Really do need a good buffer, because this is my anniversary weekend. We’re not doing anything too spectacular, but I obviously have other things than writing to attend to tomorrow.
Okay. Technically, Shamuses are sort of like what other cultures call ‘priests.’ We serve the Mountain, and She watches over us, and we can do some stuff. We’re not mages! — and that’s not just because we don’t have mages in New California. The only thing I know what to do with an arcane ritual when it bites me on the ass is to punch it hard enough so that it doesn’t come back for a second chomp.
Shamuses aren’t ‘normal’ priests, though. My buddy Father Mike, over at the Catholic church? He’s got the regular skill set. Faith healing, exorcisms, purifications, turning Undead, he can do all of that, no problem, and better than me. Especially when it comes to healing: I can put down a demon or a zombie, with a lot of work, but if you’ve just taken an arrow to the knew then the best I got is a pair of pliers, and a lot of towels. You’d be better off with a real doctor, is what I’m saying.
On the other hand, the Lore teaches us that anybody can be taught to perform the Old American arcane skill of CPR. Somebody like me, for example: it’s all part of the training, like removing snake venom by sucking the poison out, or getting rid of jellyfish stings by… never mind. We don’t use CPR much, since anybody with a bum heart’s probably dying of something else first anyway, but you never know, right? You could be on a runaway stagecoach some day with a dying driver.
I think you mean “Arrow to the knee”, not “Arrow to the knew”.
Almost certainly. Why editors are a thing. 🙂