sure. I’m uh… I’m kinda a fish out of water with this find of thing.”
I told her, rubbing the back of my neck with one hand in embarrassment. I wasn’t sure why she was singling me out for that but she answered that question for me.
“Good, Those two creep me out and that one has been drooling over me since we got here.”
She said, pointing over at Robert and John who had already started practicing, then at Brooke. Katrina showed absolutely no subtly in any of this, earning us looks from all three of the others.
I was a little afraid of Katrina teaching me anything, if someone was gonna kill me by accident it would be her. That and she still had that gun on her. Despite my misgivings she was actually a pretty good teacher. She was a bit like a drill instructor but I learned a thing or two. By the time we were done I felt like I might stand half a chance in this trial.
“Just remember your footwork, keep your balance and the rest should come natural. Oh, and if we get paired up, take a dive, it’ll be less painful.”
Katrina added with a smirk, walking over towards the group by the stage in the center of the room. Shaoni had just come back in and was up on the balcony. A few of her followers had collected us and informed us we were about to start the, ”practical part”, as they put it.
“There’s five of you so for the first matchup one of my own will serve as the opponent. Anyone what to go first?”
Shaoni asked us, looking down with a raised eyebrow and waiting for a response. Before I realized what I’d done my hand was in the air, my body subconsciously wanting to get this over with as fast as possible. Shaoni actually looked surprised as she gestured for me to take my place on the stage. Two of the boards had been removed on either side leaving us something like six feet of space to work with before falling off the platform. But I was far less concerned about that after I saw the guy walking over. It was the driver from a few days ago when Shaoni had me brought out to the camp. The guy that had his friend stabbed by Bianca, he didn’t look like he’d forgotten about that as they gave him his club.
As I took my place on the stage the only thing I was thinking was exactly how bad it hurt when you got hit with one of these things.
“Begin when you are ready.”
Called Shaoni from her place on the balcony. The guy across from me took absolutely no time to think, charging at me wildly right away. I tried to brace myself and remember Katrina’s training, taking an even stance and angling my club for the coming blow. I did manage to block his strike but the force of it threw me to the ground. My mind went into full survival mode as he swung down at me. He was way less fluid than Katrina had been when she was showing me the ropes. He just seemed like he wanted to hurt me by any means necessary. As I rolled from side to side avoiding his blows I waited for an opening. He took a particularly hard swing at my head and I rolled at the last possible second. He lost his balance, giving me a chance to slip between his legs and get back to my feet. I stood back up narrowly avoiding a swing for my head as my opponent regained his balance and swung back at me. His wide hate fueled swing carried his whole body around with it and gave me another opening. I planted my feet and took one hard swing at the man’s turned shoulder hitting him right on the bone with a sickening crack. He stumbled around towards the edge, turning his back to me. I took one final swing, hoisting the club above my head and bringing it down in between his shoulder blades with a hollow thud. The blow sent him tumbling forward over the edge and off the stage, falling to the floor below.
Katrina shot me a quick thumbs up as I walked off the stage while Shaoni looked down at me and gave me an approving nod. No one else seemed to pay me any mind as I rejoined the group. I felt empowered, I hadn’t expected to get even that far, maybe there was a chance for me in this trial after all. Robert and John fought next and despite their age they each held their own. In the end John forced Robert off the edge, his age and weight throwing off his balance. I was still impressed either of them could move like they had, I guess I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Then Katrina fought Brooke in the last… round I guess I’d call it. The smile on her face was unsettling from the moment she realized she’d be paired up with him, like a shark smelling blood in the water. You could just tell that she was going to take pleasure in what happened next.
That smile was still on her face as she walked up onto the stage and took her place across from Brooke.
“I hope you like it rough baby, cause I’m not going easy on you!”
Brooke called to her from the other side of the stage making a point to puff out his chest and flex his muscles. That set her off like a bomb, the smile disappeared and she exploded towards Brooke. I saw the exact moment that false confidence left his eyes and he actually turned to run, he was far to late and way to slow. Her first strike went low, shooting out in front of Brooke and coming back to catch his knee sending him tripping forward. He tried to regain his balance but she had no intention of letting him. Katrina swung out in front of him again, this time catching his neck with the club on its way back. That sent him flat onto his back, the club falling form his hand and rolling off the edge of the stage was the only sound in the whole coliseum. All eyes focused on Katrina as she took a breath then delivered a kick to Brooke’s ribs so hard that he went rolling off the edge, following his club. I returned her thumbs up she had given me as she rejoined the group.
Next, those of us who remained got matched up with each other. Shaoni wanted to use another one of her followers to stand in but Katrina insisted on just going twice. That meant I’d fight her and then the winner would fight John to see who the victor of the day was. As I stood across from Katrina I considered taking her advice from before, “…Just take a dive…” she had said. I thought about it, I really did, but I’d done so well earlier right? Why stop now? While I’d been thinking Katrina had walked up to me and started to swing. I had just enough time to realize my mistake before she cracked me across the head so hard she knocked me out.
I came to an hour later, alone on an animal skin cot. I was still in the coliseum but everyone else had left apparently. The only thing I saw when I got up from the ground was the torchlight illuminating the passage that lead back outside. That and the note scribbled on a scrap of a sticky note taped to my fore head.
“I told you to take a dive.”
Well at least she might feel bad about knocking me out. I figured we must be done for the day given how dead the camp seemed when I emerged back into the light. With nothing better to do, I walked off towards the forest to clear my head. I wondered what Bianca had been up to since I’d been gone as I aimlessly wandered around the forest’s edge.
“No that wouldn’t work! We don’t know what’s up there and we are not just waltzing in through the front gates!”
Stein yelled at me as I went over my most recent idea for breaking Keith out of whatever trials were going on out by the old mine. It had been two days since I watched him get kidnapped in front of me and I was getting drastic, aaaannd maybe a little dramatic.
“But I could do it guys! Remember back at the reservation? Those guys were willing to do anything for me and there can’t be that many guards in one place. Maybe I just convince a small group to lead us in and make an excuse for us.”
“For the last time Bianca, They’re just about cultists far as I can tell. You ain’t gonna be able to fight the kinda conviction they have to that bird, even if ya could its to much of a risk.”
Tuck protested from his seat at the kitchen table.
The kitchen table had become our war room over the past few days. A map of Eagles Peak Frank had made lay across it with dozens of pins stuck in around where the old mine would be.
“I don’t think an approach from the front is a good idea at all. You and Keith got to the mine through the forest once. Could we follow that path, approach without anyone knowing we were there?”
Stein theorized as he paced back and forth at the head of the table.
“Well, we really just wandered around for a bit and ended up there. We didn’t find the mine either, it was a hole that lead down to an old cavern near the mine. They turned out to be connected but that was just dumb luck.”
I explained to the group. Tuck looked like that had given him an idea.
“So you two got some backdoor entrance figured out that you’re only just tellin’ me about? That could be perfect! The four of us could make our way out and drop through that hole, take em all by surprise!”
Tuck exclaimed, leaping to his feet. His enthusiasm was nice but it wasn’t going to be that easy.
“We… kinda made a bit of a scene when we were there, they might be watching for something like that to happen again.”
“True, but it’s the best entrance strategy I’ve heard so far, I think following up on it is worth a try.”
Frank added with a nod. Stein then started pacing up and down the length of the table for a bit. He was coming up with something, that much was obvious.
“So we’ll enter through this hole leading into a cave connected to the old mine. From what you told us about your time there its some sort of staging area for these trials, at least that’s my best guess. Odds are there won’t be many people there overnight so we make our way out there during the night. From there we move through the cave and into the mine but after that we know nothing about what we’re running into.”
Stein lectured to his audience.
“But I think we have a solution for that. Frank do we still have that drone?”
An hour later the four of us were gathered at the edge of town on that path Keith and I had taken into the forest. The trees growing together forming a sort of arch over our head’s were unsettling but I couldn’t decide why. It just didn’t sit well with me, it looked unnatural I guess and that just gave me the creeps. I get that’s rich coming from a literal succubus but its how I felt.
“Alright, just watch the trees as you take it up, I don’t want a repeat of Missouri.”
Stein instructed Frank as he got the drone in the air.
“You’re never going to let me live that down are you?”
Frank chuckled, shaking his head.
“It was the first time we used this thing, there was bound to be a few unexpected variables.”
“If you call “unexpected variables” an itchy finger on the throttle. We had to have Rocco untangle it from the branches.”
Stein joked as he checked to make sure the drones camera was feeding back into the app on his phone.
I hadn’t seen them like this, being friendly with each other. There was never a time where they hated each other or anything like that but they’d been so… business like with for a long time now. It was nice to see them act like real people again. Leaning over Stein’s shoulder I got a birds eye view from the drone.
“ Just go East, its what we did. Just walked East till we stumbled into everything.”
Frank followed my advice and flew the drone due East. Eventually a campsite came into view, there were a bunch of tepees and a bunch of people just walking around.
“What, they just look normal?!”
I blurted out, a little louder and a bit more distressed than I meant to.
“How’re they supposed ta look then?”
Tuck asked
“They’re just people like you n’ me. Nothin to special about em other than the fact they worship some big ass bird.”
He continued with mild annoyance.
“I don’t know, I guess I expected these creepy guys in tarps, like from Keith’s story. These are just… well they’re just people!”
I responded, Throwing my arms out to my sides in exasperation. Tuck was right, I shouldn’t have expected everything to be just as Keith had said. Still, something just didn’t fit together for me about that whole thing. What had the deal been with those people in Imalone then? I shook my head, clearing the question from my mind, it wasn’t important now.
“There! That’s the entrance to the old mine.”
Tuck told Stein as he looked at screen. I looked over myself and felt my entire being freeze. It was Brooke, walking out from the entrance with some bitchy looking girl and two older guys that I’d seen around town before. How could he be here? After all this time why, why was he anywhere near me?
My vision swam, when it came back Frank was standing in front of me. His mouth was moving but I couldn’t hear anything.
“…anca! Are you ok, what’s going on? Bianca!”
I finally heard over the sudden ringing in my ears.
“Him.”
Was the only thing the escaped my lips as I pointed one finger at the screen. I felt warmth coming back into my limbs as that frozen feeling slowly left me.
“He’s here…. Shouldn’t be here… why.”
I mumbled to myself as Frank helped me into the back of the SUV twenty minutes later. I was still nearly catatonic as we headed back into town.
“So… that was him, the one you were running from when we found you.”
Stein said, breaking the silence that had fallen. I could talk normally again but I still only managed a quick “yes”.
“You know you don’t have to come with us, I’d understand.”
Frank said, snapping me to attention again.
“NO! I’ve got to help Keith, I don’t care if… if Brooke’s up there too.”
I tripped over my words just mentioning his name.
“I can do it, I can do this Frank, please.”
I begged, taking deep breaths to try and calm myself down. We pulled into the driveway before Frank said anything back. As we were all getting out he muttered something under his breath. He didn’t mean for me to hear him but I did.
“I’m not sure you can girl.”
I went straight up to my room after that, I didn’t want to be around anyone. All I caught before I left Frank, Stein, and Tuck before running up the stairs was the hard look Stein shot both of them. A look that said “We need to talk” and told me that he finally had a real plan. I spent the rest of that night thinking about the past and what I’d been through. Could I go out to that mine and rescue Keith if I had to face Brooke again? The last time I’d seen him had been as I leapt out of a moving car as my eyes turned to meet his one last time, rolling down that hill to freedom. I’d never seen him since and it was rare for him to even cross my mind. I wanted to go with the rest of them but despite what I said I really wasn’t sure I could do this anymore. Eventually I just decided only time would tell, hopefully Stein’s plan was a good one and we could put this whole thing behind us.
“Ey! Ey Keith!”
Someone yelled out as I came back from my little hike around the edge of the forest. My eyes darted around behind me before they finally focused on a rustling bush. Rocco jumped out of it holding a cigar in his mouth.
“That Brooke asshole hasn’t gone anywhere, I found him out by that trail the trucks drove in on with this.”
He said, tossing the cigar up in the air where it twirled around before he caught it in his mouth again.
“I figured I should frisk him just in case. I took a bite of his pants and stole this little number out of his coat pocket.”
He continued, shaking a silver lighter with a gold inlayed image of a lion in his paw.
“Oh and the cigar, I took that too. Cuban so the guy’s got taste, still a prick. Anyways, it looked like someone got to him before me. The guy was pretty beaten up, had some nasty bruises.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I was just trying to picture Brooke getting mugged by a raccoon In my head and I burst out laughing. Rocco walked back to the camp in toe with me, only stopping to look up at some weird buzzing sound we both heard above us. Probably some rickety old plane or something way up there. I think I was finally starting to get why Frank and Stein had kept Rocco around. He may be a furry criminal mastermind but when he was motivated he could actually be really helpful. I never would’ve been able to keep any sort of tabs on Brooke without his help.
We made our way back to the long tent that still had remnants of lunch sitting on the table. Usually I would’ve tried to hide Rocco but at this point I figured he deserved the free food. Plus I just didn’t want to argue with him after getting my shit rocked most of the morning. Someone walked up behind me and I heard Shaoni’s voice, of course she was creeping up behind me again.
“Your feeling alright after today I hope?”
She asked me, taking a seat next to me.
“I’ll be alright, I’m sure I’ll have a killer headache in the morning but I’ll manage.”
“Good, good. We’ll be gathering in a few hours so I can announce the final trial. I expect you out by the entrance to the mine by 6.”
“What’s the matter? No cryptic questions this time Shaoni?”
I asked, paying no mind to what was sitting next to me.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you always stop by to check in after these trials. You don’t have any questions this time?”
“No, Katrina was the victor today, there is no question about that, the woman is… brutal. I just wanted to make sure she didn’t hit you to hard, you were unconscious for some time.”
She answered, some genuine concern slipping into her voice again.
“Heh careful, I might start to think you actually care.”
I joked, less nervous than I should’ve been.
“I’ll see you tonight with the rest for the announcement.”
She said with a deep sigh, standing up and walking off toward where ever she came from.
I took a nap and just barely managed to wake up in time for this “meeting” Shaoni had planned. I couldn’t find Rocco before I left but I wasn’t all that concerned about that anymore. When I got to the entrance a massive bonfire was lit and Shaoni stood alone in front of it. Robert and John were already there and Katrina showed up a little after me. Brooke hadn’t arrived before Shaoni started her speech.
“I thank all of you for coming here tonight. Regrettably one of you is missing but I won’t be waylaid by his absence.”
She spoke with clear annoyance in her voice.
“Tomorrow marks your final trial, the most important of the three. The trial of justice. Tomorrow there will be a murder in Eagles Peak. I want you all to work together to stop it. Then, succeed or fail, pass judgment on those involved in the murder. Afterwards I will select which among you will receive my gift. But for tonight, talk amongst yourselves, plan, and rest. Prepare yourselves for tomorrow, I will have my eye on each of you.”
With that Shaoni stepped away from the fire and into the night. Not accepting any questions about anything she had said.
“What do you think she has planned?”
Robert asked me as I took a seat by the bonfire to think over everything Shaoni had said.
“I don’t know, a murder apparently. Shouldn’t you know more about it? You’re one of her followers after all.”
I said as I turned my head to see John walking off into the night. That man was weird, really weird. I knew next to nothing about him and he seemed to never speak.
“Usually sure, but she hasn’t said anything to us about this. It’s why she hasn’t directly overseen all the trials, she’s set this last one up all on her own. I guess there’s nothing to do but wait, we’re all in this together for the first part of the trial I guess.”
Robert explained, leaning back and sprawling out on the ground. He was right, there wasn’t much we could do until we were in the middle of it.
I looked around, searching for Katrina in the firelight. I found her leaning against the rocky wall that made up the entrance of the mine. I stood up, leaving Robert to relax and made my way over.
“How’s the head?”
She asked, feigning taking a swing at me again with an evil grin on her face.
“I told you to take a dive.”
“Yeah, I should’ve listened.”
I admitted, rubbing the goose egg that had formed on my head over the course of my nap.
“So what do you thin about this last trial?”
“Well, I can say that If that Brooke guy tries flirting with me one more time the murder won’t be that hard to solve. Seriously though, I think she’s gone off the deep end. How does she know there’s going to be a murder?”
Katrina made a really good point, how was Shaoni so sure?
“That’s… hmmmm, you’re right.”
“Well I’m gonna head to bed then. Something tells me tomorrow is gonna be a headache. Just try to stay out of my way when we’re all forced to work together and you should be fine. All goes well and maybe we’ll be out of here tomorrow, I know I will.”
Katrina said as she pushed herself off the rock wall she’d been leaning against. Something about the way she said that last part, it made me think she was up to something. Like she was leaving no matter what or she had some sort of exit strategy.
As I left Robert relaxing by the fire and hiked back to my own tepee for the night I spied Katrina. She had climbed up a tree and had her legs wrapped around the trunk and one of her arms gripped a branch above her. There was some kind of box in her other hand, a radio maybe. I had no idea what she was saying, she was too far off, but it had to mean something. As far as I knew none of us had any contact with the outside world since we got here. My gut feeling was that she wasn’t meant to be doing that. I wasn’t going to bother her at this point though so I went my own way and settled down for the night.

