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Burial wells
🕑 Added 2023-06-18 17:23:59 +0000 UTCDue to the daily liturgies conducted within the temple precincts, the spaces are suffused with an overwhelming Radiance that repels corruption and wards off aberrant creatures. Similarly, the ancient vaults of relics, once the initial temples and the earliest necropolises, exuded a brilliant Radiance.
Wishing to preserve their kin's bodies from witches' desecration, the devotees of Radiance sought to secure them within the protective embrace of their sanctuaries. Initially, unused reliquaries served this purpose, and as the Church commenced the construction of temples, burial wells became integral features of their foundations.
Once reserved for revered Ladies, Lords, and clergy who continued to emanate the Radiance even in death, these burial wells eventually welcomed all faithful followers to rest amidst its rays.
Niches in the walls of the burial wells are still used as receptacles for venerable ashes. At the same time, common bodies are mummified or given to ants in the churchyard, allowing their bones to be interred within ossuaries nestled in the depths of the burial wells. But the Radiance in the burial wells is not eternal - what emanates from the dead is not enough at all. Even the daily ceremonies in the temple are not enough to keep the bones safe. Each burial well needs a keeper.
The custodians of the burial wells bear the responsibility of periodically bathing the bones in the Radiance of relics, preventing possible desecration. Moreover, their primary duty involves vigilantly tending to the oil lamps positioned in the vents along the well walls, which serve to disperse cadaverous gases and ward off pernicious miasmas. Usually, they work in pairs - the young neophyte does all the dirty job of cleaning and refilling the lamps while the old tomb keeper conducts the consecration rituals and is allowed to bring the relic from the altar for granting the touch of Radiance grace to the dead.
