Wizard's Eye (Divination, Cost, Permanent, Requires one other Divination spell): A common casting on worlds that still have a natural environment, Wizard's Eye reshapes the matter of a living creature, creating an ocular organ 2" in diameter. This spell may be cast on any plant, fungus, or animal with sufficient mass to support an eye of that size. To cast the spell, the caster rolls WIS + 2 vs. the target's CON.
As long as the caster remains within 10 km of the ocular organ, the caster receives a continuous visual feed from the Wizard's Eye. If cast on a sessile organism, Wizard's Eye caster receives a feed from a particular location. At the caster's will, the eye can move within its socket to observe the local environment from different perspectives. If cast on a mobile organism, the caster receives a roving view of any areas through which the host organism passes.
This spell can be cast multiple times, allowing a multi-perspective view of a single location, or a series of feeds from different locations. Of course this can become very confusing and distracting for the caster, leading to all manner of interesting Compels. The feed from even one Wizard's Eye is also enough to prevent the caster from sleeping.
Variants of this spell exist that create ocular organs in non-living matter such as plastic, steel, or concrete. The Nexialists claim to have generated a massive Wizard's Eye in the photosphere of a star. Their assertion has provoked considerable paranoia, as well as a great deal of skepticism, since the costs of such as casting would be daunting to say the least.
So, I have to ask, have you considered the implications of this spell as it could be used on an unwilling victim? The Pruztian Ministry of Peace and Wellbeing will be calling on you shortly.
ReplyDeleteGosh, this spell is part of the Common Lore; it's use is exceedingly widespread. Every teacher admonishes his disciples to never cast this spell without the informed consent of the "recipient" (i.e., target). But that stricture is so routinely violated that ocular lesion removal has become something of a black industry on some worlds. And of course, various practitioners with ties to secretive state agencies make their own use of this rather intrusive spell - although for those purposes the otic variants are even more popular..
DeleteThe most common forms of this spell are no doubt in wide circulation among apprentices and students within institutions teaching or promoting the art and science of spellcraft. The janitorial staff must get really sick and tired of removing these things from the locker rooms and so forth...
DeleteThe potential for the willful abuse for this spell, such as applying it to an interrogation victim and then adding-on one after another stream of images while never letting them get any rest or sleep, seems particularly heinous...it is probably excellent at reducing them to gibbering wrecks, but rarely gets results beyond that. But of course, torture is rarely ever about the answers...
Yikes, this is a nasty use indeed.
DeleteYep. It's never what anyone creates, but what other people do with it that gets interesting. I much prefer Trey's idea...but I expect some of the stuff above there is also very likely to happen as a result of this sort of spell. Like I said; the Pruztians would love to gain access to this sort of thing. They're far from the only ones...
DeleteIt is a good spell. Well designed. Useful. The Nexialists will want to keep vigilant over who gets access to this sort of thing.
Thanks, high complements! I think this is the first spell I've written with a sizable comments thread.
Delete_"The Nexialists claim to have generated a massive Wizard's Eye in the photosphere of a star."_
ReplyDeleteOne would suspect such a feat (if possible) would allow vision into a much extended range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Though exactly what wavelengths that predominated would vary with type of star.
Yes indeed. It might be quite useful for visualizing things beyond the EM spectrum as well: gravity waves, dark matter structures, and the topographies of hyperspace and slipknots.
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