Dark Healing

[Azzy]

Dark Healing
Developed by Faelice/Azzy and Temekel/Ellen

So What Even Is Dark Healing?

Dark Healing is the practice of using the Dark Side of the Force to ‘heal’ an injured individual. Contrary to the healing practices of Sorcery, and standard Imperial healing techniques that are based in science, Dark Healing at its core is a temporary solution to a given problem. There is, however, an exception to this temporary nature, although it is as unpleasant as it is difficult to obtain. Dark Healers that are unfortunate enough to have been cursed with Force Drain may find themselves able to imbue some of that very power into this technique, infusing the haphazard closure of an injury with the life force of another being to permanently seal the flesh back together. As one might expect from melding a pair of extremely volatile powers into a singular small space, there will be a deal of discomfort experienced by the recipient. Dull and throbbing aches that come from nowhere and last for hours, sharp stabbing pains as if the old wound is trying to pull itself apart again, and long periods of numbness of the affected area are all well within the realms of possibility for those that have found themselves in dire enough situations to require such a technique to preserve their life.

Users of this power will understand that its healing ability is only as effective as the amount of focus that can be maintained - which is almost certain to be less than expected. If their concentration is found wavering through the mounting fatigue, or disrupted by outside influence, the Dark Healer may find themselves having to contend with that original wound in its rawest form once more. Should they find themselves in this precarious position, it will be an ever upwards battle to try and seal off an injury again - and there may be a grievous price to be paid for such an attempt…



The Nitty Gritty: How does Dark Healing function?

Players that find themselves in a position where Dark Healing is among their arsenal will find that their characters are able to draw on the power of the Dark Side of the Force to, quite literally, close an open wound. The exposed edges pull together from the inside out, and apply pressure that the wound is no longer open to the outside elements. In doing so, it’s not without reason that more lacerations may occur in nearby areas, or bones may break under the stress of the movement required. Such perversion of natural order will, of course, lead to the target suffering somewhat heavy effects of Corruption in the surrounding area, not exclusive or limited to the injured area. Manipulating the Force in such a way will additionally cause a great deal of corruption to the caster - it’s certainly not going to be an easy or free task to control such volatility, especially over a prolonged period of time.

Primarily, this ability should be used to stabilise a serious, open wound, and will grant the time to find the target to a source of more permanent healing. Lesser wounds can, of course, benefit from the effects of Dark Healing, however this is probably a bit wasteful considering the cost to both the user and the target. Utterly life threatening wounds can benefit from Dark Healing, but there is a somewhat exponential increase of fatigue and corruption that gets applied based on the severity of the injury.

As for how one finds their way from screaming injured ally to… Screaming injured stable ally - the guide for Dark Healing is pain. The more of it being experienced, the easier the Dark Healer will be able to latch onto and start working on the injury. Pulling from one of the rawest and most primal emotions that can be felt by a person, the caster will redirect that pain through the Force, and back into their target. As such, Dark Healing is easier to perform on conscious targets, though remains very possible on the unconscious. The redirection, naturally, will cause them more pain - but it could very well be a choice between being dead and simply feeling like they’re dying.



So what’s the catch?

Well, in short, if your character isn’t already messed up, this will mess them up. The level of corruption that is required to maintain a channel of Dark Healing for any beneficial amount of time is likely to be at least a little concerning. Additionally, your character will be thoroughly exhausted upon conclusion, and for a good while afterwards. Perhaps this lasts hours, perhaps this lasts days, but it’s an effect that should be roleplayed out somewhat. Until the highest levels of competency with Dark Healing, it’s unlikely that this ability will be able to be used more than once a day, and depending on the intensity of that use, this could extend up to a week in extreme cases. If you find yourself in a position where you are forced to use this ability on Non-Force Sensitives, it is nearly certain that they will suffer extreme corruption sickness.



Force Drain was mentioned?

Yes. Yes it was. A great deal of lore basis for Dark Sided healing is Force Drain, and the surrounding abilities. Whilst we thought it beneficial for the ability to be taken away from this restriction, we were reluctant to ignore the lore entirely. Force Drain allows a character to siphon the life and vitality away from another living being, and use it to empower themselves - or in the case of healing in the lore - others. To that end, if a character has access to both Force Drain, and Dark Healing, they will be able to use the power drained from… Whoever their victim happens to be, to grant some permanence to the Dark Healing. What this does, effectively, is infuse the affected area with a corrupted life-force that fuses the flesh into place. For a while, this might be quite fragile, perhaps intense motions could reopen the wound completely, or a well placed punch may be considerably more effective than normal. On a more long term basis, the area could be addled by pains, aches, numbness or the like. These should both be brought up to the recipient, and ultimately it falls to them to decide just how affected they are by this. They get to choose what flavour it is - probably not chocolate.



Who can pick this up?

Needless to say, an ability that occupies a space in a field so niche and with such potent volatility is considered limited within the structure of the guild. What does this mean? In short - officer approval will be required before a character can learn this ability. This isn’t by any means to say a character cannot learn of Dark Healing, they just can’t claim it as their own without seeking permission first.