Embalmer

*"So beautiful, so exquisite… Notice the skin. It retains all the warmth, all the pliability she possessed in life. Why it’s almost as if your beloved were alive again, my lord."*

## Basic

(NDM) Not everyone wishes to be interred in Morr’s Gardens. Some prefer a more preserving process after their death, for themselves or their animal companions, and they turn to the embalmers. These masters of pickling, preservation, and taxidermy are not just a fad of the wealthy. The individuals increasingly have a hand in the growing field of medicine, and money can be made hand over fist in selling their curios to customers with a particular purpose in mind. Many priests of Morr (and much of the general population) consider cutting bits off people and putting them in jars to be an assault on both the body and spirit of the deceased, and Witch Hunters are well aware of how easily such merchants turn to the dark arts. As such, many embalmers choose to hide their Human exhibits behind their animal displays or their surgery services until the day scientists of their calibre are finally given the respect and recognition they deserve. Embalmers don’t usually encounter the Undead, but they work hand-in-glove with grave robbers and tomb robbers who often do. They also tend to know a lot of necromancers – not that they would ever reveal their customer’s identity, of course.

### Secondary Profile

**Skills:** Academic Knowledge (Necromancy, Science), Evaluate, Haggle, Heal, Perception, Read/Write, Sleight of Hand, Speak Language (Classical), Trade (Apothecary)

**Talents:** Dealmaker or Streetwise, Resistance to Disease, Surgery

**Trappings:** Abacus, Ether-Soaked Apron, Spare Hand, Trade Tools (Barber-Surgeon), Writing Kit

### **Career Entries**

Apothecary, Barber-Surgeon, Student, Tradesman

### **Career Exits**

Apprentice Wizard, Burgher, Grave Robber, Physician, Scholar

**Note:** With your GM’s permission, you may substitute Embalmer for Barber-surgeon when rolling for your Starting Career.

## Ruprecht Klotten

This weasely little man is easy enough to ignore. Always dressed in black, pale-skinned and scowling, it is easy to mistake Ruprecht as a villain or at least someone to be avoided. This would be a mistake, for Herr Klotten is an incredibly useful man to know. Ruprecht is a barbersurgeon who turned to embalming after he discovered that he preferred his patients dead and quiet.

This does not change the fact that he is an expert healer, doctor and surgeon. His rates are reasonable and he doesn’t ask questions, making him far superior to the reputable (and often less skilled) physicians who are likely to report sword wounds and gun shot injuries to the watch.

Ruprecht Klotten has an Intelligence of 55%, has taken Skill Mastery in Heal and has the Surgery talent. He charges half the rate of a normal physician (see WFRP page 121) and is very discrete. His only downsides are his unpleasant bedside manner and that he does his work right next to his corpses. His morgue is spotlessly clean but can be unnerving to the uninitiated. Stories that he sells the corpses of those he could not save to necromancers must surely be only stories.

## The Resurrection Men

If there are to be any advances in anatomy and modern medicine, physicians need corpses to study. But the process of acquiring cadavers is not a pleasant one for these highly educated gentlemen of science. So to whom do they turn? The Resurrection Men are one part grave robbers and one part criminal syndicate.

There is almost no way in the Empire today to legally acquire a corpse for medical study; a few condemned prisoners are turned over, but the demand for these is high and inevitably these corpses end up in the hands of only the well-connected. Anyone else must confine their researches purely to the theoretical or turn to the Resurrection Men.

Embalmers play a key role in this organisation, for it is they who know what corpses can be stolen with little fuss. They also prepare the corpses, ensuring that putrefaction does not spoil its value. Rarely are they the actual thieves – they leave that grisly task to the grave robbers. There is no doubt that there is real money to be made, as a properly prepared corpse sold to a rich physician is worth ten gold crowns at least. Of course, the Resurrection Men are despised as ghouls and vandals, but as long as there is money in dead flesh, you can be assured that this trade will continue.