I'm a 73-year old male. Three weeks ago, I developed a sore throat, followed by inflamed gums, as well as sores on the roof of my mouth and tongue. The pain was intense, and prevented me from eating solid food for nearly a week.
I had a slight fever in the evening, and experienced deep fatigue in the afternoon. Even moderate exercise exhausted me.
I went to urgent care two weeks ago, and was diagnosed with a viral infection. I was prescribed a two-day course of valacyclovir. The lesions in my mouth improved very gradually but did not go away completely. Concerned that my fatigue hadn't lifted, last week I saw my primary care physician. He agreed that I had a viral infection, specifically HSV-1. He said that my symptoms should probably resolve themselves in a couple more weeks.
Today, the symptoms in my mouth have not completely resolved, but I’m able to eat normally and brush my teeth very carefully, though one area of my gums still bleeds.
I am most concerned about the deep fatigue I am experiencing, which has not improved.
This detail may not be helpful, but I should mention that although I am vaxed and boosted, I did contract Covid 8 weeks ago. I got better, but two weeks later I experienced some of the same symptoms I have now, though not the mouth sores, and the fatigue was not as severe.
I seemed to improve for a few weeks, and then I started experiencing this current bout of the symptoms.
I have read that many people suffering from Long Covid experience many of the symptoms I have experienced, including mouth sores. I would appreciate any insights on what my symptoms indicate, and if they could be due to Long Covid.

