#leeching

Dreambite by Rudok's Tavern

I could really do with some more leeching. Imagine a brave knight with an infected wound, grudgingly being taken to see a healer. They have been in enough battles to be somewhat used to pain, but they still don't like those filthy black things being put on their body. Or think of this same knight, having to sit still as the healer cuts an exit for the bad blood. It's only a small cut, but after so many years of training to dodge anything steel and sharp, it is unnatural and even frightening not being allowed to fight back. Maybe the patient is sick, confused by fever. They are not aware of what is happening, yet when they feel a sudden pain, they lash out or try to move away. Someone has to calm them and hold them down so they do not injure themselves. Might be the whumpee always was a healthy person, so they experience their first leech with actual leeches (as were used on kids) in adulthood. They should have been able to face it with indifference, but it freaks them out.   A badly done leech could bring about great risks, leaving weak characters weaker still with blood loss. Possibly, there isn’t even a real healer around, friends of the patient arguing about the proper place for a cut as the whumpee grows more anxious or slips away in fever-dreams, compelling them to hasten their decision.

Leeching Quarterstaff