Medical Professions of Aradia

List of medical professions of Aradia

## Apothecary

The oldest of the professions and the one with the most literature to follow in its wake, Apothecaries are the scientifically minded who understand working in the natural world and utilizing plants and fungi to their medicinal advantage. They are typically versed in some levels of botany and/or horticulture, have studied and trained under a master through an apprenticeship, and generally have access to the knowledge and understanding of past apothecaries through the means of grimoires and catalogs that have been built upon over centuries of trial and error as the profession maintains. Apothecaries are not doctors, they are not true alchemists, they are not pharmacists. They have no official standards of training and knowledge, and everything is based around master student relationships, with an unofficial education based around previous works of other apothecaries.

Apothecaries will make poultices, salves, jellies, powders, and tinctures utilizing known botanical remedies-not relying on alchemy's processes to change the general nature of the mixture, but instead the actual holistic benefits already held within the plants and fungi. Such as treating scurvy with crushed rose bulbs mixed in a sailor's grog or clove syrup being rubbed on the teeth of a dentist patient before their teeth are to be dug into, such simple things for major problems makes an apothecary a goddess send for anyone suffering an ailment. They also happen to be one of the least persecuted professions, as nobody wishes to do away with one of the few people who can treat the peasantry and get them back to work.

## Alchemist

While also considered part of the magical communities due to the interlacing of magical capabilities and alchemy, alchemy is first and foremost a science that just so happens to, in some studies, utilize magic to enhance its results. Most alchemists consider themselves students of the natural world, rather than the thaumaturgical endeavors that a mage must submit to. Alchemists are chemists and naturalists, they endeavor to understand and manipulate the natural world through processing material to make something new. There are some who follow the misguided ideal of the philosopher's stone, a mythical artifact said to turn lead to gold, but generally this is insane to think of and most just ascribe to already understood natural reactions and developments. Alchemists will use chemical reactions, heat, pressure, and other manipulations to produce new and interesting materials from their base components.

They will also study and try to understand the physical properties of these experiments and notate what their uses are in society, Alchemists are not simply restrained to the medical field, and can be organized into several sects of study, but for the purposes of this review only the medical studies are considered. Medicinal alchemists focus on producing the raw, or processed, materials for pharmacists and physicians to use in treatments and are generally not actual medical practitioners int he sense of actually treating the sick and crippled. while they are men and women of the sciences, they would rather be buried in the uncaring world of logic and equations rather than having to physically interact with others and treat their ailments, however their expertise is indispensable for modern medical science and many find lucrative careers with pharmacies and a physician's office providing in house alchemical services. They can also be found as major facilities, such as (insert Mok Surial pharmaceutical company name) and (insert one for Bastion), working around the clock at industrial scales to produce wide scale opiate based medications and stimulants.

Alchemists generally study under a master, but can also attend schooling in a university, with most choosing to do one or the other, but both can be combined to create a far wider reaching level of mastery. Alchemists can be far more secretive about their work than apothecaries, who have willingly traded their secrets and knowledge among their fellow herbalists for generations on generations, but one can still find alchemical tomes and procedures in the major libraries, though these are usually under guard for fear that zealous chemists might try to destroy the knowledge to ensure their positions as the only scientifically significant members of a community.

## Potion Master

Potions are not scientifically represented, all potions are magical in nature, and while they use scientific means in their manufacturing, they require the infusion of mana into them for any sort of effect, be this the very distillation of natural mana found in the world or in a person, or infusing healing compounds into a drinkable format that mirror what the clergy and healers can manage. Alchemy can be utilized by a Potion Master, but the baseline of the profession is a deep understanding of magical concepts, mostly in the realm of rejuvenation and regeneration. Much like healing magic, potions cannot perform miracles, not unless it were the blood of the gods themselves infused into the mixture. They can, however, be a sufficient replacement for a proper healer, at least for minor and some moderate injuries and conditions.

Unfortunately, with the sealing of the Void in 1016AE, this profession is near death and only survives in pockets of magical society alongside other wayward magical professionals. Those who still can produce the potions generally only make them for fellow mages and other practitioners of the arcane, outside of their spheres and communities they are guarded with much suspicion and wariness as their 'miracle cures' do not align with the readily understood new paradigm of the world: Industry trump the natural and supernatural worlds, and is the only thing the people truly need to make for a better society. While potions once could grant men the strength of giants and the healing of serpents, now it is a shadow of it's peak and is closely insulated away from the humiliation and scorn of the wider public's ire.