Hey! I was needing some help with medical stuff. I have 7 people on a questing party, and they met a pack of rather large and hungry wolf-like things. Got pretty torn up too.
Since they completed the quest, my Mom says that to prevent their journey back from being boring, that somebody should experience life-threatening medical complications on the way home. Don't tell her this, (it's a plot twist) but I think they're going to have to go to Laecla (land of the elves) to find a healer that can help.
That said, I can't figure out who.

Quest Party Members are:
Aaron (M) elf
Arionwyn (F) human
Brent (M) human
Dirk (M) human
Earis (F) elf
Lira (F) human
Russel (M) human

Injuries are: (I know, it might seem a little weird to have come up with a list of their injuries, plus dimensions, but my Mom asked me for one. )
(Wide X Deep)
Aaron:
(3) slashes across chest (6 1/2" X 1/2" )
cut on jaw (3" X 1/4" )
Arionwyn:
back bruised (not due to fight--due to large falling rocks)
gash in thigh (4 1/2" X 1" )
Brent:
scratches on hands (3" X 1/4')
gash on back/shoulder (10" X 1/4")
cut on ankle (4" X 1/4)
Dirk:
cut on forearm (5" X 1/4")
(3) slashes on shoulder (7" X 1")
gash on calf (6" X 1 1/2")
Earis:
head wound (again, due to large falling rocks--she wasn't in the fight)
Lira:
scratch on cheek (3" X 1/4")
bite on upper arm (4" X 1/2")
Russel:
broken arm
shallow cut on leg (6" X 1/4")
scalp scratched (4" X 1/5")

Any medical advice on who would be likely to get close to dying would be appreciated. lol
BTW, they've run out of bandages and are almost out of water. (not a good situation)

Anyone with a deep gash could develop a dangerous infection. Lira seems like a good candidate for that since bites are usually puncture wounds, plus there could be all sorts of bacteria in the monsters' mouths. Also, the wolf-things could have been rabid which would put her at risk for rabies if you wanted to do that.

Right. I was already thinking of Lira as a candidate, (poor girl: don't tell her) wanted to make sure it was plausible.

Well, Earis might have some sort of complications due to her head wound (I don't know what you mean by head wound for sure. Maybe if she smashed her head on a rock somehow, she might pass out and... okay, so I don't know much about concussions :P)

And an untreated bite wound sounds like it could definitely get infected, although I don't know how life-threatening it may be. Wolves normally eat raw meat, and they would have lots of bacteria in their mouths, which would be transferred to the wound, and could get pretty nasty if the bacteria gets into her blood I'm sure.

Okay, enough of me trying to sound like I actually know something. lol

I think in determining who is the one to end up on death's doorstep, you need to decide who your readers would be most concerned for if that character looked like he or she was headed to join the choir invisible. As much as we'd all like to hope we could create a large cast, all of whom our readers love passionately, it's not the reality of things, most times.

Also, a few words of caution about adding conflict for the sake of keeping the reader from getting bored. You probably don't want your book to read like an RPG module, where random encounters crop up when the players start to get antsy. Does this wolf attack drive the plot? Is there something very significant and conflict generating about this particular party needing to go to the elf lands? For example, is there some great obstacle that prevents them from getting to the elf lands that they most overcome in order to save their dying friend? Or is the quest they were originally on something they need to complete before a certain time, or else...oh, I don't know, the great magical levy that holds back the sea from the ancient city of Riune will collapse and drown all who live there? (I'm reaching here... ) What I'm saying is, don't throw in a life threatening illness without reasons that reach deep into your plot, or else it will seem indeed, random.

As for the injuries specifically, I'd consider who has lost the most blood, if your characters are out in the wilderness and short on water. Blood loss is a pretty significant problem in a place and time where transfusions aren't an option.

Just the thoughts from the top of the ol' head here.

I have to say Lira would be a good candidate.

She's female, and probably more susceptible. She's human, so probably not as strong as an elf. Plus, she has been bitten. Bites are nasty, because you never know what bacteria has been in the aggressor's mouth, and because they're more difficult to clean.

Wow, beckyminor, you gave me a lot to think about there.



Seems like your 'ol' head' is in pretty good working order.

There actually is an obstacle, the elves live behind an impenetrable forest barrier. Only other elves can get through, (I guess they can bring humans too--or we can hope!) and being that there are two in the group, you would think it might be easy. Oh no.
Turns out, Aaron and Earis were either banished or willingly left. Thus, it is harder to re-enter. Since Earis is badly injured, it's up to Aaron mostly to get them in. Poor guy. Seems to get all the bad luck.

The exact dimensions of the wounds are astronomically insignificant in comparison to the importance of the personal stamina, passions, drives, goals, and previous decisions of your characters. Any of your characters could die easily from the attack, but the ones who survive are determined on who wants to survive the most, who was the healthiest before hand, who is the strongest, who is the most passionate about their over arching goal.

True. In relation to that, I still think Lira would be a good choice. She isn't particularly hardy, and she didn't really want to come in the first place. (or so she says...)

Perfect! That would really create some interesting dynamics in the rest of the group. Notice that the same thing happened in Treasure Island: the one person who did not want to come was one of the first to die. Very sad, very powerful. Sorry, I like killing people in stories. For NaNoWriMo I did a retelling of the story of Job (in a way). Practically all the characters died at once.

*Shakes her head and mutters*
Blood thirsty authors...

lol We seem to have the opposite problem at our house.

It's funny how attached we get to the characters when they're just figments of our imagination.

Raven

Oh, I get attached to my characters too. I still don't feel bad about killing them off, though :P