Novice Caleb's Report on the Great Plague
The following paper was written by Novice Caleb, son of Healer Leon and Gatekeeper DoraRose, in the Summer of Journeys, Father Benar's Fifth season as Abbot, for Brother Elmhearst's class. The then champion Magramba was a special guest at the time.
(The original log can be found here: Well on His Way to Rank 2 of Novice)
"I begin my report to say this happen many seasons ago, before I was born and before my father was Master Healer here at the abbey, it was a time when a great illness came to the abbey and a close by long patrol base. The illness was later called a plague and not only affected the abbey, it affect post 67th of the Long Patrol as well. Records are in the abbey library and written at the time by a recorder know as Brother Harper, and some records by a scholar named Garth the Scholar, but Brother Harper had most of the records written up. Some of the abbey residents from then are still around today and those are Flicktail, Magramba, and I believe some of the Long Patrol members are still around, but at the mountain at this time. Nicodemus was abbot at the time.
Now I write of this plague that made its way to the abbey and Long Patrol post 67, it started as a simple cough and tired feeling and was over looked as maybe a cold as it happened during the winter season at the time in the month of January, the first week on the 6th. The illness ran rampant within a weeks’ time. The illness symptoms were fatigue, aches, chills, mild fever, and headache and then turned to serious cough, trouble breathing, and high fever and healers started to get ill as well. When beasts started dying, ten within the first week, that’s when beasts knew something serious was going on.
The plague begun that season on January sixth and by then as said ten were dead, on the seventh the death count came to twelve and the upper and middle floors of the abbey were under quarantine or closed off to the healthy beasts to stop the illness from spreading. Temporary dorms were made in cavern hole for those not ill and only healers were allowed in the quarantine areas. On the eighth sixteen was the death count and a hare from post 67 said the illness was there as well and about three were dead there, so no beast was allowed to go or leave post 67. Sadly the death count was nineteen by the tenth and the whole abbey was under quarantine and no one could leave till it was ended, and few could enter and if they did they could not leave again.
Bodies of the dead throughout this was taken to the grasslands and burned to help not spread the illness and soon only the healers knew the death count, but it was still written down and I will only say many more lost their lives mainly some elders and a good number of dibbuns at the time. At one time a Lt. Taye of the Long Patrol brought medical supplies but has to throw the supplies to a healer to avoid entering the quarantine area. A hare named Brenden found in some old recorder logs of the Long Patrol an illness similar to what this was, he called it Pneumonia and an herb called Goldenseal was a possible cure that helped and we now make sure it’s in stock in the abbey infirm here. It was an isolated case of a squirrel that had it and died and how coughing made the air seem to turn bad. Cloths over ones face were mentioned to help prevent the spread of the illness. Goldenseal is a kind flower that looks like a daisy, with a red berry on top. He also mentioned how moldy bread helped his mother, the idea may have been used but if it was it was not recorded, but I did find one case where my father used moldy bread, or maybe was mold on some sort of cheese, when he was a captive during a time an insane fox called Stormfeather was around and it kept Papa Oz’s knee, which was infected, from getting worse and it helped a cough from damp conditions a slight bit, but otherwise mold on anything as a cure for anything is not mentioned again, so if was used again, it was not written down in records.
A group of beasts was sent to Southwards to get the herb Goldenseal and get it to the abbey, some others died before the herb got to the abbey but it did end up being a cure and did save lives, sadly lives were lost. Brother Harper was one of the lucky ones to of survived the illness and some others were lucky to not get ill at all. The Master Healer at the time was Hollyberry but I could not find if he survived the illness, I think he did but died a season or so later due to the illness of weakening him.
I also found a play was preformed to raise sprits of those who were ill and those who were not, it was titled Colonel Wameus and the Ridiculous, Revolting Pirates, and it was written by Tameus and Harper. It was funny about a pirate who wanted to take over the badger Mountain and of course failed. Colonel Zoe playing Kessy the One-Eyed Fearsome Pirate, Bradge as Delilah the... delightful doe, and starring Tameus as the great Colonel Wameus. It also was proven laughter is a good cure to help one feel better also, or least it helps one recover because if one is depressed they will not want better and not fight as hard to live.
The Long Patrol hares left after the last of the plague survivors recovered, and a small feast was made with a cake shaped like the healing herb Goldenseal, also called Goldenwort by some.
If I had been around I most likely would have volunteered to help my dad as he would have been the one in the infirm helping beasts and may have even been one of them that got ill during it. I would have looked for recorder logs sooner as well when it was clear more than one beast had the same symptoms, not just one or two beasts. I would have made sure the infirm stayed well stocked as it was low on supplies at this time and it was harder to get supplies to them when the illness was going on. Also I believe they could have been stricter on who went to the upper and middle floors and that would have helped the illness not spread further. I believe they know better now and quarantine seriously ill beasts faster now than before. I may have sent a sparrow or two to find the herb as they get to and from locations faster. I also believe better cures and medical issues are being learned and put into effect and who knows maybe one day they will find a way to prevent some illness before one even has a chance to get them, I would like to see that happen but it could be many, many seasons from now."
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