Medicine

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Medicine in the Seven Kingdoms, 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. The most well known of these orders is the Maesters of the Citadel.

Treatment

Commoners usually do not have access to a Maester's services, like those who are rich or live in noble houses do, and have to rely on traveling barbers, local healers, midwives, and their own knowledge of herbs.

Wounds are often cleaned with boiling wine or treated with Myrish fire or firemilk, both of which burn on contact. Maggots may be used if a wound is going rotten, as the maggots eat out the rotten parts. Maesters also learn to stitch wounds closed and can use poultices containing mustard seeds, nettles, and bread mould to prevent infection. Leeches are also used to drain bad blood that builds up in wounds. Potions containing opiates such as the milk of poppy or the vinsonge are employed to dull pain. Vinegar is used to disinfect surgical instruments.

Fractured limbs are immobilized using plasters until the bones are joined up. Moon tea is used as contraceptive and to deal with unwanted pregnancies.

Diseases & Illness

Minor colds, fevers, and fluxes are rarely deadly or even seriously debilitating. The bloody flux 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. Redspots is common but it never kills anyone over 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. Greyscale is rarely fatal to children, but nearly always fatal to adults. It makes the skin grey and hard as stone and often leaves it's survivors disfigured.

List of known Diseases & Illness:

Poisons

Many poisons are used throughout the Seven Kingdoms and in the East. Although the Maesters of the Citadel study the histories and qualities of various poisons in addition to their healing arts, their use seems to be more widespread in the free cities and the assassins guilds. Poisons are regarded with fear and loathing by knights and high lords alike in the feudal society of the Seven Kingdoms. Many regard them as vile weapons used only by the debauched sots of the free cities. It is also seen as a weapon of bastards and women. Of course, much of this is posturing.


Common poisons include nightshade and powdered greycap, derived from a plant and a variety of toadstool respectively. Animal and insect venoms such as basilisk and manticore venom are also known to be used, though they are harder to gather. Manticore venom is particularly vicious and can be treated to make it work more slowly, causing its victim to die in slow agony. Rare poisons include the Strangler which is made from a plant found only in the Jade Sea. It kills by closing the windpipe and therefore suffocating it's victims. It is a poison that has been used in the past to kill kings, a reason many kings now employ food-tasters. The tears of Lys is an odorless and colorless poison, killing by attacking the stomach and bowels. There are also ambiguous poisons. Moon tea aborts pregnancies which makes some maesters reluctant to call it a medicine. Sweetsleep brings deep sleep in small doses, but larger doses can kill. Large enough doses of most medicines can be fatal; the difference with sweetsleep is that the fatal dose is still quite small relative to other medicines. A maester must therefore be very careful when administering it.[2]

Poisons are commonly administered to victims in food or drink which can also serve to mask their taste and odor. Because of this noble kitchens are often guarded and food tasters are employed to protect their masters’ lives with their own. Even still clever poisoners manage to slip past the safeguards from time to time and at least as many nobles deaths are caused by a poisoned cup or dish as a bloodied blade, if not more so. Poison may also be delivered by coating a weapon or even through the skin.

Demon's Dance
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List of known posions:

References and Notes