D. Fynn

Military Healer Interview performed by: Taryk Ayana on 4 Laybia 749. 1

PRE-NOTES FROM HEAD MASTER OF HEALER COLLEGE - Head Master assures me that man is very intelligent, willing to work and sociable considering he was a Guard. Unexpectedly opinionated when it comes to Healer Ethics and Healer/Guard relations. Very capable of dealing with cranky Guards and Stalkers as he was (is?) one.2

FULL NAME - Diemone Fynn (but please call him Fynn. Something about his mother having a fondness for unpronounceable but incredibly pretty looking names. If I must, he pronounced it for me: “Die-ah-moan-ee” but assured me that he wouldn’t answer if called upon by his first name.)3

PERSONAL QUOTE - “I cannot see the future, I cannot change the past but I can stand for my country, I can hold her hand. I can guide her through the sorrow and I can celebrate. I can and will fight for her and gladly give my life.” Macias Kaisa, ‘A Reflection on my Coming to the Throne.” (I’ve even read the book! It was an interesting read because, well, his coming to the throne during the middle of the war in 733 because his predecessor fled was largely misunderstood and unapproved. I’m surprised that Di--Fynn has read it because it was a rather hefty and political book. We spent a good twenty minutes discussing the controversy and misinterpretations of our beloved King. If nothing else, I think he’ll be interesting conversation for all of the young folk I have.)4

DATE OF BIRTH - 19 Neshtar 721 (He’s older than the ‘average’ healer because of his prior Guard training in the Perimeter.)5

PHYSICAL APPEARANCES (eyes, hair, height, distinguishing marks) - Average Quiric height (five foot eleven) with hair to past his shoulders. I assured him so long as he kept it up and away from his face, he would be able to keep it. It doesn’t seem necessary to so strictly enforce the short hair if the Healers are getting creative and very well able to style their hair into submission. He has very emotive eyes (it might just be the depth of the blue that does that, or maybe it really is the experiences he’s faced from the War of 739. I remember him from then and will have to look in his Patient’s Portfolio to see just what they treated him for …) Other wise, for identification purposes in case of horrific death (note to self: horrific death jokes are not funny to a former Guard who is in a relationship with another Guard. Those military types have no sense of humour these days …), he has a rather impressive scar from below his left shoulder blade to over his right shoulder. There’s a tattoo sort of at the tip of the scar of Horia’s Sword with his squad number.** 6

PERSONALITY - He’s definitely got one, that’s for sure! Kaevyn (his brother-in-law) warned me that he might come off rather … rough but expecting rough, I was surprised. For a Guard who lost his Squad when he was on the Perimeter, he seems to have recovered well. Yeah, it was ten years ago but sometimes things like that break a man. He has a rather bizarre and unfamiliar sense of humour, though. It’s dark but obvious and very, very smart. I can’t say I really enjoyed his humour but then again, I doubt we’ll see much of it. He is definitely a “straight to business” kind of man which will be an asset when treating the particularly stubborn Guards and ShadowStalkers (I wish there were another kind! I would die for a co-operative Stalker!). From what I’ve heard from my Guard friends, he is a loyal man - almost more loyal than a dog or one of those enhanced felines the Head Mage created. Nothing comes between him and his love for Quirion and his wife. Other wise, I found him intelligent and modest and rather unable to accept praise which I like. I don’t need any Healers that need to be patted on the head every time they do their job.7

BACKGROUND - Like just about every Guard I have ever met, he was hesitant to talk about his experiences, especially during the war. He said he lost his Squad and all but him were assumed dead. I remember vague details about one of his men having been taken prisoner and I asked him about it. He hid whatever he was feeling well and shrugged. “He’s safe now though,” was his response. After the war he took up a teaching position at the Guard College to take a more “proactive role in the teaching of Quirion’s future defenders and protectors,” as he put it. He wanted to teach the Guardlings how to fight on a higher level than most other instructors had been teaching to keep them out of the Healers and in the Guard.
On a more personal note (well, more personally inclined in that it is outside of work …) we talked about where he grew up. Vlorgan, the gateway to Lake Country in the north, is his hometown where all of his family still resides. His family runs a popular and very well established set of vineyards in Vlorgan but he sees them often (at least four times a year!) when they come to Leib for the Festivals of the Gods. He is living with his wife (and baby girl!) in the city. He talked about his little girl (Taryce?) a fair bit (but I asked a lot of questions. Oh, I love children!) and seems so incredibly fond of her. It was good to see his softer side. That’ll be good for when he’s healing any of the children in the Palace. Some of the Healers here don’t know how to switch between “healer of grumpy military men” and “healer of sad, adorable children” modes. I don’t think Fynn will have a problem with that. He is pretty level-headed other wise and seemed very comfortable with the small procedures I asked him to do. He is quite competent and very well learned. 8

