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- Level 8 Rhabdomancy
- Mine the Earthspark (Rhabdomancy, Evocation)
Level: 8
Range: Special
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 day per level
Casting Time: 2-5 rounds
Area of Effect: Caster
Saving Throw: Special
- This rare spell shows obvious dwarven influences. Indeed, it can be cast only in the dwarven tongue. It leads a rhabdomancer toward those rare areas underground where magical power is held deep within the earth. Sages sometimes refer to such deposits as nodes or sarsens, and they can be magically tracked via the lines of power and emanations radiating from them. The dwarves have another name for them: Hordask Thar’dik, or Seat of the Earthspark.
- Should the rhabdomancer finally arrive at such a site and the spell duration has not expired, he may seek to draw into his person some of the vast arcane energy of the sarsen by using his dowsing rod. This is dangerous, as a mortal shell is not built to contain such power. The wizard attempting this action must make an immediate System Shock Survival roll to survive tapping the Earthspark. Failure means death, as the body is blackened by the vast power drawn.
- Should the roll be successful, the benefits are many. The rhabdomancer’s Strength and Constitution are instantly increased to 18. Any wounds the caster may have suffered are healed, as if he were the beneficiary of the priest spells heal and regenerate — scars vanish, wounds close, diseases are cured and even lost limbs and other body parts are regenerated. The rhabdomancer seems to seethe with an unnatural power that can cause awe or fear (depending upon the character’s actions) in any individual or creature below 4th level or 4 Hit Dice.
- Because the Earthspark is connected with the energies of the Elemental Plane of Earth, all spells cast by the rhabdomancer that deal with earth, dirt, or stone have double the normal area of effect and duration. Also, creatures from that plane will not attack the caster, either out of respect or fear (if an opposing alignment), except in self-defense. Likewise, any attempt to petrify the caster ends in failure.
- The power of the Earthspark remains with the rhabdomancer for a number of days equal to half his level. No benefits are gained if this spell is intoned again before the benefits of first casting expire. Some dwarven scholars have suggested that continued exposure to the Earthspark corrupts a man, making him miserly and mean-spirited. This may be true, for obviously, the location of any sarsen is a prize much sought after by high-level rhabdomancers, and such mages jealously guard these sites with traps and guardians, hoping to protect their claim from other rhabdomancers seeking power.
- Not all sarsens hold the same store of power. Some may be drained after only a single casting of this spell, while others may hold sufficient power to fuel hundreds of castings (DM’s discretion).
 
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