Dowsing
Spell, Mysticism, level 4
With a forked hazel twig, the caster locates water, a chosen metal, or (by map dowsing) the direction of a place once visited.
From the book
Holding a Y-shaped sprig of hazelwood in both hands as a pointer, the caster divines where certain things are. Dowsing can find water, above or below ground, or any one metal. A third use, map dowsing, finds the location or direction of any place he has visited at least once. The technique is reliable out to 100 ft. and lasts 1 minute per level of ability.
At a glance
- Requires
- Y-shaped sprig of hazelwood held in both hands
- Finds
- 1 Water; 2 Any single metal; 3 Direction (map dowsing) to a place visited at least once
- Range
- Reliably useful to 100 ft.
- Duration
- 1 minute per level of ability
- Save
- None
- Spell type
- Variable, as stated
A scene
The wadi in Baluchistan has been dry since spring, and the herders' goats are dying. The savant Shirin walks the riverbed slowly, holding a forked hazel twig in both hands, its tip pointed ahead of her like a hound's nose. For a long while it only trembles. Then, near a pile of gray rocks, it wrenches downward so hard she nearly drops it. The herders dig. Two feet down the sand darkens. At four feet water seeps in, cold and brown, and the children shout for the goats.