Exorcists
While many religious orders have exorcism spells and rituals, the singular magic school of exorcism stands alone. This class is generally not affiliated with any gods, or even the aspects of light and darkness or good or evil, though they tend to lean towards light and good. Regardless of tactics employed, exorcists are a breed of spiritualist which believes that the living realm does not need to be affected by the dead, and more so, the influences of ill-meaning spirits.
Exorcists have no formal school to teach their arts, but there is a council of masters who regulate exorcists across the continent, and provide a network of support and information. In Kalesten, there is a humble hall in the foothills of the Perdraser range that exorcists consider a “home base.” Exorcists usually take students on the wing though; if they find someone who has the interest and potential to follow the craft. Individual exorcists are often either wanderers who travel the populated regions of the continent to help as many people as they can, or chasing after some entity that has eluded them. Otherwise, many exorcists chose to base themselves in or near a major population center so that they may help the locals deal with any renegade spirits.
Exorcists use sutras and steel to expel wicked spirits from the afflicted area. Some exercise breathing techniques and martial displays to “draw” spirits out of the area to vanquish them, while others utilize long, undulating vocal sutras and meditation. Tangible undead, such as vampires and animated corpses, are also an enemy of exorcists, which is where their martial skills come in handy. Practices of some exorcists have a rather forceful approach to things; they are heavy-handed and seek to rid the world of influence from the other world.
While not evil, they don’t appreciate the gods interfering in mortal affairs and will attempt to expel them if they dare cause too much influence. Gods can be exorcised, but it takes a tremendous amount of spiritual energy to do so. Once exorcised, a god cannot easily cross back over into the prime material plane without going through a birthing process (e.g.; being born on the plane of men).
