Healers
from Parkstone’s The History of Damensea
Since before the Stone Wars, healers have worn symbols of their craft. These symbols help patients identify them during times of need as well as protect healers from harm. In Calatini, healers wear torcs rarely removed from their necks, even in sleep. Apprentice healers wear silver torcs, while masters wear gold. The design of the terminals indicate a healer’s speciality.
Healers without magic wear leaf torcs. The leaves symbolize a healer’s reliance on nature to heal. Magicless healers are typically herbalists, who heal using herbs, or chirurgeons, who heal using knives, or both. Magicless healers often form associations with witch healers who create small healing magics for them, like contraceptive charms, for their patients. Although magicless healers are disregarded by some, these healers are skilled, resourceful, and the first source of healing for many people.
Healers with magic (that is, witches with healing magic) wear melissa torcs. The melissae* symbolize a healer’s reliance on magic to heal. Using the same orders of magic as other witches, witch healers can treat patients faster and more effectively than magicless healers. Most witch healers can invoke healing sight to diagnose their patients. Depending on their strength and abilities, witch healers can also burn out infections, mend flesh and knit bones, neutralize poisons, and treat curable diseases. Witch healers, especially talented ones, are more expensive than magicless healers, so only the affluent visit them routinely.
Healers that treat mental or spiritual ailments are called mind healers and wear spiral torcs. They perform various forms of counseling as well as use herbs and medicine to treat patients. If they are witches, they are not typically witch healers, but ordinary witches, as they don’t often have healing magic (which treats physical ailments.) However, mind healers who are witches can use their magic to help treat their patients.
Healers who heal both physical and mental ailments using their soul are called soul healers. These extremely rare healers are always female descendants of the Spring Queen (and Rhiannon descendants.) They wear heart torcs, usually made of electrum. Powerful soul healers can heal nearly any ailment, even ones far beyond other healers; however, using their powers bonds them to their patients. If the ailment is minor, the bond quickly fades, but if the ailment is fatal, the bond is lifelong and often sexual for male-female bondings. Hence, as soon as a soul healer’s powers appear, most families bind her to an appropriate male by compelling her to heal his fatal injury (often inflicted by his family.) Once a soul healer is soulbound, she can heal other fatal ailments without another forming.
* Melissae are huge, magical bees who produce ambrosia as their honey. Although ambrosia cures any ill (including death, some claim), humans rarely imbibe ambrosia because it is arduous and deadly to harvest.