Earth Sense

This spell empowers a priest to key his senses into the surrounding earth or stone structure to monitor the conditions of the area. This spell can be used to monitor all the earth and stone in a spherical volume with a radius of 30 feet per level of the caster. The priest can note anything unusual or important happening within the area of effect through a vague feeling of unease or impending danger. Once the feeling is experienced, the priest can try to concentrate on determining the specific thing that has set off the feeling of alarm. The chance of identifying the specific event is 5% per level of the caster. Only one identification roll can be made for each event that may trigger the feeling. If the roll fails, the priest is unable to determine the exact problem, but does identify the general area where the problem is occurring.

Once the spell is cast, the dwarven priest must remain quietly in place to continue concentrating on the spell. If the priest moves more than 10 feet from the spot where the spell was cast or engages in strenuous activity such as melee, the spell is broken.

Many different things can set off the feeling of alarm. Digging or sapping in the area, movements by burrowing creatures, spells or magic that currently affect the earth, non-silent movement across the earth or through a nearby passage, strenuous physical activity (such as melee) occurring on a section of the earth, or an impending natural disaster are all things that can trigger the sense of alarm. A natural disaster that sets off the alarm could be unstable geological conditions that foreshadow a mine collapse or natural earthquake, a natural gas pocket about to explode, or volcanic or geyser activity that could become dangerous.

Dwarven priests often maintain a line of sentries in a stronghold and use this spell to monitor anything that may signal an impending attack. Priests might note a section of castle wall being undermined, an attempt to batter through a castle gate, invaders scaling a fortress wall, or a passwall spell suddenly cast upon a section of stone wall. The material components for this spell are the priest's holy symbol and a small sample of earth or stone from the area to be monitored.