The Druids Prompt 3

Aouli, the blue puller, excitedly turned to his companions who were also trying to examine the plants without much luck and explained his findings and his past experiences. The two runners' eyes widened in surprise and they smiled broadly in excitement, they wouldn’t just be able to help these haedians, they’d be able to save them! Isa and Aerwyna jokingly teased the puller for not telling them about his previous experience as an apothecary. The two were worried that they wouldn’t be able to help the Druids at all since they knew nothing about plants when all along their companion was a treasure trove of knowledge. Aouli sheepishly apologized before turning from the elephant ear plant they had been examining and leading the way across the blighted cave floor. The trio quickly tracked down the group of elder haedians who had apparently been watching them suspiciously this entire time. The elder haedians did not look pleased to be approached so soon after sending these untrustworthy surface dwellers off. A few of the elders even seemed to be smugly satisfied, since their belief that the surface dwellers would be useless in helping with their plight seemed to be confirmed. The others just seemed slightly disappointed and were still glaring with hostility as the trio approached to explain their findings. 

Aouli quickly explained to them how he had seen this disease before while working with his father as an apothecary and what the treatment was. The elder haedians seemed skeptical at first as they listened but when Aouli had explained his time as an apothecary to them their opinions seemed to suddenly change. Perhaps something about his previous occupation involving plants had sparked some minor form of trust or even the beginnings of a sense of kinship between the elder haedians and the puller. After Aouli finished explaining the potential treatment method he remembered the elder haedians had a mixed but hopeful reaction to the news. They were definitely angry that the affliction was confirmed to have likely come from the surface but they were hopeful and excited by the simple treatment method the puller had proposed. A few of the elders tried to focus on their anger over the origin of the plague but Isa and Aerwyna stepped forward to curb those desenters. Focusing on the origin in this case would not resolve the matter and the two runners firmly stood up to the gripping elders until they finally relented and backed down. Aerwyna was especially annoyed by the elders, their tendency to focus on the wrong thing and nit pick reminded her of the elders she had to deal with back in Roenden. Perhaps that was just an unfortunate trait that people develop as they get older. Aerwyna and Isa forced the elders to listen to Aouli as he explained what needed to be done. To treat the bacteria they needed to carefully apply special metal and chemical mixes to the afflicted plants so that the plants had it not only on their surface but also on the soil around the base of the plant so that they could absorb the mixture through their roots. Applying the treatment to the surface would kill the bacteria on the leaves while the treatment to the soil would kill the bacteria ravaging the inside of the plants. 

Aouli remembered that, if the treatment was successful, they should be able to see drastic improvements in just a few days! After the puller finished excitedly conveying the expected turnaround time the elders seemed to quickly brighten and they murmured amongst each other. Even the most mistrusting and skeptical of the elders seemed to have found a new sense of hope. After some additional convincing from Isa and Aerwyna the elder haedians finally came to an agreement amongst themselves to give the treatment plan a try. The elder haedians quickly gathered the rest of the clan and had Aouli explain to them what the treatment was, how to make it, how to apply it, and how to tend to the plants after doing so. It took a while to explain everything Aouli knew and when he was done the gathered haedians remained skeptical of the surface dweller and his dubious treatment method. The blue puller was hounded with prying questions and accusations from the skeptical Druids but his trusted runner companions stepped forward to fend off the throng and help the puller make his stance clear. The surface dwellers were there to help them not harm them, and the longer they argued the fewer plants they could save. Bringing the plants the Druids loved so much into it seemed to be the final bit of convincing the skeptical haedians needed in order to go along with their treatment plan. 

Aouli wasn’t happy that the runners ended up basically having to throw the Druids beloved plants in their faces in order to get them to agree to his plan but he also couldn’t argue with the fact that this seemed to be the only way to get them to agree to at least try. Aouli stepped forward and further explained exactly how his treatment method affected the bacteria and how it would aid the plants. Hearing the exact mechanism of action made the wary haedians expressions slowly change from one of distrust to that of hope as they realized the treatment might just work. Upon seeing the surface dwellers successfully convince the rest of the Druids, the elder haedians quickly rallied the Druids to form groups to travel to the neighboring clans to secure the ingredients they were missing in order to make the treatment. The druids had a wide variety of materials on hand but the main ingredient of the treatment Aouli had proposed was something that could only be gathered through mining which was not the plant lover's specialty. Once the groups were formed they quickly set off to the neighboring clans. After seeing the supply groups off the leader of the group of elders stepped forward and bowed his head slightly, “I’m sorry for the way we have treated you thus far.” he spoke sheepishly as he tried to apologize. “We are very thankful for your help. We will still have to wait and see if your proposed treatment is successful but this is the first real attempt we’ve been able to make. None of us had ever seen anything like this before and nothing we tried could stop the spread.”

Aouli, Isa, and Aerwyna graciously accepted the Elders apology and assured him that there were no hard feelings. They understood the Druids position and in the end the plague that was ravaging their beloved home did seem to originate from the surface. While the initial exposure might have been an accident, the surface was still technically to blame. The lead elder smiled at their gracious acceptance of both blame and apology and decided to invite them to stay with the clan until the crisis was resolved. The trio of vayrons didn’t hesitate to happily accept his offer, they were all more than willing to help the Druids administer the treatment they had proposed. Besides on the off chance that the treatment method didn’t work they felt they needed to be nearby so that they could help devise a new strategy. Later that day the supply groups returned while hauling large wagon loads of supplies. Upon learning of the impending doom that was afflicting the Druids and what the clan needed to try and resolve the issue the other clans had readily donated both supplies and hands to assist the Druids. Haedians of every clan gathered together under the surface dwellers guidance to carefully make the foul smelling concoction that would save the flora of the Beneath.

As the days passed and the haedians passionately worked together to tend to the plants everyone slowly noticed the black spots and veins begin to fade. The Druids especially rejoiced at this seemingly miraculous turn around and every time one of the surface dweller trio wandered through the main grotto they were constantly bombarded with thanks and gifts. Especially Aouli who was receiving the royal treatment for being the one to provide their salvation. Both Aouli and Isa felt uncomfortable receiving such constant praise but Aerwyna took it in stride and even felt proud of her normally lazy companion doing so much good for once. The trio directly supervised the care and progress of most of the plants across the afflicted sections of the Druids domain. Some plants were too damaged to be salvaged but for many the treatment had come at just the right moment. Before long even the barren patches of cave floor and walls began to have new growth start to take root and cover the gaping wounds the flora had suffered. After a few weeks of round the clock care the black plague had faded almost completely and now the only thing left was to tend to the forest until it returned to its once vibrant state.