Storyline: A Bleeding Heart

[Pandora_CoD]

OOC: Keeping all stories relating to the illness of our little Darlina here so they are easier to find for future reference. Please include all letters, journal entries, etc. here. I am adding an initial synopsis for background.

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Darlina Kingston, 6, had been delivered to the Umbra Orphanage a year and a half ago after her mother died from a rare cancer. Her father had been part of the RBG of Umbra and died in the line of fire when she was just 8 months old at the hand of Ix Tab. No other known relatives have ever been located. Her mother and father were both born in the city of Trinsic, having moved to Umbra for his employment with the Guard.

Three days ago the child appeared to have caught a cold and was sniffling. One of the nannies at the orphanage noticed that she had what appeared to be a small bite on her left forearm. She treated the bite, which did not seem to be of great concern and began to treat the child for the common cold. Her symptoms quickly worsen. She exhibited a high fever, sweats followed by shivers, general malaise, and what seemed to be delusions. The nannies moved the child to the Umbra Bloodletters and notified the Romanus family.

The close ties of the child with the RBG of Umbra, had a few of the guards of that regiment interested in assisting and helping in the child's recovery efforts. After their regular shifts, they decided to visit the area of Trinsic to see if anyone knew of the Kingston family and once again attempt to find some relatives for the child. If there was a need for a blood transfusion, it would be best if it was family.

Having found no one that even knew the family, they stopped over at the Galehaven Tavern in Olympus for a drink. Capt. Kalmar Erikkson, Lt. Barnaby Baggins, and Sgt. August Rush spoke with fellow RBG'ers from the Skara Brae unit in regards to the going on's of this particular case. At which point, some of the skilled healers of that regiment questioned the methodologies of the Umbra Bloodletters. Dr. Gillian Wilkins Gryphon offered her assistance to review the child's illness.

Sgt. August Rush went to notify Lady Pandora de Romanus that there had been questions as to the methods of the healers in Umbra and that Dr. Wilkins Gryphon was on her way to visit the child. Capt. Kalmar Erikkson awaited his fellow RBG'ers at the Bloodletters.

 

[Pandora_CoD]

*a parchment sent to Olympus Headquarters*

Esteemed Gov. Gryphon,

As you by now have heard your wife Gillian and trusted Knight Cedric, along with some of the more medically apt Rangers, assisted us in helping a gravely ill girl that we house in our orphanage. Her name is Darlina Kingston, she is just 6 years of age. Currently, she is now under the safe guard of the city of Trinsic in the City Jail, however I am planning to have her moved over to the healers in Trinsic this afternoon. Constant supervision and guardianship is needed, and I have assigned one of my own guards to help as well, Isonu Minamoto, to take on the night watch --- the RBG will help during the daylight hours.

We had originally taken her to Umbra's Bloodletters, but were met with a sudden harsh resistance by a new group led by a questionable female, known as Jacyul. They apparently want to lay stake to Umbra, but I will not be threatened and my work to rebuild Umbra will not be placed in jeapordy. In return for said claim, they mentioned they could cure the child. Immediately, of course I was not going to subject this innocent child to anything some strangers may have concocted. And the thought that they would be responsible for such an event is unfathomable, only made worse by dangling a cure and bartering with the child's life. The encounter of this other group of ... people... was so random and unexpected.

I fear I may have inadvertently placed your city in direct involvement here, for that I am truly sorry. It was not my intention to do so, as the RBG of our city visited Galehaven and talked among other fellow RBG'ers there. Gillian was, of course, at the mention of an ill child instantly interested in providing her assistance. She is well known to be a very skilled healer, afterall. She feared the Umbra healers would be doing the child a disservice and wanted to help the poor girl. Now my concern is not just for the child's wellbeing, but also keeping her away from whoever may have alterior motives with her.

You have my sincerest gratitude for any assistance in this matter.