28M, 125 lbs, 5’7”. I have had chest pain and tender lymph nodes on lhs for a few years. I have gastritis and reflux. TB test showed negative and I have always been told some people just have tender lymph nodes. Late January I hurt my back severely. A few days later I got a staph infection on my head. I have a severe headache like someone was poking my brain. Doctor put my on doxycyline (oral). Symptoms did not improve much. Blood test showed lower than normal WBCs. I took Augmentin which restored my WBC but still feel bad. Lymph nodes on lhs began to get bigger. Ultrasound revealed reactive lymph nodes and a cyst in my neck. I have been feeling confused,lethargic, headache and my neck feels deeply sore and goes down my back. I don’t have any other symptoms of meningism. Should I go to the ER or wait for a FNA on my lymph nodes (could take a month of waiting)?

There's been a pretty big burning/hot stiff in my neck along with waking up drenched in sweat, nausea, feeling weak in the arms and legs, chills and headaches. No cough or sore throat. I've been experiencing these symptoms for about 4-5 days. Are these just normal flu symptoms that'll just go away on its own?

I don't know if this is the right place to ask this, but I need to go somewhere and I don't know where. My sister (22) has struggled with severe anorexia for about 5 years. She's been hospitalized, in and out of treatment centers, psychiatry offices and therapists. She nearly succumbed to her ED, but fortunately has made a ton of progress in her journey. She got diagnosed with gastroparesis a couple years ago. For the last 9 months she's been throwing up every day (involuntarily, not bulimia) and it's been getting worse and worse. It's now at the point she vomits 30x a day, and is on home IV's. She can't eat or drink anything and I know she can't live like this much longer. This just doesn't seem right, even with gastroparesis. Every time she goes to the ER, they discharge her without admitting her, won't run gastrointestinal tests, and just give her ineffective nausea meds and an IV, run some blood tests and send her home. She calls me crying saying she is in so much agony and can't go on much longer. She's too weak to get out of bed and has crippling headaches. She lives in a neighboring state and my mom and stepdad are driving out now to bring her home and try to get her better care in our home state, since she's on their insurance still. I want to be an advocate for her and know she needs to be admitted to a hospital, but I don't know how to get the hospital to cooperate. I'm desperate and inconsolable, but trying to be strong for her. At 34, I'm not prepared to lose my baby sister who wants to get healthy. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Can this be H pylori?
Weakness/BrainFog/MotionSickness
Hi. M, 27 y-o, caucasian. I currently take Valproic Acid 500mg, Wellbutrin 150mg and Lexapro 20mg.
I have been feeling extremely weak, as if I have been fasting, even though I am not. I am not losing weight though, I am gaining weight because I lack the energy to exercise. I struggle with significant cognitive difficulties, finding it hard to organize my thoughts. It feels like my mind is constantly tired, which is severely affecting my studies.
Additionally, I experience motion sickness when driving and turning my head from side to side, leaving me feeling disoriented. It often feels as if my brain is not receiving enough oxygen. If I go without rest for a while, I develop headaches. I also suffer from nausea, particularly in the mornings. My bowel movements are irregular, with unusual stools and excessive gas, which worsen on bad days.
These symptoms have persisted for over a year. I have undergone numerous tests, including a Holter monitor, chest X-ray, laboratory tests, brain MRI, ophthalmological examinations, and psychiatric follow-ups, but none have provided a solution.

27 female UK - got dysautonomia (really bad heart symptoms) and gastroperisis (bad digestive symptoms) - 2 central nervous system disorders, from REALLY MILD COVID 2 years ago.
I've now been dealing with quite severe COVID for 7 days now. More than just cold symptoms. Arms going numb, visual hallucinations (I've never had these), in and out of fever like nightmare dreams, can't sleep for more than 6 hours, fever was 38.4 on the 6th day but not at the moment, conjunctivitis, headache that hasn't gone the whole time but was really severe day 3/4, teeth have killed for a week like all of them are so painful only co-dydramol is helping, can't stop blowing nose like 2 box of tissues in one day, cough becoming painful. Had worst sore throat, that's fine now though but has turned into painful cough, short of breath at times.
What's concerning me is the non-cold like symptoms, none of which my friend has. I.E conjunctivitis, arms going numb, hallucinations. Plus, the high fever so late into it on day 6. The fact I'm not getting better, wake up day 7 with conjunctivitis and friend has already completely cleared COVID, never got conjunctivitis or severe runny nose/headaches etc.
My friend caught it same time, and at day 5 she was better, no signs of it now - at day 7 I'm just getting worse. She had it much milder than me from the start, but we caught it at the same place the same night, fell ill the same day a few days after, but she likened it to a cold whereas I feel like it's literally attacking most parts of me, going deeper than a usual cold. Her teeth never hurt, she never got numb arms, or anything. I've done a lot more to get better, she was eating fish and chips, drinking alcohol, not taking vitamins, and she's fine now. Ive been eating mostly just fruit and veg, drinking electrolytes with vitamins in, zinc lozenges every 5 hours, taking 3 different vitamins throughout the day, tumeric tea, ginger shots, vaporrub on chest etc (for nose and head). And I'm actually getting WORSE on day 7.

