Velene Conservatory of Healing
Located in Csalnia, capital of Alreia, Velene Conservatory of Healing was founded to provide a central place for healing inside the city, as travel to true nature became more difficult for the ill and wounded in the ever-expanding city.
Nature's Touch
Aureian healing practices are strongly based upon the innate healing properties of nature. After all, people were born from nature and should be returned to it for the body to be able to repair itself. Earth grounds a body and makes it remember it's past and source. Fresh water cleanses not only the body, but also the soul which is always damaged if a person is sick or hurt. And, just as some plants are able to cause harm, other plants are able to cure to bring balance to the natural world.
In the past, a wounded or sick person would be taken outside of town to true nature before even the slightest attempt at healing would be made. As settlements started to grow, the time it took to bring the patient to true nature decreased healing success. Thus, places of true nature were created within towns and cities. At first, these places were open-air gardens, but with technological advances and even larger settlements, the need arose to put a roof over the place of healing. Thus, healing conservatories were established.
Architecture
Grand Dome
The Grand Dome is the original healing garden, build upon, rebuild and adjusted several times. Nowadays, the Grand Dome is no longer used for major healing purposes, but only as an inside garden where patients undergo minor herbal healing, therapy, meditative strolls, or as a place for social interaction and visitations. The Grand Dome is accessible to all, patients and employees alike.
Minor Dome
The Minor Dome is exclusively used for healing purposes, and thus inaccessible for any other purpose. Small clearings of earth dotting the inside garden, some furnished with stone tables and chairs, are used for therapy and healing practices. A small stone building is attached to the Minor Dome where surgery can be performed sterile, and other procedures for which more complicated machinery is needed can be performed without hindrance.
Left and Right Wing
The left and right wing contain the wards as well as individual rooms for patients who are in need of more privacy. In total, the hospital has 180 beds. Only half of the wings' walls is made of glass, the other half of tiled roof and stone walls with shuttered windows. This so a patient can sleep in a darkened room if preferred or if required for treatment. Based on the ailment a patient is suffering from, plants are carefully selected to increase healing, and placed near the patient's bed.
The Gardens
Similarly to the Grand Dome, the gardens are used for minor herbal healing, therapy for which fresh air is important, meditative strolls, or as a place for social interaction and visitations. Additionally, one closed off area in the gardens is used for major healing practices. This circular area is dug one meter into the earth to optimize grounding, and walled by plant with thick foliage to provide privacy.
Butterfly Sanctuary
As butterflies are the messengers of Geom Aurea, the Conservatory is designed in such a way that butterflies feel most at home, to aid patients spiritually. Plants are carefully selected for both hungry butterflies, as well as for butterflies seeking a place to lay their eggs.
In addition to medical staff, several caretakers work at the Conservatory. These caretakers tend to the plants inside the Conservatory as well as the gardens, often in discussion with the medical staff when certain adjustments have to be made to increase the healing aura of the Conservatory. The caretakers are also responsible for maintaining the butterfly population.
by Aaron Burden
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