Seer's Probe

Description

A Seer's Probe is most often a delicate length of pale wood around a core of iridescent gloaming and weltsilver, carefully with tempest jade to ensure it remains flexible and light. Inlays are often suggestive of the runes of Day or Night, although Varushkan artisans prefer to decorate the wand with images of spiders or squirrels. In Highguard it is sometimes called an Archivist's Quill, and constructed to suggest a writing implement, while in Urizen it is often crafted to suggest a key, and given a variety of evocative names such as Lorekeeper's Sigil.

The wand is of most use to investigators and scholars, who enhance their personal abilities with additional use of two valuable divinatory spells. It is often held between the thumb and two forefingers, as if it were a conductor's baton. It is clearly not intended for violent use - although in a pinch it can be used to deliver an unexpectedly robust magical assault.

Rules

• Form: Weapon. Takes the form of a wand. You must be wielding this implement to use its magical properties.
• Requirement: You must have the magician skill to bond to this item.
• Effect: Three times each day you can cast detect magic or voice for the dead as if you know them and without spending any mana.
• Materials: Crafting a Seer's Probe requires three measures of iridescent gloaming, five ingots of tempest jade, nine ingots of weltsilver, and three measures of dragonbone. It takes one month to make one of these items.

“I'm so cold, captain, .. I..I can't feel my legs. I think I must be done for.”

“Nonsense, lass. The surgeons are working on you now, the best money can buy. You'll be right as thronepence in no time. But I need you to concentrate now, and tell me how many enemy warriors there were in the pass. Hmm? Can you do that for your old Captain?”

“It's hard...hard to remember. I can't see anything, Captain. Why can't I see anything?”

“You've got a bandage, girl. Head wound. Best to leave it on – doctor's orders. Now, can you focus for me? How many orcs were there? How many orcs in the pass, Wiletta?”

“Orcs? Yes, the orcs. There... there were too many. Ambushed us, dozens. Dozens and dozens. Too many. No time to fall back, tried to run...”

“Good! Good girl, Wiletta. Well done!”

“Did I do well, sir? I feel so strange, like I'm slipping away, like a great tide is pulling at me. What's happening, Captain, I...I...”

“Shhh, Wiletta, let go now. Your work here is done, and your shares will be paid out to your next of kin...”

He continued to mutter pleasantries to the girl's corpse until her croaking words began to fade away into silence, then stood up and brushed himself down. He turned to his adjutant, “Dozens, eh? Sounds like the main force - old “Broken-Teeth” must have taken the bait. We're right behind him now. Signal the scouts to begin torching the grass at the opposite end of the valley, then form everybody up for a defence in depth. They can't use full frontage on us here. As long as the wind holds, we'll catch them between hammer and anvil!”