27 female UK - got dysautonomia (really bad heart symptoms) and gastroperisis (really bad digestives symptoms) - 2 central nervous system disorders, from REALLY MILD COVID 2 years ago.
I've been dealing with severe COVID for 7 days now. Arms going numb, visual hallucinations (I've never had these), in and out of fever like nightmare dreams, can't sleep for more than 6 hours, fever was 38.4 on the 6th day but not at the moment, conjunctivitis, headache that hasn't gone the whole time but was really severe day 3/4, teeth have killed for a week like all of them are so painful only co-dydramol is helping, can't stop blowing nose like 2 box of tissues in one day, cough becoming painful. Had worst sore throat, that's fine now though but has turned into painful cough, short of breath at times.
What's concerning me is the non-cold like symptoms, none of which my friend has. I.E conjunctivitis, arms going numb, hallucinations. Plus, the high fever so late into it. The fact I'm not getting better, wake up day 7 with conjunctivitis and she has completely cleared COVID, never got conjunctivitis or severe runny nose/headaches etc.
My friend caught it same time, and at day 5 she was better, no signs of it now - at day 7 I'm just getting worse. She seemed to have it much milder than me from the start, but we caught it at the same place the same night, fell ill the same day a few days after, but she likened it to a cold whereas I feel like it's literally attacking most parts of me (I wish it just felt like a cold, lol.) I've done a lot more to get better, she was eating fish and chips, drinking alcohol, not taking vitamins etc. ive been eating mostly just fruit and veg, drinking electrolytes with vitamins in, zinc lozenges every 5 hours, taking 3 different vitamins throughout the day, tumeric tea, ginger shots, vaporrub on chest etc (for nose and head).

As a slightly obese college student who was (and still is) looking to lose weight, and improve the skin on my face, going to a low sugar diet was relatively easy to start. It is about having motivation and committing to starting. I had a problem where I would be eating large quantities of ice cream at night and would crave it all of the time when I had time alone. I really wanted to change this habit, but ice cream and other sweets were hard to put down. I decided to really commit to the bit and make sure I would be checking nearly everything I eat and seeing how much natural and added sugars were in each thing moving forward toward this nearly sugar free (low sugar) transitional diet. For me, my exercise is moderate, and will occasionally go on walks and play sports, but that is the extent of it.
I set some rules for myself for how this low suganearly sugar free diet would go. 1. Absolutely no sweets of any kind (Candies, Ice Cream, Pastries, etc.) 2. No sweeteners of any kind (Sucralose, Aspartame, Stevia, etc.) (I don't have sodas, fizzy drinks or anything like that anyways so this one didn't really apply to me.) 3. Avoid added sugars if possible (or lower amounts of added sugars if alternatives aren't feasible) Things like bread sometimes have a little bit of added sugar, so going for breads that are low in this department are better than ones with high amounts of added sugar. Things like Brioche buns and sandwich bread can be really high in sugar like 7-15 grams, while a giant white sub roll from Jersey Mikes only has 3 grams of sugar. 4. Check all labels for serving size, sugar content, and bad sweeteners such as corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup. Even if product says there is 0g of added sugar on the label, there still might be sweeteners that allow for the brand to mark the product as sugar free, as the serving size can dictate that sometimes. 5. Aim for a high protein, high fat, medium carb diet daily. 6. No more than 50 grams of total natural sugars per day. Don't eat too much fruit. 6. Avoid all highly processed foods and snacks when possible 7. Reduce dairy intake, do away with cheeses on occasion
Here's a timeline of what occurred so far through these first 46 days
First two days: I would think about ice cream and sugars occasionally, but was easy to put aside, and had the motivation to eat a regular low sugar diet.
Days 3-10: Easily the toughest days. I would just be thinking about sugar and craving it constantly. I would not leave my mind to have a bite of a cookie, or a scoop of ice cream. It made me want sugar so badly, which made me realize how addicted I actually was to sugar. I lost 10 pounds in 10 days, which kept me engaged and motivated to continue this diet.
Days 10-14: Headaches! I had a few headaches and it sucked, with each headache lasting about 30 minutes to two hours. Apparently, this is extremely common, and even expected. During these days without the headaches, I still had cravings for ice cream and other sweets, but I noticed it was getting easier to avoid these things.
Week 3: Even from day 10, I noticed that my breath, even with brushing my teeth, flossing, mouthwash rinsing, and tongue cleaning, smelled horrible, and it did not make any sense to me. This goes away eventually and it has not returned ever since the end of week 3. I went searching around, and I guess this is a common thing.
Weeks 4 -7 (present): The cravings have not completely gone away regarding sugar, but every time I think about them, I just think that they seem way too sweet, and it actually turns me away from actually wanting to purchase ice cream or make any sweets. Since the start of this diet, I have lost a total of 15 pounds at about 1 pound per week. Going low sugar or nearly sugar free is so much easier after the 3rd week, and avoiding sugars feels so much easier.
There is a caveat here in that I did have a regular 24 oz gatorade on day 10, but I was playing tennis and another half of a gatorade sometime during week 4 when playing golf. So there were two times that I "violated" my diet rules, but I'll give myself a pass because I was outside, sweating, and needed the sodium electrolytes at those given times.
There are a couple of tips that I can offer that made this diet much easier to do. 1. Snacking. One trick that I have been using in order to feed into my cravings a little bit is to eat apples and popcorn. - Popcorn, especially homemade popped popcorn (not microwaved), is a cheat code. Popcorn contains no sugar at all, and is low in calories, making cravings easier to manage. For me, I have a popcorn maker that I put in like half a tablespoon of avocado oil with about 1/3-1/2 cup of popcorn kernels, and top with a tablespoon of butter and salt. If you are looking for a more convenient option, or don't have a popcorn maker, or don't want to make popcorn on the stove, I would suggest looking for the bagged popcorn, that is cooked in Avocado or Olive Oil instead of the seed oils (because seed oils contribute to fatty liver disease, amongst other health problems), even though these can be really tough to find. If you live in the Northeastern United States, Wegmans sells a bagged popcorn cooked in Olive Oil that is a really good option. - Apples were another food that I ate both when I wanted a snack, and occasionally for dessert. Apples are high in natural sugars, but are also high in fiber, so it'll be easier for the sugar to pass compared to processed sugars. I would have organic Pink Lady apples and the Costco, Kirkland Signature all natural peanut butter that has no added sugar to it. The only ingredients are just peanuts and salt. I prefer natural peanut butter to the ones with sugar in it anyways, so this was a go-to option. For me I would have up to two apples a day, and that was about all of my fruit intake for the day. Obviously, berries and other fruits are also good options for snacking and desserts, but just make sure not to overdo it because if you consume too much natural sugar, it will have a similar affect to consuming processed sugar. 2. If you are someone who carries a little extra weight, continue to weigh yourself everyday, it keeps you motivated to continue. There will be some days where you might gain a pound here, and lose a pound there, but over the course of a week, you'll notice that you'll slowly lose weight over time. 3. Treat yourself on occasion (but not with sugars). Eating a healthy balance of proteins, fats, and carbs is important. But every once in a while, do not be afraid to have pizza or burgers and fries, and/or other more traditionally "unhealthy" foods. But be careful, ketchup, for example, for just a tablespoon has 3 grams of added sugar in it, so be careful about dipping sauces and condiments. Still watch out for sugars! 4. Identify what healthy foods you like to eat for meals, and continue to have those things if possible. Cook at home instead of going out to eat if possible, unless you can afford to purchase and identify healthy takeaway foods.
Another important note, I have read in several places that sugar can have a similar affect to alcohol with several bodily functions, and can prohibit weight loss while also resulting in weight gain. I would highly recommend to avoid all alcohol at all costs because it might actually be counter productive to drink alcohol and go sugar free because the alcohol will act in a similar capacity to how sugar is processed. Alcohol is made from fermenting sugars after all.
For me, once I made it past week 3, everything gets so much easier from there. I hope someone found this helpful or had clarified any questions that one may have had.

Swollen tongue with cold symptoms
28F, 5’8”, 145lbs. Never smoked, no drinking or drugs.
UCTD (treated as lupus) Selective IGM deficiency. daily medications: plaquenil, Keflex, and adderall.
Hi! I’m having a bit of a panic because my frequent common cold has come with a fun new symptom: swollen, sore tongue.
I catch a cold once a month, maybe every 2 months. And it’s always pretty standard. Sore throat, cough, insanely runny nose, high fever, malaise, headache. Dayquill and 2 days off takes care of me.
I started getting my normal symptoms yesterday morning, and by last night it was full blown. This morning however, I noticed my tongue doesn’t fit in my teeth anymore. Ive trained myself to rest my tongue in my lower jaw because I have an overbite and I don’t want to make it worse. But today my tongue doesn’t fit in either my upper or lower jaw. Also, the sides are very sore, like when you eat too much sour candy. It isn’t causing any difficulty breathing but i literally can’t close my teeth and it’s exacerbated my sore, dry throat.
I’ve been taking dayquill and added in naproxen when the fever stopped declining (highest has been 103.1 and won’t go lower than 101) I took a Zyrtec when it was suggested by the minute clinic that the tongue thing could be an unrelated allergy; but it hasn’t gotten any better.
I tested negative for strep, flu, and Covid.
I had an uncomplicated wisdom tooth removal 4 days ago; and have had no pain, swelling, bleeding, or sign of infection since. But I wanted to add in case that’s relevant.

