A Primer for New Healers

The powers granted by the healer's guild are among the most complex and powerful in the land. Often new healers need the mentoring of more experienced members of the guild to help them to learn their powers. With this in mind, I have decided to present a few tips for new healers, to help them through the trying early days in the guild. In the writing of this tome, I sought the advice of several healers, and I gratefully thank them for their help.

1. Easily the most important piece of advice is maintain your defenses. Master your defensive skills, and keep you defensive spells up at all times, especially Sanctuary, Protection, Fly, Detect Invisible, and Protective Shield/Divine Retribution/Barrier. 2. Learn the lands. This is good advice for anyone, but especially for healers. It will allow you to find creatures in any given area to use as targets for the gate spell, allow you to quickly locate a body that needs resurrection, and allow you to find a safe place to rest after the resurrection. 3. When preparing to resurrect a corpse, wear as many luck-giving items as you can, and be sure to have prayer and accession cast on yourself as well. Depending on your faith, bless might be wise as well. 4. After a resurrection, you will be weakened for a time. You should find a safe place to recover. This should be an area that is out of the way, preferably difficult to reach. It can also be an area that is not visited often by those of your current rank. Most ex- perienced healers will be willing to give you one or two places you can go, but if you are wise you will have five or six such places, and alternate them each time. Never remain in your resting place longer than necessary. 5. Locate object can be a very useful spell. Occasionally locating corpses will sometimes allow you to reach a fallen person even be- fore they ask for your aid. It can also let you know where there is activity in the land, and can sometimes give warning when some- one is near your resting place. It can allow you to locate items to wear, and will sometimes even give you names of people you can gate to. 6. Seek items that add to your mental power, health, and luck, in addition to providing protection from physical attack. 7. Always carry some food on you, preferably milk or alcohol. At times a resurrection, or series of resurrections, can leave you so weak that you can't even lift food. If there is no one around to feed you, starvation will slow the recovery process.