Spirit Tender

Career

Qualifications

The necessary qualities for nearly every individual spirit tender were entirely different because one aspect of anyone holding the position was overwhelmingly more important than anything else: being regarded positively by and remaining interesting to the local spirits and Fey. Since those entities vary so much and some amount of that variance is intrinsically linked to occupying a different place, there was almost no chance that the same qualities that make a particular mortal well regarded by the spirits local to one village would be desirable in another unless the villages in question were close enough together to share the same spirits.

Career Progression

Most often a spirit tender was appointed for life, and since the job had only one associated and very general duty, very few had discrete levels to advance through, unless the peculiarities of the local spirits directly encouraged it. That's certainly not to say that very many were monotonous, though some areas are home to spirits with a great deal of affinity for routine, as a general rule they are chaotic enough in nature to promote a very eclectic work experience.

Payment & Reimbursement

Any village that wanted to survive kept its spirit tender as happy (or compliant) as they possibly could. There are extreme examples on both ends of the spectrum where a village would abuse or manipulate its tender from a young age into providing their necessary service without much compensation, or where a spirit tender abused their influence to establish a tyrannical rule in all but name. In most cases however, it was simply a well paid job that afforded great respect and/or fear.

Perception

Purpose

A spirit tender was necessary when Khthon was much less civilized, and then propped up for a long time after that was less the case by the influence of all the cultures of the elves, who all shared great affinity and respect for their ancestors. With the various deaths, disappearances and withdrawals of the elves and the forward march of civilization, they are so much less necessary that only a very few towns still have them, many no longer even remembering the practice. In its heyday it was essentially an ambassador to the spirits that lived near frontier towns, managing relations between them and the local mortals similar to the way druids still perform, but with a more civic focus than a religious one.

Type

Arcane