The barn is perhaps 250 meters from Penþa's house — from the center of the village to the outskirts.

:Would it trouble you to come with us and move nearer to the barn? The range of my Telepathy can't extend all the way out to there, but it's big enough that you would be standing well away from it.: She sends a mental sense of her having about thirty meters radius in range.

:I could include Gornet, you, and Feya in my Telepathy in that way.:

The energy cost of Flowering Telepathy rises exponentially with the distance, but logarithmically with the number of simultaneous connections, whereas Open Telepathy has linear growth for both. She predicts she'll spend most of her energy for the day just on Telepathy interpretation.

:That makes sense. How is power of attorney for medical procedures assigned? Also, what if the situation is emergent? Our Way is that we treat people who are too sick or injured to be in a state to consider what is happening, but if this is not the Way of your village, we will not do this to your people. We have no intention of treating those who do not consent to our treatment, and we will explain what we plan to do to the best of our ability.: He would normally also say that he's willing to swear to this under a truth effect, but that might require. Even more explanation. If they really haven't seen any practitioners before.

:The Society of Solace is a charitable Society, and we sustain ourselves through donations. Our help is given for free — there is no obligation for you to pay. Although if we do run out of supplies before we have an opportunity to resupply, we will have to have you give us supplies to treat you, although we would not charge for labor.: He's hoping that there's some sort of city nearby that has at least heard of the Society of Solace that they could fundraise in, or an Openet office that will let them contact other places.

He also tells Kanuwa through the link to have the caravan start setting up at the field.

:Oh, also, is it okay for our oxen to graze on the grassy field?:

:Yes, I can walk with you,: Penþa says to Marina.

:And it's good to hear that you respect local laws. If someone is in imminent danger of death, and you have no means to check whether they've given permission — if you met a stranger drowning in a stream, for example — you are allowed to assume that they would want to be saved, as long as you check that with them when you are able,: Penþa explains. :As for how permission to consent on another's behalf is assigned; I am the organizer for the village. People just come to me and let me know, and I write it down and tell people who need to know, or apply default rules if people have not said anything. Parents are assumed to be able to give permission for their children unless the child has reached six winters and come to me to register some other preference, for example.:

Penþa leads them in the direction of the converted barn. At one point they pause well back to let a group of people cross in front of them carrying some buckets.

:I'm not sure I understand how your society is funded, then,: they remark. :You say it isn't obligatory* to pay you; is it obligatory**?: they ask, using two related concepts. Loosely, the first might mean "legally required" and the second might mean "required by the rules of politeness". :Oh! Or do you sell post-emptive insurance?:

In that case, Marina and Feya will start walking towards the barn with Penþa. They'll follow their lead and stop when they stop to let the bucketed people pass.

:Yes, it's very important for us to follow local laws, or people will stop letting us into their lands.: It's less of a problem now, with the Federation imposing its own laws everywhere in the continent, but the Society saw no reason to change it, and Feya has no objection to it.

:Thank you for telling me. We will tell you if we seek someone's permission to do something when they are unable to give permission.:

:No, and no. We are funded by other people giving us money because they feel altruism or benevolence, or they feel that we make the world better by their values and seek to give us resources to do that. We are also funded by the Federal government, though that's kind of a complicated situation. We are also funded by people who have been treated who feel debt or urge to reciprocate, such that they want to pay us market price for our treatment, although we make it very clear that we would not stop visiting a village or refuse to treat someone or treat them badly because they don't pay us, or pay us only a little. 

I mean, we can and do do all of these things, but never for the reason of them not giving money. Locally, I mean. Globally, if the Society didn't receive enough money, then we would have to scale back operations.

I don't know what post-emptive insurance is, but I do know what insurance is.:

:... huh.: Penþa thinks for a moment about that explanation.

:Post-emptive as opposed to pre-emptive,: they explain. :It's not really a thing, I was just inventing things that could make sense. It would mean treating people before they start making insurance payments, instead of afterward.:

They stop ten meters or so away from the barn, under the eaves of a house to keep dry and out of the way.

:I think,: they say carefully. :That by our customs it is required by politeness, if not law, to pay you. Since if people didn't do that, you wouldn't be here. But that is something to be worked out afterwards — for now, we should certainly focus on the sick.:

:Yes, I agree. Treating the sick is more urgent.:

Feya will go ahead and walk towards the barn entrance. Is it open?

He doesn't mind the rain ­— he has since pulled up the hood of his robe, and water seems to bead up and roll off of his clothes. And neither does mud or dirt stick to it or his shoes. The white fabric remains pristine.

Marina thinks post-emptive insurance doesn't make any sense. Wouldn't that just be like, regular debt? She's not going to broach the topic, though.

The door is open — to try and get some fresh air through the place, and to make it easier for people to come and go as needed. The lintel is hung with bundles of herbs, though, presumably as a ward against disease.

Inside, there are sick people in various states. Many are sleeping, wrapped in blankets and sleeping on beds of straw. Some are awake, and are being coaxed to drink mugs of tea and eat some plain bread by a few helpers. Đani is quietly distracting a group of children by telling them a story as an older man takes her pulse.

He has a neatly trimmed beard, and a small bag slung across his back. He counts under his breath for a moment, before relinquishing Đani's arm and murmuring something to her.

Oop, he doesn't actually know which of the people inside the barn (who aren't Đani) are Gornet.

Feya interprets the herbs merely as warding against bad smells, which, well, infirmaries and hospitals tend to smell really bad.

