Hello,
I hope you all are still in at least as good health as I saw you in last festival. I believe I spoke to many of you about these matters already, but there are some important topics to discuss to ensure that we can continue to deal with any hostile spirits and revenants, and hopefully minimize how often those problems occur. We have currently been doing our best to keep the enemies we kill in defense of the town and each other from rising again but there are limits to what we can accomplish. For those who are unfamiliar with how we do so, it is a two-step process. A spiritualist must sanctify the dead body to ensure the spirit passes on and does not remain in this world and haunt the area that they fell–and more than likely seek vengeance against those that killed them. Anyone can use a Draught of Quietude–or a Quiet the Battlefield when dealing with a large number of fallen–to ensure the dead body does not rise as a revenant, though most spiritualists like to work in the use of the potion into their sanctification ritual.
I would like to thank many members of the town for assisting with donations of arcanum for sanctification or quiet the battlefield potions during the last two festivals. During the spring and summer, Lilywhite and I paid out of pocket and thus were limited to only sanctifying and quieting Blackheart’s lieutenants after they fell. We spiritualists cannot afford to handle ensuring the dead do not rise again on our own and thus will always accept any and all donations of arcanum, Draughts of Quietude, or Quiet the Battlefields. But on the topic of sanctification, it is very important to note that we are not doing things as efficiently as we can. If our town constructs a graveyard, then any spiritualist can sanctify without spending any arcanum. While every defeated foe may not be able to be quieted, all of them could be sanctified, and I think a revenant is in general a little easier to deal with than a hostile spirit. To construct the graveyard, we would need 50 units of iron, 10 units of wood, and 100 arcanum as materials with 5 individuals focusing on construction. Currently we have set aside:
Iron: 0/50
Wood: 0/10
Arcanum: 68/100
Builders: 0/5
If anyone is willing to donate any resources or their time, it would be appreciated. If you have currently donated, please let me know unless you wish to remain anonymous. I expect we will not be able to complete this until summer, but I think it is vital we get this done as soon as possible.
Continuing on the topic of acquiring much needed resources, I have spoken very briefly with our militia captain, Lily Ferris, about ensuring that we can take preventive measures to keep the dead from being a problem a second time along with dealing with the revenants and spirits that do occur. I will need to speak with her and other spiritualists further about this, and I will also be bringing all of this up with the rest of the town council during our meetings.
To the spiritualists themselves and those interested in becoming spiritualists, I know we have remained rather loosely organized thus far. However, as many other specialists in Port Katherine form guilds and other more formal associations, we may want to follow suit. This should allow us to better share information and allow us to negotiate more easily. I am interested in hearing your opinions on this matter.
And on a final, tangentially-related note, I know we all occasionally encounter less hostile spirits that were not properly put to rest before, and that when we are able, we do our best to help them move on. I currently do not know of any good system that would allow us to let any family, friends, or other loved ones of the deceased to know so that we can give them closure. If anyone has any ideas, I would be interested in them, though I do admit in many cases there might not be anyone to inform considering what happened to the last colony.
Thank you all for your time, and apologies for the length of my missive.
Sincerely,
Dame Nathrach RĂan Quigley
Spiritualist and Member of the Town Council