(F20) I will try my best to keep this as short and to the point. My mom got sick a couple of weeks ago and I got sick starting 3 days ago after visiting a relatives house.
I have been struggling to breathe, gasping for air, walking even 2 steps winds me and I have to recover, coughing up mucus, throwing up, nausea, not eating, chest pain, back pain, cough, diarrhea, throat pain, headache, stomach pain, everything but a fever (as far as I'm aware. I didn't keep checking)
On Saturday I woke up literally gasping for air with 8/10 chest pain. I went to the ER and got 2 antibiotics. Had tests done and came back with pneumonia. I went home. Continued to struggle while waiting for antibiotics to kick in and I kept taking a bunch of meds my mom suggested (sudafed, mucinex, ibuprofen, Tylenol, vaporub etc) but nothing helped and she wouldn't really believe me.
I kept struggling and groaning in pain and while walking so much that my dad kept yelling at me to shut up about it and told me to get out, cussing me out and then he called out of work and told my mom he's not going to work because of me. Then I started feeling really sorry.
On Monday its been 3 days of taking antibiotics and I am still gasping for breath. I called my PCP’s Nurse hotline and she basically was threatening (not really but just very concerned) to call me an ambulance but I know that would make my mom very angry.
The nurse had me straight up give my phone to my mom to try to convince her to take me to the hospital but my mom was not having it. I'm aware and sympathetic that she is feeling sick as well, but at least she was breathing and able to sleep. I was constantly gasping for air, but since I could get out sentences sometimes she did not believe me. I eventually stopped being able to get out sentences. I seriously don't know how to get anyone to take me seriously.
She took me to the hospital very mad and frustrated and it showed and I felt more sorry and I just kept apologizing. She said that she will quit her job and that she should just quit. She started screaming and stomping. (F50) (she has PTO, I don't, so I will not be getting anything) (she also submitted my medical papers for her to miss work)
I kept telling her she doesn't have to take me and I will find someone else but she insisted but continued to keep blowing up on me.
I go and wait for about 4 hours then I come back with asthma and bronchitis with the pneumonia. I didn't know I had asthma prior. They sent me 6 medications to take.
I can now breathe currently after respiratory therapy. I'm still nauseous and in pain though.
We got home and I apologized to her, then she started yelling at me and then I cried (I always cry because I'm weak and sensitive) and then she says I need to go to a crisis center, get help, get back on my medication (I got off of it because it was messing up my body. Now I'm only just in therapy) and that my depression is ruining her mental health. I continued to cry and I called my sister then my sister told me how she's tired of hearing from us (my parents get drunk every night and they got drunk a couple nights ago and had a nasty fight and I was also targeted because my mom overheard me crying in my room because they were fighting long story)
My sister says she understands how my mom feels.
My mom denies anything that I say that she has ever said or done, even if they said or done that thing 3 seconds before. She blacks out and scares me.
I don't know how else I was supposed to get to the hospital besides calling an ambulance because she would be mad then. But I couldn't call anyone else for help (I don't have anyone) and the nurse wouldn't send me a ride because my condition was too severe I guess.
She only takes about herself and how I affect her and I feel like garbage for it.
She didn't stay with me or anything, just dropped me off and picked me up. There isn't an ER in my network that is nearby in walking distance.

(F20) I will try my best to keep this as short and to the point. My mom got sick a couple of weeks ago and I got sick starting 3 days ago after visiting a relatives house.
I have been struggling to breathe, gasping for air, walking even 2 steps winds me and I have to recover, coughing up mucus, throwing up, nausea, not eating, chest pain, back pain, cough, diarrhea, throat pain, headache, stomach pain, everything but a fever (as far as I'm aware. I didn't keep checking)
On Saturday I woke up literally gasping for air with 8/10 chest pain. I went to the ER and got 2 antibiotics. Had tests done and came back with pneumonia. I went home. Continued to struggle while waiting for antibiotics to kick in and I kept taking a bunch of meds my mom suggested (sudafed, mucinex, ibuprofen, Tylenol, vaporub etc) but nothing helped and she wouldn't really believe me.
I kept struggling and groaning in pain and while walking so much that my dad kept yelling at me to shut up about it and told me to get out, cussing me out and then he called out of work and told my mom he's not going to work because of me. Then I started feeling really sorry.
On Monday its been 3 days of taking antibiotics and I am still gasping for breath. I called my PCP’s Nurse hotline and she basically was threatening (not really but just very concerned) to call me an ambulance but I know that would make my mom very angry.
The nurse had me straight up give my phone to my mom to try to convince her to take me to the hospital but my mom was not having it. I'm aware and sympathetic that she is feeling sick as well, but at least she was breathing and able to sleep. I was constantly gasping for air, but since I could get out sentences sometimes she did not believe me. I eventually stopped being able to get out sentences. I seriously don't know how to get anyone to take me seriously.
She took me to the hospital very mad and frustrated and it showed and I felt more sorry and I just kept apologizing. She said that she will quit her job and that she should just quit. She started screaming and stomping. (F50) (she has PTO, I don't, so I will not be getting anything) (she also submitted my medical papers for her to miss work)
I kept telling her she doesn't have to take me and I will find someone else but she insisted but continued to keep blowing up on me.
I go and wait for about 4 hours then I come back with asthma and bronchitis with the pneumonia. I didn't know I had asthma prior. They sent me 6 medications to take.
I can now breathe currently after respiratory therapy. I'm still nauseous and in pain though.
We got home and I apologized to her, then she started yelling at me and then I cried (I always cry because I'm weak and sensitive) and then she says I need to go to a crisis center, get help, get back on my medication (I got off of it because it was messing up my body. Now I'm only just in therapy) and that my depression is ruining her mental health. I continued to cry and I called my sister then my sister told me how she's tired of hearing from us (my parents get drunk every night and they got drunk a couple nights ago and had a nasty fight and I was also targeted because my mom overheard me crying in my room because they were fighting long story)
My sister says she understands how my mom feels.
My mom denies anything that I say that she has ever said or done, even if they said or done that thing 3 seconds before. She blacks out and scares me.
I don't know how else I was supposed to get to the hospital besides calling an ambulance because she would be mad then. But I couldn't call anyone else for help (I don't have anyone) and the nurse wouldn't send me a ride because my condition was too severe I guess.
She only takes about herself and how I affect her and I feel like garbage for it.
She didn't stay with me or anything, just dropped me off and picked me up. There isn't an ER in my network that is nearby in walking distance.

