Corrupt Blood

Elwynn forest was nearly silent, making it easy to pick out the sound of thundering hooves approaching. Along the single road from the west came a charger, strong, proud, and decked in armor, galloping at full speed. The trees whizzed past the rider’s vision, boars and spiders appearing for brief moments before disappearing in the growing distance behind the paladin. Goldshire was quite the strange sight to the human on the approaching horse, its streets empty, no music drifting on the wind, not even smoke billowing from the ever-active forge. The charger slowed to a trot along the empty main street of Goldshire, eventually coming to a halt in front of the inn, although there were many horses tied to the posts out front, no cheery music played within.

To say that Goldshire Inn was famous would be an understatement, any son or daughter of the Alliance could tell you where it was, or at least refer you to someone who knew. At the moment there was no alcohol being served, no beautiful women being chased about by drunken soldiers, no exaggerated tales from scared old veterans downing pints in the corners. The Alliance was currently being hit hard by the ‘Corrupted Blood’, an illness described by some as ‘Jungle Fever on drugs’. A call had been put out for any available healers or alchemists to report to Goldshire to join in the fight, and the Inn was being used as a treatment facility for the critically ill.

The paladin stepped into madness. That was the only way to really describe the inside of the inn, blankets were strewn about the floor, littered here and there with moaning sweaty bodies. As he walked among them he noticed most had web-like patterns of dark black running across their bodies, he remembered seeing some soldiers from the hinterlands come to Ironforge with patterns like that, ‘Spider Fever’ it had been called, poisoned blood. The healthy ones didn’t last long if not flown back to Ironforge and treated right away, the young and the weak ones didn’t make it back to ironforge.

He noticed there were several other healers in the room, tending to patients as rapidly as they could. Those talented enough brought patents into a quarantine room and worked at curing the disease, those who only knew basic healing spells worked at keeping the severe cases stable. Here and there were non-healers, trying to do their part by bringing water and the occasional mana potion to the healers, offering a brief reprieve from the endless casting.

“The hell do you think you are walking in here without a mask on!” Shouted a woman from the far end of the room, she had just left the quarantine room. Two attendants brought a young girl out on a stretcher, a mask over her face. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve got enough sick people stuffed in here already.” She said, her tone harsh as she stepped forward and sized him up.

“Let’s see, a full set of plate armor, and an oversized hammer. You must be a paladin. You’re probably the last to be showing up, just came in from the front?” She queried.

He nodded, “The name’s Derk. I got the message while down on duty in the Blasted Lands.”

“Well Derk, glad to have you on board, I am Agatha Cromsby.” She replied, shaking his hand. She was an old lady, her dark hair streaked with grey, and wrinkles all across her face, likely from scowling. “Let’s get something straight, if one of our healers falls ill, not only do we lose a healer, we gain a patient, so you’d best be watching yourself. If you won’t wear a mask at least be sure to heal yourself each time you finish a shift, and even take a break during a shift if you feel yourself getting sick.” She warned, wagging a finger at him like an old school teacher. “I’ve no time to introduce you to protocol, so I’ll let Sam fill you in, you’ll go on shift with her outside of the auction house for now. Just a few hours ‘till you’re up to speed, then we’ll put you in as a healer.”

Walking outside of the Inn Derk met Sam for the first time. She was delegating out horses to pull the ambulance carriages, “This horse here, is it yours? I know it belongs to a paladin, and you seem to be new here.” She said to him, she was short, only about 5’4”, and sounded young. Though how young he couldn’t be certain, as she kept the hood on her white robe, which appeared to be much to large for her, up over her head. In her right hand she held a staff, long and narrow, with an artistic curve at the top, to make it look like a symbol of some sort. Across the robe were other similar symbols done in red.

