Tearing of the Infesting Spirit

Infesting spirits are insidious, and rot their hosts like the foulest of plagues until the rotten core finally gives out. Only the foulest of warlocks would beckon such a thing from beyond, and even other spirits shun them for their abnormal interest in our world, and especially in us. They never manifest physically by choice, only when coaxed out using a purification ritual.

d6	What is required to purify the host?
1	The host must be drowned in sea water and then resuscitated. The spirit will slip out as a loathsome mockery of aquatic life, writhing tentacle and mad eyes. It should be killed by crushing before it slips out into the ocean, infesting the sea-life. It will promise great power if eaten, but this is a ploy to find a new host. Black cults are known to be led by individuals claiming to have made this bargain. Sailors speak of the evil whales said to carry the spirits and destroy ships for the sheer joy of it.
2	The host is to be smoked like a preserved meat. They will sweat, moan and cough until the spirit slips out as a violent orange liquid from any pore or orifice. This fluid must be contained in an airtight glass container. This spirit, if stored, will never again infect a host. It will be as an obedient dog if broken and trained, or so the heretics whisper.
3	The host should be hung as a criminal with a noose of thorned plants. If performed correctly, seconds before death a crow will claw its way savagely out of the dying victim. If allowed to escape it will seek a new host, so it is prudent to have a master-archer on hand. Witches are said to favour these terrible escapees as familiars.
4	The host should be kept in a stone tomb for 3 days without water nor food nor light nor company. At the end of this 3 days a terrible thing will stalk the tomb wearing the corpse of the host. It is physically shackled to this form, and destroying the monster destroys the spirit. It will use the tomb as a hunting ground, learning every possible ambush point. The sooner the physical shell is destroyed, the easier the task will be.
5	A child no older than 8 is to be made pleasing to the spirit using the foul symbols the spirits have taught the black-hearted summoners. The child should be kept in a glass cage will which intercept the spirit as it leaps from its current host to the child – if the cage is constructed correctly. If performed without this protection, the child will mature quickly (3 weeks) into a full adult with knowledge far beyond its years and a malign purpose. These possessed children are said to spell great calamity.
6	The host is to be restrained, and a blank book left before them. They should then be interrogated as to their nature, and the spirit they carry. After a relentless day of this question the spirit will leap for freedom. If correctly prepared, the blank book will contain the creature, and display its alien and terrible knowledge in a twisting and cruel script. These books are burnt, regardless of the baseless rumours of a library of such evil works being stored beneath the Inquisition Keep.

A Conspiracy of Ravens

In every city and most towns, there is a tall wooden building. The walls are studded with holes, and offer little protection from the weather. Countless birds can be seen flying to and fro, day and night, navigating around each other with effortless ease. Regardless of the climate, the birds in questions are abnormally large ravens, without fail.

The wooden structures lack a door - in fact, the entire lower third is simple a solid support from the rest of the towering building. The function is to act as another stop in the Conspiracy - the finest and fastest messaging service in all the land - or so the rumour goes. There are no human handlers to these birds, for they are not any beast - some ancient happening gifted them twice over - both the ability to speak in the tongues of humanoids and the intelligence to use it. Combining this with their natural gift of flight, they established themselves as a de-facto postal service, either physically carrying the message or relaying it by word-of-beak. This service is offered at decent rates, affordable to those who would have need of such a service, as well as rumours of the truly destitute being given free service when it matters most. Governments and armies throughout the land use the Conspiracy, as the fees are substantially less than hiring magical help.

However, the service is not as benign as it seems. The ravens are privy to much knowledge best kept in secret, and are all too willing to sell the information on to parties they can trust. If one were to discover the truth and attempt to spread it, the Conspiracy would quickly utilize their considerable monetary wealth to hire a 'trouble-shooter' before the damage became too great.

The birds themselves are about as varied as any race in temperament, bar that they are all fiercely loyal. General trends include protecting their less-intelligent kin and looking down their beaks at the bird-familiars of magic users. Furthermore, they do not get along with druids, finding their naturalist outlook haughty, boring and backwards. They are far more in-tune with the industrious races and cultures.

Prices should be left to DM discretion, with costs increasing as distance increases. Physical mail should be roughly 1.5x more than word-of-beak services, with maximum weights being no more than could be carried by two ravens holding a piece of string attached to the object.