Healing, Health & Death

'''In general, healing arts are within the purview of the church, this is particularly true in cities and in towns where the church will often operate a hospital of some sort or there would be a space for medical treatment within the larger church building. There are some non-magical healers who exist, but they are far fewer in number. This is echoed in smaller villages and hamlets where there is usually one priest and a small bit of herbalism or folk medicine. More rarely, there is access to druids or rangers locally who have their own healing magics, often ‘covering up’ when in towns using herbs and tinctures to conceal their arts.

The common practice is for the faithful to donate or tithe extra to their church if they have received healing or other divine services. These tithes are often forgiven for the destitute, but for those who are out of favor with the Church or when clerics are less noble in their motivations, a fee may be required up-front.

The Priest responsible for a number of hamlets or a small to medium-sized village is known to be able to stabilize an inured person, cure wounds and broken bones, know if something is poisonous or spoiled and remedy that, and help those who are suffering from illness. This sort of priest probably spends as much time helping farmers, settling disputes, ministering to people as they do at healing.

A Priest responsible for a medium to large-size village or small town has been known to do those things but also has accomplished one or two ‘feats’ or impressive magics that are pretty uncommon, bringing people back from grievous injuries or illnesses, making food or water from nothing. Someone who grew up in a town like this has heard that the Priest once brought back somebody after they’d stopped breathing (“like something out of the bard’s song.”)

When a Bishop is Ordained, he is given a heavy chain with a key upon it, symbolizing the door between the world of life and death. As such, it is known that a Bishop has the ability to call a soul back to its body after death, and some Bishops and Archbishops are known to be able to do even greater acts of healing and restorative magic.

Those who have operated with or are familiar with the military or the Order of the Dawn have likely met clerical representatives who have powers and capacities both different and greater than the usual local Priests. Popular stories and songs tell of bardic magic that can create healing miracles as well.

On the good side, this means that most people can find medical assistance for mild and moderate injuries as well as common and sometimes serious illnesses and diseases. Serious accidents or very severe illnesses may be beyond the skills of local healers, and it is not uncommon for people to travel to towns to find more healing magic.

The upshot of this is that for most common folk, death is relatively final. A local priest may know Revivify but there’s no guarantee that a priest will be able to get to the body in a minute, and the 300gp gem required to cast it is a significant investment for a poor town. Raising the dead is more common/accessible in larger towns and cities, but it still requires an investment and access to a cleric.

Revivify is quick and almost always successful (it’s the magical equivalent of using the shock paddles to restart the heart). Raise Dead and Resurrection are a bit more personalized: souls that were slain in violence may be eager to return to life, but some faithful people may prefer the comforts of the afterlife, or those who died in prolonged pain or depression may be unwilling to return. As such rituals to raise the dead usually involve contributions by loved ones or comrades of the fallen individual to help make the case for return.