Medicine in Tamriel, and in the known world, often plays a key role in the quality of life of its inhabitants. In addition to common healers, midwives, and bonesetters there are a number of different orders practicing medicine such as the sapiarchs of the College on the Summerset Archipelago.
Treatment[]
Commoners usually do not have access to a trained physician's services, like those who are rich or members of noble Houses do, and have to rely on travelling barbers, local healers, midwives, hedge wizards, woods witches and their own knowledge of herbs.
Wounds are often cleaned with boiling wine, which burns on contact. Maggots may be used if a wound is going rotten, as the maggots eat out the rotten parts. Sapiarchs of the Summerset Archipelago also learn to stitch wounds closed and can use poultices and spells to prevent infection. Leeches are also used to drain bad blood that builds up in wounds. Pain can be dulled with potions containing opiates, or by chewing willow bark. Vinegar is used to disinfect surgical instruments.
Fractured limbs are immobilised using plasters until the bones are joined up. Tansy tea is used as contraceptive and to deal with unwanted pregnancies.
Diseases and Illness[]
Minor colds, fevers, and fluxes are rarely deadly or even seriously debilitating. The X is quite serious and often deadly. Whores often carry unpleasant poxes and venereal diseases. Though the sufferers of such diseases rarely find much sympathy, fortunately most of the symptoms are minor though embarrassing.
A number of diseases can be contracted primarily during childhood. Chickenpox is common but it never kills anyone under the age of ten, and once you have had it you are immune to it for the rest of your life. However, adults who did not contract it in childhood remain at risk of infection.
List of Known Diseases and Illness[]
- Ataxia
- Cholera
- Consumption
- Corpus
- Crimson plague
- Dementia
- Fever
- Gout
- Helljoint
- Knahten flu
- Leprosy
- Noxiphilic sanguivoria
- Ostraekeratic fever
- Porphyric hemophilia
- Pox
- Rabies
- Rattles
- Red death
- Red fever
- Red plague
- Rockjoint
- Rotbone
- Sanguinare vampiris
- Sanies lupinus
- Thrassian plague
Poisons[]
Many poisons are used throughout Tamriel and in the east. Although the Sapiarchs of the College study the histories and qualities of various poisons in addition to their healing arts, their use seems to be more widespread for more nefarious activities such as in assassins guilds (e.g. the Dark Brotherhood).
See Also[]
- The Blight
- Lycanthropy
- Vampirism