Hygiene & Vampire stank
You’d be hard-pressed to find someone more concerned with personal hygiene than Brethyn. This stems from a very practical reason, as he’s aware that other supernatural beings would theoretically be able to smell that he’s been around vampires recently after he visits the coven. In order to avoid getting flak from this oversight, Brethyn follows a strict cleansing procedure after every visit.
The first, and for him the most stressful, step is to walk through the caldera near the coven for at least an hour. Immersing himself and his pack in the sulfuric mists is the best way to bleach off the vampire stank. The biggest difficulties with this step are trying to ignore his thalassophobia around the deeper pools and fighting off the various beasts that hang around. He’s been living in and traveling through the caldera for so long that he has a very accurate mental map of it, so avoiding soft spots in the mud is easy for him. A couple spiders usually accompany him for protection (and games with the alpha yisss).
After that, he’ll wash both himself and as much of his gear as he can in the slightly-cleaner Darkwater River. The drawback to this is that he uses a LOT of soap, and there are several instruments in his medical kit (along with the physical kit box itself) that can’t be washed with plain water and soap. He goes to Darkwater Crossing to do this, since he’s fairly certain no one in that settlement is hyperaware in any way. Plus, bathing in the open is an invitation for disaster. If he has the time and supplies, he’ll oil as much of this special gear as possible along with the wooden case they live in. Clothes also get washed if he has time, but if not then he’ll make that a priority at his destination.
For an additional scent mask, Brethyn uses his own cologne from spearmint, watercress, and frost miriam. This also goes in his pack to help hide scents on things he can’t clean properly, like his pack itself and The method he uses has been utilized by Dunmeri alchemists since before they even became Dunmer. After steaming ingredients to derive their oils, you distill this oil in a wood base and age it for however long you like (minimum 1 year) before bottling.
Since all of this takes a good chunk of time, Brethyn always plans to leave the coven two days earlier than he needs to to reach his destination. This is to account for the washing as well as for any mishaps he might encounter on the road.
After all of this is done, Brethyn has reduced the lingering vampire odor by 85-90%. The remaining portion can be smelt more in his possessions than on his person. If someone with supernatural sense were to root through them, they’d smell a lingering odor of death, blood and decay. It would be up to them to decide if that’s just the perfume of a healer in troubled times or the spark for suspicion.