Synopsis:
An engineer in another world—blending science and magic to achieve greatness in a world where skills and levels reign supreme.
—
Ethan was just a plain old engineer, but everything changed when he was reborn into a world of skills, levels, and magic. With his advanced knowledge far ahead of the time period he finds himself in, this new reincarnated life will be much different than his last, especially because he can construct, deconstruct, and reconstruct runes—something no one else can do.
But with royal politics, looming tax collectors, a mountain of debt, dungeon incursions, cults, and hostile fantasy races mixing together into a cocktail of bullshit that threatens to bury his dreams; Ethan must bridge the gap between steel and sorcery to grow stronger. — Runecrafting is slow burn. — What to Expect: - Weak to very strong progression - Hardcore wish fulfillment - A balance of action, kingdom building, and runecrafting. - MC will trigger an industrial revolution, revolutionize magic, modernize agriculture, communication, commerce, textile production, education, transportation, sanitation, weapons manufacturing, leisure & entertainment, and medicine.
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Chapter 03

-1-
"Business opportunity?" Jack blinked, amused. "Intriguing. One doesn't often hear a noble propose such a thing to a [Necromancer]."
Roland shifted uncomfortably.
Ignoring him, Ethan leaned back in his chair.
"Let's just say these are unorthodox times, Jack. And frankly, the problems plaguing Holden call for equally unorthodox solutions." He gestured towards a nearby chair. "Do have a seat, and allow me to elaborate. It concerns a matter of public health, and specifically, a rather lackluster product currently on the market. One common folk cannot even afford."
Jack raised an eyebrow, taking the offered seat. "Public health and [Necromancy]? This does get more interesting by the moment, my lord."
Ethan leaned forward again.
"I'll be blunt. It's the Blight, Jack. You're undoubtedly familiar with its unpleasant effects." He wrinkled his nose slightly. "The lethargy, the nausea…and the frankly horrendous stench that clings to the afflicted."
"The Blight has stages, my lord. But yeah, I get the gist. Though, I confess, raising the recently departed isn't exactly..."
Ethan chuckled. "Not quite, my friend. While your talents with the departed are impressive, I have a different skillset in mind. One that involves cleanliness."
Jack's smile vanished, replaced by a wary arch of an eyebrow. "Cleanliness? You want a [Necromancer] for scrubbing floors?"
Ethan leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers. "Not scrubbing floors, precisely. What do you know about the Blight, Jack?"
"It's more than a mere sickness, my lord. It's a clinging parasite that latches onto the unfortunate soul and slowly devours their life force. The early signs are subtle—a sickly sweet odor, lethargy, pale clammy skin."
Jack shuddered dramatically, and continued. "Then comes the hunger. An insatiable craving that gnaws at their insides. The victims start developing a craving for raw flesh instead. Their mere touch becomes corrupting, causing plants to wilt and wounds to fester. Disembodied whispers of the spirits torment them, sapping their willpower—they're like a sweet escape from their suffering. It chips away at their will to fight, turning them inward until they become shells of their former selves."
Ethan blinked. Jack had a knack for theatrics and being dramatic, it seemed.
"In the final stages, the body decays into a walking corpse driven by an unquenchable hunger to consume the life force of others."
"Okay, stop," Ethan raised his hand with a sigh. "Who does the Blight infect?"
Jack took a deep breath. "That's the interesting part, my Lord. The Blight only seems to affect those with little to no mana. It's like mana acts as a shield. Majority of peasants are mana-less. It's a common disease, my lord. Even nobles suffer from the Blight; mostly children given that their mana is still developing."
"So, mana is our solution?" Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Why do you think no one's arrived at this conclusion given that the Blight is such a common occurrence you'd think there'd be a cure?"
"There is a cure, my lord. But—"
"It's way too expensive."
"Indeed, that is correct, my lord."
"Regardless, our solution here is sanitation. You see, the Blight thrives in filth. The stench, the lethargy, it all stems from a miasma that festers in unsanitary conditions. It eats on people's lifeforce. And the current concoction on the market does little to combat it. There's a simple solution—people are aware of it—but sadly, it's expensive, not as effective as it should be, and frankly, an insult to hygiene."
"Oh, are you talking about soap, my lord?"
"Soap," Ethan confirmed. "More specifically, newly made soap. As soap's made with magic here, it has slight mana in it—although it's a different matter altogether that said mana dissipates. Regardless, if bought new and used, it helps with the Blight. However, we need better soap. The current offerings are woefully inadequate, and at exorbitant prices. I envision a mass-produced, affordable soap that can combat the Blight's effects, doesn't lose mana, and can invigorate people."
Jack considered this for a moment. "And why, my lord, would a noble like yourself be concerned with such mundane matters?"
"Jack," Ethan's eyes narrowed slightly, his tone turning icy. "I believe you forget yourself. It is not your place to question nobility. I suggest you remember your place and focus on the task at hand."
Jack's face turned ashen. He quickly lowered his eyes. "I apologize, my lord."
"You are forgiven." Ethan didn't particularly enjoy being a noble, but now that he was one, he needed to maintain certain boundaries.
Though Ethan had been slightly taken aback, Jack was right. Nobles seldom cared about peasants. Even less when it came to the Blight. Any and all solutions currently available for this very normal cause of death were expensive. Current brick they sold as 'soap' was inadequate, had pathetic fragrance, and performed even less when it came to hygiene. So, most peasants die due to lack of money. They couldn't buy soap, and the concoction for the Blight was too expensive.
But I don't really think like the nobles, as I am not one.
Silence stretched between the two for several long moments, and in that silence, Ethan considered the consequences.
The consequences of Ethan's plan would be far-reaching. There definitely would be a political firestorm. Soapmakers, likely well-established guilds with ties to influential nobles, would see their profits plummet and their influence challenged. They'd spread rumors about Ethan's soap being inferior or even dangerous, and might even resort to sabotage, threats, blackmail, or the like. Ethan might also face resistance from other barons who profit from the inflated price of Blight remedies.
I need to be prepared for whatever they throw at me, 'cause they definitely will.
Beyond the immediate political struggle, there could be social unrest. Slower, more expensive production methods often employ a larger workforce given that [Mages] weren't always available to make soap. There had to be a manual process discovered by the [Mages] of this world—though having tried the soap himself, it was quite lacking.
Ethan's plans for mass-produced soap could lead to unemployment among those currently making soap. He'd need to be prepared to address these concerns, perhaps by retraining displaced workers or offering them jobs in the new production facilities. Though, then again, the guilds he'd poach the unemployed people from wouldn't take it lightly.
Regardless, I need to do it. Fuck the guilds. I don't think Theo's dad will let anything happen to him—aka me now.
Theo's family was rather big. His father, Lord Alexander Lockheart, was arguably ruthless and cold, but he usually held his family's interest in his mind—knowing him and his militaristic nature, Ethan didn't doubt he'd latch onto the opportunities to make some hefty sum of money—money which he could use to fund his militaristic endeavors. The man was ambitious.
*Theo's the 4***^th child of the Lockhearts. Even aside from Theo's dad, he's got five siblings: three older and two younger siblings. Two of whom, I can easily rely on. The eldest sibling, Maximillian, or Juliana, who is the second eldest. Benson's the third child, and he doesn't like me much, so Maximillian and Juliana are my only hope—though they're kind of disappointed in how Theo behaved, they wouldn't let something happened to me*, especially knowing that I, "Theodore Lockheart", am turning over a new leaf. Not to mention Theo's mom's too soft.*
Knowing his safety wouldn't be an issue, Ethan looked at Jack. He had only spoken like Theo to make sure he could set a proper boundary with Jack. Deciding that the awkward silence had gone for far too long, he spoke with a lighter tone.
"Though, if you must know, the Blight doesn't discriminate. It cripples the poor, yes, but it also weakens soldiers and undermines trade. A healthy populace is a productive populace, one that can pay taxes and contribute to the well-being of the entire barony. Besides," he added, a sly smile returning, "imagine the profit. Affordable, effective soap for all? It would be a goldmine. I'm especially looking forward to the reaction of noblewomen. They'll be in a frenzy. They'll be begging for this soap. We'll be swimming in coin."
Which I need given the looming tax and Holden's fucked up financial situation...
Unaware of what was going through Ethan's mind, Jack tapped his chin thoughtfully. "And, with all due respect, my lord, why do you need my help? What possible use could a [Necromancer] have in the realm of soap-making?"
Ethan leaned back, a smile playing on his lips. "While your skills in manipulating life force are undoubtedly impressive, Jack, it's your less publicized talent I'm particularly interested in."
Jack's eyes narrowed for a moment. "You mean...?"
"Imbuement." Ethan said.
Ethan wasn't too sure, but given that [Necromancers] and [Witches] were infamous classes, he'd heard rumors. They often imbued objects. Corpses in [Necromancers'] case and certain objects in [Witches'] case. It wasn't mana that they imbued exactly, but something else—which he had no clue about—that let them have control over the corpse/object they imbued. But, given that these two classes were the most affordable ones that could imbue anything at all and were experts in that regard, Ethan was pretty sure Jack could achieve his goal.
That was his theory, of course. It all depended on how long they could hold the mana inside the soap. Making the soap affordable and high quality—that he could handle. Keeping the mana within it, though, and getting some decent returns? Well, that depended a lot on Jack.
Jack ran a nervous hand through his scraggly brown hair, his eyes glinting.
"What if we could imbue the soap with mana?" Ethan said. "It would disrupt the Blight's ability to feed on life force. Think of it as a sort of 'static' that interferes with the Blight's 'signal'. So, we imbue mana into soap."
Jack frowned, considering this. "That's an interesting idea, my lord. But how would we create such a thing? Soap is expensive to make; you would have to employ mages—"
"Leave the soap to me. Deal with imbuing mana instead. As a [Necromancer], you have a unique understanding of life force and how it can be manipulated. I believe that with your help, we can develop a method to imbue soap with mana that stays in for as long as possible—you are the expert in imbuement, after all. The soap would then not only clean the body, but also create a sort of protective barrier against the Blight." He leaned back in his chair, watching Jack's reaction closely. "So, what do you think? Are you up for it?"
-2-
Ethan hummed as the carriage came to a stop near the house where those infected by the Blight were being kept under quarantine, in the company of Roland. The house wasn't luxurious by any means, it was quite small really. But it had been secured to allow them to observe the tainted. Ethan exited the carriage along Roland and Jack, and soon they were greeted by a tall, slender man in robes.
"Ah, Lord Theodore. It is my utmost pleasure to meet your esteemed self." the robed man bowed. His voice was even, but there was a wariness there—clearly, the man was not comfortable dealing with Ethan, or more like, Theodore who was infamous for his... nature.
Ethan wasn't happy with how the people of Holden and everyone acquainted with Theo regarded him, a reputation that likely spread more than just this town, but he couldn't do anything about it. Logically, he'd just need to deal with it one step at a time.
"No need to be so tense... Sir Miller." Ethan briefly checked his memory to bring up the information of the man.
Miller was the head physician of Holden.
"Esteemed guest," The man was still bowing, clearly uncomfortable and unable to bring himself to stand straight before a notorious lord such as Theodore. "Do not concern yourself with trivial manners and come in. The tainted have been secured, and preparations made, so please, this way."
The man led Ethan inside and after crossing through an empty room, they reached a space sectioned off by iron grills. A group of men armed with spears surrounded the door from the outside—they were armed with spears so they could deal with anyone that reached the third stage and became a brain-dead zombie without getting near them. The tall and burly men eyed Roland and Ethan, on alert at a noble's presence.
Ethan covered his face in a mask, stepped over the grills, into the open hall with rows of beds lining both sides, where about ten people lay, most on their back. If they noticed their Lord, the people lying on the bed didn't act like they noticed anything. "Please, Lord Theodore...!" Miller said. "You mustn't get near!"
"Nothing to worry, I won't be tainted," Ethan said. He was a [Mage] after all, and unranked one, but a mage nonetheless. He looked at the patients one by one.
They do look sickly... it is one thing hearing about it, but this is far more eye opening... Sighing, Ethan turned around and walked out.
"Jack, do your thing."
"Yes, my lord." Jack said as Ethan made it to Roland.
"Roland, we need to go to the Deadwoods, you and I."
Roland appeared apprehensive but did not question Ethan's intentions.
As Ethan and Roland walked out, Jack got started on the subjects. Ethan looked ahead. Grassy meadows stretched far and wide, dotted by occasional trees and bushes. The sun's golden rays washed over the land, leaving an orange tinge on the distant mountains. To the west of Holden lay the Deadwoods—easily spotted, as it stood as an ominous expanse of darkness in the otherwise brightly lit region. A mountain range stretched behind the Deadwoods and clung to the earth, meeting the borders of Corinth.
Ethan had to admit, the place was a sight to see despite how much the Deadwoods stood out like a sore thumb amidst all this greenery. Even then, the Deadwoods held a unique allure. Ethan got into the carriage with Roland in tow, then with a light jolt the carriage started moving. It was being pulled by two horses.
"With all due respect, my Lord, this seems unwise, no?"
"It'll be fine," Ethan reassured. "We have guards with us, and I have you to protect me."
"Why, is it not better to simply let us know what you require so we may fetch it in your stead?"
Ethan smiled, but didn't answer.
The Deadwoods soon came closer as the carriage sped up, drawing near to a stretch of meadows with trees scattered every few paces or so.
The carriage rattled as it went over a particularly large bump. Ethan gave a quick glance at Roland—the man had grown quieter since their departure. Clearly, he was contemplating what sorts of heinous plans his new lord had in store.
Suddenly, the carriage lurched to a halt. Ethan poked his head out of the window and called, "What's the hold-up?"
The driver gave an apologetic bow. "There's a large rock in the road, my lord."
"Then have the guards get rid of it." Ethan's voice carried a subtle note of annoyance. He really didn't have time for delays—as a rule of thumb, he usually hated them.
"My lord," Roland said. "It's a trap. We're under attack."
An arrow slammed right beside Ethan's head the next instant.
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(F20) I will try my best to keep this as short and to the point. My mom got sick a couple of weeks ago and I got sick starting 3 days ago after visiting a relatives house.
I have been struggling to breathe, gasping for air, walking even 2 steps winds me and I have to recover, coughing up mucus, throwing up, nausea, not eating, chest pain, back pain, cough, diarrhea, throat pain, headache, stomach pain, everything but a fever (as far as I'm aware. I didn't keep checking)
On Saturday I woke up literally gasping for air with 8/10 chest pain. I went to the ER and got 2 antibiotics. Had tests done and came back with pneumonia. I went home. Continued to struggle while waiting for antibiotics to kick in and I kept taking a bunch of meds my mom suggested (sudafed, mucinex, ibuprofen, Tylenol, vaporub etc) but nothing helped and she wouldn't really believe me.
I kept struggling and groaning in pain and while walking so much that my dad kept yelling at me to shut up about it and told me to get out, cussing me out and then he called out of work and told my mom he's not going to work because of me. Then I started feeling really sorry.
On Monday its been 3 days of taking antibiotics and I am still gasping for breath. I called my PCP’s Nurse hotline and she basically was threatening (not really but just very concerned) to call me an ambulance but I know that would make my mom very angry.
The nurse had me straight up give my phone to my mom to try to convince her to take me to the hospital but my mom was not having it. I'm aware and sympathetic that she is feeling sick as well, but at least she was breathing and able to sleep. I was constantly gasping for air, but since I could get out sentences sometimes she did not believe me. I eventually stopped being able to get out sentences. I seriously don't know how to get anyone to take me seriously.
She took me to the hospital very mad and frustrated and it showed and I felt more sorry and I just kept apologizing. She said that she will quit her job and that she should just quit. She started screaming and stomping. (F50) (she has PTO, I don't, so I will not be getting anything) (she also submitted my medical papers for her to miss work)
I kept telling her she doesn't have to take me and I will find someone else but she insisted but continued to keep blowing up on me.
I go and wait for about 4 hours then I come back with asthma and bronchitis with the pneumonia. I didn't know I had asthma prior. They sent me 6 medications to take.
I can now breathe currently after respiratory therapy. I'm still nauseous and in pain though.
We got home and I apologized to her, then she started yelling at me and then I cried (I always cry because I'm weak and sensitive) and then she says I need to go to a crisis center, get help, get back on my medication (I got off of it because it was messing up my body. Now I'm only just in therapy) and that my depression is ruining her mental health. I continued to cry and I called my sister then my sister told me how she's tired of hearing from us (my parents get drunk every night and they got drunk a couple nights ago and had a nasty fight and I was also targeted because my mom overheard me crying in my room because they were fighting long story)
My sister says she understands how my mom feels.
My mom denies anything that I say that she has ever said or done, even if they said or done that thing 3 seconds before. She blacks out and scares me.
I don't know how else I was supposed to get to the hospital besides calling an ambulance because she would be mad then. But I couldn't call anyone else for help (I don't have anyone) and the nurse wouldn't send me a ride because my condition was too severe I guess.
She only takes about herself and how I affect her and I feel like garbage for it.
She didn't stay with me or anything, just dropped me off and picked me up. There isn't an ER in my network that is nearby in walking distance.

