Maesters and Medicine?

[Akanatan]

I sent GRRM an e-mail a bit back about the size shape and nature of the Maester chain. I guess I only got hlf of the answer that I wanted and so I'm suggesting this as a world-book topic:

A small history of the Maesters as a fixture in Westeros' society, their schooling and training structure of the school, initiations, rituals, all the different metals that appear in their chains and what each means, common medical knowledge of the setting, and maybe a bit of the dark side of the being a Maester? I'd at very least like to see what a common shape and sized necklace would look like and a list of metals and what they symbolize (we have a couple of these already).

I think these things would be included if a Maester were writing the world book as he would have intimate knowledge of them. I have a feeling Samwell is going to run into some of these things in more depth, so Im guessing GRRM already has a good idea of the facts here. I got a tad bit hung up on the Citadel after reading AFFC. I'd like to get it out of my system and Wikipedia just leaves a bunch of holes

[voodooqueen126]

Read this article about taking the cures at places like Bath and Blackpool.

So do you think that Medicine in Westeros has places where people take the Cure.

Which city do you think would be the equivalent of Bath (I think either Kace (most likely as it is a town already) or Feastfires or Sunspear (because of the water gardens) Saltshore , but Sunflower Hall in the Reach is possible)

I would really like Bath to be Kace or Feastfires if that fails, and have a mention of Joanna Lannister going there to take the Cure (it took her 4 years of marriage to conceive Jaime and Cersei and then another 8 years for Tyrion to be born) since Bath was visited by 2 english queens to help them with their fertility struggles.

the scene at the Cure starts 5.32

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spa

http://www.clanmacna...ater_Cure_3.pdf

http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Chalybeate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackpool

http://en.wikipedia..../Bath,_Somerset

http://en.wikipedia..../Peat_pulp_bath

http://findarticles....3/ai_112095007/

[fluffywarthog]

I'd always pictured the chain as a fairly simple thing. I spent a whole year in metals shop in high school, and it takes a ton of work and practice to forge even a simple steel block to make a couple of dies, especially one that won't shatter off when the teacher tests it with a hammer. For a scholar to make a decent chain of not just iron, but multiple metals and alloys could take as much practice as they put into their other studies.

I expected something a bit more substantial than the kind Pycelle has in the TV series, but nothing too ornate. I assumed that the Citadel always had a smith or jeweler or metallurgist or two to help acolytes and hold their hand during the more-difficult steps in forging.