This sounds like a world-building construct just begging for the stories to go along with it. I went first to battlefield or trauma medicine - not a raid healer popping off Lay on Hands, but a magical M.A.S.H unit trying to stabilize casualties to get them back to the real hospital. What does the Golden Hour look like in a world with magical healing, where it isn't just "poof - you're at full health," but a combat medic with one hand clamped on an artery while using an alchemical potion to keep the heart beating no matter what...?
So, I ran with the idea you inspired about magic functioning as medicine, and then built a story around a combat medic. I'm almost done, and already at nearly 4,500 words, so I'll need to tighten it up. Hope to post it soon, though!
Here's a preview:
Davvy sighed as he pulled his fingers away from the soldier's neck. Gone. He looked around at the shattered planks and burst sandbags, intermixed with human wreckage. Now that he was closer, he saw another casualty even worse off than the one he knelt before. Her whole torso had been flayed open by the blast, probably from repeater ammunition cooking off. Her eyes stared lifelessly out into the darkness.
His eyes landed on a third casualty, with what looked like catastrophic damage to the left leg. Davvy was almost ready to give up on that one as well, when he saw the slight but unmistakable rise of the soldier's chest. He fumbled with his aid bag and crawled on hands on knees over to this new patient.
The soldier's left leg was almost completely severed up near the hip, and blood still spurted weakly from torn arteries. Davvy thrust his hand into the gaping wound and squeezed to pinch off as many blood vessels as possible. The man was clearly already in shock, which was the only reason he hadn't bled out already. The problem was that there wasn't enough leg still attached to the hip for a tourniquet, and Davvy didn't have enough hands to deal with that and ensure the man kept breathing. He placed his free hand on the man's neck and felt for a pulse. It was there, but getting slower and weakening to almost nothing.
“I need some help over here!” Davvy yelled, looking around frantically for anyone still on their feet nearby. There was no one within a dozen paces, and those he could see on either side of the breach were busy firing their repeaters over the parapet. Davvy gripped his charm and whispered softly again, closing his eyes tightly for just a moment. Well, if Melandra can do it…
Davvy kept his left hand clamped over the soldier's leg wound as he fumbled in his aid bag for a nasal injector. He stuffed the two prongs into the man's nose while he covered his mouth as best he could with his palm and then squeezed sharply, pushing a mist as deep as he could into the man's airway. It was a new concoction for the battlefield, something to keep the lungs oxygenated when it wasn't possible to bag someone manually.
Then Davvy settled his free hand on the man's sternum, closing his eyes and running through the procedures and calculations in head. He needed this much compression at that tempo for as long as possible. He'd been practicing the technique since he saw Melandra do it, but she'd been able to keep her hand in contact to regulate the force and inject energy into the working. He didn't have that luxury, since he would need both hands to deal with the man's leg.
He started physical compressions to set the tempo and level of force, and then visualized building the working around his hand with the calculations he'd developed during practice. His charm started to glow, and he even imagined he felt the warmth through his body armor as he sent his will into the construct. With an expulsion of breath and will, he set the working in place, pulled his hand away, and watched as the compression wave continued to force the man's blood to pump once a second. It was working!
Now I'm imagining getting a little meta with it, with the magic using Corpsman starting off sitting in the common area of the hooch on the FOB playing a MMORPG, where he is a raid healer, before running off to go on a operation…
Wow, the basic concepts in this article also align with my novel, though more with science in general, rather than medicine specifically, though healing by magic is a major theme.
One of the main characters argues that magic is simply science that we have yet to really study and fully understand.
This sounds like a world-building construct just begging for the stories to go along with it. I went first to battlefield or trauma medicine - not a raid healer popping off Lay on Hands, but a magical M.A.S.H unit trying to stabilize casualties to get them back to the real hospital. What does the Golden Hour look like in a world with magical healing, where it isn't just "poof - you're at full health," but a combat medic with one hand clamped on an artery while using an alchemical potion to keep the heart beating no matter what...?
That sounds awesome 🤩
So, I ran with the idea you inspired about magic functioning as medicine, and then built a story around a combat medic. I'm almost done, and already at nearly 4,500 words, so I'll need to tighten it up. Hope to post it soon, though!
Here's a preview:
Davvy sighed as he pulled his fingers away from the soldier's neck. Gone. He looked around at the shattered planks and burst sandbags, intermixed with human wreckage. Now that he was closer, he saw another casualty even worse off than the one he knelt before. Her whole torso had been flayed open by the blast, probably from repeater ammunition cooking off. Her eyes stared lifelessly out into the darkness.
His eyes landed on a third casualty, with what looked like catastrophic damage to the left leg. Davvy was almost ready to give up on that one as well, when he saw the slight but unmistakable rise of the soldier's chest. He fumbled with his aid bag and crawled on hands on knees over to this new patient.
The soldier's left leg was almost completely severed up near the hip, and blood still spurted weakly from torn arteries. Davvy thrust his hand into the gaping wound and squeezed to pinch off as many blood vessels as possible. The man was clearly already in shock, which was the only reason he hadn't bled out already. The problem was that there wasn't enough leg still attached to the hip for a tourniquet, and Davvy didn't have enough hands to deal with that and ensure the man kept breathing. He placed his free hand on the man's neck and felt for a pulse. It was there, but getting slower and weakening to almost nothing.
“I need some help over here!” Davvy yelled, looking around frantically for anyone still on their feet nearby. There was no one within a dozen paces, and those he could see on either side of the breach were busy firing their repeaters over the parapet. Davvy gripped his charm and whispered softly again, closing his eyes tightly for just a moment. Well, if Melandra can do it…
Davvy kept his left hand clamped over the soldier's leg wound as he fumbled in his aid bag for a nasal injector. He stuffed the two prongs into the man's nose while he covered his mouth as best he could with his palm and then squeezed sharply, pushing a mist as deep as he could into the man's airway. It was a new concoction for the battlefield, something to keep the lungs oxygenated when it wasn't possible to bag someone manually.
Then Davvy settled his free hand on the man's sternum, closing his eyes and running through the procedures and calculations in head. He needed this much compression at that tempo for as long as possible. He'd been practicing the technique since he saw Melandra do it, but she'd been able to keep her hand in contact to regulate the force and inject energy into the working. He didn't have that luxury, since he would need both hands to deal with the man's leg.
He started physical compressions to set the tempo and level of force, and then visualized building the working around his hand with the calculations he'd developed during practice. His charm started to glow, and he even imagined he felt the warmth through his body armor as he sent his will into the construct. With an expulsion of breath and will, he set the working in place, pulled his hand away, and watched as the compression wave continued to force the man's blood to pump once a second. It was working!
Now I'm imagining getting a little meta with it, with the magic using Corpsman starting off sitting in the common area of the hooch on the FOB playing a MMORPG, where he is a raid healer, before running off to go on a operation…
Wow, the basic concepts in this article also align with my novel, though more with science in general, rather than medicine specifically, though healing by magic is a major theme.
One of the main characters argues that magic is simply science that we have yet to really study and fully understand.
A great read!
Thank you so much