You give a light knock on Alice's door. There's a rustle of parchment before the door opens, and her face appears in space. Like you, she has put away her mask for the night.
"Oh, Francisco, it's you. I thought Ioco might be dreaming again. Come in, I can't sleep either."
Inside, you see papers and several books scattered all over Alice's bed. Otherwise, her room looks pretty much the same as hers. The carved icon of the Oak Sage, you notice, is in a slightly different pose. Here, they appear to be tending to a group of smaller trees.
"My supplies," Alice says, waving her hand over the books. "I didn't bring much real medicine, I'm afraid." She puts her fingers to her forehead. "The thing is, it usually does me more good than piles of herbs. But not this time."
You perch on the side of her desk.
"Tell me Francisco, after seeing Eustace, do you have any idea where to start with this Awakened Death?"
"We need to trace it back to the source and work from there."
She looks at you with new determination. "Go to the source…yes, that's a good plan. Until we know more, I have no idea where to start my research."
You are silent for a while. The candle dances, until its last pieces of wax. Alice lets out a slow breath.
"Many of these books are concerned with poultices and potions, how to deal with this illness or that pain. But so few can explain why these concoctions work." She runs her hand through her hair and rubs the back of her scalp. "I know vervain will relieve headaches, I've used it myself. Sometimes they say the poultice is drawing bad blood, but what does that mean? When the blood gets bad, I... urgh!" Her head drops in frustration.
"If we cure the patient's problem, isn't that what counts?" you ask.
Alice shakes her head. "It's important, but it's not enough. Until we understand how these drugs work, we're just throwing herbs in the air and hoping they fall into a pattern that we can follow." She bends over to pick up a book that has fallen to the floor. "When I was studying, so many medical students were there because they had lost someone. A parent had died, or they saw an entire village swept away by smallpox. It was as if they wanted revenge on the disease. They wanted to conquer it. Beat it. him in submission." She looks at the fox mask next to her on the table. "This isn't my way. This isn't a war. It's a quest for knowledge. I want to understand this plague, not just defeat it."
You wave.
She moves across the bed, gathering the pages and parchment into a more formal pile. "It will be dawn before we know it. Better get some sleep."
As you get up from the table and make a move towards the door, Alice calls you back. "Francis," she says, "saying these things out loud... I think it helps. Thanks for stopping by."
You say good night and go back to her room.
Grab some sleep finally