Resurrectionists

“People say I hate the living; it’s not true. I just happen to see the potential inside all people, those great things anyone can do if they aren’t trapped in their own consciousness and morals. And when I unlock that potential, death is the side-effect, I can’t help that.”
– Doctor Douglas McMourning.

Resurrectionist Resurrectionists. The name is a cruel joke, amusing only to the twisted minds of murderers and graverobbers. Resurrectionists reanimate the dead, but the trade of Resurrectionists results not in a body restored but a soulless puppet. Their practices are particularly appalling to the citizens of 0. To be Organised/Malifaux who already must contend with the occupational dangers of the mines and the nightmare spawn of Neverborn. That some of the most terrible monsters this world knows are fellow men and women, former friends and family, is a grim realisation.

Humanity has a long tradition of honouring their dead. In 0. To be Organised/Malifaux, the death effect of Soulstones provides difficult existential and religious questions, and Resurrectionists are blatant in their desecration of human life. The reanimated serve only the selfish, unconscionable goals of these masters of death. On the topic of the Resurrectionist threat, there is unanimous support by the population of 0. To be Organised/Malifaux to hunt and capture these barbarous individuals.

The Governor General’s crusade against the necromancy of the Resurrectionists has overwhelming public support. His own personal staff suffered a grisly attack days after he won his position. In later weeks, the missing members of his cabinet were identified in a series of robberies, kidnappings, and murders. It was only after an extensive investigation that the true nature of these attacks came to light, that the bodies of the Governor General’s staff had succumbed to an unidentified Resurrectionist. With that discovery, a special taskforce, the Death Marshals, were organised to combat the Resurrectionist threat. Their methods lack subtlety, but they developed a sophisticated profile used to identify and apprehend their targets. A Resurrectionist is often a single individual working alone or with one or two loyal assistants. Due to the gruesome nature of the work, these necromancers are forced to ply their trade in secret. Each one comes upon his craft through individual study, whether through science, magic, or some otherworldly pact. The art fosters creative resourcefulness as fresh corpses and strict privacy are continuously in short supply.

The Governor’s witch-hunt has forced necromancers into the abandoned quarantined areas of 0. To be Organised/Malifaux. There, these grim wizards are constantly at odds with the Neverborn, and only those necromancers who show significant aptitude are able to survive. These enterprising individuals fortify the abandoned districts they claim and populate them with shambling undead militias to fight off rival Resurrectionists and Neverborn attackers.

The Death Marshals have attempted to raid these outposts with moderate success and chilling discoveries. Despite the obvious individualism inherent in these criminals and their methods, curiously similar sigils, devices, and journal entries suggest some amount of shared knowledge. The Governor has also discovered that by pushing Resurrectionists into the abandoned portions of the City, they have unwittingly encouraged the looting of these areas. Necromancer strongholds are filled with artifacts collected from the haunted streets of 0. To be Organised/Malifaux.

Of particular note are the large libraries maintained by these graverobbers, books salvaged from ruins of 0. To be Organised/Malifaux’s past. While only a few have managed to be seized intact, the texts suggest a dark patron, a spirit tutoring the necromantic arts, communicating subtly through the mysteries of science and magic, tempting those who crave forbidden knowledge. These texts and artifacts seem to be the source of the shared techniques common amongst these criminals.

While many of those aware of these texts believe this patron to be simple metaphor, other Guild members fear this grave spirit is real. Those fears magnify when one considers the armies of the undead marshaled in the outskirts of the City from the vaulted hideaways of their masters. That these Resurrectionists might be the unwitting lieutenants of a malicious patron would mean that the City is under siege and that every dying man is a potential recruit for an ever-growing army of the undead.