Interlude 7.5: The Royal First Aid Compendium
An excerpt from "The Royal First Aid Compendium: On the Art of Healing"
(The page appears to be aged parchment, with accompanying illustrations of human anatomy, runic symbols, and various herbs.)
Foreword by High Priestess Isaelde, Keeper of the Grand Cathedral's Library
To all who study... be ever mindful that the "Body" and the "Soul" are two things that can never be completely separated. To heal one... it is necessary to understand the other. Thus, the art of healing in our world is divided into three main branches, each with its own principles and limitations...
Branch One: "The Art of Mending" - The Physical ArtPrinciple: The use of biological and chemical knowledge to support the body's "natural regenerative mechanisms." It is the repair of the tangible "hardware." Practitioners: Herbalists, Field Medics, Alchemists. Methods:Herbal Remedies and Potions: Serve to deliver necessary "nutrients," "anti-inflammatory agents," or "coagulants" directly into the body, allowing cells to function at peak efficiency. Surgery: The suturing of wounds, the setting of bones, or the removal of foreign objects. It is the most direct method of resolving physical problems. Limitations: Requires "time" to heal and cannot treat wounds caused by "curses" or invisible damage to the "soul."
Branch Two: "The Art of Restoration" - The Magical ArtPrinciple: The use of "Mana" and "Runic Glyphs" to "write commands" that temporarily interfere with the body's functions at a cellular level. It is "bio-engineering" that relies on magical energy. Practitioners: Clerics, White Mages. Methods:Spell [Accelerate Mending]: Executes a short "healing script" to command cells in the wounded area to "divide" faster than normal for a limited time. Spell [Purge Toxin]: Executes a "search and destroy program (antivirus software)" that commands mana to directly "disintegrate the molecular structure" of the poison. Limitations: Consumes immense mana and requires high precision. If the "code" is flawed, it can lead to severe side effects (e.g., uncontrollable cell division) and still cannot heal wounds of the "soul."
Branch Three: "The Art of Soothing" - The Spiritual ArtPrinciple: The most profound and rarest of the arts. It does not "mend" a wound... it "tunes" a shattered soul. It does not work on "cells"... but on the "frequencies" of will and emotion. Practitioners: High Priestesses, or those with a true understanding of the "Great Will of Life." Methods (An Art and Philosophy): It can be compared to a musician with a divine ear "hearing" the dissonant note in another's soul... and then "playing" their own frequency to "cancel" it out and create a new "Harmony." It is to "embrace" the pain, not to "fight" it... It is to whisper to a lost soul, "You are not alone," and then gently guide it back to balance. Limitations: Cannot directly heal "physical" wounds and relies on "talent" or a profound level of "understanding" that cannot be taught by texts alone.