"Next patient!"

As the patient he was working on was carried out of the hospital tent set to accommodate the influx of wounded casualties by fellow responders, Eochaidh wiped a bead of sweat off his brow with a towel, which was uncharacteristically furrowed. But in this situation, who wouldn't be strained?

It had been a few days since Worldshift happened, and the tide of patients had yet to cease- most of them had been swiftly rescued by fast-acting responders but the wounded were only given the bare amount of field treatment to stabilise their condition.

It wasn't pleasant to leave someone half-healed, but they needed to conserve magical power to save as many casualties as were possible.

Thus, the responsibility to heal them fully lied on the shoulders of those whose talents were less suited for rescuing. In the case of Eochaidh, he was just better suited for healing than rescuing, with his mastery over herbalism.

Well, he wasn't complaining, it was a fact, and quite a compliment when addressed to a person who was really good with a greatsword.

Eochaidh's focus returned to the matter at hand as the next patient was carried in, to be laid on the mat in the centre of the tent. He grimaced slightly at the lizardperson's mangled left leg and arm, barely held together with a splint. One of the worse cases he had seen today, with the patient in agonized catatonia.

With practised motions, he reached for one of the smoking kettles fresh off the stove and used it to fill a mug from the clean stack of them he kept in a crate nearby, filling it with poppy tea. Carefully making his way to his current patient, he slowly helped the lizardperson drink it all up. Soon enough, their pained eyes calmed into a trance as they started drifting into dreamland.

Poppy tea was not fast-acting on its lonesome and possessed harmful side effects, but most herbalists of the Archipelago had ways of improving traditional treatments.

For Eochaidh, he used Tuning- his poppy tea was Tuned with natural energies to accentuate the positive effects and remove side effects. It made for a cheap, effective and safe sedative that could scarcely be considered similar to traditional poppy tea, and thus this particular blend of poppy tea was colloquially referred to as "Pop-off."

It was not the most popular since it required skill to remove the negative effects of opium from the poppies, but it found some use in the toolkits of experienced herbalists.

With the patient put to sleep, he briskly walked to a corner of the tent, piled up high with cases and crates. A brief moment later, he was holding two bottles of ointment from one of the cases. As he walked back, crouching next to the patient, he placed the bottle in his left down first, before popping the cork of the other bottle with his now free hand.

Burdock, Fleawort and Burnet, with beeswax as the base and Tuned with natural energies. Not only did Tuning herbal treatments with natural energies increase their effectiveness and reduce their drawbacks, but it also brought out attributes and produced effects that mundane use of the herbs would not achieve.

In this case, Tuning produced a general use ointment he used to prepare the treatment of heavy ailments, as it improved the body's receptibility to healing sources when applied beforehand. Amongst herbalists, it was known as the Naturewish Ointment, as its effects could be likened to mother nature herself wishing injured patients a fast recovery. Ironically, it was slow-acting, but it wasn't as if mother nature was in a hurry, was she?

Popping the cork open, he poured it over the shattered remains of the now sedate lizardman's arm and body, distributing the dose evenly. With that down, he used a clean rag to rub the ointment into the skin. The process of the ointment binding with the body could be painful, for the wounded, depending on how resistant their body was to the ointment, which was part of the reason he used poppy tea to sedate the severely injured before performing treatment on them.

With the preparations out of the way, now the treatment was truly underway. He picked up the bottle he had set on the ground and repeated the actions he had done with the first bottle. Pop open, lathering ointment, rub it all in.

Boneknitter Ointment. Tuned Comfrey could be used to knit bones, making it the principal component in this ointment. It was accentuated with adjutant components such as Burdock and Rue, which helps against traumatic injuries. Burdock could also be used as an antiseptic to avoid infection, while Rue helped to bind open wounds.

While usually, he used Liverwort as an empowering component, for serious cases like this he used the batch of Boneknitter he had made from Lemon Balm, said to be so potent in empowering healing that smearing even the sharpest of blades from it could be used to render it unable of drawing blood.

Of course, that was just a story.

While Lemon Balm was a common herb, making it unthinkable that it would possess such powerful properties, the truth was that the more powerful a herb's potential effects were, the harder they were to Tune. Thus, those who could fully bring out Lemon Balm's incredible properties were uncommon, and even then, it was difficult. 

In fact, the whole ordeal was ordinately placing strain on his limited stock, unfortunately. While it was the right thing to do in such a scenario, part of him would really appreciate additional support from the guild. In fact, might as well report his needs later- weren't they offering remuneration in exchange for medical support anyway?

Well, now was not the time to be distracted.

With the Boneknitter Ointment applied, the treatment was done. It would take a few weeks or so, but the lizardperson would be up and running soon- quite literally.

That's another one down, but there was still a crowd to go.

"Next patient!"