Cleric

leric

The healing path of the Suhodan, sworn to the spirit Jeonghwa (정화). Clerics mend the living, repel the dead with sacred light, and carry the argument that the Maggi-corrupted are suffering rather than evil.

Patron and calling

The Cleric path follows Jeonghwa (정화, “Purification”), one of the Five Celestial Spirits, the spirit of healing and sacred light. Clerics heal and repel the dead. In the Age of Endurance, that work runs in two directions: tending the wounded who push back corruption, and confronting the restless dead the Fracturing left stranded in the mortal world.

The Cleric’s creed frames the work as restoration: “To heal is to restore what the Fracturing stole.”

The path’s compassion-first reading is set by its leader, High Cleric Eun-Ae. She holds that every creature corrupted by the Maggi is suffering, and she seeks a way to “cure” them rather than only destroy them. That view sits against First Shield Beom-Seok’s hardline stance (exile or execute anyone exposed to heavy Maggi), and Eun-Ae’s warm, soothing manner occasionally breaks through even his walls.

Dealing with the dead

When the pillars broke, the boundary between worlds tore and the dead lost the way out. Spirits piled up in the mortal world, the ones who died violently, suddenly, or with things unfinished. The early Suhodan response was dispersal: Clerics tried to banish these spirits. It worked for a while, but a dispersed spirit would reform in the same spot days later, reaching for the same things and saying the same words.

That failure is the root of the Cleric’s two shared subpaths. A Cleric named Mu-Yeong, who had served as a Cleric for fifteen years doing dispersal rituals, noticed the spirits were people held by Han (한), unresolved grief, and proposed talking to them instead of banishing them. Her work founded the Danja tradition. (See Danja (Jeopsindanja) and Mu-Yeong.)

Leader: High Cleric Eun-Ae

A wizened old woman, which is rare in the modern day. As a young woman she experienced the Fracturing and knew from the beginning her role was to heal. Her chambers keep lit incense and are meant to be welcoming to all who need her guidance. She designed the Ssitgim-gut, the cleansing ritual used in the attempt to purify the pillar fragment and restore Gloth, once known as Han-Gyeol. (See High Cleric Eun-Ae and The Gloth Arc.)

Tutor: Sindo Min-Soo

An older Cleric who has long served in the role. Permanently exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes and robes always slightly stained with herbs and tonics. He is often a nervous wreck behind a calm appearance. He offers alms to any ailment when able, but prefers to keep the benches in his domain clean, preserving the peace within. (See Sindo Min-Soo.)

Shared subpaths

Where the Cleric path borders its neighbors in the Circle of Balance, two shared traditions have grown.

• Danja (Jeopsindanja, 접신단자, “Those Who Receive Spirits”), the Cleric and Wizard subpath. Both study Giun; the Danja use that shared understanding to commune with the dead, resolve their Han through Gut (굿) rituals, and earn the willing aid of spirits they have helped. Colloquially called Necromancers. (See Danja (Jeopsindanja).)
• Songhondan (송혼단, “The Order of Soul Sending”), shortened to Song, the Guardian and Cleric subpath. The Song recover the fallen from Maggi-rich areas and perform funeral rites that keep the dead from rising as something worse. Their rites are elaborate, precise dances that channel Cleric purification through physical movement, drawing on the Guardian tradition of discipline and form. Their compassion-first leaning puts them close to Eun-Ae despite the Guardian half of their training. (See Songhondan (Song).)

The Danja and the Song work closely together. The Danja often accompany Song retrieval missions to commune with a spirit when a body cannot be recovered in time.

See also

• The Five Celestial Spirits
• Maggi
• Han (Unresolved Grief)
• Seonhwa
• Guardian
• Wizard
• Transcendence (Beyond Level 99)
• Danja (Jeopsindanja)
• Songhondan (Song)
• The Circle of Balance (Shared Subpaths)
• High Cleric Eun-Ae
• Sindo Min-Soo
• Mu-Yeong
• The Gloth Arc

Source: ETK Lore Bible (General Lore Considerations: Maggi; Path Leaders: High Cleric Eun-Ae; Tutor NPCs: Sindo Min-Soo; The Circle of Balance: Danja, Songhondan; Overall Storyline: The Ssitgim-gut; Deep Lore: The Necromancer/Danja); foundation doc (Five Paths and Patrons, Jeonghwa).