Herbalist

Aye, what have you to tell of the new herbal?  Malkolm cured me old ma, I can vouch for him, but some out-of-town 'prentice is another matter.  I've got t' get me leg looked at, it's giving me gyp like it never has.  But I don't want t' trust some city shmuck with it, you know how it is.

Career

Qualifications

Herbalists typically study as apprentices for up to four years, learning the tools of the trade in their area. During this time, they will be instructed on how to recognise and properly apply the various herbs used by herbalists, as well as in the preparation of various salves, tinctures, and teas that the herbs are usually delivered in. They are also instructed in basic medical procedures, such as the staunching of a wound, setting of broken bones, and examinations of muscular injuries.

Career Progression

After undergoing their apprenticeship, herbalists usually travel to another village to begin their trade in earnest.  Often, they will select a village without a local herbalist, or with one who is nearing the end of their professional life.  They typically stay in this village for the rest of their working lives, if they are a good herbalist; if bad, they often shift more than once to avoid their reputation meaning that they can't continue their business.  Especially good herbalists often take over the services for multiple nearby settlements, making short trips each week to these villages, but remain based in one principal settlement.

Payment & Reimbursement

Herbalists expect payment for the herbs that they use in their treatments, but typically don't request payment for acts such as setting limbs or staunching wounds.  Most of herbalists' income comes from their non-emergency acts, such as selling various tinctures and teas for those who wish to encourage various aspects of their appearance or fertility.  These methods don't have any proven effect, but many swear by their effects.

Other Benefits

Herbalists typically enjoy respect from their communities due to the fact that they are the ones who fix everybody up.  If they have done their job well over the years, they will often be offered gifts in times of plenty or a meal in times of hardship.  Additionally, in more violent areas, herbalists are typically left alone and afforded protection from any conflict, due to their usefulness both to the local population and to prospective conquerors.

Perception

Purpose

Herbalists fill the role of providing cheap healthcare to the populace, as well as taking care of injuries and ailments that either do not justify treatment with an ailmentwrit or that are not able to be treated with one.  Additionally, they are typically more common, as the prominence of spellwriters who specialise in ailmentwrits is not large.

Social Status

Herbalists are typically held in high regard by members of their community, due to the important services they provide and the fact that most people in a small village are related to someone who has been successfully treated by a herbalist, typically the same one that is present still.

Demographics

Typically, there is one herbalist per village, and as settlement size increases the number of herbalists that occupy it also increase.  In large cities, many herbalists can compete with each other for business, some areas having up to seven competing herbalists.

History

Herbalism was the first somewhat-reliable treatment of injury and disease treatment in Mythia, before ailmentwrits came into widespread and effective use.  As ailmentwrits came into greater use, the profession of herbalism subsided, before being picked up again by the Thespians.  Due to the fact that these people cannot use or be affected by spellwrits, they adopted herbalism as the only reliable way to cure their injuries and ailments.  The practice was further developed by the thespians before an increase in expansion by many Mythian nations caused spellwriter density to decrease, favouring the reintroduction of herbalism to smaller, more rural settlements.

Type

Medical

Demand

Moderate

Other Associated professions

• Spellwriter

Tools

Herbalists typically require few tools. Generally, a herbalist will require tools similar to that of a gardener, such as secateurs and sickles, to collect the herbs they use from the nearby countryside.

Materials

Herbalists use many and varied herbs in their practice.  These herbs range from the obvious to more obscure.  Herbalists can usually find the more common plants around wherever they live, although this can be more difficult in the case of herbalists working in urban centres.  More exotic herbs often need to be bought from other herbalists in the regions of Mythia where these plants are found.

Workplace

Herbalists typically require an enclosed space in which to work, due to the precise nature of their remedies and the delicate condition of most of their patients.  This area typically has a large open space for patients to be layed out in, surrounded by cupboards and drawers full of herbs and other medical supplies.

Hazards

Due to their frequent encounters with ill people and bloody injuries, herbalists have a higher rate of disease than most.  Many keep stocks of spellwrits on hand to prevent this, including preservewrits to prevent any particulates entering through the pores, and occasionally some ailmentwrits in case of serious illness.  These ailmentwrits are often hidden to prevent the village asking for them - if the herbalist falls ill and has no spellwrit to cure them, the rest of the town is at risk.