Sincerely,

Lady Pandora de Romanus
Countess of Britain
Imperator of Umbra

 

[Jordan Thyme]

“It has to hurt to heal, Gillian.” She heard the words clearly, her mind flashing back to a dingy cabin as the ship rolled and rocked on the high seas. It was an appropriate adage. Firmly in the present, she looked down at her bandage wrapped hand, drainage soaking in, and the painlessness registered. She’d lost feeling in it hours ago. Not even a tingling of numbness remained from mid forearm down. Her feet half hanging off the bed she arose and headed down the stairs of the mining house.

“I thought I heard you come in.”

From the doorway, Cedric greeted her with his usual, “Ma’am.”

“Did you get any sleep?”

“I’m fine Ma’am.” She avoided the argument, that hadn’t been the question and she knew she wouldn’t get an answer from him anyway.

“Did the move go accordingly?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” She nodded in return then. “Then if you don’t mind….” She trailed off, shame and anguish gripping her. She tried to swallow it down. “I need you to take a letter for me?”

“Yes Ma’am.” She pulled out a quill and parchment, handing it over. As she dictated the words, she watched his flourishes. The overly large lettering with its Calligraphic capitals and the neat even spacing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Countess de Romanus,

As you may or may not have heard our joint patient, Miss Darlina, has broken her fever. Per conversations that occurred today and the path her care will be taking in the future, she has been moved to a secluded location in Britain. Her vitals were stable at the time of movement and precautions were taken in the form of light covering to prevent cross contamination for all parties involved, including but not limited to: Citizens of Trinsic, Citizens of Britain, and of course Darlina herself. If you have any questions at all I would be more than happy to answer them.

With Best Regards,

Gillian Gryphon
Governor of Skara Brae
Seeker, Spiritwood Rangers

 

[Bianca_CoD]

Events of early last evening from the child's point of view before her move to Britain.

"I want my mommy!" she screamed out through tears that would not stop falling. She felt awful. Her tummy ached. It was as if she stood among the burning embers; sweat pouring from every pore. The healer caring for her tried to soothe her, but to no avail. She would need more sedatives. Just then a familiar face, "There there, little Darlina. I have you, its okay love. We're going to fix it all up for you." Pandora hugged the child tightly in her arms, her skin somewhat cool providing some relief to the heat of the fever that had overtaken her. Darlina couldn't help but curl into Pandora's arms. At least she knew her!

She couldn't help her tummy being so upset. It was really hurting. Pandora continued to comfort her, but it just did not help her tummy. She threw up. Pandora flinched a bit but otherwise ignored the fact that her Anne Klein dress was now ruined. Cedric felt terrible for the girl. Per Gillian's instructions, he mixed some fluids for her to drink that would help her tummy. She didn't want to drink anything. Pandora tried to soothe her, but again she exclaimed, "I want my mommy!". You can hear every heart in the room break knowing the child wanted what they could not give. She didn't want to drink but tried to do as Pandora asked, she took one sip. Her head shook, "Yuck!" Tears flowing again. It tasted chalky and gross. Cedric knew how to fix it. He mixed in some fruit and handed it back to Pandora. Pandora tried again, this time it was better. She managed to drink it down, coating her stomach. Pandora smiled, "Good girl!" She held the girl against her caressing her hair. She reminded her of her own mother; she used to hold her like that.

Voices were all around her; a new voice soft spoken, male. They called him Isonu. And another one, Gaylen. Scary. Pandora could sense her fear. "Its okay, my sweet girl. They are here to keep you safe." Would they keep the demon in the corner away from her? He looked so mean. Pandora started to sing in a language she didn't understand, but it was soothing to her none the less. She drifted off to sleep, now that her tummy was better. Maybe the demons would leave her alone now.

 

[Pandora_CoD]

*a parchment sent to Olympus, Residence Gryphon*

Dear Gov. Wilkins Gryphon,

I would like to thank you for the care and consideration that was given to our little Darlina. She's continuing to improve and we continue to keep her at the Healer's in Britain for now. The safety of the other children in the orphanage is also a concern for us. The healers here in Britain do not know much about the treatment of this plague, but I trust that they can see to her care going forward.

As for the threat to our holdings in Umbra, I wonder what more --- if you know --- you could tell us about these others. I will be sending Capt. Erikkson to meet with his Skara Brae brothers & sisters on the subject soon enough.

