Deryni

The Deryni are a fictional race of humans who possess a variety of psychic and magical abilities in the Deryni series of historical fantasy novels by Katherine Kurtz. The political, social, and religious conflicts that surround the Deryni, particularly in the Kingdom of Gwynedd, often serve as major plot points throughout the novels.

The novels include various examples of inherent Deryni abilities that are displayed by numerous primary and secondary characters. Deryni powers are closely interconnected with each other, since a Deryni's natural psychic abilities also give him/her the ability to perform magical rituals of varying complexity, but many of these powers can be divided into three basic categories: psychic abilities, magical abilities, and Healing.

A small percentage of Deryni are born with the natural ability to heal physical injuries, a power that goes beyond merely setting broken bones or sewing wounds shut. A highly trained Healer can bring a seriously wounded patient back from the brink of death, repairing their injuries in a matter of minutes through a combination of arcane powers, extensive anatomical knowledge, and the innate ability to augment the wounded body's own natural recovery processes. Healers often study for years before completing their training, expanding their knowledge of the body and developing their own inner strength for the large amounts of energy that Healing requires. In the Kingdom of Gwynedd, the knowledge to identify and train Healers is lost soon after the Haldane Restoration in the early tenth century. For over two centuries, Healers effectively cease to exist in Gwynedd, until the lost Healing talent is rediscovered in the twelfth century by Duke Alaric Morgan of Corwyn.

In 917, the Healer Rhys Thuryn accidentally discovers a new Healing talent while attempting to Heal Earl Gregory MacDinan of Ebor. While deeply immersed in a Healing trance, Rhys successfully blocks all of Earl Gregory's Deryni powers. After further research, Rhys discovers that he is capable of blocking the powers of any Deryni with a simple touch, regardless of the strength of his subject. While their powers are blocked, these Deryni subjects function as normal humans, displaying absolutely no signs of any arcane abilities. Although Rhys attempts several times to teach this talent to other Healers, his efforts ultimately fail, and it is determined that the ability to block is as rare to Healers as Healers themselves are to the general Deryni population. Later research indicates that the Deryni masters of the past were aware of this ability, but knowledge of its existence became lost over time. While a few Healers are later found to possess this ability, knowledge of its existence once again disappears when the rest of the Healing arts are lost in Gwynedd.

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