Healer

Hippocratic oath a modification of Leon R. Kass's Towards a more natural science

Your lands have been cursed with a terrible blight, a plague that has claimed the lives of many around you. From beyond the horizon a beacon of hope arrives; whether they be called doctor, healer, or necromancer, their help in undeniable.

Healers in the world of Convergent no longer rely on just science and medicine to save their patients, Magic allows them to pull anyone back from death's door with a gift from The Reaper himself.

The work of a healer

The work of a healer is fairly self explanatory, using the gift of necromancy to heal, they will often be found as a staple in any town across terra.

Workplace

The workplace of a Healer is either as an established fixture or as a wandering salesperson.

Mobile

In times of crisis there will often be an abundance of Necromancers who take on the mantle of wandering healer, no matter their skill in Healing. The impact of this does wonders for the containment of plague and other epidemics.

Wandering healers often opt to keep a small cart or tent that they can set up from town to town. They will travel as far as possible, stopping in smaller towns to provide the healing services that would likely be unaffordable otherwise due to the distance of travel.

Resident

Resident healers are often certified medical proffesionals, having not just knowledge of the arcane but of the physical sciences of the body. They are often based within hospitals in affluent cities. They provide more advanced care, especially in cases where an ordinary wanderer wouldn't work.

In times of epidemic resident healers are often some of the first responders, leading the charge and directing other Necromancers on how best to contain the situation and heal their patients.

Service

The service of a healer in comparision to a mundane doctor is that of convenience. Where doctors are often a journey away a healer could be in your town, and where a doctor's treatment would have a recovery time of many weeks, healers can shorten or eleminate that period.

Healers are also capable of magically curing that which could not be cured with mundane remedies, an ordinary surgeon couldn't risk operating on the brain, healing can do that with little risk.

Hazards

Healers are often on the front lines, especially during plagues and outbreaks. This leads to them having a much higher chance of contracting these diseases, and due to their tendency to be rather spread out during containment, out of range of healing.

In addition, they face prejudice from their paitients themself. Healers will often be faced with threats of violence and sometimes even be attacked by their paitients.

Healers also work with some sharp objects, but due to training, this is less of a risk.

Legal risks

Within certain regions healing, and generally necromancy, has developed a negative connotation due to Lichdom. Globally this means that they are more likely to be scrutinized than other medical professionals.

Within certain regions there is official legislation prohibiting the use of necromancy including healing is strictly prohibited, many healers choose to violate these laws in order to provide aid in these countries.

Becoming a healer

Requirements

The main unifying requirement for healing are the dual oaths, Hippocratic, and Arcanis Healer oaths. The Hippocratic has healers swear to do no harm and to aid their patients to the best of their abilities. The Arcanis Healer has them swear to never use their abilities except in the healing or defense of the defenseless.

Generally those who do not take these oaths will not be considered healers.

I swear by Pythagoras Physician and Shildtuga and Eris and The Reaper of Souls and all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfill according to my ability and judgment this oath and this covenant:

To hold the one who has taught me this art as equal to my parents and to live my life in partnership with him, and if he is in need of money to give him a share of mine, and to regard his offspring as equal to my siblings in lineage and to teach them this art—if they desire to learn it—without fee and covenant; to give a share of precepts and oral instruction and all the other learning to my sons and to the sons of him who has instructed me and to pupils who have signed the covenant and have taken an oath according to the medical law, but no one else.

I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice.

I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art.

I will not wield the blade, not even on sufferers from stone, but will withdraw in favor of such men as are engaged in this work. Into whatever houses I may enter, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining clear of all voluntary injustice and of other mischief on any who live there.

Things I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even outside of treatment regarding the life of human beings, things which one should never divulge outside, I will keep to myself, holding such things shameful to be spoken.

If I fulfill this oath and do not violate it, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and art, being hon-ored with fame among all men for all time to come; if I transgress it and swear falsely, may the opposite of all this be my lot

— Hippocratic oath circa 1100

I swear on my gifts, from The Reaper of Souls, to use these gifts to defy him to the best of my ability.

I swear to preserve the sanctity of the dead, and to not disturb those whose form I have not been given willingly.

I swear to use only my soul, to avoid the practices of Lichdom on any.

I swear to keep magic as my scalpel and to keep its sanctity through lack of force against others.

I swear to preserve my soul and the soul of all others.

I swear to not hesitate in using my magic for the aid of others, and to defend the defensless whenever possible.

I make these oaths here in the presence of my master, may I honor them throughout time.

— Arcanis Healer circa 1130

Training

In terms of training, there are no official requirements for becoming a healer in most countries, or for practicing healing magic generally. Some healers opt to train with necromancy or to train in physical science in order to better help people.

Magical

In terms of magical talent it is essential that any healer have a capacity for Necromancy. This is what healers use to repair wounds by changing the physical form of a living person.

Progression

In terms of progression there is little in the way of promotion or pay increases, the commodity of magical ability means that there is almost no competition for any given healer.

Mobile

For a mobile healer the progression is often tied directly to level of fame. A more famous healer will be able to put on more of a show, whether that be a literal theatrical production or a show of how many apprentices serve under a given healer.

This allows them to both rustle up more business and to charge more for their services.

Resident

Resident healers will often be paid a lot more than most in a given hospital than most. But they do still have the ability to reach higher levels, often following a similar career path to a doctor.

After some time, many will opt to find new horizons and found hospitals in up-and-coming towns, allowing them more funds and independence.

Rewards

Payment

Healers will typically be paid an upper class salary, with more than enough to make a living. They are most often among the upper class of any given social area, even just by status alone.

Of course, resident healers will often end up making significantly more than mobile healers, but this doesn't mean that mobile healers don't make a decent living.

There has been notable criticism around this practice of paying healers more than the ordinary doctor. On an ethical level it would seem that this contradicts the principle of helping others, and it can certainly be said that some healers have forsaken their vows to help others for selfish intrest.

Benefit

Benefits are generally reserved for residential healers, provided by their hospital of residence. However there are some universal benefits, such social status, and respect from most members of society.

Resident healers will often receive several forms of insurance from their work at minimum. When asked for, Resident healers have received a variety of benefits, including personal assistants, transportation, and in one case, even a yacht.

Type: Medical

Demand: High, high variance.

Legality: Low risk, some isolated pockets of higher risk

Public perception: Positive

Alternate names: Necromancer, Doctor

Referenced in:

Summercamp 2026