The Veilwrights

Undertakers, Spirit Weavers, and Deathbinders
“What lies beyond is not the end—but the reckoning.”

Quick Facts

Known Headquarters: The Shrouded Reliquary, Mourner’s Row
Power Tier: Moderate (Spiritual, Funeral, and Post-Death Authority)
Reach: Cemeteries, crypts, funeral rites, ghost appeasement, and death rites
Defense: Warding circles, spectral guardians, bone-charmed grounds
Influence: Controls funeral services, burial rites, spirit-bound contracts, and exorcisms
Respect: Deeply respected, quietly feared, rarely opposed

Overview

When the last breath leaves the body, it is the Veilwrights who take over. Keepers of the final rites, stewards of the soul’s passage, and custodians of ancestral memory, this guild walks the liminal line between life and what comes after.

They guide the dead, comfort the grieving, and—when necessary—confront those spirits who refuse to rest. While often seen only at moments of tragedy, their presence brings solemnity and stability to the city’s cycle of life and loss.

But not all ghosts fade peacefully. And not all Veilwrights are content to merely shepherd—they bind, bargain, and sometimes command what others would flee from.

Known Headquarters

The Shrouded Reliquary, Mourner’s Row

A cold, echoing mausoleum-temple carved into the hillside of Ironspire’s oldest graveyard
Stained glass windows depict death not as horror, but as transition
Beneath it lies the Bone Vault, a catacomb archive of named skulls and bound spirits
Candlelight never extinguishes, even in the deepest crypts
Bells toll on their own when a spirit passes correctly—or when one escapes

Identity & Philosophy

“To guide the dead is to guard the living.”

To the Veilwrights, death is not a failure or a punishment—it is a passage that must be honored, cleansed, and witnessed. Without the proper rites, the soul may linger, twist, or break. Their work is practical, magical, and spiritual in equal measure.

They view death not with dread, but with duty. While they despise necromancy that enslaves the dead, some Veilwrights do believe in listening to the deceased—and sometimes even striking bargains.

They are the silence after sorrow, and the hand that closes the eyes.

Roleplay Hooks

You hear whispers in the reliquary—and they know your name
A spirit you buried has returned… angry, and changed
You’re investigating reports of falsified rites and unrestful dead
You failed to complete a binding, and now something is loose
You’re being haunted—but you don’t know by whom

Power Tier

Moderate (Spiritual Guardianship & Death Rites Control)

Reach: Citywide funerary contracts, soul rites, gravekeeping
Defense: Ancestral wards, spectral sentinels, memory flame sigils
Influence: Oversees spiritual health, ancestral legitimacy, and undead prevention
Respect: Revered by tradition, whispered about by the fearful

Rivalries & Tensions

The Ashen Path – Ideological tension over soul purity and final judgment
The Spiral Archive – Disputes over memory magic and the right to preserve the dead’s knowledge
The Irontide Syndicate – Accusations of corpse-theft and illegal burial dumping
The Auric Remedy – Friction over unnatural life-extending practices

Leadership

High Mourner Veyra Khol

A serene, ageless woman in gray robes laced with bone-thread embroidery
Said to carry the ashes of her entire bloodline in a charm around her neck
Her eyes reflect candlelight even when no flame is present
Known to quiet a riot once by naming the dead watching from the rooftops
Keeps a bone flute said to summon specific spirits—one note per name

Known Practices & Traditions

The Candleward Vigil – Ritual to light the path for souls on the edge of unrest
Veilbinding – A rite that seals a spirit into peace—or into service
Echofare – Final farewell rites where names are sung into the ether
Ancestral Tithing – Offerings made by families to preserve their lineage in the Bone Vault
Gravewatch – Midnight shifts where initiates sit in silence to listen for stirrings

Membership & Structure

Common Roles:

Soulbearers – Rites officiants who escort the dead to their final rest
Gravebinders – Magical undertakers who craft protective funerary spells
Whispernuns – Monks who commune with ancestral spirits in controlled seances
Ritewardens – Guardians of graveyards, catacombs, and crypts
Ashseers – Diviners who read fate and memory from cremation ashes

Symbols & Style:

Sigil: A candle within a stylized skull, wax dripping into a spiral
Style: Veil-layered robes, bone tokens, pale ash-paint across the eyes
Tools: Death bells, grave candles, soul-ink, ceremonial coins, remembrance chains

Rumors & Whispers

“They say the Vault holds a ghost that never died.”

“Some Veilwrights can bind a soul to an object. Or a person.”

“If you bury someone without their rites, their spirit walks in your dreams.”

“Khol once exorcised an entire block by whispering a single word.”

“The graveyard paths shift to protect those under Veilwright protection.”