Đani thinks about it.

:Is Normalize Body Temperature a limited resource?: she asks. :Because if so, you should save it for the children, and the people who are worst off. Children are pretty resilient, but if their fevers get too bad, it changes them.: 

She would not normally include the last bit of information — she actually only learned it from her father herself a few days ago — but maybe if they have a spell that handles temperatures, they never let fevers get bad enough to notice things like that.

:No, I'm practiced enough at it that it's cheap and quick for me. But it only lasts a few hours with my spell formulation, so it's a limited resource in the sense that my time and presence is a limited resource. About how many people do you think are sick?: If there are too many, they'll have to triage. Collectively, they have four wagons of supplies and ten caravan members, plus Marina and Kanuwa, not counted since they're not part of the Society.

Feya does know that very high fever can cause brain damage! He is invested in having the children not suffer brain damage!

Đani counts on her fingers.

:There are four thirty-sixes of people in the village in total, I think. That's counting outlying farmers. About half the people in the village are showing symptoms, some pretty mild like mine, or I wouldn't have been sent on an errand. The other half are making sure there's enough food and so on. It was only about a third of people with symptoms six days ago,: she explains. :So ... maybe two thirty-sixes showing any signs at all, one and a half thirty-sixes of which have been ill for more than six days. But I don't know what's going on with some of the farming families.:

She rubs her face with her hand.

:Not everyone has the same symptoms. About two sixes people have gotten nosebleeds. Many people have fevers. Many people are constipated, but two have gotten diarrhea. Some people are seeing things, but it's hard to tell how many.:

She walks in silence for a moment. :Oh, and of course there are six and three sick children. That's not in addition to the others, just broken out.:

Fortunately, Telepathy seamlessly converts Đani's senary numbers to Feya's duodecimal!

Ugh, it sounds like it's spreading throughout the whole village. How viable would it be to quarantine half the village?

Nosebleeds, fevers, constipation, but some diarrhea, and some hallucinations. People having nosebleeds is unusual, but otherwise it's too nonspecific to try to figure out what disease it is.

:I want to try to see if I can figure out what the disease is — it would be better than just treating the symptoms. Have the sick people been quarantined from the healthy people? Do you have a system for it?:

He pauses. :I don't want to push you if you don't want it, but my offer of casting the spells on you is still open. It won't trade off on me casting it on the children.:

:Then yes, please,: Đani says. Her last word, as transmitted by Telepathy, conveys not just politeness, but a fervent and eager request.

:The sick are quarantined from the healthy, yes,: she continues. :We've set up a sickbed in one of the barns, and then expanded to some houses when the numbers grew. The healthy are sleeping separately, with the people doing the nursing separate from people doing the harvesting and cooking.:

She shivers.

:I don't know what it is — there are diseases like it in the records, but who knows whether it's the same thing?:

:I will need to touch you briefly for the spells. Any part of the body will do. Is this okay with you?:

That seems like a good system!

:It would be good for me to be able to examine the sick people when we arrive — I can also look into the references we brought in our wagons if the disease is on it.:

Đani sticks out her arm.

:I don't see why you wouldn't be able to examine them; you can talk to Penþa about it,: she agrees.

The clouds choose that moment to open up a very light drizzle, almost unnoticeable against the dripping of the trees. Đani sighs.

:It's important to ask. Some people don't want to be examined.:

Feya touches her arm and casts Nullify Pain. There's a sensation of fast rushing wind that abruptly stops — any pain that she might have had from her muscles or joints or nose or feet, anywhere, is gone, though she can still feel normally in those places.

He touches it again and casts Normalize Body Temperature. Now, there's a mildly uncomfortable sensation of being really hot and really cold at the same time — it would seem that Nullify Pain doesn't operate on mere discomfort — but afterward, her fever should have dissipated.

The spells won't do anything about any nosebleeding or fatigue or constipation or any other issue, though.

:Penþa is the leader of your village?:

Đani sways on her feet at the unexpected sensation, but then stands straighter and takes a deep breath.

She experimentally rolls her neck.

:That feels so weird. I think I had a headache. Thank you!: she says, smiling. :And ... Penþa is more of a leader than anyone else is? But we're a democracy,: she explains. The concept comes with an impression of something more consensus-based and less direct-vote based than the word might otherwise imply, and with a faint sense of pity for people who has to put up with a different system of government.

Feya smiles. :You're very welcome. I am glad to have brought solace to you.

What I mean to ask is...who typically handles logistics and dispute resolution and management of collective projects? Does Penþa do that? Also, is there someone appointed to manage the disease outbreak?:

She nods.

:Yes, Penþa is the organizer. Their job is to do exactly those things, on behalf of the village,: she agrees.

She picks her way around a mud puddle. :And if by 'manage', you mean make sure everyone knows where the sick are and assign jobs to people and so on, that's nominally Penþa again. Although they've delegated keeping track of nursing to Gornet, I think.:

:Thank you. When we reach the village, I want to talk to them to see how we can help. Were you also planning on giving the willow-bark to them?:

She nods again. :Well, I would have told Penþa, but given the willow to whoever was free in the sickhouse, because they would want to make some tea with it. That's how you prepare it — you can technically chew it as well, but it tastes kinda awful, and tea works better. They've been making a lot of willow and pine-needle tea, to keep everyone's fevers down. The pine-needles sometimes help, but we don't know if they help with this disease or not.:

:I know balsam fir tea cures scurvy, but I don't know about pine needles. Do you know if they've been giving the sick any other medicine? Or administering any treatment?:

Feya would have offered to have Kanuwa reach out with his Telepathy to pre-emptively inform Penþa of their arrival — Open Telepathy is much more efficient at range than Flowering Telepathy — but he thinks Penþa would not understand what was happening and that it would be worse than useless, if there really are no practitioners in the village.

