Dark Whisper

Spell — see Magic and Spellcasting for the rules and the Spell Index for the full list.

This spell is considered contraband in Sair.

Arcane 2, Divine 2 Type: death

Range: special Duration: instantaneous

This spell enables the caster to damage the soul of a living target by whispering into its ear. A successful attack throw is required to whisper in the creature’s ear unless it is helpless or unconscious. If the creature is deaf, the spell automatically fails. Otherwise, upon hearing the whisper, the creature makes a Death saving throw. If the save succeeds, the spell has no effect. If the save fails, the creature suffers one of the following effects, selected by the caster:

• Plagued by whispers from beyond the grave, the creature suffers a -2 to Listening throws and -2 to surprise rolls.

• Disturbed by truths it cannot unhear, the creature mutters to itself constantly. It cannot sneak or surprise opponents, and its spellcasting initiative rolls are at -1.

• Nightmares wrack the creature. Each time it attempts to rest, it must roll 1d6. On a 1, it tosses and turns all night, cannot recover spells, and does not heal.

• The creature attempts to drown its horror in consumption. It suffers a cumulative -1 penalty to all saving throws every hour until it consumes something (smoke, alcohol, etc.)

With the Judge’s permission, the caster might invent his own whisper, no more powerful than those described above. There is no limit to the number of different whispers a creature can suffer from. The effects of a dark whisper cannot be dispelled but can be removed with a dispel evil or remove curse spell.