Sincerely,

Lady Pandora de Romanus,
Countess of Britain
Imperator of Umbra

 

[Armand de Romanus]

Armand de Romanus and his wife Merida de Romanus were now living primarily in Venice, Italy. They were staying in Villa Franchesi, which belonged to Bianca's family. A postman for the villa received an antique looking parchment with the seal of the Romanus' family stamped on it with red wax. It was shuffled off to Armand, who sat at his desk conversing with his wife about Saphira's progress in language arts.

I recognized the letter immediately; it was from Sosaria. With my gold-laid letter opener I sliced the wax seal and opened it as Merida continued to talk about the teachers being so impressed with Saphira's natural learning ability, she had picked up Italian quite well. "... and I think we might want to enroll her in the swim team," she said, "... is that from Marius?" I shook my head, "No, Pandora." Merida's face instantly hardened. I do not think she had quite forgiven her for the last encounter they had. I read on and she said, "Well then, I guess I'll go then." "No, wait... its the orphanage. Something's gone wrong there." I raised my eyes to meet hers for only a moment. "What?" she paused, "What?!" I read on. "New dwellers in Umbra, developed a plague, targeted certain cities but somehow it got to Darlina." She snatched the letter out of my hands herself, "No.. what? Who the hell would hurt a child?" She read on. "Well she's from Trinsic, at least her parents were." She said skimming through the letter, "Didn't we organize a trip to the hedge pools for them recently? Could it have been there?" I looked at her, deep in thought, could be. "A rat? Bitten by a rat?" she couldn't hide her disgust. "Apparently so, but she's getting better. I don't get it. Why would anyone release a plague to have people.... recover?" I asked. She folded the letter in two, handing it back over. "We need to get over there," she said, "we are responsible for those children." I looked to her, "No. You stay, stay with them," I said nodding towards the door where you could hear Antonio running around laughing and playing with his sister Rose. "I'll go." She was ready to protest just as we heard a thump on the marble floor and an instant wail of a cry, it was Rose. Merida ran to get her, I followed.

 

[Bianca_CoD]

As little Darlina rejoins her friends at the orphanage, Armand pays the children a visit.

She was just happy to be back with her friends but many of the children did not want to come near her. They were afraid, you see. If this sickness had touched her, could touching her make them sick too? She stayed in her room, crying. The other children did not invite her to play. So she hugged her bunny and cried. The nannies checked in on her but she would just pretend to be sleeping.

Britney noticed that Darlina was not with everyone else at recess. She asked Michael about her, "I dunno, but I know we might want to stay away from her for a while." He replied. "Why? They've completely cleared her. We can't just isolate her, Mikey," she said. Michael shrugged and said, "Just don't get all mushy and start hugging her." Britney waved him off and went downstairs looking for her. When she walked in Darlina once again pretended to be asleep and Britney at first thought she really was. But Britney wasn't so easily fooled, so she went to sit with her. Darlina slowly opened one eye, a clear give-away. Britney smiled at her.

"Why are you here all by yourself?" She asked. "I was tired," Darlina responded. But Britney knew that was a lie. So Britney immediately dove into her usual tickle fest, which always made the little ones laugh. "No! Don't touch me." Darlina exclaimed. "Oh pish posh, there is nothing wrong with you Dar. And I know you love it when the tickle monster visits," Britney told her. The two girls were laughing, as Darlina relaxed and was brave enough to return the favor tickling Britney herself. Darlina felt a little more normal now with Britney around.

The laughter of the two girls filled the hall as Armand opened the front doors. It instantly brought a smile to his face. He was carrying a bunch of new clothes and toys for the orphanage in a box and drawings that his own children, Antonio, Rose, and Saphira had drawn for the kids in a folder. He had loved constructing this building, renovating it after the fire that Xanthus had masterminded had been challenging. The kids had had to stay at the Inn in Umbra for a while, which his family had rented out. He slowly opened the door to the girl's room, leaning on the door's edge. He watched the little girls play with each other and a sense of warmth filled his unbeating heart. He quietly thought to himself, "It's no wonder my wife loved this line of work." He interrupted the game play after a few minutes.

