Vitalist

A vitalist is someone who can transfer ashar from one being to another using a special corded rope.

Ashar Variants

Ashar in different kinds of lifeforms subtly differs. A human's ashar will be similar to both an empath's and a chimpanzee's, but very different from an angel's, a mushroom's, or a paramecium's. Plants, animals, and fungi have ashar so different they count as separate kinds of aether.

Viruses, destroyers, the undead, and some constructs do not have ashar.

Ashar Volume

The size or complexity of a creautre does not determine how much ashar it has, but rather, its vitality. How alive it is. A healthy newborn human baby will have a tremendous amount of ashar. A baby that is dying, even if it is a being patroned by the Silver Mother, will still have very little ashar. Healthy people tend to have more ashar, but people with illnesses are not necessarily low in ashar. Only those very close to death will have little ashar. Pregnant people and children tend to have the most ashar. But these are all just tendencies, not hard and fast rules.

Species can affect the amount of ashar if thay species replaces ashar with another energy. Viridianites that are not ashar-based will have relatively little ashar, replacing it with their relevant kind of aether. Similarly, though angels and demons have ashar, it is minimal compared to the amount of heavenly virtue or infernum they have.

Ropes

Vitalists wield ropes in order to move ashar from one being to another. Any kind of rope will work, but ropes made of special materials, such as fibres made from the Tree of Life, living hiriwa, or the hair of Emelcuil work best. Elven rope is the most common tool used for this, as this is an elven art. Non-elven vitalists usually just use the commonest rope in their area.

In order to use a rope to transfer ashar, it must be corded and knotted, such that it has three strands and three knots per foot. One must wrap the rope around the target. In medical spaces, this is done gently, using a loose knot. However, some vitalists who are combat medics may use a lasso or lariat to grab targets who are in a place that is difficult to get to otherwise. Others use them to grab wounded and scared animals. Some kind of tying or knotting is required, regardless of how the rope is applied. The rope must also be wrapped around the hands (or equivalent) of the vitalist as well.

The rope can be around the target's smallest feature--finger or toe even--and the vitalist can still transfer ashar into them. It works best when the rope is near the injury, infection, etc. or around the chest so it touches the heart.

The rope connects the vitalist to the target and makes itself a channel for ashar. The vitalist will transfer their own ashar into the target in order to create one of several healing effects.

Chains, strings, and other connective materials can only be used for vitalism by the most powerful vitalists, and even then, it is much weaker than using a rope.

Transferrance

To transfer ashar from oneself to another requires special training. One must be attuned to their inner lifeforce, their qi, their spark, their ashar. This requires meditation. Most vitalists meditate for years before they are attuned enough to use their ropes without special concentration.

One must be careful when transferring ashar. Every person has a specific amount of ashar at any given time that, if lost, will mean they die, sicken, or weaken. If they are healthy, they will usually recover their ashar unless it is drained completely or corrupted somehow, but temporarily, they will be weak. A little bit of ashar goes a long way.

It is possible for a vitalist to transfer from one target to another target. The one giving ashar to another is called a "giver." The other is the target. A consensual giver is preferred for ethical and practical reasons (it's hard to force someone's ashar out if they don't want you to). It's hard even when they do want you to. Every living thing inherently wants to live on a subconscious level; they have self-preservation instincts. Ashar will resist transferrence, and therefore, can be difficult even to transfer from the vitalist to another. When transferring from a giver to a target, the vitalist must concentrate deeply, and it helps if the giver is aware of their own ashar as well. The rope must be wrapped around both giver and target and in the hands of the vitalist. The giver must be willing even if they are not sapient; a powerful vitalist can sense and communicate via ashar to determine this.

Healing

Physical wounds, illnesses, pains, and so on can be healed through transferrence. Physical damage to a body is relatively easy to address. Trauma and mental illness can be treated somewhat, but only the physical aspects can be addressed. This will often reduce symptoms, especially in trauma victims, but not entirely cure it. Senescence is the most difficult thing to heal; this process is called rejuvenation. Only the greatest vitalists can do this.

