> To my mind the distinction between Chalana Arroy and Bevara (on which I am no experts)
> is an exageration of the distinction between doctors and nurses. Chalana Arroy is the
> power of healing itself, while Bevara is the goddess of providing care to the sick.
I can't see that distinction at all. The doctor/nurse professional split is a 19th Century invention. I see Ernalda the healer, not just Bevara, as the face Chalana Arroy adapts among the Heortlings. The same skills, the same magic but filtered though Heortling customs and traditions. So we get Orventili the peacemaker whose magic is to do with healing clans and tribes rather than people. As a consequence some of the most powerful CA magics are unavailable to Ernaldans.
> Chalana Arroy magic directly enhances the healing power of the body, while Bevaran magic makes
> the conditions more conducive for the healing power to act. Game mechanicaly the results
> are generaly the same, but socialy the two are very different. The power of Chalana Arroy
> is in that enemy warrior (or that Broo!) whether the priestess acts or not. Her calling to
> enhance that power, so how can she not do so in this case as much as any other? However
> for a Bevaran the calling is social in nature, and so will take place in the context of the social
> structure of the clan. I can imagine rare circumstances where a Bevaran might feel compelled
> to provide care for an enemy, but the conditions aren't likely to be very common.
I think this depends on what's meant by 'enemy'. Someone the clan are fighting a full scale war against then healing is unlikely. However most Heortling conflicts are feuds, cattle raids and similar squabbles. In these cases you heal your enemies to avoid making a feud worse, to create an obligation in the individual healed, obtain a ransom or a combination of these things. Given Heortling marriage customs it is quite possible that the wounded enemy is married to the healer's second cousin.
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Donald Oddy
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