Hammer of Justice

This improved variant of a detect lie spell creates a glowing illusion of an upright war hammer, which is normally steel-gray in hue, but blazes white when truth is spoken, black when lies are told, and blood-red when true but deceiving phrases are uttered. It cannot be made to lie by any known means. By the power of Tyr, this spell indicates absolute truth. If a questioned being answers with a lie that the being believes to be the truth, a lie is still indicated by the hammer hue (and vice versa).

The illusionary hammer appears wherever the caster desires (within range), and thereafter moves to maintain the same distance from and orientation to the caster. The spell range refers to both how distant the hammer can initially be from the priest and how far from the hammer any questioned being can be for its truth-indicating ability to function. If someone questioned is out of range, the hammer grows dim, but the spell does not end. The caster can ask questions of any number of beings one at a time, and the telltale hammer is bright and visible to all.

The hammer cannot be made to disappear before the spell expires even by its caster. The illusory hammer cannot be contacted or disturbed by any known magical or physical attack. Though magical barriers of 6th or greater level can ward it away from a given area, there is no known means of destroying it. Dispel magic has no effect on a hammer of justice.

When the spell does end, the hammer goes dark and seems to fall before it fades away entirely.

The material component for the spell is a miniature war hammer fashioned from diamond, obsidian, ivory, glass, or another pure, single-hued, black, white, or red, nonliving substance (cost varies with materials, but average is 25 gp).