Dragonhealing - Philosophy

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While dragonhealing adds to the roleplay that currently exists at Igen, it is not a sinecure for every player. All members of the dragonhealing program should work and think to develop their characters both personally and in their skill level. Keeping a balance between what is right for the character and what is right on the Weyr is key, and, to that end, Igen Weyr has the following guidelines for the dragonhealing program:

It will be canonical and consistent. Dragonhealers will be required to learn the canonical basics for dragonhealing and the information that they need in order to roleplay canonically.
It will take some time. No one becomes an expert at anything overnight. At the same there is room for discussion on the idea of expertise. In every case, each character will have to roleplay gradually learning the techniques required.
It will teach and follow the principles of consensual roleplaying.
It will incorporate responsible leadership principles. These include: activity benchmarks for the senior; responsible conflict resolution; listening to feedback from the participants; and authority of the Senior dragonhealer in all decisions regarding content and promotion (under the direction of the Weyrleaders as always).

Pragmatic Dragonhealing

Pern is a pragmatic society. There are crafthalls which train people and keep the best, highest-quality information around. This has never stopped a cotholder in the woods from setting a broken arm with a rotten splint and having it ache for the rest of his life.

This remains true at a Weyr. Threadfall is equivalent to warfare, and as such Weyrs make do with what they have, when they have it. Every rider is capable of treating minor injuries to their dragon, and in a case where there are too many injured dragons, riders and residents alike will pitch in.

This does not mean that there aren't any dragonhealers, or that they aren't given respect. The Weyr trains its own dragonhealers, though anyone with training and knowledge can help heal injured dragons. The Healer Hall instructs all healers in basic techniques of first aid, and while the basic tenets of emergency healing are the same for human, beast and dragon healing, Novice dragonhealers learn from anyone in their Weyr who is able to teach.

This shows a pragmatic view. Anyone who knows how to help tend an injured dragon may find themselves holding up a leg for the Capable to stitch back together. This kind of approach is not only canonical, but it provides a chance for people to actually roleplay their dragons with non-riders face-to-face. Residents can have a lot to do after a Threadfall if they're permitted to get at the dragons with numbweed.

When applied to a 'live' situation, sometimes this pragmatism can descend into ridiculousness. A lot of enthusiastic, new players want to be "experts" so they rush into the Weyrs and start stitching up wings. This is not considered to be good roleplaying, but is not an indication that all roleplayers need someone to guide them from above. A dragonhealing program should have the ability to go beyond plain old good roleplaying and provide opportunities for character development and also research into the world of Pern and dragons.

So, the Igen program is to be based on pragmatic dragonhealing. That means that anyone can, with the permission of a dragon's rider, wash minor to average threadscore and apply numbweed. That sort of healing doesn't require a master's knot, and also leaves room to roleplay mistakes.

Anyone who wishes to formally join the dragonhealing program is welcomed, but thought to be "very new at this dragonhealing business" (Novice). They have the same skills as anyone else in the Weyr, but are now starting to learn about dragons. While they're trusted with minor injuries, they should leave the major ones to the Trainees and Capables, if at all possible.

As a Novice progresses to the point of "being known to be learning about dragonhealing" (Training), they can gradually take on bigger injuries even in the absence of a Capable. If a rider wants to roleplay an injury with a less than completely trained person, why shouldn't they be allowed to make that decision? And if the Trainee has to guess at what to do and then go and get a Capable to look it over later and point out that the splint is a little bit big, hey, that's role-playing.

Once a person is known to be trusted by the Weyr's riders in general (Capable), they would have the confidence to treat injuries without fretting and needing so much guidance. Not all Capable are at the same level, but all are expected to know how to set a limb, stitch a wound and all the other basics of healing.

Teaching classes would be held ICly in the Senior's free time (or the Weyrhealer's free time) and also on the spot, as in "Here's a ripped wing, come and get a look at it." OOCly, the Senior is responsible for having these classes on a regular basis. Capables can also teach, with the approval of the Senior.

Since Pernese society doesn't really have time for people to sit around waiting for dragons to break their legs, most dragonhealers would have other duties as appropriate. For the few whose sole duty is dragonhealing, they take on additional duties for the Weyr that closely relate to dragonhealing. Those duties may include general infirmary work, gardening and laundry.

If riders don't trust someone (someone out of the Weyr, someone who clearly is brand new to dragonhealing), then they won't let the person at their dragon. This is completely canonical roleplay and is also a way of regulating people whose role-playing isn't quite there yet.

Consensual and Realistic Roleplay

Good role-playing is good roleplaying and dragonhealer roleplay is no different. The Senior dragonhealer, as a leader, has as an expectation to foster good roleplaying by providing information, by modeling good roleplay, by teaching good roleplay, and by (if necessary) gently correcting roleplay.

As a dragonhealer in progress, players have the responsibility to think about two things with respect to their role-playing.

Consent: A dragonhealer must have the OOC permission of a rider's player before every attempting any sort of healing. A dragonhealer must also be prepared to provide some expertise to the riders and say 'if your dragon's wing is ripped you won't be flying anywhere for an IC month or two, are you sure you don't want to @emit that the wind made the flapping wing look worse than it is?' or 'my character would have to ground you for that injury.' But you cannot just do something to a dragon without the permission of that dragon's player. By that same rule, a rider can not do anything to a dragonhealer without asking first, other than refusing assistance. A rider should ask before deciding that a dragonhealer set the dragon's leg wrong. Also no one is required to roleplay anything. If a dragonhealer having a quiet scene in the dorm and a rider suddenly decides that a dragonhealer is needed, they are free to say 'oh, sorry, I'm busy, you'll have to use a NPC.'

Realism: Players should know their characters' background and abilities. These abilities should be realistic to both the character and Pern. The Senior dragonhealer will help with this as a part of the regimen for acceptance into the program, and will give role-played cues for how a characters abilities are developing. But the rest is up to the player. If someone tries to claim immediate expertise, people will probably laugh. No one is obligated to roleplay with a character. Most people will want to anyway, but if a player ends up in a lot of arguments, it might be a good time to consider if their characters' abilities are realistic.

These are good role-playing practices in general. To ignore them would most likely result in a severe lack of dragonhealer related roleplay, as people tend not to want to play with unrealistic or unfair players. If a dragonhealer upsets enough people, the Senior may have them removed from the program for a while. Depending on the severity of the infraction, it is possible to be kicked out of the dragonhealing program entirely.