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Author Topic: Health Care and cobwebs  (Read 4606 times)

Dame de la Licorne

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Health Care and cobwebs
« on: August 17, 2009, 05:31:34 pm »

I searched, and didn't find anything so if this has been mentioned before, my apologies.  And considering the extent of the newest version, I'm hoping that this can perhaps be added without too much trouble.

I've been recently reading Edward Gibbon's "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" in some of my spare time, and it reminded me of something I'd come across a while ago, so I went and did some researching.  It turns out that in Ancient and Medieval times (and even as recently as the American Civil War, if my sources are correct), that cobwebs were used to staunch bleeding.  When placed in the wounds, apparently the webs would help the blood to clot (I'm not sure how it works, I need to do further research) and otherwise potentially fatal wounds would then heal almost as quickly as non-fatal wounds.  Since cave spiders (the vermin type) are probably going to end up in a lot more places with the new underground layout, would it be possible for webs to gain this second use?  You would still need bandages to bind the wounds with and without the webs, but I think it's appropriate.  Comments?

[TLDR] Use webs to staunch bleeding in potentially fatal wounds, in addition to bandages.
« Last Edit: August 17, 2009, 05:34:27 pm by Dame de la Licorne »
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Mightymuffin

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Re: Health Care and cobwebs
« Reply #1 on: August 17, 2009, 07:01:29 pm »

I searched, and didn't find anything so if this has been mentioned before, my apologies.  And considering the extent of the newest version, I'm hoping that this can perhaps be added without too much trouble.

I've been recently reading Edward Gibbon's "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" in some of my spare time, and it reminded me of something I'd come across a while ago, so I went and did some researching.  It turns out that in Ancient and Medieval times (and even as recently as the American Civil War, if my sources are correct), that cobwebs were used to staunch bleeding.  When placed in the wounds, apparently the webs would help the blood to clot (I'm not sure how it works, I need to do further research) and otherwise potentially fatal wounds would then heal almost as quickly as non-fatal wounds.  Since cave spiders (the vermin type) are probably going to end up in a lot more places with the new underground layout, would it be possible for webs to gain this second use?  You would still need bandages to bind the wounds with and without the webs, but I think it's appropriate.  Comments?

[TLDR] Use webs to staunch bleeding in potentially fatal wounds, in addition to bandages.

This is really quite a good idea. I think a lot of the medical system should be based on known medieval treatments for authenticity.
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EvilTwin

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Re: Health Care and cobwebs
« Reply #2 on: September 04, 2009, 04:09:51 pm »

i'd guess the webs were used to avoid spending too much cloth on the bandages. it doesn't stop the bleeding to the extent of bandages, but it is better than nothing, and cheap to. i guess it is to give the blood a solid ground to clump at in the middle of the wound. while an untreated wound would build up the layer of eschar from outer to inner parts of the wound (imagine the wound is 2D here, as if it was painted on the skin -> just so you know what i mean), the cobweb treated one would have the possibility to build up eschar from each thread of the web, splitting a big wound up into several smaller ones. this would stop it from bleeding too much because the blood closes the wound much faster...
i hope it's understandable, im not a medic or something....
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Slogo

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Re: Health Care and cobwebs
« Reply #3 on: September 04, 2009, 04:34:29 pm »

Neat idea but what about expanding it.

You could add  as an Orders option to use 2nd rate items as makeshift bandages if bandages aren't available. So cobwebs, assorted clothing, bags, etc. could all be 'torn up' or used as an inferior form of bandages if there's a huge rush of injured dwarves.

EvilTwin

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Re: Health Care and cobwebs
« Reply #4 on: September 04, 2009, 04:53:45 pm »

imagine. a dwarven doctor striped down to nakedness because he ripped off all his clothes to help the patients. or, considering the dwarven understanding of the word "sexy", better don't imagine...
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Rowanas

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Re: Health Care and cobwebs
« Reply #5 on: September 04, 2009, 05:41:00 pm »

Turns out that cobwebs contain decent amounts of penicillin which is why they help. It's not a clotting agent, but it does reduce the risk of infection which in turn helps regrowth and fast healing.

A* idea.
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WormSlayer

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Re: Health Care and cobwebs
« Reply #6 on: August 16, 2010, 02:03:11 pm »

HI! URIST MCMAYS HERE!
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martinuzz

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Re: Health Care and cobwebs
« Reply #7 on: August 16, 2010, 02:10:21 pm »

well, actually, cave spider webs are already used to make cloth (bandages) and stitch wounds.
For game mechanics, spider webs count as threads (and are listed as such in your stocks screen).
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