Her outfit clashed painfully with Derk’s. He had spent a lot of time on missions for the Alliance and accumulated an odd assortment of gear. He was allowed to wear it on guard duty because of his rank, but as far as fashion goes, it certainly wasn’t anywhere close to uniform material. Derk stepped towards the horses, pulling the helmet from his head and placing it into the bag on the side of his charger. His face was that of a man of his mid twenties, his chestnut hair was cut neatly and he kept a small patch of hair on his chin. “Yeah, I’m Derk, just came in from the blasted lands. If you need to borrow him for carriage duties feel free.”

“Thank you for the offer, we need another to help take the recovered to the abbey for quarantine and recovery.” She gestured to a group with an available cart, and they began hitching Derk’s horse up. “As for us, we’re on duty at the auction house, I’ll fill you in on the way, but we’re relieving another shift, so let’s be quick.”

The two set off up the road to Stormwind city, there were guards up front who waved at Sam and let them pass. “They keep anyone who isn’t with the healing team out of the city to limit the spread of it to other parts of the world. It’s the same with flights and ships, you need a clean bill of health before you can go anywhere. The Tram is closed though, not enough of us to clear the amount of people who use it every day.” She explained as they passed the main gate into the city.

“Well, I would have preferred taking the tram to help out in Ironforge, I was raised there, by a dwarven Blacksmith named Kerk, he wasn’t really inventive with his naming.” Sam giggled at that, “I’m serious, I have a ‘brother’ named Berk, he’s training to become a master weaponsmith.”

If he had to guess Derk would say she was smiling under the hood, her tone seemed a bit less serious when she continued. “We’ve got a curfew going on at the moment, and a limit to gatherings of people. But of course we have to keep the Auction Houses and Banks open, for now. So that’s where guard duty comes in. We stand outside of the major hubs, and attempt to stop anyone who looks sick from entering. Most people who are sick don’t know it when we catch them, but at that stage it isn’t hard to cure. If you do catch someone, cure them, and anyone around them, just in case.”

They arrived at the trade district, out in front of the Auction House, just as described, were two healers, a Druid and a Priest, checking customers as they lined up to get inside. “Hey, you two are relieved, go get some rest and drink plenty of water.” Called Sam as they approached, quickly taking up their positions at the front of the line.

“So what exactly am I looking for, black lines right?” Derk inquired, while Sam gave each customer a once-over.

“That’s the easiest symptom to spot, but really we should be curing anyone who looks sweaty or feverish. Some gnomes are working on a ‘Disease-Detector’ but it won’t be done for quite some time.” She replied, clearing the current customer and having the next one take its place.

The day went by roughly the same way, they had a lot of people with fevers, and a few with lines. They gave everyone a full-body cure as they entered, putting more mana into the spell when they noticed signs of fever.

Eventually they noticed a commotion near the back of the line, the crowd parted as a burly looking dwarf muscled his way up front. “I got things to buy right now, you know that? I got minutes to get in there and place me bid, or I’m out of luck for an entire week’s worth of shipments. Now let me through!” He shouted, Derk noticed his forehead was sweaty, but that may have been because of his anger.

“I’m sorry sir, but everyone has to line up, and everyone has to be cleared, to avoid spreading the disease.” Sam tried to calm him down, Derk tried looking imposing, hoping the dwarf would get the idea and go back to the line.

“Do ye know who I am lass? I’m a Master Sergeant I am! I’m a hardened dwarf warrior, I don’t get sick, now let me through or I swear.” He threatened, placing a hand on the sword on his back.

“You’ll do what, Sergeant.” Derk stepped forward, in between Sam and the dwarf.

“That’s Master Sergeant boy, and who the hell are you supposed tah be?” he scoffed.

“Knight-Champion Derk Blackanvil.” Derk replied stone-faced. The dwarf grumbled, and stormed off, letting out a string of curse words in his native language. Derk couldn’t help but chuckle at some of the more colourful ones.

At the end of the day they returned to Goldshire, lodgings had been provided for the entire task force among the residents of the town. They were all nice people, and Derk’s sponsors cooked him a large dinner in thanks for his service to the cause. After dinner he was brought back to the inn for a demonstration.

