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Glantrian Spells

by Ohad Shaham

Morphail's Mundane Reflection (in AD&D schools- necromancy/illusion).
level: 2
range: 30' (10 meters)
duration : one night/on day (depending one when cast)
AoE : every mirror and shadow in range
save: special

This spell was devised by Morphail in AC834 and it is currently known only to him and the noble vampires of Boldavia who obey the "vampire law" and "play the masquerade".

Mundane Reflection will cause all mirrors in the 10m range to show the reflection of the vampire and create a shadow for the vampire as if he/she was mortal.

This illusion is almost perfect but observers who have a reason to inspect the reflection may throw a wisdom check with a -5 penalty. Those who succeed do not automatically understand the illusion but notice one or more suspicious facts:

1. The reflection doesn't smile when the vampire does...
2. The shadow is not always "attached" to the vampire's feet.
3. When the vampire speaks the reflection moves its lips but if someone can read lips it can be noticed that the reflection always replaces "good words" (good, light, love, truth, etc'.) with "bad words" (bad, dark, lie, hate...)

Morphail's Slowsnake (AD&D- necromancy/summoning)
level: 4
range: 1m (when cast. the snake can be controlled from up to 8 miles)
duration: 1 week
effect: 1 Slowsnake
save: paralysis

this spell was researched by Morphail before he led his people to Glantri. it is originally a Nithian spell that became "ancient village magic" in Traladara (see Morten Greis Peterson's wonderful "Taraldaran Village Magic".)

it's major use is spying and assassination.

this spell creates a Slowsnake, a being from the nightmare dimension that will serve the caster for one week. the caster can handle the snake without danger and can send simple commands to the snake for up to 14-km (8 miles/one typical hex) .

the Slowsnake is totally in visible but this is because its magic is suggestive (like hypnotism) those who know of the slowsnake or those who have a reason to look for something suspicious in their surroundings would see a 3' long grey snake with red eyes. it can be discovered with regular divination spells.

the snake can be dispelled or dismissed magically but it cannot be turned as an undead. the snake cannot cross a body of water or a protection from evil spell.

the caster can see and hear through the eyes of the Slowsnake as if it was a Familiar.

the snake moves at the rate of 1 km/h (or less than a mile per hour) or 30' per minute (about ten times as slow as a human). the snake has 1 HP and an AC of 10. the snake is almost helpless in melee. a Slowsnake can bite an unmoving opponent, no damage is done from the bite except the target has to save against paralysis or be paralysed for 3d4+3 hours.

after paralysing a victim the (still invisible) Slowsnake starts the long process of swallowing the victim whole. the snake can swallow even an ogre-sized opponent. the process takes 12 hours that (if not interrupted) at their end both the Slowsnake and the victims vanish never to be seen again. all that's left is the snakes skin. if the Slowsnake is interrupted during the swallowing ( by observing checking the victim causing the snake to appear to them) anyone seeing the gruesome sight saves versus fear or run away refusing to approach the Slowsnake for the duration of the spell.

the swallowed victim can be saved if anyone remains by simply killing the snake.

at any stage the Slowsnake lives behind it skin when killed.

Morphail's Evil Coal (magical item)

This is a small piece of black coal given to Morphail by Alphaks himself. Morphail has four of these as there are probably more held by priests of Alphaks around the world. the coals are part of a larger coal- an artifact located in Alphaks home plane. the stone causes all clerical spells of 3ed level or lower in a range of 20' from the coal to be automatically dispelled. only spells of non-entropic immortals are affected.

Another power of the coal is that in the hands of an undead it receives a saving throw to negate any turning attempts.

Dame Camille's "S'occuper de Loup" (eye on wolf). (Divination)
level: 2
range: touch
duration: 1 turn
AoE: 1 round transparent object (like a monocle or spying glass).
save: nil

this spell was invented by Étienne d'Ambrevilles' ageless mother to help fight lycanthropy in the family.

this spell cast on a transparent object will allow anyone looking through it to see lycanthropes in their other form (animal or human).

the subject of the spell may not be aware that its identity has been discovered.

Innocenti's "Bells of Alarm"
level: 1
range: sight
duration: 6 turns
AoE: all living humanoids in range
save: nil

this spell was invented by Innocenti the Malapietra as a mean of defence against assassins.

this weak version of ESP alerts the caster of any human or humanlike beings who think of killing him/her by a ringing sound heard only by the caster.

...........(don't show players the rest of the paragraph)............

the downside is that the spell does not discriminate between people who are about to assassin the caster and those who just think of killing him/her in a temporary rage or a passing thought.

lots of members of house Sirecchia were wrongfully killed for their thoughts of Innocenti...

Harald's Instant Jelly (in AD&D - alteration)
level: 2
range: 10 ft
duration: 3 turns +1/level
AoE: 10'x10'x10' volume of water
save: nil

Prince Harald of Haaskinz made this spell as a means of cleaning and patrolling the dungeons under the Great School of Magic. it is also fairly useful in combat.

to activate this spell all the caster needs is a sufficient volume of water, and a magical powder that is thrown in to the water. the result is a gelatinous cube that the caster has full control of. the only commands that can be given to the cube are movements (left, right, forward). the cube is exactly like in the RC and after the end of the spell anything caught in the cube that is not magical will vanish with it. magical items will fall to the ground.