(F20) I will try my best to keep this as short and to the point. My mom got sick a couple of weeks ago and I got sick starting 3 days ago after visiting a relatives house.
I have been struggling to breathe, gasping for air, walking even 2 steps winds me and I have to recover, coughing up mucus, throwing up, nausea, not eating, chest pain, back pain, cough, diarrhea, throat pain, headache, stomach pain, everything but a fever (as far as I'm aware. I didn't keep checking)
On Saturday I woke up literally gasping for air with 8/10 chest pain. I went to the ER and got 2 antibiotics. Had tests done and came back with pneumonia. I went home. Continued to struggle while waiting for antibiotics to kick in and I kept taking a bunch of meds my mom suggested (sudafed, mucinex, ibuprofen, Tylenol, vaporub etc) but nothing helped and she wouldn't really believe me.
I kept struggling and groaning in pain and while walking so much that my dad kept yelling at me to shut up about it and told me to get out, cussing me out and then he called out of work and told my mom he's not going to work because of me. Then I started feeling really sorry.
On Monday its been 3 days of taking antibiotics and I am still gasping for breath. I called my PCP’s Nurse hotline and she basically was threatening (not really but just very concerned) to call me an ambulance but I know that would make my mom very angry.
The nurse had me straight up give my phone to my mom to try to convince her to take me to the hospital but my mom was not having it. I'm aware and sympathetic that she is feeling sick as well, but at least she was breathing and able to sleep. I was constantly gasping for air, but since I could get out sentences sometimes she did not believe me. I eventually stopped being able to get out sentences. I seriously don't know how to get anyone to take me seriously.
She took me to the hospital very mad and frustrated and it showed and I felt more sorry and I just kept apologizing. She said that she will quit her job and that she should just quit. She started screaming and stomping. (F50) (she has PTO, I don't, so I will not be getting anything) (she also submitted my medical papers for her to miss work)
I kept telling her she doesn't have to take me and I will find someone else but she insisted but continued to keep blowing up on me.
I go and wait for about 4 hours then I come back with asthma and bronchitis with the pneumonia. I didn't know I had asthma prior. They sent me 6 medications to take.
I can now breathe currently after respiratory therapy. I'm still nauseous and in pain though.
We got home and I apologized to her, then she started yelling at me and then I cried (I always cry because I'm weak and sensitive) and then she says I need to go to a crisis center, get help, get back on my medication (I got off of it because it was messing up my body. Now I'm only just in therapy) and that my depression is ruining her mental health. I continued to cry and I called my sister then my sister told me how she's tired of hearing from us (my parents get drunk every night and they got drunk a couple nights ago and had a nasty fight and I was also targeted because my mom overheard me crying in my room because they were fighting long story)
My sister says she understands how my mom feels.
My mom denies anything that I say that she has ever said or done, even if they said or done that thing 3 seconds before. She blacks out and scares me.
I don't know how else I was supposed to get to the hospital besides calling an ambulance because she would be mad then. But I couldn't call anyone else for help (I don't have anyone) and the nurse wouldn't send me a ride because my condition was too severe I guess.
She only takes about herself and how I affect her and I feel like garbage for it.

