These are small chapters I will be writing in every once in a while, they will usually have side stories, might even have a little spin off story of a character I might like that is not crucial to the main plot. They will, however, contain more information about the world and will give you a deeper understanding of the changes Leo Cazador is making in the world so reading them won't be a waste of time :D

Chapter 8.1 – Public Services

*** Inspector Torrace ***

Inspector Torrace is a family man, a normal man, who did well with numbers and maps and got noticed by the Illuminated. He was inducted into the ranks and he quickly showed his talents which aided him in acquiring the position of Inspector and Director of the public sewage plumbing installation project. The illuminated helped provide him with able water and earth mages as well as able craftsmen who could aid him in his efforts.

It still awes him every time he is out and about inspecting the ongoing projects throughout the country and not just the capitol. He is the head of the entire sewage installation project, there are other inspectors and directors under him, some of which he even appointed.

He had been just a normal man trying to make a normal living, the recent changes that have come to the country have provided many with the chance to better themselves and their lifestyles. I did not earn enough to live an extravagant lifestyle, but my home was two floors tall and spacious enough for my wife and four children. We do not want for food and thanks to the low price of cotton clothing we do not dress like the poor.

The country has been prospering grandly and new ideas are constantly being adopted.

Among my duties as head of the project is a non-related task, the naming of the streets, outlining them, and rearranging them into a uniform fashion if necessary by ordering the demolition and reconstruction of a house. Each house is then unique numbered.

I have been told that in Isyndril, where the project is further along, has taken my street maps and used them to form what is known as the Public Postal Service. Its task is to send letters, packages, and other things between residences. Many businesses provide the funding for the public service by paying subscriptions for what is known as Home Delivery Service. In other words, a business can have its goods delivered for them, for a rather low price per package.

Chapter 8.2 – Mad Doctor

*** Doctor Ludwig ***

Medical Science, it’s a brutal thing. I have done many wonderful things, healed and cured people of dozens of sicknesses. I am a clerical mage, healing magic is my forte, but after becoming a member of the Illuminated I have recently learned to make Healing Alchemy, a fusion of magic and medicine. It is a very powerful field, interestingly enough I have discovered more ways to kill someone than cure someone.

I have witnessed the horrors of the human body, I have induced many patients into comas, spasms, bone breaking muscle contortions, pus and boil bursting deaths, and worse…much worse.

Not everyone is suited to be a “Doctor”, a title given to me by the Illuminated, many have lost their will to continue in the field of medical science. Many have even taken their lives while some have unfortunately been…silence…for the sake of secrecy of course. This field, while it will help people in time, has a long way to go before it develops to a point where its applications can be introduced to the world.

Medicine is not the only field in Healing Alchemy, while it has produced the most impressive results by tackling diseases and illnesses that were fatal before, there are other more revolutionary fields. There is Surgery, this has incredible applications. I have been able to save many lives from grievous physical injuries and unfortunately I have ended just as many.

Surgery has opened a whole new world to me, it has allowed me to map the muscles, arteries, organs, and other parts of the body. Finding good students for this field is hard, it requires an iron stomach, moral fortitude, a strong will, and above all a very steady hand.

Surgery has such applications that include suturing and the most interesting, transplanting.

I was introduced to a certain tool called the microscope, it has aided me in discovering even more interesting things including why transplanting failed with a high mortality rate at first. Blood is more complex than it appears.

My “Hospital” is a secret facility in the northern mountains, it is a self-sustaining place. There are regular deliveries of sickly slaves which are cheap to acquire, most of them end up dying due to experimentation, those that don’t eventually end up in comas and are killed or are left in such a condition that they are no longer functional beings…and then they are killed. Truly horrible, but necessary.

Though my efforts are greatly secreted the most enlightened of the Illuminated, rumors have it that it is a child, has sent me a letter congratulating me on my efforts after discovering a medicine he named penicillin. Though I say I discovered it, it was not without the help of a secret letter containing medicinal theory given to me by the Illuminated.