# THE DOCTORS: COMPLETE LORE DOCUMENT
## I. IDENTITY & NATURE
Organization: International network of independent healers and herbalists
Territory: Present in all Four Corners; mobile, decentralized
Governance: No formal hierarchy; loose guild traditions and apprenticeship
Membership: Hundreds; from street chirurgeons to University-trained physickers
Philosophy: Healing as craft and calling; neutral to all factions
The Doctors are the practical antithesis to the University's theoretical medicine and the Church's spiritual healing. They are herbalists, bone-setters, surgeons, midwives, and poison-masters who operate from street-level clinics to traveling wagons. Some are formally trained; others learned through apprenticeship or trial-and-error. United by craft rather than creed, they serve anyone willing to pay—nobles, criminals, beggars—and ask no questions. They preserve ancient healing knowledge, secret remedies, and dangerous techniques that official institutions suppress.
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## II. ORIGINS & HISTORY
### A. Pre-University Healing
Before Formalization:
- Healing knowledge preserved through oral tradition, family lines, monastery records.
- Herbalists and healers existed in every village and town.
- No unified system; knowledge scattered across regions.
Church Influence:
- Tehlin Church initially monopolized healing (through Hospitalers).
- Religious duty + medical practice intertwined.
- Certain remedies deemed "witchcraft"; practitioners persecuted.
### B. The Schism
University Medicine Rise:
- University physickers developed empirical, systematic medicine.
- Rejected "folk remedies" as superstition.
- Created class divide: learned physicians vs. street chirurgeons.
Doctor Consolidation:
- Street healers, herbalists, and practical surgeons organized informally.
- Preserved knowledge University dismissed (poisons, rare herbs, controversial techniques).
- Maintained accessibility; didn't require university tuition or noble patronage.
Current Dynamic:
- University medicine = theoretical, expensive, elite.
- Doctors = practical, affordable, accessible.
- Mutual suspicion; occasional collaboration (training, rare herbs).
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## III. STRUCTURE & HIERARCHY
### A. Organizational Model
No Central Authority:
- Doctors are fundamentally independent practitioners.
- No Grandmaster, council, or formal governance.
- Guild traditions vary by region; some cities have organized associations, others completely loose networks.
Apprenticeship & Lineage:
Master Doctor (20+ years experience)
├── Senior Apprentice (5-10 years training)
├── Junior Apprentice (1-5 years training)
└── Lay Assistant (basic tasks, learning)
- Knowledge passes through direct teaching, not formal schools.
- "Secrets" of remedies guarded within family lines or master-student relationships.
- Best practitioners become legendary; students seek them out across regions.
### B. Specializations
Doctors often focus on specific areas:
Herbalists:
- Deep knowledge of plant medicine; collect rare specimens.
- Create remedies, tinctures, poisons.
- Often reclusive; work in forests, gardens, isolated shops.
Chirurgeons (Surgeons):
- Bone-setting, wound closure, amputation.
- Often work battlefield or arena (Tarbean fighter venues).
- Highest skill variance; good ones are invaluable, bad ones cripple patients.
Midwives:
- Childbirth assistance; prenatal/postnatal care.
- Deep knowledge of women's health, fertility, contraception.
- Often trusted community figures; gather intelligence.
Poison Masters:
- Create toxins, antidotes, and control substances.
- High danger; often under surveillance by authorities.
- May serve criminals, nobles, or hospitals (official antidote research).
Apothecaries:
- Compound and sell remedies, medicines, rare ingredients.
- Bridge between herbalists and end users.
- Often merchant-class; wealthier than typical Doctor.
Street Chirurgeons:
- Tooth-pulling, wound cleaning, minor bone work.
- Lowest prestige; often traveling or working fair circuits.
- High risk of infection, poor outcomes.
