Many novices of magical theory are surprised to discover that healing spells do not rely on the transformative powers of Transmutation, or even the coursing energies of Evocation, but rather on the beguiling nature of Enchantment. Seasoned warriors, weary pit fighters, and workers in dangerous professions however are all too aware of this quirk of the healing arts.
So called healing by magical means acts far more upon the mind of the recipient than it does upon their body. The capacity of mortal tenacity to overcome pain and adversity can be remarkable even when completely unaided and it is upon this capacity that healing spells rely. Under the influence of Enchantment, the mind can power through wounds that even the most tenacious warrior could not normally ignore. That is not to say that no true healing occurs, charged with magical energy the mind can produce startling effects in the body. Flows of blood are stemmed, dizziness and headache recede, wounds begin to repair as though hours were passing instead of minutes.
This of course only enables more risks to be taken, more foes to be met, more damage to be sustained. There is a reason that Tirneach’s professional warriors, the Galloglaigh bands, typically take to the field only a few times each year. Once the battle is done and the danger is passed, the body presents its bill. Magical healing makes it possible to survive the unsurvivable and keep on fighting but it cannot completely remove the toll that takes on a mortal body. Anyone who has received extensive magical healing knows all too well the long and aching process of true healing that begins mere days after that initial flush of seeming invincibility.
Magical healing has its limits, a body can be so drained of life or badly damaged that no amount of convincing will get it back on its feet. It is also difficult for Enchantment to overcome severe structural damage, the mind may be willing and inured to pain but the base mechanics of movement sometimes just can’t be ignored. Poisons that disrupt the body’s internal processes and deep internal wounds, far from the awareness of the conscious mind are also known to pose problems for healing spells.
The warriors of Tirneach rely on healing magic to do their work and most of them owe their life to a healer who was in the right place at the right time but they also respect its limits and know that each wound ignored will eventually demand its due.