So You Want to be an Empath? (book)

So You Want to be an Empath?

by Diancecht

So you want to be an Empath? Well you have chosen the most demanding and toughest profession in the lands. Empath are dedicated people who patch up and take care of those who go out an get themselves injured. A good empath is more valuable than 10 of any other type of occupation. The healer has compassion for all things living and harms none. Occasionally there will be a novice who will attempt to harm a person or creature, and that novice quickly learns that the gods don't take kindly to that act. The empath who tries to harm a living creature will temporarily loose the ability to heal others. If the offender shows their worth then the empathic power will be restored after some time. Any empath that happens to kill another living being will loose their powers forever, unless several other empaths appeal on the offender's behalf and at great cost to themselves.

The empath heals others by transferring wounds from others on to the empath's own body, then uses magic to heal themselves.

An empath gains knowledge of the patient's wounds and makes a link with a patient by touching that person. upon the touch the healer will know of all injuries, the severity of each wound and how much blood has been lost. Then the empath can transfer or take the wounds or scars upon their body. When a wound is taken or healed it will leave a scar on the affected area. Since transfer takes some time, the empath has the option of healing the wound in stages as it is transferred to the healer, to avoid the wound from getting to severe. It is recommended for the novice empath to transfer or take no more than 2 wounds at a time, as more will usually cause the healer to collapse from exertion. As the empath gets more experienced, the empath will be able to take on more wounds. Occasionally the empath will find the need to stop transferring a wound and this can be accomplished by BREAKing with the patient or leaving the area.

There be 5 types of wounds: External Wound, Internal Wound, External Scar, Internal Scar, and blood or Vitality loss.

The regions of wounds are divided into 3 areas: Limbs, Torso and Head. The Limbs include the right and left arms, hands, and legs. The Torso is the chest, abdomen and back. The Head covers the neck, head and left/right eyes. The limbs are the easiest to heal, then the torso is more difficult, and the head area is the hardest.

To heal themselves, the empath has several spells at their disposal. A chance to learn a new spell maybe offered at each level of progress the empath makes with the guild.

The empath will first prepare the spell specifying the amount of power to put in to the spell.

Then when ready the healer will cast the spell upon the desired area.

The spells are:

Healing Book:

These spells may completely or partially heal a wound depending on the amount of energy put into the spell and the caster's experience.

External Wound Healing spell - This should be the first spell a empath learns. It can heal any external wound upon the healer's body.

Internal Wound Healing spell - This spell can heal any internal wound. It is more difficult to cast than the external wound healing spell

External Scar Healing spell - This spell will heal any external scar. It is more difficult to cast than the internal wound healing spell.

Internal Scar Healing spell - This spell will heal any internal scar. It is more difficult to cast than the external scar spell.

Blood Purification Book:

Blood Staunching spell - This spell will temporarily halt all blood loss of the caster. The duration depends on the caster's ability, energy put into the spell, and the amount of bleeding.

As the empath progresses there may be other spells made available for the empath's use.

There be herbs, salves and potions available that also heal. They may be found in the wilds, found as treasure or purchased in specialty shops. These herbs will heal a wound down 1 step to its next lowest degree. More information on the herbs and what they heal may be found in the Empath Library.

The empath must be careful to not let themselves die from bloodloss while attending to an injured person. Sadly, sometimes the healer will not be able to save the patient and has to let the patient die. It is better to have the patient die than the empath dying. This may sound selfish, but a dead empath is a useless empath, and in most cases the patient will die anyway.

Some will ask since the empath can not harm any living creature, how does one sustain themselves? Empaths generally are given donations by grateful patients depending upon the patient's current financial status. If a patient has nothing to offer a good empath will accept a hug or a thank you.

Another way an empath might gain wealth is to accompany a party of adventures into a dangerous area to practice field healing. Though this is more dangerous, the rewards can be great as the grateful party will share any goods with the healer. In exchange the empath allows the party to remain hunting for a longer period of time by keeping them healthy.

I hope this manual helps you make your decision to become a healer and clears up some of the mysteries of the Empath profession.

End of Account.