Exorcist
"What do the people do when there's too much magic? Isn't that bad for them?"
"It is. They have created - or rather, returned - a profession known as an Exorcist. They specialize in removing the influence of the created spirits."
"But not all of them. Some places really like the magic. They are friends with them, and live together and help each other and even go on adventures with each other. Why can't they all learn to do that?"
"From the depths of my being, I wish I could tell you. But just as we are incomprehensible to them, sometimes they are incomprehensible to us. There are some things that we will never understand about them, and I fear that their general inability to get along is one such things.
Career
Qualifications
Being an exorcist requires minimal qualifications. Additional abilities and qualifications are required to be officially recognized by governing bodies and organizations that deal with [[spirits]] and other extraplanar entities on a regular basis, but for local matters, the profession doesn’t require extensive training. At a baseline, one must have the ability to see and communicate with spirits. Exorcists must also be able to both dispel spirits and perform sanctification rituals to help manage spirit populations and locations. In areas of high spiritual density, exorcists may also be called on to mediate confrontations between extraplanar entities. Additional training that may be required includes the ability to summon, combine, channel, or battle spirits, identify and remove curses, and perform related medical tasks for people such as curing diseases or healing wounds caused by malicious spirits.
Career Progression
In most of Laulari, there is no organization of exorcists or official hierarchy that they follow. Instead, most exorcists tend to defer to the individual that is more experienced, or short of that, is more trained. As there is no strict path of progression, starting out challenging, often requiring apprenticing under an existing exorcist.
Perception
Purpose
Exorcists, first and foremost, are responsible for managing spirit populations, including determining the intentions and sociability of spirits and banishing those who are incongruous with mortal population centers. Beyond that, many serve as leaders of their communities, either as policy makers, council members and heads of clans, or by providing guidance to those community leaders and anyone else that might seek the exorcists’ advice. Because of this, they can sometimes be seen or treated as the “wise hermit” or “bargaining witch” tropes.
Social Status
Exorcists are treated very well across Laulari, as spirits abound everywhere in daily life, and being on good terms with the local exorcist can be the difference between the timely removal of pests and being plagued with tricksters for weeks. Due to the breadth of their supernatural experiences and because the position is often filled by an older member of rural communities, they have earned a reputation of being wise and their advice is highly valued, even if the subject is completely unrelated to spirits. They often benefit from favors either in thanks or as payments for their services, and people are usually happy to see one around, especially when local spirits are being particularly difficult or dangerous.
Operations
Materials
Exorcists rely on a number of tools and materials to complete their work, most of which are purpose built by the exorcist or are easily (and often locally) sourced. Specific materials can differ based on region while tools vary based on user, but they all fill the same purpose. Some of the most common tools and materials are listed below:
- Salt - Easily the most ubiquitous material among exorcists, salt is used to cleanse, purify, and ward off spirits. It can be poured in complex diagrams to create exclusionary zones or traps that act as barriers to spirits, and it can be combined with other materials to improve their efficacy or relative purity. Many exorcists will carry a pouch or a flask with a significant amount of salt for use in the simpler rituals. It can be substituted with powdered silver, ash, chalk, or charcoal.
- Wax - Usually in the form of blessed candles, wax is often used to power rituals by burning power stored during their creation. The scent of burning wax can also attract or repel certain spirits. Different colors of candles or wax chips are often used for different rituals, and additional materials can be added to alter effects or scents. Some exorcists even burn candles purely to enter a better, calmer mindset more conducive to perform their duties.
- Glass Bottles - Glass has insulating properties against magic and, with enough space, can be used to hold physically smaller spirits for transportation or use against other spirits. A common use for a spirit in a bottle is as a temporary light source (mimicking a lantern).
- Face Covering - A face covering can be a useful tool for exorcists for a number of reasons. They can be used practically to prevent fumes, particles, or other materials from entering the exorcists' system. Alternatively, they can be used to obscure the exorcists’ identity from potentially malicious actors.
Dangers & Hazards
The biggest danger an exorcist can encounter is being unprepared. An otherwise manageable situation can become infinitely worse if the exorcist does not have the required materials or understanding of what they are attempting to interact with, up to and including death of the exorcist. More traditionally, exorcists run the risk of being cursed by spirits or tainted with incurable negative emotions. They can be outcast by communities if they disrupt the balance that community has with their local spirits. They can be held responsible and punished for issuing poor advice, especially to those in positions of power. They are often subject to wider schemes and can be used as pawns in political plots of powerful beings, like regional leaders, greater spirits, and even gods.
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