A Spell: Personal Hermitage

Which Is a Simple, Yet Dangerous, Spell and Prayer Which Renders All Other Creatures Invisible and Increasingly Insensate to the Caster

A. Hermit

The life of a hermit is one valuable for personal and religious insight. It is equally inconvenient and difficult to return from once fully embraced. This Spell allows the potential hermit or confirmed misanthrope to dip a metaphysical toe into the chill bath of solitude.

Let t equal the moment of casting. Let x equal zero. Let nx represent a period of time in the following sequence.
  • n0: instantaneous.
  • n1: one minute.
  • n2: one hour.
  • n3: twelve hours.
  • n4: one day.
  • n5: one half-month.
  • n6: one month.
  • n7: one year.
  • n8: one lifetime (the expected lifetime of the caster).

At time t+n0, all other creatures become invisible to the caster. This does not apply in the reverse, nor do any of the additional, later effects of the Spell. Unlike facets of some other Spells, ‘creaturehood’ is not a Universally defined trait: what does and does not count as a creature is dependent on the religion and philosophy of the caster. A wizard who desperately believes the sun to be as much a creature as he himself is would immediately find himself in pitch darkness upon working this spell. Add one to x.

While this Spell is in effect, at time t+nx, let t equal t+nx. The caster may now attempt a test of Will to avoid the loss of another sensory input from all other creatures. The caster may choose to fail this test of Will. The difficulty of the test of Will is increased by the value of x. The caster may choose the type of input to block: sound, scent, taste, touch, magnetic orientation, life detection, etc. Should the caster attempt the test of Will, yet fail, add one to x.

The effects of the Spell cease only should the caster desire to interact with another creature and the caster succeeds a test of Will as described above.This test may be repeated once in each interval nx until it succeeds. The most straightforward way to convince a wizard or priest under the effects of this Spell to desire to interact with another creature is for that creature to assault the spellcaster before they have embraced the Spell to the such a degree that contact is impossible. Each such interaction may reduce x by one.

The spell does not require concentration nor consciousness. Extended exposure to the Spell often results in effects identical to true hermitage: madness or solipsism.

The Example of Brother Theo Who Did Not Enjoy Travel

Brother Theo tires of the insipid gruntings of the pilgrims he has been tasked to herd towards the City of Three Hundred gods*. Mosquitoes and flies harass his moist places. Pack animals defecate mere inches away from his pristinely virginal body. Birds mock his plight as they dive and sing in the sky above.

He closes his eyes and submits a careful prayer to his holy patron, The Nice Mother. He contemplates the Nice Food, the Warm Hug, and the Good Boy Blessing.

His thoughts on Her, a smile returns to his face as his eyes reopen. He can almost convince himself he is alone on the road, if he holds his breath and ignores the sounds and moves erratically enough to dodge the biting flies he can no longer see.

A minute later, the noises of his companions fade away. He hears only the wind, his own footsteps, and the creaking of the wagons. (The wagons which appear to be pulled by nothing at all, as the teachings of the Nice Mother do not assign a Soul to either wagons themselves of the Concept of the Wagon.)

The pain and itching of bug bites are next to cease, a minute later. Then the aroma a minute after that. Blessings to the Nice Mother! He is on the road with some wagons and things are Nice.

Brother Theo relaxes and half the day goes by.

The wagons around him stop abruptly. Brother Theo doesn't feel the donkey into which he fumbles, but he does feel it when he falls to the ground. It takes him a few moments to clear his head, before the rest of the world around him snaps into place. Bandits have killed half the pilgrims and are working on finishing the job. He is covered in itching welts. He lies back down and pretends to be dead while desperately not scratching at his Not Nice Moist Places.

* Even collectively, the three hundred gods† are minor enough that the City felt that capitalizing the ‘g’ here might unduly vex more important Deities.

† The actual number of gods is unknown. The civilization venerating the Nice Mother holds a tabu against numeracy outside of the accounting caste, which is not authorized to interact with clergy.

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