Object Reading
Spell, Mysticism, level 1
By holding an item, the caster learns one fact per minute about it: its inscriptions, age, powers, and an image of its last owner, with a small chance of error; traps and curses on it usually go off.
From the book
The caster gleans information from, or through, an object held in his hands or otherwise touching his body. Each minute of reading uncovers one more unknown detail, in this order: what any writing or inscription on it means, roughly how old it is, what powers or uses it has, and finally a mental picture of the last person who kept it for any length of time, which the Game Judge may make somewhat vague.
There is always a 5% chance that what the caster learns is wrong or slightly twisted. Any curse or trap placed on or inside the object is almost certain to go off while he reads it.
At a glance
- Information (1 per minute)
- 1 meaning of writings; 2 approximate age; 3 powers or uses; 4 mental image of last possessor
- Error chance
- 5%
- Risk
- Curses/traps on the object are almost always activated
- Save
- None
- Spell type
- Non-variable
- Requires
- Object held in the caster's hands or otherwise touching his body
A scene
The bronze dagger was found in the ruins of the Ghost City of Attla, and the Atlantis Historical Society wants to know everything about it. The savant Thais holds it in both hands and closes her eyes. In the first minute the inscription opens to her: a curse on thieves. In the second, its age, older than the Second Age. In the third, its use, a sacrificial blade. In the fourth, a flickering face, bearded and angry. Then her fingers begin to burn with cold, and the curse she has just read wakes up.