Infirmary Assistant

[Vivosaurus]

Name: Brother Felix
Age: 19 seasons
Species: Hedgehog
Description: Felix is a fairly typical hedgehog, though there aren’t as many brown hues in his fur – just hints here and there. His back is mostly black, with quills that are a confusing mixture of black with white tips. Though it’s hard to tell, what with the thousands of quills, he has some white splotches on his back fur. His underside is almost entirely white, but he has a black mask of fur on his face, and dark but bright eyes poking out from it.

It’s a little known fact that hedgehogs lose their quills from stress, and Felix is no exception. In fact, he is rather prone to stress, and it is not uncommon for a small baldspot to be noticed among his quills.

Rank: Infirmary assistant

Personality: Since Felix was just a little orphan taken into the abbey, he’s always been a small one, and so he’s never been able to get into the same mischief that the others would get into. Physically, he was and still is weaker, and wasn’t much inclined to climb and run and play and all that. Rather, he was more interested in stories and learning - the more scholarly pursuits. And as soon as he could, he thrust himself into that, his nose often seen inside a book, his eyes pouring over every word. He drove himself crazy trying to learn every single thing he could, read everything in the library. Unfortunately, the stress would get to him – even if there wasn’t much stress involved. Felix always had the knack of deriving anxiety from a task which really should have had no pressure involved. It didn’t help that he was very introverted, and would often get inside his own head, which just led to a spiral of nervousness that would lead to anxiety attacks. These would land him in the infirmary for some rest.

It was in the infirmary that Felix discovered an intense fascination with medicine, even more so than his interest with his other lessons. He would ask how the different remedies were made, about different diseases, and a whole manner of other questions. Sometimes, the Abbeybeasts who worked there would refuse to answer him, so he would stop trying to learn and get some rest, but that only made him more persistent. They also noticed that he felt calmer there, and began visiting even when he wasn't feeling nervous or ill. Eventually, he started helping out, and they haven't been able to get rid of him since. He’s proved himself to be very capable, with his ability to absorb knowledge, but his bedside manner does leave much to be desired, and he can’t always (or, really, ever) work well under stress. But he is still learning, after all, and he has been getting better.

Felix, over all, is shy, and likes to stick to himself. He gets uncomfortable when it comes to sharing his feelings, but he can hold very excited conversations if the topic turns to something he is actually interested in, such as working in the infirmary. He’s been trying different meditations and exercises to relieve his stress. They work somewhat, but Felix can still work himself up into a frenzy over a paper cut or spilled milk. But other times he manages to maintain his composure – he just has his good days and then he has his bad days. He might have bad days just because... well, he woke up on the wrong side of the bed and that's just the way it is. Or, everything might not have been going the way he wanted from the get-go - he's the kind of beast that needs to have everything in order, just so, and wants to be in control of everything that goes on in his life. He doesn't like surprises. Obviously, that won't ever happen, especially working in the infirmary, but it's a hard lesson for him to learn.