and unwavering in their beliefs, and can even convince mages that perhaps they have followed the wrong course in pursuing power. They can be equally relent- less and self-sacrificing in attempting to turn Satan’s minions from the path of damnation.
Sister Laetitia of the Convent of St. Cecilia in England is reputed to have discoursed with a vampire throughout three successive nights, praying over the creature’s bed during the day. At the end of the third night, the vampire resolved to watch the sun rise. Sister Laetitia gave him the last rites as the sun scorched away his flesh. She held his hand, even as he caught fire, and called upon God to save his repentant soul in Jesus’s name. She bears the scars of his passing proudly, as testament to her dedication in saving souls for God.
The Sisters are not foolish idealists, though. Should a mage, Devil worshiper or other servant of the enemy prove resistant to the world of God and be unwilling to repent, they have no hesitation in turning the sinner over to the martially inclined members of the Inquisi- tion for a more final solution to the debate. After all, it is better to dispatch the unrepentant soul to Hell than allow it to corrupt other souls around it.
Ghosts
Ghosts are a special case to the Sisters of St. John. Some of the order’s most talented prophets, like Agnes of Kent, receive their visions directly from the spirits of the dead. While the Bible forbids attempts to contact the departed, it does not speak on the matter of dealing with the dead who contact the living. That, at least, is
the theology to which the order clings. The Sisters view the restless dead as pitiable souls who have been granted one last chance to redeem themselves through the direct intervention of God. Surely, argues the order, the Devil would gain no boon by denying souls entrance to his kingdom.
The Sisters understand that most spirits have some task of penance yet to perform before they can pass on to their final reward, and are often guided towards aiding them by their visions. This is not an element of their calling that they share widely with other mem- bers of the Inquisition. Only the Red Order participates willingly in these missions, as much for the opportunity to learn about the spirit as to help redeem its soul.
No Sister is allowed to deal with a spirit on her own. At least two other members of the order must be kept informed of the inquisitor’s dealing with the spirit at all times, so that they can help the Sister spot deception or wrong-doing on the part of the spirit that could reveal it as a demon posing as one of the restless dead.
Exorcism
If there exists an exception to the order’s policy of treating each encounter with the supernatural on an individual basis, it is possessing spirits. Those demons that force their way into the bodies of innocent Chris- tian folk and slowly corrupt body and soul with their mere proximity are anathema to the Sisters. The order believes that it is charged with protecting the souls of
the Inquisition and the people of Christendom; pos- sessing spirits are its chief foe in that task.
Thankfully, the very same mechanism the order uses to find its novices also allow it to find people possessed by demons. The order has a widely and publicly known reputation for dealing with the possessed. It has enough agents through the nunneries of Europe, its members who have chosen the life of an anchorite or those who have transferred to a different order that a sister can be sum- moned to a possession within a matter of days. The Sister of St. John who first hears of the possession will ensure that the possessed person is restrained in some way to prevent them escaping before help can arrive. In some cases, that entails the victim’s family maintaining a vigil over their suffering relative or, in extreme cases, calling upon the local authorities to imprison the possessed person.
The order makes no distinction between the dif- ferent forms of demons, ghosts and other spirits that can possess the living. The sheer act of possession is enough to earn the enmity of a Sister, whatever the reason. She uses all the skills at her disposal to drive the spirit from the victim’s body, including the use of holy relics where appropriate. If none succeed, the Sister orders the victim put to the sword in the hope that the soul will find escape in death that it could not achieve in life. If the spirit is driven from the body yet lingers in the vicinity, the Sister summons the aid of other inquisitors to help destroy the thing before it can inflict itself upon another Christian soul.