### B. Church Hospitalers
Complex Dynamic:
Church: Healing through faith + basic medicine
Doctors: Healing through craft, no religious requirement
Conflict: Contraception, abortion, secular remedies
Cooperation: Both serve poor; both preserve knowledge
Shared Patients:
- Patients often try both; no loyalty required
- Church free but moralizing; Doctors paid but discreet
- Some regions have clear divide; others work nearby in tension
### C. Tarbean Underground
Criminal Connection:
- Tarbean Doctors often treat gang wounds, poisonings
- Poison masters directly serve criminal orders
- Police avoid cracking down; Doctors too useful for all sides
Mutual Advantage:
- Criminals pay well; Doctors profit
- Criminals protect Doctors from prosecution
- Street Doctors control information (patient gossip)
### D. Maer's Court
Patronage:
- Nobles hire discreet Doctors for embarrassing health issues
- Some Doctors become informal court advisors
- High profit but dangerous (knowing too many noble secrets)
Black Market:
- Poison research for court intrigue
- Contraceptive access for nobles' lovers
- Controlled substances for entertainment
### E. Adem
Respect:
- Adem recognize practical mastery; respect skilled Doctors
- Some Adem-trained herbalists incorporate into practice
- Dragonroot and rare Adem remedies highly valued
---
## VIII. SECRETS & HIDDEN KNOWLEDGE
### A. Lost Remedies
Pre-Creation War Medicine:
- Rumors of ancient healing techniques lost to time
- Possible connection to Amyr archives or Fae knowledge
- Some Doctors search ruins for old medical texts
Sympathetic Healing (Theoretical):
- Could sympathy + herbalism create perfect medicine?
- Illegal experimentation in hidden laboratories
- Some believe this was Myr Tariniel's greatest achievement
### B. The Poison Guild
Hidden Organization:
- Rumor of organized poison masters with secret hierarchy
- Unified pricing, standards, contracts
- Operates across Four Corners; coordinates assassinations
- May report to larger faction (Church? Amyr? Criminals?)
### C. Plague Knowledge
Suppressed Understanding:
- Some Doctors know how to create plagues
- Information so dangerous it's guarded fanatically
- Church, University, and nobles all want this knowledge suppressed
- Question: Do Doctors prevent plague outbreaks or allow them strategically?
---
## IX. PLOT HOOKS FOR GAMEMASTERS
1. The Poison Commission
Players hired to identify poison used in noble assassination. Must consult poison master; risks exposure to authorities or Amyr.
2. The Epidemic
Strange sickness sweeps through city. Doctors scramble for cure; players must gather rare ingredients, race against time, navigate factional interests.
3. The Illegal Apprentice
Talented young healer banned from University for heretical methods. Offers players advanced knowledge in exchange for protection.
4. The Dragonroot Cache
Adem healing herb cache discovered. Multiple factions (Doctors, University, nobles, criminals) compete to control it.
5. The Silent Healer
Mysterious Doctor appears, performs impossible cures, then vanishes. Investigation reveals Fae half-breed or ancient being.
6. Treating the Unkillable
Patient shows signs of Chandrian curse. Doctor seeks players' help understanding affliction; curing them breaks Chandrian erasure.
7. The Tainted Well
Entire neighborhood poisoned. Doctors must identify source; players navigate sabotage, cover-up, criminal involvement.
---
## X. NPC GENERATION TEMPLATE
```markdown
[Name], Doctor [Specialization: Herbalist / Chirurgeon / Midwife / Poison Master / Apothecary]
- Age: [25-70]
- Reputation: [rising star / established legend / washed-up / controversial]
- Location: [street clinic / traveling wagon / noble's private employ / hidden laboratory]
- Specialty Knowledge: [rare herb / surgical technique / forbidden remedy / poison/antidote pair]
- Secret: [trained by Adem / coordinates Poison Guild / half-Fae heritage / creates plague vectors]
- Flaw: [addiction to own medicines / guilt over patient deaths / mercenary without ethics / idealistic crusader]
- Relationship to Law: [paid informant for guards / wanted criminal / protected by patrons / operating covertly]
- Teaching: [seeks worthy apprentice / hoards knowledge / passing down tradition / experimenting on students]
XI. USING THE DOCTORS IN YOUR GAME
Perfect for:
• Practical worldbuilding: Healing costs money; wounds take time; medicine is imperfect
• Street-level gameplay: Doctors as quest-givers, information brokers, moral guides
• Moral complexity: Discreet healing for criminals; poison for assassins; dangerous knowledge
• Character resources: Ongoing relationship with trusted healer vs. anonymous street clinic
• Factions interplay: Doctors caught between University, Church, criminals, nobles
• Investigation: Autopsies, poison analysis, disease tracking
The Doctors represent pragmatic, accessible power—not flashy like the University or authoritative like the Church, but genuinely woven into every level of Temerant society. They reward those who build relationships and respect their craft.