Cleansing
Cleansing Damage is the antithesis of Corruption Damage. Rather than compromising the integrity of the Spirit, Cleansing removes spiritual corruption and restores the soul toward its natural state. For a living person suffering from Corruption, Cleansing can therefore function as a cure, provided the soul has not also been tainted by Abrogation. Once Abrogation has entered the equation, higher magic is required to restore what has been damaged.
The relationship is very different for the Undead. Undead creatures operate through corrupted souls, soul shards, or collections of soul fragments, existing in a negative spiritual space where corruption is not merely an affliction but a source of their continued existence. Cleansing therefore damages the corrupted spiritual structure that sustains them. What heals the living can destroy the dead. There is a certain justice to that.
Cleansing Sources
Cleansing Damage generally comes from forces designed to remove corruption, restore spiritual integrity, or impose a state of spiritual purity upon a corrupted being. These forces may be magical, divine, or derived from archetypal powers and artefacts specifically associated with cleansing.
Examples include:
- Spiritual wards
- Magical spells
- Archetypal powers
- Divine artefacts
- Cleansing rituals
- Purifying magical effects
- Other supernatural effects that restore spiritual integrity
Cleansing Saving Throws
For the Undead and creatures composed of soul shards, Will is the primary defense against Cleansing Damage. These creatures survive through sheer spiritual determination, continuing to exist despite the fact that they are already dead. Their Will is therefore the force that holds their corrupted spiritual structure together.
A soul-shard creature may resist Cleansing by sheer refusal to cease existing: I am not dead. I will not die. A sufficiently strong Will can preserve the creature's negative spiritual state against the cleansing force attempting to restore it.
Living creatures suffering from Corruption may have a different relationship with the effect. Because Cleansing is restorative to an untainted or merely corrupted soul, resistance may not always be desirable. When a saving throw is appropriate, Empathy or Prescience may help the victim recognize and accept the restoration rather than resisting it.
Cleansing Mitigation
Cleansing Damage can be actively mitigated by shielding the Spirit from the cleansing force or by disrupting the magic producing it. Counter-magic, protective wards, and spiritual shielding can all interfere with Cleansing Damage, particularly when it is being used as an attack against an Undead creature.
Other forms of mitigation include:
- Counter-magic
- Protective wards
- Spiritual shielding
- Anti-cleansing artefacts or effects
- Breaking the source of the cleansing effect
- Removing the creature from the affected area
- Interrupting a cleansing ritual or spell
Cleansing Related Conditions
Depletion of the Negative Soul occurs when Cleansing Damage reduces the corrupted spiritual energy sustaining an Undead or soul-shard creature. As that negative spiritual reserve is depleted, the creature may become increasingly unstable, lose access to innate powers, or become unable to function properly.
If Cleansing Damage reduces the creature's negative spiritual state to zero or higher, the corrupted spiritual structure can no longer sustain the Undead creature. The result is Death, as the force holding the creature in its unnatural state has been completely removed.
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