## IV. HEALING PRACTICES & TECHNIQUES
### A. Herbal Remedies
Common Herbs:
Willow bark = fever/pain relief
Valerian = sleep, anxiety
Comfrey = bone/wound healing
St. John’s Wort = mood, nerve pain
Bloodmoss = stopping hemorrhage
Rare & Dangerous:
Dragonroot = Adem healing accelerant (costs silver, highly guarded)
Silverleaf = anti-Fae properties (rumored)
Moonflower = pain management (potentially addictive)
Grief vine = emotional numbing (causes dependency)
Preparation Methods:
- Tinctures (alcohol extraction)
- Poultices (plant material + base)
- Powders (dried, ground)
- Infusions (steeped tea)
- Smokes/inhalations (burned herbs)
### B. Surgical Techniques
Common Procedures:
- Wound cleaning, suturing, cauterization
- Bone-setting (splinting, traction)
- Tooth extraction
- Bloodletting (humoral theory; often ineffective/harmful)
- Amputation (last resort; high mortality)
Advanced Techniques (Rare):
- Trepanning (skull surgery; mostly ineffective, high fatality)
- Organ extraction (battlefield amputations)
- Cesarean section (only in dire circumstances; mother often dies)
Anesthesia:
Opium + alcohol = most common
Poppy extract = stronger but rarer
Ice + snow = local numbing
Unconsciousness via head trauma = crude but effective
### C. Diagnostic Methods
Observation:
- Urine analysis (color, clarity, smell)
- Pulse examination (strength, rhythm, temperature)
- Tongue inspection (color, coating, moisture)
- Skin examination (rashes, swelling, discoloration)
Theory:
- Humoral imbalance (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile)
- Vapors/miasmas (bad air causing disease)
- Constitutional type (sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic)
Accuracy: Highly variable; good Doctors correlate observations with outcomes; poor ones blame patient for not improving.
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## V. UNDERGROUND KNOWLEDGE
### A. Forbidden Remedies
Contraceptive Techniques:
- Herb combinations preventing pregnancy
- Church condemns; illegal in some regions
- Midwives preserve knowledge through whispered networks
Abortion Methods:
- Dangerous herbal preparations; high mortality
- Criminal in Church-dominated regions
- Street Doctors provide secretly
Controlled Substances:
- Opium (pain relief; highly addictive)
- Moonflower (euphoria; dependency)
- Grief vine (emotional numbing; dangerous addiction)
- Smoke powders (hallucinogenic; used recreationally/shamanic)
### B. Poisons & Antidotes
Common Poisons:
Hemlock = paralysis, respiratory failure
Nightshade = cardiac arrest
Arsenic = slow wasting (hidden in food)
Aconite = sudden death (looks natural)
Antidotes:
- Vary by poison; some have no cure
- Activated charcoal (absorbs toxins)
- Vomiting induction (time-dependent)
- Specific herbal counters (guarded secrets)
Assassin's Toolkit:
- Poison masters often sell to underworld
- Tarbean Doctors may cater to criminals
- High profit; high legal risk
### C. Sympathetic Medicine (Theoretical)
Dangerous Collaboration:
- Some University sympathists consult Doctors on biological systems
- Doctors forbidden from practicing active sympathy
- Some herbalists study sympathetic binding (illegal in Church lands)
- Theoretical: could use herbs + sympathy for advanced healing
## VI. DAILY PRACTICE & ECONOMICS
### A. The Street Clinic
Physical Space:
- Single room above a shop or in market stall
- Shelves of bottles, dried herbs, surgical tools
- Rudimentary bed for patients waiting or recovering
- Often cramped, unsanitary by University standards
Typical Day:
Morning: Herb gathering, patient consultations
Afternoon: Remedy preparation, surgical procedures
Evening: Record-keeping, apprentice training
Night: Emergency calls (childbirth, accidents, poisonings)
Clientele:
- Poor and working-class (can't afford University)
- Nobles seeking discreet treatment (poisonings, abortions, sexual health)
- Criminals needing wounds closed without questions
- University patients wanting second opinions or faster service
### B. Payment & Economics
Typical Fees:
Simple consultation: 1-3 silver talents
Herb remedy: 2-5 talents
Surgical procedure: 5-20 talents
Rare ingredient access: 10-50+ talents
Poison preparation: 20-100+ talents (high risk premium)
Income Reality:
- Street Doctors often poor; living hand-to-mouth
- Top practitioners (renowned chirurgeons, rare herbalists) moderately wealthy
- Apothecaries potentially very wealthy if well-connected
- Poison masters highest profit but constant legal danger
Barter System:
- Poor patients pay in goods, labor, or later services
- Doctors sometimes trade remedies with each other
- Criminal clients pay in coin or provide protection
### C. Apprenticeship Costs
Training:
- Informal; no tuition but unpaid labor for years
- Students gather herbs, clean, assist surgeries
- Knowledge "earned" through experience, not teaching
- Best students may be brought into mentor's practice
Loyalty:
- Strong master-student bonds; almost familial
- Students indebted to mentor; expected to honor their reputation
- Breaking with master brings social ostracism within Doctor networks
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## VII. RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER FACTIONS
### A. University Physickers
Tension:
- University views Doctors as empirically unsound, dangerous
- Doctors resent University monopoly on "legitimate" medicine
- University claims superiority; Doctors claim accessibility
Occasional Collaboration:
- University seeks rare herbs from herbalist Doctors
- Doctors consult University texts in larger cities
- Some University students trained partially by street Doctors