Raise Cloud

The magician causes a bank of mist or fog to accumulate in an area. Similar to the Breath of Av-Beleren, this spell has a very simple fundamental form that can be used in training, but clever and skilled magicians can dramatically expand the utility of their mists. A cloud so raised generally lingers until it is cleared away by normal action of the air.

The base cost is a single point of strain, and the base difficulty a mere d4, for a light mist that fills a room-sized area with haze. Increasing the area by a step increases the difficulty by a step and doubles the cost in strain. In addition, the quality of the mist can be modified in a number of ways. All cost increases are factored in before the doubling for increased area is applied. For all versions of this spell, restricting its effect to a Wizard-Warded area attuned to the caster decreases both difficulty and cost by one. Otherwise, the cloud may be set on its creation either to remain in place, or to move with its creator at a slow walking pace.

Thick mist: limits visibility to about arm’s length. Difficulty increases by one step, and cost by one strain.

Burning or freezing mist: to make the cloud painfully warm or cold, increase the difficulty by a step and the cost by two. Or, to make it damaging (one harm per round), increase the difficulty by two steps and the cost by five strain instead.

Psychic mist: the cloud afflicts those within it with an emotion, akin to the effects of the Fear-Spell, but not limited to fear. Difficulty increases by three steps, and cost by three strain.

Permanent mist: an extended ritual allows the caster to permanently sacrifice an attribute point in order to create a mist (of any kind) that, even if dispersed by normal conditions such as wind, will automatically re-form as soon as conditions permit.

Vision mist: an Illusion spell may be cast into a thick mist and affects anyone who enters it. This lowers the difficulty of the Illusion by a step, but doubles its cost in strain.

Other effects are certainly possible! As with the vision mist, it may be possible to create a cloud that “holds” spells, alchemies, and so on, and inflicts them on all who enter. The primary drawback to this sort of versatility is that there is no inherent aspect of the Raise Cloud that can be manipulated to render the caster immune. More than one clever-feeling magician has been slain by their own poison cloud.