Creature of Darkness
- SchoolAlteration, Illusion/Phantasm
- SphereSun
- ComponentsV, S, M
- Range10 yards/level
- AreaSpecial
- Casting time7
- Duration1 round/level
- SaveNone
This spell creates a mobile, upright, vaguely human-shaped, bipedal field of magical darkness that quenches magical light and continual light on contact without itself being affected. This shadow person can be controlled from afar, floating at MV 12, and sent into areas where the caster cannot go. The caster then perceives the shadow person's surroundings dimly, as if seeing through eyes the person does not in tact possess. (This vision is not good enough to read by, see expressions, or recognize the features of a being.) This unintelligent aura of magical gloom cannot be used to cam' solid objects or convey magical effects requiring that a target be touched (though rumors hold that the most powerful Sharran priests employ an improved version of this spell that can do both those things). The shadow person can be used to lure, to warn (pointing to beings, objects, or even markings on a map), or for concealment.
If a living being walks within the creature of darkness, its magic expands it to completely cloak the being and so conceal its identity. Such a cloaked being can see as if the gloom of the creature did not exist. Living beings can attack or freely pass into, out of, and through a creature oj darkness without dispelling it. If a creature of darkness is worn in this manner by its creator, the caster can use the magic of the creature to levitate for up to four consecutive rounds (rising up to 20 feet per round) or as a feather fall. Either such usage ends the spell.
The material components of a creature of darkness are a bit of black or gray fur or down from any flying creature, a pinch of soot, and a strand of spider web.
Notes: Granted by the Shar. Mistress of the Night, of the Forgotten Realms setting.
Sources: Faiths & Avatars · Priest's Spell Compendium