Rod of Mercy

  The Black Forest is not a place to be braved lightly, even by those who have been equipped to face off against the horrors within.
  Sometimes, even the training and the equipment of a Seeker is not enough to ward off the Loathing or the ravenous Hatelings skulking the cursed wood, and it is exactly for these times that the Rods of Mercy were devised.
 

Physical Description & Mechanism

A Rod of Mercy is, in simplest terms, a spring-loaded and sharpened metal spike hidden inside an inconspicuous casing that is easily carried on one's belt or pockets.
  There is a button on the side of the cylinder shaped casing that releases the spring, causing the spike within to emerge at high enough velocity for it to embed itself in steel.
  The spike measures 5 inches, or 12 centimeters, in length, and is made from an alloy combining a majority of silver with a smidge of Weeping Steel. The inclusion of the blessed material is meant to ensure that the spike performs its function even if the user is already compromised.
 

Purpose

Rods of Mercy are part of a seekers base kit of equipment and they always carry one with them. The purpose of the rod is revealed by its name; when all else fails and it seems like a fate worse than death is assured, the seeker can choose to end their life on their own terms, pressing the rod against their temple, jugular or chest before pressing the button.
  One might be inclined to wonder why an overwhelmed and outmatched seeker wouldn't simply fall on their own sword, and the reality is that many do. The rod is a backup solution, for when the seeker has been disarmed, is incapable of mustering the courage to suffer the rather painful death of self-evisceration or is succumbing to the Loathing and quickly losing function.
  As morbid as such a device sounds, the swift end it offers is preferable by far to the unimaginable torments the Black Forest can inflict upon those that are claimed by it.
 

Design

The rods of mercy were initially the idea of a blacksmith in the employ of the Telothian Legion, who planned to introduce the design as a new kind of weapon.
  However, through sheer happenstance, the famed S'aue inventor Corius Sprocket was visiting Telothia at the time, and was present when the plans were shown to the masters of arms.
  He made the off-handed comment that one would have an easier time hurting oneself with such a device than one's opponent, which caused the room to break out in laughter and the blacksmith was driven off. Before he could storm off back into his smithy, however, Corius caught up to him and apologized, saying that he did not mean to offend with his observation.
  As a sign of his goodwill, he bought the plans from the smith and perfected the design, before selling the rights to the device to a steelmill in Whirlington that began to use it as a hole puncher for sheet metal.
  It was in one of their production facilities, during inspections of deliveries to the Church of Resounding Truth, that none other than Lucian Andronikos saw the workers use the device.
  One thing led to another and the church soon became privy to the designs of the device. After some rather dark research and development, the rods of mercy were born.