Subject was young female, near 20 turns of age. Multiple injuries ranging across body. In particular, trauma to the head was cause of death. Residue in some cuts was identified as dirt commonly found around cliff areas of Gar. Determined cause of death: fall from a great height.

Nerak busily rushes in from the Healer Great Hall.

The room reserved for post-mortem examinations is simple in makings, kept too cool to be comfortable for the living and relatively dark, except when lit for an examination, as it is now. A waist-high table is centered in the room, the prone form of the deceased lying on it. Alain has busied himself in one corner of the room, scrubbing down and putting on the clothes and apron he uses for these examinations.

Nerak walks into the room with a jacket, knowing how cold this room can be. She walks around the central table and over to where Alain is. "Hi, Alain. So, I've come to see what you do. What hve you got here?" She looks at the table and it's... occupant.

Alain peers up as Nerak arrives beside him and offers her a nod, "First off, this is for you," he says, handing her a cloth mask, and putting one on himself. "Just as a precaution," he explains, slipping on a pair of gloves and stepping over toward the table. "Young woman--about twenty...twenty one years of age, I think. She's already been identified. There was some question about how she died." He starts at the head of the body, murmuring half to himself, half to Nerak, "Wound to the head--there's some bruising. It looks like a blunt object."

Nerak takes the offered mask and puts it on. She grins and says, "So.. is this to keep away the smell?" AFter chuckling, she adds, "Sorry... I will say I'm not real comfortable around dead bodies... I tend to joke when I'm nervous." She puts on gloves so that she can help if needed. She listens to the litany of information that Alain has on the patient... body. She follows what he says and watches as he points out what he is saying. "Ah, I see. Yes, I do see the wound."

Alain shakes his head slightly at the question about the smell, "No...it's so if you hit a nerve it doesn't pop up and kiss you on the lips. Had that happen once--been wearing masks ever since." And yes, that was a joke. But the flat tone of Alain's voice indicates the level of attention he's paying the subject at hand--namely a lot. "Shallow--in this area," he moves a finger in a circular pattern, the dried blood and skinned off spot somewhat hard to miss. "It would have been pretty hard--but it almost looks like something flat. It's round just because of the shape of the skull." He shifts 'round to the other side of the table, moving hair aside here and there, apparently checking for more wounds. "Clean on this side," he announces, folding the sheet back slightly to examine the neck of the body, pressing here and there in the neck area. "I can't be certain, but it feels like a fractured neck, as well--that's normal if the blow is hard enough."

Nerak nods, "Yes, I've seen head injuries before.. but none so... dented." She watches as Alain's hands feel around the head and the neck area. "Ah... a broken neck? That is bad. May I feel?"

Alain nods curtly and steps aside. "There are gloves over there--but you can feel--the third and fourth vertabrae don't line up, which makes sense if she were hit from the side." He steps a little further down the table, pulling the sheet down to the waist on the body, revealing a few more bruises and skinned areas.

Nerak shows Alain that she already has gloves on and smiles, "I already put some on in case you needed help, dear." She smiles, then starts first with feeling the dent in the head, "Ah.. yes, it is definately bigger than I've seen on any patient... a living one anyways." After that, she moves her hands down to the neck and feels hte bones in hte spinal column, she moves the neck slightly and grins, "Ah, yes. I do feel it. Right there. Good call, Alain." She then stands back and watches as he continues to examine the body.

"The angle suggests dislocation from the blow--not a seperate destructive action," Alain murmurs, again half to himself. "I'm not surprised this is the biggest one you've seen--considering that alone would be enough to kill someone." He leans down to peer more closely at the other bruises. "This is odd. They're skinned--mostly on the arms, none at all on the torso--one on this shoulder. Those are odd places to have them. No defensive at all--" The young man pulls the sheets down further and examines each of the forearms. "Nope, none at all. There are a couple of options for that..." he trails off, pulling the sheet up to the head of the body and up to the waist--it's a little less disturbing to most people in sections. He leans down to examine the legs of the body. "Fracture here--on the right lower leg. And more skinning." He nods, leaning down and h

He nods, leaning down and peering closely at one wound in particular, withdrawing a pair of tweezer-like pincers and prodding at the wound a moment, his brows drawn together.

Nerak looks at Alain and nods, "Yes, I see that. I imagine the blow to the head /would/ be enough to do that... poor girl. Hmm, that is odd, skinned arms? And on the shoulder as well... That is odd..." She strains to look and see if the palms of hte hands are skinned, but with the forearms not skinned, it doesn't look to her like the girl fell.. She grins as he moves the sheet around, "Yes, well, thank you for that! It is a bit disturbing..." She leans closer as he prods at the leg wound, trying to get a look at what he sees... "What do you see, Alain?"

"Dirt," is Alain's low reply, then he shakes his head, "No, gravel. Very...small...gravel..." he corrects himself, pulling the grain out of the wound and holding it up for Nerak to say. He moves back to the top of the table, pulling the sheet down, again, leaving it to Nerak to cover or examine the lower half of the body at her will. He leans forward pulling a pair of spectacles out of one pocket and pushing them up on his face. He leans so close to the shoulder that his nose is nearly touching the table, brows still furrowed, and, after a moment, straightens up with a low, "Mm-hm."