:Penþa, could you introduce us to Gornet? I don't know which of the people there he is. You can think at us what he looks like.:

:Oh, of course. Gornet looks like this,: Penþa replies. :And knows all the medical permission information that I do, actually. I updated him when things started to get serious.:

:Thank you!: 

Marina will bring Gornet into the Telepathy link, and summarize what they've talked about so far, and what the Society of Solace is about.

It's a lot faster doing it by Telepathy, but she's going to go slower than what's possible, because this is going to be his first time experiencing it.

:We would like to know what is currently being done, and what procedures have been set up to manage the sick, so that we can work in harmony with it.: Normally, Feya would just commandeer all the medical personnel at a place and have them do everything the Society's way, but that seems counterproductive here. Especially since it already seems very established. He has to keep reminding himself that the Society's reputation doesn't hold sway here.

Gornet has been briefed on the telepathy, so he takes it a bit better, but still finds it very strange.

:Well, the main thing is keeping the healthy and the sick separated,: he explains. :Not that it seems to be helping much. This barn, and those four houses there, are all reserved for the sick. Đani says you've got some kind of protection for yourself, but I still must insist that, since you're going to be in close contact with the sick, that you avoid the healthy. That means not visiting the other end of the village, warning people away, and so on.:

:As for other measures — we're using willow bark and meadowsweet to keep fevers down, where we can. Some people have spots on their chest, and we're making camphor compresses to help with that. People who are just starting to feel sick come to me and help nurse the others while they can. The few who have recovered are doing the same. We're trying to spread the work around so that nobody becomes over-tired. I myself have, luckily, no sign of the fever yet.:

:The first signs are malaise, fever, and weakness. That's when people come over from the healthy area. Then people begin developing constipation, nosebleeds, coughs, or spots, extending into high fever or delirium.:

:If you have no more specific medical knowledge, I think we could best use help keeping fever from hurting anyone, helping people to the chamberpots, and making sure everyone stays warm and hydrated.:

:Yes, I will follow quarantine protocol.

I am unfamiliar with meadowsweet, but I am familiar with camphor.: He doesn't know if camphor does anything for cutaneous conditions. :Is it possible for me to examine the spots on someone? Where on the body do the spots arise?

I and the other Tranquil practitioners in my caravan will cast Nullify Pain and Normalize Body Temperature on the ones with high fever every four hours, and every six hours for those with moderate or mild fever.

How have you been keeping track of the state of each sick person?: He's expecting some sort of charting system.

:Also, we have gloves, aprons, and face coverings that are Perfectly artificed so as to repel fluids and dirt. We can lend them to everyone who has been. Our theories of illness suggest that touching a sick person's fluids or body, or breathing in the air they exhale, or touching what they have touched, can spread disease. Diseases spread in different ways, but it seems prudent to use all three if we don't know what it is. The face coverings are intended to purify the air that is breathed in.: People are divided on how effective the face coverings are, but they do exist, he's going to use them.

:Altogether, we have ten people in the caravan who can help with treatment — Marina, and another person not with me, Kanuwa, are merely traveling with us. The others are currently setting up our tents and such, but I can have them come here soon, along with the protective garments and other stuff.:

:Yes, you can examine the spots,: he agrees. :Meadowsweet also lowers fever, although not as well as willow.:

Having a charting system probably requires the people using it to be literate; Gornet and the other helpers just remember what's going on with people, although the barn is roughly sorted by age and severity. :I'm keeping things organized,: he explains. He scans the patients, identifies someone who is awake and has spots, has a short conversation with them, and then beckons Feya over.

:You can examine Durþan,: he says. :And I don't understand how your magic works, but I don't see how cloth could hurt, so we would be happy to use your clothes.:

Okay but like, how. Where are the charts. How do you handle shift change without charts. The thought that the people in the village aren't literate has not crossed Feya's mind.

:I will tell the other people who are coming here to bring slate tablets and chalk. That way, each patient can have their status be tracked. And yes, I will have them bring the clothes — though the gloves are thin leather, not cloth.:

Feya will ask Marina to bring Durþan into the link as well. It's good that Flowering Telepathy's energy cost rises logarithmically by the number of people connected, rather than linear growth for Open Telepathy.

:Hello, Durþan. Has Gornet explained the situation to you? Is it okay for me to examine you? I will describe what I am planning to do before I do them, so you can say no at any point in the process. Right now, I just want to ask you some questions.:

Gornet is silently baffled at why they need slates and chalks, but they're the ones with magic powers, so he's not inclined to protest.

Durþan coughs. Their breathing sounds a bit labored.

:Yes, that's fine,: they agree.

Coughing, labored breathing. What is the characteristic of the cough? Is it dry or wet?

Are Durþan's sclerae discolored?

:Gornet has told me about the symptoms exhibited by the others, though I also want to ask people individually. Aside from malaise, is there any specific area for you that hurts? The extremities, the stomach, the throat...?: Flowering Telepathy has enough bandwidth and would let Durþan transmit sensations of the body, not just verbal thoughts. Marina tries to make this clear in interpreting.

The cough sounds fairly dry. When Durþan breathes, there is a kind of rumbling quality to it. Their sclerae are not noticeably discolored, although the quality of light in the barn is not great — it's mostly provided by a large fire and some lamps.

:My stomach,: they supply. Durþan shares the sensation — the pain is localized on the lower right quadrant of their abdomen, although they also have a pervasive ache all over.

:Could you open your mouth for me? And stick out your tongue. I want to see if there are any sores or discoloration in the mouth, tongue, or throat.: Are there any?

:I also want to ask where on the body the spots have been appearing. Is it okay if I look at that?: What is the shape, size, and pattern of the spots?