House of Maristra

The House (or Houses) of Maristra are a combination of medical clinic and monastery that exist near many towns and cities under Larostrian control, and occasionally near other major cities.  It is well known that for a reasonable offering depending on your means, the priests and clerics of these Abbeys will do their best to heal you of injuries and ailments.  While they are not always able to help, they will at least make an effort.  They are able to handle common ailments and most injuries, but more complicated or magical ailments, and injuries which result in amputation are often beyond their aid to heal completely.  They will still close up the wounds from a missing limb or eye, and for those who are beyond their ability to cure, they will give an isolated place to rest in a clean environment, with as much aid as they can provide.  Maristra willing, they will recover in time.

The Great Plague

During the great plague, the Houses of Maristra were universally overrun with patients, and even the clergy dormitories and living spaces were converted into additional patient spaces.  Clerics and priests of Maristra worked tirelessly in these spaces to try to cure and treat the illness, but had scarecely more success than any other groups making an effort.  They did have two major advantages in controlling the casualties, however.  First, they were able to use their combat prowess and emotion calming magics to control and euthanize those who entered the final stage of the disease.  Second, the Maristran emphasis on cleanliness and comfort meant that patient to patient spread was reduced.
Unfortunately, for the clergy in direct care of the infected patients, it was often only a matter of time before infection struck them as well.  Toward the end of the great plague, most of the Houses had shut their doors to save the lives of the last surviving clerics of Maristra.  To this day their numbers have not recovered, and they now struggle to keep up their mission of treating those who enter their doors.

Type

Abbey