LIKES/DISLIKES - I love these questions because all of my interviewees hate them. They either lie or are vague. Fynn was very open about it. He really enjoys riding (having spent almost three years almost constantly on horseback in the Perimeter) and loves a good book. Again, we spent an obscene amount of time talking about the books he’d read and what was on his reading list. Also, he is a typical swordsman - loves a good weapon and an even better smith. He’s loyal to Nell Armoury and would happily spend his entire Pays on new weapons (He mentioned how instead of getting a traditional wedding gift for his wife when they were married, he bought her a new set of long and short swords. Oh those military folk. He bought his daughter a sword too with the family jewels in the hilt. She’s only a year old! He assured me it was more of a “wall hanging” than anything but the glint in his eye suggested for sure that he wants her to follow in her parents’ footsteps.).
His dislikes were much harder to pry out of him because he said they make him feel racist. He isn’t fond of the Frahmish because of their political wavering and always being on the side of the winning team. He dislikes their lack of loyalty. Go figure. Religious zealots annoy him but, at the same time, he appreciates their devotion to their god (or gods) and even admits to being “one of them” when he was younger (and more foolish, he said) and first starting out in the Guard. 9

GOALS - I was so pleased to finally have a “real adult” to interview. His goals and aspirations were much better thought out and far more realistic (and less contrived!) than the young men and women I have been interviewing lately. He wants to be the best father he can be, the best husband he can be, and the best all-round man he can be. He hasn’t set himself any unattainable goals, I don’t think, because he is the type of person who has (and will continue to) go after what he wants and put his whole being into his efforts. 10

ABILITIES - He is a trained Guardsman for the Perimeter and was an instructor at the Guard College for almost five years before he started Healer College. Even now, he admits to teaching occasional lessons when called upon by the Captain of the Guard for a particularly difficult or gifted student. During his healer training, he picked up on Aura healing well in the first year and furthered his studies there as well as declaring his specialization in the Spine, Nerves, and Bones. He is one of the strongest healers of his year and, despite his reluctance to admit it, had some of the highest grades. Out side of healing and the Guard, he can diffuse just about any difficult situation that comes his way and is very communicative. There are no secrets about whether or not Mr. Fynn likes you or not. If he doesn’t, by the Gods, you’ll know. The honesty is refreshing. He admitted to disliking my promiscuity but admiring my ability to change the Healers. 11

STRENGTHS - Fynn’s strengths are rather similar to his abilities but more defined. Being trained in diffusing hostile and unpleasant situations along the Quiric border, he is capable of peace-making and keeping, interpersonal relations, and being truthful. I think his greatest strength is his heart and depth of devotion to Quirion, his work, and his life (wife, daughter, family, everything). He said his greatest strength was his neutrality. He was trained to keep an open mind and to make no judgements until all of the facts had been heard and all the cards over turned. I could agree if not for his obvious love for Quirion.12

WEAKNESSES - Unfortunately, he is an intimidating man. He is rather tall and very well built. He looks like a fighter, walks like a fighter, talks like a fighter, and lives like a fighter. That’s scary to a lot of the non-military related people in the Palace. He isn’t even aware of how scary he is because it’s not something anyone has ever told him before me. I pointed it out and he looked genuinely baffled, saying that he doesn’t feel scary. I laughed a little and he frowned at me. I will admit to almost wetting myself in fear. I will have to remember to assign only the most difficult men and women to this one! Maybe they will be terrified out of their hard-headedness!13

OTHER - I had him write a short composition about his decision to train as a Healer and to leave the Guard. This is what he gave me:14

“I never wanted to do anything in life but serve my beautiful country. At first I was going to be a Guard and I did that. I fought for Quirion, I risked my life and the lives of my men for her and, in the end, we always won. But then … the War of 739 changed my perspective on life, as dramatic as that sounds. I always thought that I would be a Guard my whole life. Born a Guard, Die a Guard. But I lost my Squad. One was taken as a prisoner of war and I fought to get him back alongside five others. We won, yes, but many were lost. I took a hard look at what I was doing. Was fighting the battles when it was too late to change things, really change things enough? I didn’t think so. That was when I started as an instructor. My goal was to teach the Guardlings not only how to defend themselves but how to maintain such an attitude that would allow them to survive in the field. I shared my experiences with them and some listened and took my advice to heart and others ignored it.
It wasn’t until one of my former students came back to me after a mission to the Nidorian border that I started to think about being a healer again (it had been a childhood dream but being a Guard was what I had really wanted to do). She was devastated and broken like I had never seen a Guard before. The Nidorians had broken my student and nothing I could have taught her could have helped her. She was seeing a team of Healers at the College to help her recover from her innumerable wounds and the emotional trauma she was suffering from. I never wanted to see someone that broken again but I knew that if I never did, I would continue to exist in this world where I believed that you either won or you died. I had some how forgotten about those who didn’t win but they didn’t lose either. They escaped.
Neyua, my wife, and I discussed my being a healer and she was as supportive as anyone could hope for. It was the longest five years of my life because I had never been so financially unstable before. At first, I attended just classes and did my homework and everything that came with the schooling but we just couldn’t afford it so I took up instructing at the College again and already the healer training had been useful. I was able to ‘see’ who was really struggling (emotionally) with the tasks laid out in my classes and in other classes. I could actually help some of my students get over their fears of certain classes of weapons and other things. I felt useful and … needed.
In the end, despite the incredible financial hardships and the very serious lack of personal time with my wife, everything was worth it. Everything in my life has lead to my healer training, I think. All of my experiences with the Guard will be more useful as a healer than as an instructor when it comes to dealing with fellow military men and women. -- D. Fynn”15

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