INNOVATIVE SCIENTIFIC HEALER
NG FEMALE HUMAN ALCHEMIST
Let it be known to all citizens of and visitors to Cheliax that the heretic Kassi Aziril, blasphemer against the Prince of Law, is hereby sentenced to death. Those who offer information leading to her arrest shall be rewarded, and those who offer her succor shall be destroyed. None shall defy the might of Cheliax.
—Signed by Her Infernal Majestrix Abrogail the Second of the Thrice-Damned House of Thrune, by the Might of Asmodeus, Queen and Empress of Cheliax
Dr. Aziril,
I want you to know, first, that I would still very much like to see you give a guest lecture at the Venicaan College of Medicaments and Chirurgery—at least, some day. Your credentials from over a dozen academies, as well as your many medical breakthroughs, speak for themselves. If those were the only things speaking to your name, that would be that. Yet though I know that it was I who approached you, I must commit the grave offense of rescinding the invitation. The Peerless are not best pleased by some of the things you have said in the past, particularly about Sarenrae. While I know we are all people of our word, perhaps if you would walk some of these statements back, I might be able to gain some traction? To call the Dawnflower “a bloody killer in the guise of a healer, willing to murder an entire city rather than deign to explain herself” seems particularly harsh, and not at all supported by the scripture.
To the same concern, I would like to introduce your research on addiction to our scholars to help combat the import of drugs, but they are having trouble seeing past the foreword. You wrote, “The reason so many people misunderstand addiction is that they see it as a personal mental failing. In truth, addiction is a disease tied to the life force that gives us instincts like hunger or thirst. The gods intentionally built mortals to be susceptible to addiction so we could be more easily deluded and addicted to religion and faith, and it is through that vulnerability that drugs prey upon us.” Is this theological aside within a medical text truly necessary?
I hope we can come to an agreement, for the good of an entire generation of Qadira’s best and brightest medical minds.
—Grand Vizier Hebizid Vraj
Sometimes called the Mother of Medicine, Kassi Aziril’s stubborn insistence on relying on science and alchemy over the use of magical care for the sick and injured led her to a bevy of major discoveries that had been, until recently, ignored by the medical community, due to the much more available access to divine healing throughout most of the world. Yet in Rahadoum, where faith in the gods is persecuted, techniques like those pioneered by Kassi are literal lifesavers. With degrees from major universities across Golarion and an apprenticeship with Artokus Kirran, the precocious Kassi Elaran traveled the world to further refine her techniques. Discoveries like kandlerae, a deep sea algae with astounding medicinal properties, led to further breakthroughs, and studies with other medical practitioners helped her cultivate kandlerae in her laboratories. She returned to Rahadoum to focus on her research, periodically sharing reports or updates with other scholars or government agencies for peer reviews and the like.
In 4708 ar, scholars in Taldor and Qadira plagiarized Kassi’s work on battlefield medicine within 1 month of each other, each to great acclaim. The Rahadoumi government stepped in to protect Kassi’s original authorship, realizing the potential for her discoveries. They asked her to generate a book-length report on her medicine and then published it, ensuring that her work was not only properly attributed to her, but also securing more control over it for the government. As a further show of solidarity, she and her family were adopted into Rahadoum’s prestigious Aziril clan, changing her name to Kassi Aziril.
With greater support from the government, Kassi’s research and discoveries grew, yet her methods often proved difficult for others to replicate, in part due to Kassi’s unwillingness to make her kandlerae derivative available to the public. Her methods of administering battlefield medicine and her observations into the nature of disease have taken on lives of their own, however, with the methods being adopted more and more by soldiers, healers, scholars, and adventurers throughout the Inner Sea region.
The Makings of a Mortal Man
The net of veins, the orifices and organs too, the junctions and bones, the ropes of muscles.
The skin, hairs, and pores. The body is made of these, and all are essential to the others’ functioning.
Piercing wounds from spider’s fangs, elemental spikes, manticore spines. These must not be removed until proper care can be given.
Crushing from a constrictor serpent. Care for soft tissue alongside the bone is critical for reducing patient morbidity.
Piercing wound from a web lurker’s leg. Bone can become infected when punctured, sickening the rest of the body.
Cuts from a ghoul, shoggti, giant scorpion, lesser xulgath. The loss of vital fluids must be the first concern in these cases.
Wound contaminations must be identified. Ghoul venom will fade with time, yet other poisons will worsen.
Abrogail—
I’m afraid I had to void your requested contract. The Red Mantis have a moratorium on any further action against the woman in question. Several years ago, one of my people took divine offense against the doctor for a transgression which turned out to be on false pretenses—an unfounded rumor that the doctor had resurrected one of our marks without divine assistance. I admit I was as vexed as you were when I heard the claim, but it turned out to be a mistake on my agent’s part. As recompense for our error, the Red Mantis will not be involving the woman in question in any further assignments. We must all be willing to own our mistakes, and so avoid being blinded by them. I am sure you agree. While I regret that we will be unable to collaborate this time, I am certain someone so resourceful and intelligent will have no trouble finding someone else to do it for you..
Regarding the other matter, I have personally confirmed its completion. Check the blood with your divinations, if you like. —N
THE TRUTH ABOUT KANDLERAE
Key to many of Kassi’s breakthroughs was the rare algae known as kandlerae. She was introduced to the substance
by Pactbroker Hashim ibn Sayyid via a series of missives, but only recently has she started to suspect that his motives might be sinister. By helping her to develop methods of healing based on science rather than faith, the veiled master posing as Hashim hopes to further erode the very concept of faith itself, something very different than what Kassi hopes to accomplish. Now that Kassi has an inkling of the veiled master’s insidious schemes, whether or not its influence will play out the way it plans, only time will tell. Regardless, none can argue that what Kassi has accomplished has been anything but beneficial to her patients and the medical community at large.
