Investigatory Resurrectionist

An Investigatory Resurrectionist is an individual who temporarily brings back to life persons have recently died as part of an ongoing criminal investigation, usually murder, in order to ascertain the identity of the murderer.

Career

Qualifications

There is no doubt that an education in magic, specifically in the school of necromancy, is required to become an Investigatory Resurrectionist. However, unlike a full wizard, only four years of study is required, as opposed to the usual eight to ten, depending on the magic school. In addition to this, Resurrectionists often study herbalism and alchemy, while some even take up artificing as a more scientific means to their craft. 
Resurrectionists must have a cast iron stomach and a steel will, due to the often poor condition that victims are found in. Squeamishness in dealing with recently deceased, and sometimes a bit longer, persons often leads to traumatic resurrections in which the victim relives the pain and misery of their final moments over and over again in a seemingly endless loop. These instances, unfortunately, often fail to produce tangible investigatory results.

Payment & Reimbursement

Professional Resurrectionists are usually paid up front by the victim's family, or by law enforcement agencies. The price for their services is high due to a lack of qualified individuals and can be even higher if the victim was a person of renown. In most cases, Resurrectionists charge for the materials used, the condition of the victim, their time, and on a case-by-case basis depending on the status victim. Prices generally range from 750gp to upwards of 5000gp, for wealthier clientele.

Perception

Purpose

Resurrectionists often serve in law enforcement capacities for cities that can afford their services. Various intelligence services have been known to employ them in their various wet work operations.

Social Status

Resurrectionists, depending on the part of the world that they are located in, are generally viewed with some degree of suspicion by the general populace. Bringing a recently deceased person back to life to answer your questions is, after all, a jarring experience for most that behold it.

Operations

Materials

Practitioners require a fistful of dried sage, an acorn-sized emerald, salt, and a sprinkling of holy water in order to perform their rites. 
A circle of salt is drawn around the victim's body first. The corpse is then sprinkled with the holy water. The emerald is placed into the mouth of the victim as an offering to the various gods of the underworld, and then the sage is placed on top of the corpse and burned. If successful, the emerald is consumed and in its place returns the voice of the deceased ready to answer questions.

Provided Services

Resurrectionists have the ability to temporarily restore a semblance of life to a recently deceased individual. In law enforcement, this is often used to ascertain the identity of a murderer or a victim if it is not known. The spirit, once temporarily reunited with its corporeal form, is compelled to answer questions for a limited duration, which is often reliant on the skill of the practitioner.

Dangers & Hazards

If the ritual is performed incorrectly, or if the person has been dead for too long, the spirit will return and horrifically relive its final moments again and again, or even sometimes can feel the state of their body which can be incredibly agonizing to them depending on its condition. 
Periodically, in truly botched scenarios, the spirit returns to the body, answers the questions, but then refuses to return to the afterlife. In these exceedingly rare cases, the deceased goes mad and becomes a revenant and seeks vengeance on their assailant. They will stop at nothing to enact their revenge; often, innocent people get hurt along the way.

Alternative Names

Death Whisperers

Type

Legal

Demand

High

Legality

Certain cultures and religious practices frown upon the temporary raising of the dead. Some view it as exploitative, capitalizing on a family's grief for profit. Others see it as defiling the sanctity of death and consider most necromancy to be taboo. 
Other cultures embrace it as much as they can. However, as discussed earlier, much depends on the available wealth of the individual, family, or community to be able to afford such services.