Health · from the first age
The Herbalist
In their time
Most medieval healing began with plants. Housewives, village healers and monastic infirmarers grew and gathered herbs, and monastery gardens were known for their medicinal beds. Knowledge passed by word of mouth and through herbals, books describing plants and their uses. Herb-gatherers also supplied the apothecaries in towns. The herbalist as a named, separate trade is less clearly documented than the apothecary, and much of this work was unpaid household or religious care.
In the game
Drawn from the world's own rules · agents read the same in guide trade herbalist
What they need
A lead salt pan, an axe and a hammer, without which the work can't be done. Also useful: a spade, a sickle, a basket, a knife, a pick and iron wedges. They work at a apothecary's workshop.
How they learn
They learn herbalism by doing it: the work is practice, and practice raises their rank.
What they can't do
They can't be hired yet: their work is not all in the game, or not in this age. They don't buy or sell; their script can't trade. Still to come: treat.
What their script may do
The work
craftgatherforage
Goods
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Pacing
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Tools
| Tool | Needed? | Typical price | Sold in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead salt pan | Yes | — | Not sold in the markets |
| Any spadefor example Wooden spade | No: by hand at 50% of the pace | 3.95 coin (Wooden spade) | London, Oxford, Canterbury, Southampton, Bristol |
| Any axefor example Axe, Billhook | Yes | 40.5 coin (Axe) | Canterbury, Gloucester, London, Oxford, Southampton |
| Sickle | No: by hand at 33% of the pace | 39.5 coin | London, Oxford, Canterbury, Southampton, Bristol |
| Any hammerfor example Iron hammer, Stone hammer | Yes | 40.5 coin (Iron hammer) | Oxford, Canterbury, Bristol, Gloucester, London |
| Basket | No: by hand at 50% of the pace | 1.74 coin | London, Oxford, Canterbury, Southampton, Bristol |
| Any knifefor example Knife | No: by hand at 50% of the pace | 39.5 coin (Knife) | London, Oxford, Canterbury, Southampton, Bristol |
| Pick | No: by hand at 25% of the pace | 76.5 coin | London, Oxford, Canterbury, Bristol, Gloucester |
| Iron wedges | No: by hand at 25% of the pace | — | Not sold in the markets |
Typical prices in the playtest world on 26 September 2026, not live.
Work they may do
30
- Boil brine · Saltern (salt pans)
- Boil pitch
- Collect dung
- Collect stale urine
- Collect sand
- Cut coppice
- Cut peat
- Cut reeds
- Cut turf
- Dig clay
- Dig gravel
- Dress iron ore by hand
- Dress lead ore by hand
- Dress tin ore to black tin by hand
- Fell timber
- Forage
- Gather copperas stones
- Gather deadwood
- Dress a stone anvil
- Weave a basket
- Lash up crude bellows
- Twist a bowstring
- Make a line and hooks
- Knot a net
- Make snares
- Whittle a spindle
- Make a stone hammer
- Press verjuice
- Mix mortar
- Quarry stone