"Hello girls!" He smiled. They turned to him and smiled right back. They went to hug him and he picked Darlina right up, asking Britney to bring the box up to the rooftop recess room. He looked Darlina over without making much of a fuss and kissed her cheek. Britney mentioned the other kids had been scared they too would catch the sickness. Armand smiled, "That's silly. I'll show them." So all together they went up and as the children saw Armand, they scurried along to see what "Mr. Merida" had brought them. They of course asked about his wife whom they loved dearly, "She's still away for a little while, with our kids. But she'll return soon, I promise." As soon as the kids saw that Armand was hugging and kissing Darlina, you could see the children relax more and engage with her once again.

Together they pondered over which clothes they would take and what toys they wanted to play with first; all smiles, all laughter. Armand got lost in it all and for a time forgot about the plague or about the Draconians or about what evils these others laying claim to their beloved city would bring to their feet. Children tend to do that. At the end of the day, the Romanus' family had done so much for these children and made them as comfortable as humanly possible. It was a collaborative effort between most of the members of the family. But the children certainly were attached to Mrs. Pandora and Mrs. Merida the most. Goes to show that vampires know how to love. They experience love in a very human way and their hearts, though without a beat, can certainly be filled with it by the joys of children who despite their unfortunate circumstances can still smile and laugh.

 

[Pandora_CoD]

Pandora walked in with a smile to the orphanage. The past few visits between Mr. and Mrs. Carl Jackson, III and little Darlina had gone so well. This time they were coming with their own children; Carl the 4th who is just 3 years of age and Caroline who was 9 years of age. The children met Darlina and instantly took to them and they started to play. Mrs. Jackson, a lovely woman in her early 30's had survived a battle with cancer and was in full remission. But the disease had taken a toll on her body physically and the doctors said she should not have more children. But the couple wanted to open their hearts and home to more children so they chose adoption. The children played for the remainder of the day, while I talked through the next steps with Mr. and Mrs. Jackson.

After a full chat with the doctors that had tended to Mrs. Jackson's care, Pandora thought it well to approve their request to adopt Darlina. She consulted with Merida, who set up various classes with both parents to acclimate them to the stress an adoptee can face when their environment changes. They attended all three classes and spoke with Jade, our therapist, to formulate a plan of action for the well being of the child. The child would return to see Jade every 3 months for a check up session for the next two years. The family was ready.

Pandora reviewed all the documentation once more, ensuring everything was in place and then signed it. In the morning, she would have it notarized and documented with the Crown. She also saw to it to give Gov. Wilkins-Gryphon an update on the child they both had so lovingly cared for during her brief illness.

Dated April 29th, 379BY

Gov. @Gillian Wilkins Gryphon
Skara Brae Governors Office

Esteemed Lady Gillian,

I had wanted to tell you the good news that day at the council meeting but it seemed that other pressing matters awaited. Our little Darlina has found an exceptional forever home with Mr. and Mrs. Carl Jackson, the III. A lovely couple who suffered some hard times as the mother battled, but won, a battle with cancer which has kept her from further biological children. However, the Jacksons sought to expand their brood by choosing to adopt several children going forward. Darlina is the first adoptee for the couple. A truly adoring couple, they have two biological children of their own to play with little Darlina. She would be the middle child with a younger brother, Carl the 4th, who is 3 and an older sister, Caroline who is 9.

We have ensured the health of Mrs. Jackson, having spoke with her doctors, and we're assured she is in full remission. We also provide what we like to call "adjustment" classes for the family, so they know what to expect and what questions might come up. Also our resident therapist will have some check up sessions at periodic intervals with the family to ensure everything is going well and that we provide as much support for a successful placement as possible. As you can see, we're very thorough in our work with the children.

I hope all is well with you and your family. You look positively radiant in the forthcoming addition to your family. And I do hope your husband has recovered after that awful business with the Gov. --- if we can call him that --- of Jhelom. I was truly apalled that the King would stand for such treatment of a seating Governor.

At any rate m'lady, thought you would appreciate the bit of good news.


Best,

Lady Pandora de Romanus
Countess of Britain
Imperator of Umbra