Legacy: OURPGSoc Society Game 2006-2007

Chirurgeons

Brief History of the Guild of Chirurgeons

In the days of change following the Lystran Revolution when Truniss was ousted from the Imperial house by Farron Lystra and his followers, the Independent Guilds of Technology and of Chirurgeons were formed in order to prevent such potentially powerful information from tearing apart the equilibrium of the empire, keeping such matters away from the hand of any one house.

The Independent Guild of Technology was merely reshuffled internally from the existing Technological Explorers and Decoders Organisation, and those of high rank and knowledge within the Guild gave up their House affiliations and ties in order gain this independence. They did not, however, take on the investigation of the Preservation Technology which had caused the initial unrest.

This, and in the centuries to come, the developing arts of healing, were given to the newly formed Independent Guild of Chirurgeons, who specialised in the workings of the complex and life giving Preservation Technology. Like the IGT, new initiates could still be House affiliated but any who wished to move on to more important workings within the guild would formally give up their association to their House in order to maintain the Guild’s independence. Many were originally trained by the Technologists, and so it is today, as the basics of Legacy technology are the same in all devices found so far.

All members of the Chirurgeon's Guild must swear an oath to use the technology for the benefit of the Empire and must it is expected that they will place this duty above all other personal loyalties. Other medical technology possessed, used and studied by the Chirurgeons include Sealing devices, Parts Generators and Health capsules. Another significant part of the Chirurgeon's art is the formulation of new treatments from the variety of exotic substances that can be found around the Empire. Synthesising an antivenom from the poison glands of a Three-Eyed Fangbeast is as often an afternoon's work as legacy equipment assisted surgery.

In more recent years the Chiurgeon's Guild has followed the example of the Technologists in permitting its members to retain their connections to the Empire's Noble Houses, irrespective of rank. This is the result of a decades long debate within the Guild and some still fear that without this guarantee of impartiality the Chirurgeons may become pawns in the games of the Noble Houses. Nonetheless, today most Chirurgeons of note are House Members.

Ranks

Similarly to the Technologists, the Chirurgeons have a strict hierarchy linking rank to influence. (In system terms, to obtain rank as detailed below you must buy Influnce at that level i.e. Influence 1 = Acolyte etc. )

The ranks are:

1. Acolyte
2. Sister
3. Master
4. Grand Master

Currently there are 9 Grand Masters, any of whom may act as special advisors on the Emperor's Council and through whom all major research proposals concerning Preservation technology must be passed. More minor research undertaken may be cleared by Masters, though this system is more red tape than necessity and Masters frequently do not in fact read proposals, letting Brothers and Sister stamp approvals in their stead.

Current technologies

Preservation Technology

This comes in two parts: one is a shimmering archway through which users must pass initially and the other is a small, coffin like box in which users will re-grow if they die from unnatural causes (natural causes include old age and other physical defects). It is believed that the archway is a memory holding device, which remembers what you look like and what you are made of. This then tells the coffin box what to do to re-grow you should you be killed unnaturally.

The memory of the ressurected party does not tend to be whole for at least a day before the event which caused the death, and the body they regain will be in the same physical state they were at the point where their memories cease. As the technology is situated on moving City Ships, it is entirely possible that the ship someone is first registered on (by passing through the archway) will not be the ship on which they are resurrected. Rather this will take place on the ship they are closest to when they die.

Most Nobles are taken to pass through the archway shortly after birth, but the majority of the populous will not be given the opportunity unless they prove themselves to the Emperor and he deems it their right. The registration process is negatable by passing through the archway in reverse, as is done in duels to the death. The regeneration process is a very expensive one, in both power and resources used and this is paid for by the House or Guild the resurrected belongs to. In a very few cases, the technology has not worked, but this is rare and the cause has not yet been determined.

Surgical Tables

Priceless artifacts, these tables contain a range of surgical tools and diagnostic devices sufficient to heal even the most grevious of injuries. Trainee chirurgeons learn both how to operate these machines, and the theory behind the automated treatments that the tables provide.

Sealing devices

Small hand-held devices which use produce a foamy substance to cauterise wounds, preventing cuts from going bad and speeding up healing.

Parts Generators

These devices create limbs to replace those lost to ill humour or to battle. These limbs, however, are exceedingly resource hungry, though not more so than the Preservation Regenerators per measure of body mass reproduced, and so only the privileged may benefit from their grown Parts.

Health Capsule Dispensers

These devices create pills, although the effects of said pills vary according to the Dispenser's settings. Early experiments proved to be detrimental rather than life giving; extensive (and indeed rather dangerous) research has lead to the discovery of a setting that produces capsules which are universally agreeable and beneficial.

Implants

A relatively recent innovation, implantation techniques have allowed for a number of advances in the treatment of failing organs. This has further increased the lifespan of the Nobility, and has thus been hailed as the medical discovery of the century. Although the Chirurgeons play down its importance and claim that little such development has occured, implantation technology also has a number of number of interesting military applications.