CW: Discussion of waste products
The
Guild of Nightsoil Collectors in
Caelester manages the city's sewer system, and sells
tar and lamp oil produced by this system. Naturally, exposure to some of these substances is extremely unhygenic, which has led the guild to develop a range of uniforms to protect its members. The exposue suit is the most advanced of these, capable of protecting against not only the unpleasant substances any citizen would expect workers to encounter, but also against the dangerous necrotic energies used to accelerate the decay of waste and produce vaaluable substances like tar and lamp oil.
The Uniform
An exposure suit is a full body protective solution, designed for both full coverage and ease of cleansing, worn over regular working clothes. It consists of a long sleeved leather jacket, leather breeches, knee high leather boots, capped off with a leather hood, googles and a cloth mask. All of the leather is heavily oiled, to keep liquids from seeping through, with the gaps between pieces sealed with beeswax. The leather jacket is sewn to incorporate tight leather gloves, as the gap between glove and sleeve has proven difficult to keep sealed with beeswax alone in the past.
Currently, the greatest weakness in the design is the cloth mask, a concession to the unfortunate need for workers to breathe despite the danger. Attempts have been made to apply proper waterproofing, but every design put forward restricts breathing far too much. Shortly before the
Caelester Earthquake, a brass helmet designed for diving was being tested as a potential replacement for all headgear, with air being supplied by a hose of gut from outside the danger zone, but the fragility of this air hose and the limited visibility through the helm's viewports caused problems, including one disastrous incident where a master of the guild succumbed to the
Rising Sickness after accidentally severing his air line. After the earthquake, the extensive repairs needed took precedence over this project, and work has not resumed since, as these new diving helms remain cost-prohibitive until Caelester can regain its economic standing.
Divine Protections
Of course, exposure to mere sewage (while unpleasant) does not require such extreme protections. To ward off the necrotic energies some guild members encounter on the job, a divine blessing is ideal, though this can come from any temple or deity willing to provide this service. Each piece of the suit is treated in blessed olive oil, aside from the cloth mask, which must be freshly soaked in holy water before use (this makes it quite uncomfortable, but breathing in the air without such protection can infect one with the
Rising Sickness, so most workers put up with this without complaint). A vial of holy water worn in an amulet around the neck grants additional protection, and can be cracked open to re-wet the mask if it starts to dry out too soon.
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