Nerak looks as the gravel is removed from the leg. "Oh, I see..." She holds back the sheet from the leg as Alain is covers the body so that she can examine hte leg wound as well. "You have good eyes, Alain. I do see a bit of gravel there though." She covers the leg back up by putting the sheet back where it belongs. She follows the comments back up to the shoulder. "Ah... magnifying glasses, I assume?"

Alain nods, "I wear them to read." The explaination is followed by another, "The direction of these scrapes. I think she did fall." He nods, stepping up to the shoulders of the body, "Can you take the legs? I'm going to examine the dorsal side." He slips his hands under the shoulders of the body and waits for Nerak to position herself to aid in the turning.

Nerak nods and watches as he points out the scrapes. "Ah.. that would make sense. Sure." She grabs the legs of the woman and positions them to make turning her over easier - trying not to disturb the broken leg too badly. She follows Alain and helps him to turn the body over. "There you go."

Alain nods his thanks once the body is face-down, and pulls the sheet aside entirely to reveal a few scrapes, only one really deep-looking one near the lower back. Again he leans down to peer more closely at the injuries, then straightens up. "See here and here--there would have been less bruising. It looks like she was alive for a couple of minutes, but not long. In fact, it looks like--" he straightens up again, "--the deceased -did- fall, but it was probably from a height. Maybe a cliff." Considering there are cliffs in the immediate area that's not too surprising. "She would have acquired this--" he motions toward the deeper wound, "--and these--" another motion indicates the injuries to the arms, "in falling, and probably hit a large rock near the bottom--or at the bottom. That would account for the shape of the wound and the neck injury."

Nerak watches as Alain continues to point out injuries and what they could mean. "Oh, how awful! That is a horrible way to die... I wonder if she fell, or if she was pushed - though there were no defensive wounds... odd." She looks at each wound as he points it out and takes a better look at it. "Yes, I see what you mean. Nice bit of guessing, there." She nods. "Do you know how she died? I mean... was there a report when she came in?"

Alain shakes his head. "No, but I want to know exactly where she was found. If it was dark and she was out wandering she could have just fallen. If that was the case, there -wouldn't- be defensive wounds." He grimaces, most likely just thinking about his conclusion, and nods slightly. "I'll have to document it. Other than that...the preliminary examination I did didn't reveal anything other than what I saw today. Did you want to take a closer look at any of these wounds? I'm going to check for gravel in the head wound, as well, just to be on the safe side--if it was a wooden object it probably would have left particles."

Nerak watches Alain, "Yes, that is true... maybe she was new to the area and didnt know about the cliffs... Well, it would be good to go see the sight where she was found... to see if there is gravel near where she slipped - above, or if the gravel was all from the bottom of the cliff. I'd imagine the fingers and arms would be scraped up if she tried to stop falling by holding onto the wall..." She leaned close to the head wound, "From this angle, I dont' really see much gravel, though it could just be my eyes! I wonder if she hit a large rock at the bottom, then landed on the gravel afterwards that got into her wounds... Good thinking, I think if she was conscious, she would have tried to stop herself from falling."

Alain shakes his head, "I don't think that's neccesarily the case. If it was dark--and I think this is more like cliff gravel--she could have just fallen. It looks like it was far enough she would have bounced once or twice. I'm sure she didn't feel anything once her head--" He breaks off, sure Nerak gets the idea. And though it doesn't make -him- queasy, he's not keen on taking care of a fainting victim. "I'll get a sample from the nearest object of any height--I thought they said it was Gar, I could be wrong--and I'll compare the stone, or ask a smith if the comparison isn't just obvious."

Nerak nods as he offers his explaination, "That sounds plausible..." She grins, "I can handle it... shards, if I can stitch up an arm on the beach of a guy that refused numbweed, I can talk about this. I'm not one of those... queasy.. people!" Grinning, she looks the body over, then the room. "Well, Alain, this all looks great. It sure looks like you know what you're doing! Those are great guesses as to how she died.. I wish there was some way of really knowing. Maybe interviewing the family or something?" She walks back the sink and removes the glove and the mask and washes her hands. "Well, dear, this was exciting and all, but I've got to get to the infirmary. There are some /live/ patients waiting for me, and a Journeyman who is probably impatient wating for their late replacement!" She chuckles, "Of course, this was worth being late!" Winking, she makes sure her hands are clean and that her outfit isn't covered in... anything gross. "I do have to go, dear. Thanks for the.. tour!"

Alain nods, "Of course, there are some more questions I need to ask--and I might need to look her over again after that, but this was a good one--not too tough. Poison, -that's- hard. But this type of thing..." He trails off and nods, "If you think of anything you'd like me to look at, let me know. For the mean time, I'm still co-teaching some classes with the journeymen and doing this when it's needed." He waves a hand around the room to indicate what "this" is. "I'll let you know what the final verdict comes out as," he promises.

Nerak nods as she walks towards the door, "There's nothing I can think of... other than finding out information about what happened... I love mysteries! I think you were pretty thourough... though if foul play was suspected, check the fingernails - women do tend to scratch their attackers!" She grins. "Yes, teaching is good... not only shares your information, but helps you remember better each time you teach a class... which is why I like to teach so much!" Turning in the doorframe, she nods, "alright, I would be interested to see how it turns out.. I guess that's the inquisitiveness in me! Thanks, Alain, I'll see you tomorrow!" She smiles at her mentee, waves and turns to leave the room.