Gudibala Centre

Gudibala has been a blessing, I tell you. That small bout of the plague a while back would have exploded throughout the country if not for the patient and trained hands of the doctors there. My sister would not be here without their grace.

— Lawaguum citizen

The Gudibala Centre of the Soul and its Maladies, typically known as just Gudibala, is a healthcare clinic located in Lawaguum . Unique to its local peers, Gudibala is built on an old pier and sits over the eastern oceans so as to allow the access of the Merfolk doctors who practice there.

Purpose and Design

While the Gudibala Centre is able to care for many illnesses and injuries, its speciality is treating conditions of the soul, which other doctors and healers find incredibly challenging to handle. Due to the often urgent nature of these afflictions, Gudibala is designed to be very accessible with wide-open doors and gentle ramps for easy access, and clear signage on nearby roads and towns to direct patients. The interiors are spacious and relaxingly decorated, taking advantage of the seaside locale and soothing the emotions of the patients.
Uniquely, the centre has to accommodate access by merfolk, resulting in "operating theatres" that are wide rooms low to the ocean with pools at their centre, and comfortable bedding at the poolside for the patients. There are no such pools in the patient accommodation for the safety of residents. As a result, doctors need to be wheeled into these rooms in tubs filled with water - a small discomfort to ensure the health of their clientele.

History

Since shortly after they made contact in 27 Disturbance, merfolk have been using their unique magical talents to help the sick, especially after discovering that the humans and elves of this new land lacked cures for many conditions they had long since learnt to deal with. However, their aquatic nature made it quite difficult for them to help many of these landborn people, and boats of sick people would travel to seek their aid.
This state of affairs was unacceptable for the more altruistic mer, who sought a more permanent location from which to operate. With the collaboration of locals, small platforms and huts were built along the eastern coast of Lawaguum, though their ramshackle nature made them susceptible to the rising tides and coastal storms.
To this end, a group of doctors got together with a simple objective - gain an audience with the leader of Lawaguum and the leader of the constituent state of Ffálásin, and seek funding for a state of the art facility for their work. This stalled for many years in bureaucratic limbo as the country and its state bickered over the location and who ought to build it, but it was finally approved in the year 31 Return, and construction began.
After many delays, resulting from a powerful storm during construction and numerous debates on how best to handle the doctor pools, Gudibala was finally opened in 34 Return. It had a swift influx of patients seeking experts and immediate success, and the centre has been in a process of renovation and expansion for most of its existence.

Founding Date

34 Return 5 Years ago

Alternative Names

Guunyiibara

Type

Clinic

Soul Plague

One of the primary afflictions treated at Gudibala is Rainbow Plague, a terrifyingly lethal disease that begins as a simple fever, then progresses into the colourful wasting away of a person from the inside out. In the last major outbreak before and during the Era of Famine, millions of people were turned into muted rainbow husks.
Luckily for sufferers, early intervention by a talented mer mage can prevent its progression to that state, leaving it as just an uncomfortable fever and rash. They do this by carefully removing the soul of the afflicted and moulding it in their hands to remove the infection, and returning it with a small prayer to The Divinities. Even when early intervention is not possible, their actions can greatly soothe the pain of sufferers and improve the likelihood of surviving a serious case.

Smoke by Free-Photos

"It's not a very attractive building, is it? A mishappen splotch on an otherwise gorgeous beach."

"And yet, its mission and success render it gorgeous."

— Conversation between tourists