Herbalist society
Herbalists are a profession of alchemists, brewers, healers, and Source-wielders whose specialty is potions, unguents, ointments, and the like. They are individuals of either gender who may or may not cast many spells but whose mastery of Source magic is nonetheless exceptional. They are also the most adept at the craft of brewing fos from its dried form, an art centuries in the making and reverently passed down through the generations.
It is surely the case that every community everywhere has someone who makes salves and poultices, who knows every herb, weed, and flower in the region, and how to use them effectively. In that sense, there have always been herbalists. The development of herbalists as a formal profession, however, is closely linked to the use of fos to channel Source, around 900-1100 years ago (well before the Imperial period), in and around the Gentai wetlands in central Basai. The development of fos brewing as a specialized craft required new mechanisms to prevent fraud and incompetence, so that spellcasters could be assured of the quality and safety of their product. At this point, herbalists developed as a formal profession, which they remain today. With the fos rush of the past twenty years or so, herbalists have become increasingly important for their work producing and, now, manipulating fos, which was not feasible during the lean centuries where fos was hoarded by the mystics of Basai.
Like many professions, herbalists are organized and trained largely in craft lineages (okhi), whole families dedicated to the work. Because their services are exceptionally valuable, such lineages can become extremely wealthy, sometimes even rivalling or exceeding wealthy noble lineages. Training occurs within families, and those of talent outside of the lineage must generally be adopted or marry into it in order to acquire the requisite skills. Learning the herbalist's art is a lifetime's work but the initial apprenticeship period is normally two to three years of formal learning. Herbalist lineages become renowned for particular practices or processes that they develop and guard carefully as secrets.
The ability of herbalists to create sentient life, indeed, to create a new Kind, is one of the most remarked-upon and contested powers of the profession, something beyond the capacity of most other magic. Generally, the mastery of the nature of Kinds is a central part of philosophical and intellectual discourse among more bookish herbalists, although of course many are happy to simply practice their profession without too much thought to such matters. Effigies (amni, pl. amnir) are an essential part of herbalist society, especially more powerful ones, who can essentially operate independently of their creators. Effigies are talked about and memorialized in herbalist lore with almost as much reverence as the human herbalist. Their deaths are mourned deeply and their deeds recorded and shared. Effigies are named according to very different principles than humans and to give an effigy an Ombesh human name is considered deeply disrespectful.
The primary role of herbalists in society is an economic one, as they produce goods that are sold and distributed to all reaches of Omban society. While magic potions and fos are the goods most often associated with herbalists, practically speaking, fos is dangerous to the untrained and potions are far too expensive for most. Everyday alchemical items of low to moderate cost are how most herbalists, outside those dedicated to fos brewing, make their living.