Preservation

Preserving life is easier than healing in some ways and more difficult in others. If the intention is to simply stop a wound or illness from killing someone without healing them, this is relatively easy. This is used when the vitalist does not have enough power to heal someone, but knows they can keep them alive longer until another way is found. Giving a person longer life through ashar, called longevity, however, is a much more difficult form of preservation. This requires nearly completely depleting the vitalist's ashar reserves.

Revitalization

Revitalization is the act of bringing someone back from the brink of death. From being mostly dead. A mortal wound, a disease in its final stages, etc. It is very difficult to do, and complete recovery is even more difficult. But it is possible.

Resurrection

A person who is actually dead may be resurrected by a vitalist in the rarest of circumstances. For most vitalists, this would require sacrificing themselves to bring the dead back, and then only if the person were recently dead (usually within a day). Extremely powerful vitalists can restore a dead person without sacrificing themselves, but by sacrificing their vitalist powers. A body is always required. One cannot resurrect via the soul of a person, for instance, or the consciousness. Only the Silver Goddess or her most powerful servants can resurrect without one of these sacrifices.

To resurrect someone long dead is impossible, even if a body is present.

Draining

It is possible for a vitalist to reverse the flow of ashar through the rope and take ashar from another. If the target is willing (thus making them a giver, really), this can be done to heal the vitalist. If the target is unwilling, this action is considered a form of vampirism. It is illegal, forbidden, and a sin in the eyes of the Silver Mother. Doing it will usually result in the vitalist being stripped of their powers.

Argent Flame

If a vitalist uses their rope on the corporeal undead, they can use their ashar to make the target burn with argent flame. The stronger the undead, the more difficult this is.

Distillation

Sometimes, a vitalist will need to draw ashar from an animal, plant, or fungus. In these cases, they might need more pure ashar than what is present, and thus, they might draw the nzwara murazvo, prasinofos, hasken fure, or parfum de marais and distill into into pure ashar. This requires they pull that ashar into their own bodies and meditate upon it to separate it out. This process takes hours, thus making it an impractical use in the field.

Variants

Among the elves, there are certain specializations:

• Erparma: one who keeps a library of medical information and ropes.
• Hempahto: those who cord and knot the ropes used by vitalists.
• Lamanserme: a vitalist who heals animals and befriends them.

Other specializations include

• Doula: those who use vitalism to help people with pregnancies.
• Vitaloger: one who uses medical science to complement their vitalism, or vice versa.

Related Occupations

These occupations also wield ashar:

• Airimo: an elven priestess of Emelcuil.
• Cupilin: an elven archer who wields argentflame arrows.
• Maitar: elven artists who wield ashar to make their paintings come alive.
• Nandaro: elven harpists whose music is alive.
• Ontaril: an elven mother-elder and witch.
• Seedbearer: an ancient elven art of drawing ashar from seeds.
• Telpetan: silversmiths among the elves.
• Silver Torch: a vigilante/rogue who wields weapons bathed in argentflame.

Persecution

In many societies, vitalists are restricted but allowed to practice because of their usefulness to the ruling class - magical healing is highly prized. But they are often forced to charge for their services either by law or circumstance. In a few societies, they are forbidden to treat certain members of society (slaves or prisoners) or required to prove themselves to a board of experts (either to gatekeep the arts of vitalism or to keep con artists out). And in some places, only certain people/nations/classes may be vitalists (in Stolzen, only those of pureblood, for instance, may be vitalists).

Skills

Some common skills include

• Medicine/healing arts
• First aid
• Rope-making
• Childcare
• Teaching
• Veterinary medicine
• Animal care

Stats

The average vitalist has these variations on the base stats of their nation/species:

PRO -2
ATH +2
STR +2
AWA +3
WIL +3
STH /
PRS +1