General Healing
General healing, commonly shorted to just “healing” is a name given to all of Demrefor’s medicines, both magical and scientific. It is not to be confused with enhancive healing or modification magic, though these two magics may overlap with general healing in some aspects.
The magical side of general healing is often potion-based and most healers will have basic alchemy skills alongside their medical knowledge as potions are an extremely useful in the process of healing and can be used alongside or in place of medications to treat a large range of issues.
The most common known potion is cottonflower tea; a nurlak-made medicine that upon regular drinking boosts fertility, improves the immune system, relieves chronic pain, and helps treat a variety of other health problems. It is completely safe with no ill effects or potention to overdose, and is often sold as a food item as well as a medicine. Besides these positive effects it is also one of the only known cures for the nurlak’s self-feeding sickness. It’s counterpart, chino nigelle (first discovered in the early 10,000s during an outbreak of the disease), is used a lot less often due to its difficulty to make and store.
Other common healing potions include hydration potions, potions to help with blood pressure, and potions to manage anxiety and depression. There are also potions that help with injuries, such as the healing of limbs— Though these potions tend to be taken during the course of the injuries natural healing and simply help ward of infection or act as a painkiller.
A less common potion is groth redu, a felinic potion used to regrow lost limbs. It is not a well-known potion, despite its usefulness, as it is extremely expensive to make and the act of regrowing limbs is described as an “excruciating” process that leaves the user bed-bound for months on end and most who have gone through the process express that it was not worth the pain. Even though, when the treatment is finished, the new limbs work as normal and the users rarely suffer any permanent physical side-effects.
Though potions are a huge part of general healing it is not uncommon for healers to be spell-casters. Though spells are less controlled than potions and often come with more severe risks, there are many healing benefits that can be cast as spells. Almost all “instant” healing spells are considered enhancive and so have been banned, however, and spells are only encouraged as a way to ward away infection or tend to the side-affects of other healing methods.
One example of a legal healing spell is the avio spell, nudakamus; a spell that eases pain by magically numbing the senses and relaxing the mind. It is often described as being similar to opioid-based medications, but it is much harder to become addicted to and is impossible to overdose from the treatment.
Another example of currently-legal healing spells is the wolven scar-removing spell, saratus mikisus. This spell is not used in the process of healing current injuries, but can be used to remove scars from previous wounds. However, almost every person who has been through this process has expressed nothing but regret due to it causing chronic pain that ranges from constant mild aches to extreme and sudden burning feelings. Some have even expressed it was as if their wounds had been reopened and never closed again. This is, obviously, unpleasant, and there are currently discussions about whether the use of this spell should be banned.