01: video

[baldrshand]

Hello all! For those of you who haven't yet met me, I'm Ethlyn.

I've started working in one of the clinics here, and it's both familiar and not... and it's become clear to me that the places we all come from are far more different than I could have imagined.

So I'd like to ask you about how medicine is in your homelands. Where I'm from, we use magic to heal wounds cleanly and quickly, but we don't always know what causes illness and infirmity. How are things for you--do you use magic to heal, or do you have to rely on technique?

As well as that--who else is a healer themselves? (And: can you ride?)

Comments

[usarinpa]

It's—

[ Wait, she doesn't know what a bike is? Well, to be fair, magic isn't a thing back on Earth either... ]

Uh, there are different kinds, actually, but the general idea is that it comes on two wheels, with a seat where you can sit, and handles so that you can steer. There are some you have to pedal, but mine was motorized and could go really fast.

It was a great way to get around.

[baldrshand]

Oh! What an unusual-sounding piece of machinery. But it does sound useful, and certainly not as much upkeep as a horse requires.

Isn't it difficult to keep balance on something that has only two wheels, though?

[usarinpa]

You get used to it. Most people learn when they're young.

[ A horse has to be fed, though so does her bike, if they count gas. But they're getting away from the point of her broadcast, a bit. ]

Anyway, what does riding have to do with medicine?

[baldrshand]

You could say the same about horses, actually. I started riding ponies when I was a girl.

[And now Ethlyn begins to warm to her subject.]

In my homeland, I rode around the battlefield to heal our soldiers. Hopefully, there won't be any battles here--but there may still be times people need to have a healer ride out to them as fast as they can. I think it would be useful if those of us who know medicine could act as a sort of--healing-knight brigade.

[usarinpa]

Wow...

I'd be more of a solider in that case, but talk about your knights in shining armor. Is it really that instantaneous?

[baldrshand]

The healing? Yes--even an unskilled healer can keep a wounded soldier on this side of death by halting the bleeding until a more experienced cleric arrives. Of course, there are limits... spending too long in such a way will linger for years, and you should rest after a healing if you can. And while it keeps an injury from becoming infected, it doesn't do all that much for an actual illness.

[usarinpa]

It sounds less impressive when you put it that way... You said it's magic, so is there some kind of spell? An incantation, like in the movies?

[baldrshand]

Well, I don't want you getting the wrong idea. Magic can do a lot, but it isn't the same as a miracle.

An incantation... sometimes. It can be useful to concentrate your mind and channel your energy through whatever you're using to cast the spell. It's a little bit like using a rhyme to count up to a minute.

[usarinpa]

Guess that makes sense. Doctors and nurses back on Earth where I'm from didn't really have that. And...I don't think they rode around on horses, either. People generally came to them.

[baldrshand]

That makes sense... the history of healing magic coincides with the history of war. Being able to immediately close a soldier's wounds so they could get back to fighting--or save a king so his troops wouldn't lose heart--is crucial for an army.

It sounds like other places have machinery that moves people around differently than horses, too. This might be a funny question, but I'm curious--is it easier for an injured person to reach a doctor riding a mechanized device than they could riding a horse?

[because she knows that asking a wounded person to keep their seat on a horse is asking a lot.]

[usarinpa]

[ Oof. She really hadn't even thought about that, and though they can't see each other, Mizuki winces a bit. ]

Yeah, it definitely would be. But not on a bike. We have these things called cars that are kind of similar, but there are four wheels instead of two. It's like a...

[ Hmmm. ]

Did they have carriages where you're from?

[baldrshand]

Oh, yes--carriages and carts we have. [Albeit the carriages tend to be used by those who have a lot of status, wealth, or both. Admittedly, Ethlyn can count as someone with "status" but she's always preferred horseback herself.] So a car is like a mechanized version of that--without horses, I'm guessing?

[usarinpa]

Mhm, you got it. Instead of a horse, there's a seat with a steering wheel that you use to...well, steer, and pedals at your feet that are basically buttons you can push to stop and go.

They come in different sizes... For an injured person, you'd probably put them in the back seat, where you could lay them down.

[baldrshand]

Buttons? [Wow. Ethlyn was picturing something with levers and gears, although the pedals are easier to visualize.] It all sounds quite complex. How are they driven, if not with an animal?

[Are they pulled by a second machine...? Although that raises the question of how those move would still remain.]

It does sound very convenient for moving people--a carriage is the best way to move someone who's injured over any distance, so I imagine these cars are the same.

[usarinpa]

[ Maybe 'buttons' wasn't quite the right word. They're not exactly levers, either? She's never had to think about this, or how to explain it, so mentally she's just kind of scratching her head until Ethlyn continues. ]

Yeah. Something like that.

[ She doesn't really feel like explaining what a motor is at the moment, so maybe she should just leave it at that. Unfortunately, at this point, she still hasn't recieved her bike or know that it's possible for such things to appear. ]

If I ever see one around here, I'll show you.

[baldrshand]

I'd like that. It sounds like something that's best understood by seeing it.

[usarinpa]

[ There's a hum in agreement, and a bit of a silence before she realizes she doesn't know what else to say. ]

Well, I should let you go. But the name's Mizuki, and it was nice talking to you, Ethlyn.