Jessie Jackson was born into the nomadic Blue Ramun tribe, meaning her blood has magically curative properties and can be used as a panacea to cure most diseases and heal even fatal wounds. All members of the Blue Ramun tribe train in the medical arts for the first fifteen years of their lives before they are assigned a district of the Silkdeep Empire to minister to as a revered Blue Doctor. Having just turned fifteen and earned her official Blue Ring, Jessie is assigned to the Lezak District of Fargain, Eastern Capital of the Empire. She bids her extended family in the caravan farewell and sets out to begin her life's work.
Arriving in Lezak, Jessie meets Eagle Schneider, the stern and handsome Captain of Lezak's Guards, and Randy Wagman, the lazy but charming priest who has run Lezak's clinic since the departure of their last Blue Doctor. Eagle thanks Jessie for her hard work, and cautions her not to overexert herself. Jessie immediately falls in love.
Eagle leaves to deal with the recently captured boss of the Kushla Thieves and welcome a new staff member to the Guards' office. Jessie begins her work as a healer, but quickly finds the demands of caring for Lezak's population taking their toll on her mental and physical health, needing to draw more and more blood to treat the sick and elderly of this large city. Again, Eagle warns her to take it easy, but even he ends up needing Jessie's healing powers when a double agent from the Kushla thieves manages to poison him in his office.
The stress on her body and mind finally cause Jessie to collapse, awakening days later at the clinic to Randy chastising her for not taking better care of herself before he leaves to take care of patients in her stead. Eagle visits the clinic, apologizing to Jessie for needing her blood when she had already exhausted herself caring for the town. Jessie apologizes for making Eagle worry about her. With Randy and Eagle's help she she recovers her stamina and returns to work, now aware of the support system she can rely on when she needs help.
Chapter 1 Provides Examples of:
- Age-Gap Romance: Jessie just turned 15, and she falls in love with the 24 year old Eagle.
- Assassination Attempt: After capturing the notorious leader of the Kushla Thieves, Eagle is poisoned by a double agent who infiltrates his office. Jessie's blood is the only antidote that can cure him quickly enough to save his life.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: A Downplayed example, but as a member of the Blue Ramun tribe Jessie has always been taught that her inherent worth is predicated on extreme self sacrifice, measured in how many people she is able to heal with her blood. Eagle was the first person ever to tell her to take care of herself for her own sake, and she immediately falls in love with him for it.
- Bedouin Rescue Service: Zig-Zagged — the Blue Ramun tribal members live in desert caravans because they have no permanent home, and as a way to isolate themselves from the rest of the Silkdeep Empire after the near-genocide they suffered in the past. But their members train their whole childhood and spend their entire adult lives serving as doctors scattered throughout the empire, figuratively "rescuing" their patients from death and disease. The only tribesmembers who live in the caravans appear to be the elderly/ retired doctors and children who are in training to become healers.
- Flashback: Jessie has several flashbacks to her education at the hands of her elders back in the caravans scolding her to not be afraid of pain or hardship.
- Healing Factor: Although her cuts and bruises heal much quicker than a normal red-blooded person, Jessie still needs time to regenerate the blood she uses for medicine.
- Healing Hands: The Blue Ramun people have innate healing abilities.
- Horse of a Different Color: Horses are seen inside the city gates, but large, flightless birds seem to be the preferred mount for desert travel. Jessie rides one as she leaves the Blue Peoples' caravan,
- Love at First Sight: The moment Eagle tells Jessie not to overexert herself, she's gone. Her feelings only get deeper as the series progresses.
- Nun Too Holy: Priest-healer Randy is introduced lounging in front of the temple's altar, lazily smoking a pipe. He's meant to be running the district's clinic in the absence of a Blue Doctor, but instead of helping Eagle with an injured soldier he waves the police into the clinic and tells them to fetch the medicine themselves.
- The Power of Blood: Jessie's blue blood has healing properties, either applied directly to a wound or mixed into herbal medicines.
- Rite of Passage: When a member of the Blue Tribe turns fifteen, they have completed their medical apprenticeship in the caravans. On that day they are recognized as both an adult and a fully fledged Blue Doctor, and are granted a Blue Ring (a decorated metal armband) as proof of their accomplishments.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: The double agent from the Kushla Thieves who infiltrates the Guards' offices manages to slip a tasteless, odorless poison into the coffee she prepares for Eagle.