Luckily, they are now not far away. Đani leads them around another bend, and they emerge into an area where the forest has been cleared back. A neat grid of thatched huts sits between them and a large lake that stretches away into the distance. Between them and the houses is an awkwardly-shaped grassy area in which a few goats are grazing.

:I don't know exactly what they've been given,: Đani apologizes. :I think you should really talk to Gornet.:

She points at a large building on the edge of the village. :That's the temporary sick-hall.: Then she points to a slightly larger house, next to a central square. :That's Penþa's house. If they're not there, there will be some sign of where they've gone.:

:Thank you very much for your help, Đani. I will talk to Gornet and Penþa.:

If Đani doesn't appear to have anything else to add, then Feya and Marina will go back to the caravan, with the both of them putting on thin white leather gloves and thin cloth mouth and nose coverings. They are treated with the same artifice as the Society of Solace pinstripe tunics — Perfect effects to repel fluid and dirt. Feya instructs the caravan to stay near the outskirts of the village, but not to set up camp yet. He wants to clear that first with Penþa. He's assuming that it will be Penþa that they would need to talk to.

Marina and Kanuwa will additionally wear aprons with the same Perfect effect, although it doesn't have the pinstripe pattern, or the True mark on it. The Society of Solace is very careful about not letting nonmembers wear clothing that represents the Society.

Feya and Marina return, Kanuwa re-establishing remote observation of them, and go to Penþa's house. Is there a door or an opening? They won't enter, even if the door is open. Are they there, or was a sign left of where they went?

Someone is there, at least. There's a tired-looking person sitting on a bench by the open door of the house, holding a net of knotted string in their lap. The eaves are wide enough that their bench is perfectly dry. They run their fingers over the net, mumbling to themselves. They're wearing the same outfit Đani was, although they have added a shawl made from coarse grey yarn to it.

They are just going to start out with Telepathy. Actually, it was bad for them to let Đani leave immediately after reaching the village: it would have been good to have her introduce them to, well, she's assuming this is Penþa. Although they wouldn't have wanted to do that if Đani's house was far away.

:Hello, are you Penþa? Đani led us here and said that we could help treat your sick. Feya* is here with a Society of Solace caravan – I, Marina, am interpreting for them. The Society of Solace organizes medical caravans that go on circuits and heal people. Southern Fishing Village wasn't on our route, but circumstances were such that we had to come here.:

* The Telepathy includes context such that it would be clear who is being referred to.

(Đani has gone to the sick hall to help. She didn't feel bad this morning, but she was feeling pretty bad before Feya's "spell", so she figures she probably needs to be looked at anyway. And if she's fine, then that means she can help.)

Penþa is just as startled by telepathy as Đani was.

:Yes, that's me,: they reply after a moment. They carefully re-fold their net and set it aside. :I haven't heard of your Society, but we could certainly do with your help. I assume Đani told you about the illness that's bothering us?:

Marina is so fascinated by the web! Weaving and knotting are very common ritual implements and artifice implementations for the Way of Flowers, given that they have to do with connecting and linking together, but she cannot detect any energy from Penþa or the web they were handling!

She stops her magical speculation to interpret for Feya.

:Yes. We are willing to help however we can, both medically, and mundanely, like cooking food. Don't worry about having to feed us, though, we brought our own food.

We have currently stopped our caravan at the outskirts of the village: and here Marina will send a mental map of the location :and seek permission to set up our tents and equipment there.

We also seek permission to seek the permission of the sick people in the barn to examine them, so that we might find out what the disease is and cure it. Additionally, we seek permission to seek the permission of the sick people in the barn to have our workings cast on them. Such workings can help divine what the disease is, or meliorate symptoms, or cure it if we know that the disease is and we have an appropriate working available. 

We plan on talking to Gornet afterwards.:

:The grassy area there is where caravans usually set up, so you're certainly welcome to put up tents there,: Penþa agrees. :As for examining people or casting "workings" on them — the law is that if they are sensate and awake, they may agree to let you examine them or cast workings. You are required to explain any possible side-effects or costs of the workings to them before doing so, and get their consent. If they demand you stop, you must do so if you are safely able. If they ask to be left alone, you must leave them. If someone is not sensate or awake, there will be others who can give consent on their behalf. That's all assuming that a "working" is at all like medicine — those are the laws for general medical care, but I don't think we have workings.:

The thoughts come crisply and confidently, as though Penþa spends a lot of time explaining laws.

:If that suffices, please don't let me delay you. But if you can explain how you would examine them, how your workings work, what they do, and so on, I may be able to give you better information. Although perhaps Gornet should hear that contemporaneously. And in any case, we should talk about what kind of account you want with the village, and how much credit you're willing to extend to us.:

How far away is the barn from Penþa's house? If it's close enough, she might be able to act as relay for all three. She doesn't mind spending a lot of her energy just acting as relay, since only she and Kanuwa have Telepathy. None of the other Flowers practitioners in the caravan know it, and Kanuwa is the only Open practitioner.