“Pay close attention, our patient this evening is an Alliance hunter, just starting out, stationed in Westfall. When treating patients it’s important to prioritize ones with lower stamina, mages, priests, and generally anyone with less experience are more likely to die from the disease. Keep them hydrated and cool when you aren’t treating them, the fever is the number one killer. Now, as for treating advanced cases…” Agatha pulled back the sheet that covered the young male Night Elf, exposing his chest and arms. Black veins covered his chest, partially obscured by the dark purple tint of his skin. “You’ll notice that the further along the disease is the darker and more widespread the veins become, at its most advanced stages they seem to almost pulse. You’ll also notice, in advanced cases, that trying to cure random areas seems almost futile.” She demonstrated, casting a high level cure on a section of his chest.

Almost immediately the skin appeared to lighten, but quickly the veins of darkness began creeping in to fill the void, darkening the veins once more. “The issue is the disease replicates rapidly. This is why it is so contagious, a single bacteria can become millions in a matter of hours, and once there are many in the system, wiping out small numbers of them becomes meaningless.” Derk nodded in understanding, waiting for an answer to the problem of treating someone like this.

“So when we do get a case like this, it’s important to remain calm. Look at the patient’s body, you’ll find clusters where the veins are so many they appear to be bruised.” Derk examined the patient closely, following the web-like pattern until he spotted what he was looking for.

“There, on his shoulder.” He pointed it out.

“Right, that’s where this disease is originating from, there are many cells in one spot. So by concentrating a cure on that area…” another bright flash emanated from her hands, and a circle of flesh around where the bruise was cleared instantly. The veins around it slowly began creeping into the center, but Agatha was working quickly. Wave after wave of holy light left her hands, effectively blasting holes where the disease was most abundant. The more she blasted away the slower it crept back into place, eventually slowing to the point where she could effectively utilize a full body cure.

“And that’s how it’s done.” She finished while dusting off her hands. “It takes a lot out of you, so be sure to drink plenty and often.”

“That was amazing, I’ve done some healing on the field, and I know of to treat infected wounds and the like, but I don’t have nearly the experience that you do.” Derk sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

“That’s why I take care of the cases like this one, besides which, that’s why I paired you up with Sam.” Agatha said, “A girl like her couldn’t handle that crazy dwarf who tried forcing his way into the Auction House earlier today, but she is invaluable at healing.”

“You heard about that huh.” Derk said, straightening and helping load the patient onto a stretcher.

“You’ll find that in times like this, people do strange things. The Horde may be busy dealing with this disease their own way, but there are plenty of dangers to take its place.” She said, as Derk left the room.

The night came quickly, and on the way back to his lodgings Derk found himself passing by Sam. She had her hood pushed back, and he paused a moment to make mental note of her appearance. Her auburn hair was short, cut boyishly, but her delicate face made it certain she did not appear boyish at all. As he approached she turned to meet him, and he took a moment to notice her green eyes that seemed to sparkle in the lamplight. “I wanted-“ He started to say, but stopped embarrassed when both of them started speaking at the same time.

“It was nice, working with you today.” She said, her voice seemed even quieter now, almost drowned out by the sound of the evening crickets. “You don’t have a lot of mana, probably because you don’t heal very often, but you’ve got a lot of talent.”


“That and I scare off the mean guys.” He joked, and she smiled, blushing slightly. “I like working with you too, you really know what you’re doing.”

“I’ve been a priest for a few years now, and before that I’ve been a Priest-in-training for as long as I can remember.” She leaned back against the wall, looking up as the first star of the evening came out.

“So tomorrow…” He began, but stopped when he felt like he was ruining a moment.

“It’s us together again. Guard duty as well, the Bank this time.” She replied, not taking her eyes off the sky. “It’s the morning shift, be out here by 6:30, the bank opens at 7 and we need to set up.”

Derk nodded and headed off down the street. It would be a long week, but it was rewarding work.