Genevieve de Sephora's "Emotional Landscapes" (terrain du sentiment) (in AD&D- charm)
level: 8
range: 1km per level
duration: permanent
AoE: one square km (or mile) for every level of the caster.
save: none

this spell was in an ancient scroll that Genevieve brought with here to Mystara. it is an old la'Terran spell that originated in ancient Greece. Dame de' Sephora couldn't master it until she reached 19 level in Glantri. the d'Ambrevilles don't know it yet but she is planning to teach it in the school in order to immortalise herself (not as in becoming an immortal just in name...). BTW I got the name from a song by Bjork...

Emotional landscapes will cause a homogenic region of one square km per level to become imbued with one magical emotion. this only affects one well defined terrain (desert, lake, forest etc.) the caster must name an emotion at the time of the casting. examples could be - fear, hate, love, joy, pleasures, depression and so on. all living things in the terrain are affected by the spell and get no saving throw.

the effects vary from case to case (lots of DM discretion) but a few examples follow:

fields of joy: all it this field become blissfully happy and want to stay there, but not if someone attacks them or hurts them.

fear mountain: all in this place will want to leave it except for the most brave souls who will still be frightened like little children when they are in the effect of the spell.

hate swamp: people will hate anyone they don't know and see the bad sides in people they do. it won't get as extreme as loved ones attacking each other but two armies would certainly war against each other.

love hill: strangers will fall in love. people who hate each other wont.

------(spoilers alert)-------
Prince Brannart's Well Kept Secret (AD&D- abjuration)
level: 7
range: touch
duration: permanent
AoE: one person

This spell was devised by Brannart but is now taught at high levels of the Great School.

Well Kept Secret is strong anti divination magic. by use of this spell the person in question receives absolute protection from divining magic about one fact. only one Well Kept Secret can be cast on one person.

the fact should be said out loud at the moment of casting and wording is important.

all divining spells that would reveal the specified fact will not work.

if ESP is used against the person no thoughts about the kept secret will be picked up. true seeing will not reveal a secret identity and detect magic wont show a spell cast on the subject.

commune/contact plane, will allow questions that don't directly concern the fact but will give false answers to questions directly concerning the secret.

for example Brannart's secret is "I am an undead" . a priest casting a commune has three questions.

he asks "can Brannart die of old age?" and gets "no"

he asks "can Brannart serving darkness?" and gets "yes"

he asks "is Brannart a lich" and gets "no" (cause a yes would mean he is undead).

Étienne's "Chambre en Myste're" (room of secrecy)
*This is a stronger version of Geoff's clerical spell- "sanctuary".
Level: 5
Range: 3'
Duration: 1 turn per level
AoE: an area not larger than 5'x5'x5' + 1' in each per level.

This spell was researched by Étienne d'Ambreville and is now taught to high level students and faculty in the great school of magic.

The spell will create a secure room against any intrusion or spying attempt. It will cause all the windows in a building (if there are any) to appear black. If the area is not in a building the people inside will look like they are doing exactly what they have done before the casting (sitting and talking probably). No sound can exit the area of effect. ESP, Clairaudience, Clairvoyance and Wizard eye, cannot penetrate the spell nor can any Familiar or similar spell. This spell also prevents magical or polymorphed creatures from entering the area. The DM decides what else can't penetrate the area of protection.

Brannart's "Tear the Soul"
Level: 7
Range: 20' plus 3' per level
Duration: instantaneous and permanent
AoE: one mortal creature

"Tear the Soul" is Brannart McGregor's name for this ancient and evil spell he rediscovered a few decades ago. The origin of this spell lies in the far past and in the depths of the sea of dread where the Taymoran Empire once lay. The original spell was used by the necromancer kings for sacrifice and other dark ceremonies. This spell is used not only to kill and torture the body, but also as an act against the undying soul of the living.

Brannart has already tried this spell on some of his relatives and ancestors.

This spell, when cast, shoots a black shadowy claw toward the enemy that automatically hits the target.

The claw ravages through the soul of the target and tries to tear it apart. The target suffers 4d6 points of damage (no save) and than casts a saving throw against spells with a -3 penalty.

If the save is made the target only suffers the HP damage and the spell ends.

If the save fails, the claw carves the target's soul and tears part of it out of the body.

The soul part is based on the idea that life is composed from the spheres of power.

The DM rolls 1d6 or decides on one of the options:

1. The soul splits to matter-time, energy-thought and dies in the "normal" way. The character can be raised by normal means as in the spell "finger of death".
2. The Matter part of the creature is destroyed and disintegrates to the ground as the Time part vanishes. The recipient becomes a ghost and has all the abilities and attributes of that undead being. (The character remains in the PC's control if the DM allows.)
3. The Energy part is destroyed. The body falls to the ground and the soul becomes a "shadow" at the control of the DM. The creature cannot be raised or reincarnated.
4. The Thought part is lost. The body becomes a mindless, brain-eating zombie under the control of the DM. It cannot be raised back to life. In time the zombie will rot and become a skeleton.
5. The same as above only the time part is also somehow detached from the body. In this case the character becomes a zombie- like creature, that looks exactly as it did in life. It will not rot or change and has regeneration of 3 points per round.
6. All the spheres are demolished. The creature ceases to exist in all aspects and cannot be resurrected in any way.

For this spell to be cast the wizard needs to crash a human skull with his/her bare hands. The skull can be old or softened somehow, or strengthening spells may predate the casting.