A Spell: The Immanent Illusion

Doom Arriving Eventually

Which is a Difficult Spell Which Creates Not That Which Is Not There, But The Impression That It Will Be There Soon

Most illusion magic is easily testable by the savvy adventurer. False fire may not convincingly burn a sliver of wood. A lack of scent may betray a simulated beast. It is far more difficult to disprove that which does not present itself to be measured.

The Immanent Illusion creates an illusion partially translated into the future. It is experienced as a belief or dread that the subject of the illusion (which is not present) is about to be so. This may cause those under its glamour to avoid a feared subject or tarry long awaiting a desired subject.

The caster decides on a subject for the illusion and describes it in a script written or engraved somewhere immobile. Moving the script more than a few inches divorces it from the magic, as does destroying it. The material used to write the script or the strength of the material in which it is engraved determines how long the spell remains effective. The caster may use any script in which they may write normally, though most casters who have a personal script used within spellbooks will use that as a form of encryption. The script may be written in any size or location, though it is only effective on those who hypothetically could see it without additional effort of a minute or more, as the movement of the illusion into the future restricts it also to a certain subset of probability coördinates.

 

The script is usually placed in small letters or ideograms above a doorframe or other portal, so that most humanoids passing through it, standing upon a rock on the other side, and searching very closely would be able to see it. Another option with similar results is to inscribe the script on the bottom of a flagstone that could have theoretically been flipped over and examined by a passerby. In these circumstances, it is safe to assume those passing within 20' of the doorway or flagstone may be targeted. The target's movement rate should be considered.

 

Those targeted must make a Will save against the strength of the spell. Those who succeed are unaffected. Those who fail appear to be unaffected, but in 10-60 minutes will become convinced that they are almost certainly about to encounter the subject of the illusion. When more than one subject is affected, they all fall under the illusion's power at the same time. It may appear to those present that those affected have succeeded in perceiving things that those unaffected have not.

Targets who encounter this spell are not immunized against it should they approach the script again. In face, unless they have been fully dissuaded that the illusion is true, the difficulty of resisting the spell increases. This may lead to situations where targets become convinced that at any moment, from any direction, that promised by the script will come to pass. Those forewarned about the illusion may always make the related Will saves at an advantage.

 

Should the script be altered and remain comprehensible, the illusion changes to match the new content of the script.

The Example of The Promised Gold

Wizard Tib wished to protect a certain area of a certain cavern complex, which held a certain vein of gold she believed to be the transmuted nerves of an ancient dragon. Rumors of approaching miners migrating in search of riches led her to deploy the Immanent Illusion.

At the mouth of the cavern and at several other choke points, she made her inscriptions and hid them under dust and mud, using the tongue she and her familiar shared.

“The Gold Is Just Below”

Many were ensorcelled by the phrase. Groups refused to turn back, so sure they were that the gold that would make their fortunes lay just through the next tunnel or at the bottom of a underground cataract. The few who resisted Tib's magic once and began an uneasy tread back up and out would often turn right back around for another look, so sure the gold was about to appear, behind and below.

An Example of Vandalism at Ricannon City

No one knows who hid the pebble at the main gates of Ricannon City. A bit of mortar was scraped from the stone wall and replaced with a white rock, a jeweller's loupe ensconced behind it. On the white rock, black runes in so small a script as to require the loupe to make sense of them. Later, the city wizards puzzled out the runes meant "plague is here", but could not trace them to a culture or individual.

Panic started less than an hour after the gates opened for market day. Crowds sure of disease even without symptoms, pushing through crowds trying into enter. Clerics called for desperately, unsure what to do without any evidence of pestilence to be found. As rumor spread, those untouched by the baleful illusion became more dangerous than those affected, as they added wild details. 

Nearly all of the city fled into the wilderness. As they convinced themselves it was safe to return, slowly, they fell victim to the illusion yet again. It took four days to realize the main gate had something to do with it and to convince a party of brave souls to examine the gate to discover the white rock and remove it. Hundreds had died.

Grafitti is now punishable by death in Ricannon City, and an eye was plucked from each jeweler who dwelt within in retaliation.