One of the Greenweald Baronies Archetypes
Overview
Across The Concord there are healers, masters of surgery, healing arcana, and the blessing of the Spheres. But it is within the Greenweald that the study of medicine has attained a status all of its own. Studying the long-term effects of illness, treatment and the minutiae of the medical profession has grown to great heights in the woodland realm. These Doktors are well known for the intimidating crow masks and the scientific manner of their inquiry.
Need:
Surgeon
Beyond being simple menders, Crow Doktors need to be able to interact with the traumatic wounds and long terms spiritual damages caused by illness and injury.
Recommended:
Nil
Outside of their work as healers, many Crow Doktors pursue differing fields of study.
Shouldn’t:
Nil
See above.
Costume Marker:
Crows Mask
The long beaked Crows mask of the Greenweald Doktors is their most striking feature. Used to protect the face from foul vapours and fluids, the mask has its history in a more subversive intention. Early Crow Doktors struggled to attain control over panicked situations of injury or illness. The masks, their intimidating visage and the sense of arcane knowledge that they emanate allowed the early Doktors to control their patients and others. Some modern Doktors immitate this by attempting to make their masks even more intimidating. However the primary purpose remains the protection of the Doktor.
History:
The Crow Doktor discipline owes its genesis to two points.
The first is that the incredibly diverse variety of medicinal and dangerous plants in the Greenweald has always supported a thriving study of their use. Simply attempting to rear herbs in the Greenweald often involves a decent knowledge of invasive and dangerous plants, so that they might be removed when they attempt to infest gardens.This ensured that a dedicated study to such interests were always present and were spread across the Greenweald, resulting in many well read and learned individuals from many different walks of life being able to share knowledge and understanding.
The second genesis point was the Blasserstreit. This damned plague first originated in Eastern Vassertal at a time when the Baronies were already falling to the Zekartaal. It is a bleeding disease that kills harshly and spreads quickly. It was in this panic that the first true Crow Doktors began to band together and study the disease. Primary attention was focused on the spread of Blasserstreit, with the recognition that if the disease spread fully, then then would be no sense in seeking a cure.
While Vassertal would eventually fall to the twin predations of Wartribe and Plague, the Crow Doktors were able to halt its spread at the border to Resinderholz, the final Barony. In those months, the Doktors made many harsh choices. In any other nation it is likely that the work with steel and flame the Doktors pursued would have seen them banished. But in the Greenweald life is different and those that make the pragmatic choices are given respect. And so the Crow Doktors become widely well regarded within the Baronies, and the world.
Three Things Crow Doktors Are:
Learned Leaders
To be Crow Doktor requires both intense academic rigor and a calm charisma. You must be an expert, well versed on the medical practices of alchemists, priests, magi and surgeons. But you must also be able to command a room of healers, speak quietly to the dying and cheer on those who are on the mend.
Pragmatic carriers of guilt
The boogeyman-esque stories of Crow Doktors acting as executioner for whole villages are not unfounded. Within the Greenweald, a Doktor controlling an outbreak often has total control of the outcome. Beyond that, medical science is still in its juvenile age and failure is common. Crow Doktors must carry both their failures and their violent ‘successes’ with them.
Cutting Edge
Crow Doktors are keenly aware of the failings of their institution and discipline. Always ready to question the Orthodoxy and try new methods, Crow Doktors attempt to be on the cutting edge of all forms of healing. A good Doktor is constantly seeking out new practitioners to learn their methods to better augment their own.
One Thing Crow Doktors Aren't:
Mad Scientists
While making hard decisions and working on the edge of science are themes present in the Crow Doktor archetype, they are not mad. They can appear intense and callous, but madness is as dangerous of a malady as any other, particularly in the mind of a healer.