I was craving wings and hot chips and was going to order takeout from a local wing place but at their better location because it’s cleaner. Instead (even though I thought to myself and knew that it was a seriously bad idea) I ordered from the place closer to my house but that is always dirty and super unsanitary but I thought I’d give them another chance. I ate all of the chips and two wings and was fine.
Then the next day I ate the remaining three wings and ended up severely sick vomiting the whole night and sitting on the toilet for hours basically peeing out of my bum. Now my abs are so sore, my bumhole hurts and is raw and I continuously have to go sit on the toilet feeling like I have to use the bathroom but nothing will come out. And I’m still super nauseas.
TL;DR: I bought takeout at a place I know is unsanitary, ended up with food poisoning, and have sore abs and a sore bumhole from puking and peeing out of my booty

Reposting since my previous post got deleted.
I am a 56 y/o female, 5'4", 215 lbs. I have a history of anaphylactic allergies, asthma, eczema, diabetes, cluster migraines. I'm currently taking Mounjaro (7.5), Lisinopril, and Tresiba.
I was on vacation in OBX, NC the last week in April. On our last day there I woke up with what I thought were two bug or spider bites. One on my left forearm and the in between my knuckles on my right hand. The areas were really swollen and itchy but I figured that was normal for insect bites.
I was super tired when I returned home, but it was a 4 hour drive. Over the next few days I was still really fatigued. I would come home from work and go to bed. Wake up after a couple hours and go back to sleep.
Along with the fatigue, I noticed the bites didn't go down right away. They stayed swollen and super itchy for almost two weeks, and I still have marks where the bites were. Just as I thought maybe I should get them looked at, the swelling went down. I'm not sure what could have bitten me. Perhaps midges?
In the meantime, I started getting bad headaches. As I said, I have a history of migraines and clusters. I just thought it was another cluster cycle. The extreme fatigue continued. My neck (not throat) was sore. This past Thursday, I broke out in huge welts on my right arm.I hadn't eaten anything, and hadn't spent time outside. This Saturday, I woke up with pink eye. I thought maybe it was an allergic reaction, but the doctor told me it was bacterial. Yesterday was the worst--I had a headache, was super nauseated and super tired. I slept the whole day and when I ate, it made me sick.
I came home early from work today, and just woke up from a two hour nap.
I test my blood sugars, and they are in normal range not more than 120, and usually below 100. My bp which usually is high is normal. I got a COVID test today because I found out i was in a training last week where several people had COVID. I tested negative for COVID and the flu.
Are these just random symptoms or could it be that my body is just having some crazy reaction to these bites? Or is everything just coincidental? I didn't bring it up to the doctors at urgent care because I figured they'd just dismiss me. The doctor today said I just have a virus and it should be out of my system in the next day.
I do have a primary doctor, but I have so many different things going on I feel like a hypochondriac.
Sorry this is so long.

Back in 2007, I started experiencing what I found out were migraine headaches. After a few years, I found myself very rarely experiencing them anymore, but in 2021 had a headache lasting several days, went to the Dr, and was told it was a migraine. I was prescribed Imitrex, which helped for a while, but more recently has done very little. I was then prescribed daily propranolol and told to keep with the Imitrex. The propranolol hasn't done anything of note for me.
At the last few urgent care appointments I've had, I've been given a shot of toradol and sent on my way. That definitely got rid of the migraine, but this last month, after a shot, the headache came back after a few hours. That Dr also told me he had doubts the headaches were actually migraines, but more allergy-related, and had me start an allergy med daily as well as a nasal spray, and to take 800mg of ibuprofen as well. The allergy stuff didn't seem to fix the issue, as I was just at urgent care today for a headache lasting 5 days.
She said she couldn't give me toradol as I'd already taken too much ibuprofen, and couldn't understand why the last Dr said to take 800mg, as no studies have shown that dose to be more effective.
She said I needed to see a neurologist, wondered why I hadn't already been referred to one, and sent a referral.
I guess I just never figured a neurologist could do much to help since my migraines aren't absolutely debilitating, I just get an intense headache that doesn't go away for 3+ days once or twice a month and causes nausea and fatigue; I figured a neurologist would just say I'm fine and send me on my way.
I've never been so absolutely laid out by a headache that I've had to be in a completely dark room just laying down or whatever, I can still function, it's just incredibly unpleasant to do so and definitely affects my work (I'm on my feet 10 hours a day).
Does anybody else deal with anything similar who has seen a neurologist? Was it actually helpful?

hi friends 💐
today towards the latter half of the day i started feeling awful, throat hurts and a really big sinus headache, i actually got sick in the restroom twenty minutes before im scheduled to leave.
i took my temperature right after getting sick and it was 99.7, so no fever, but i am showing symptoms that it’s getting higher (real bad chills, severe nausea)
this month licensing is coming, and a lot of people are suggesting they’ll be at the center tomorrow and i really do not want to miss that in case i do start to run a fever. im anxious about telling my boss what happened today, as i fear she’s going to be irritated that im missing on such an important day.
i only just got home and am gonna take my temperature again in a few minutes and keep monitoring it. any advice in case i do run a fever?