Obold's Brightness

Obold's brightness is a thick, smoky cloud 60 feet in diameter that glows bright white, shot through with sparks. These sparks are actually tiny bolts of lightning that leap here and there inside the cloud, dealing all beings within 6d8 points of damage. A successful saving throw vs. spell means that creatures contacting the brightness take only half damage.

The cloud forms in one spot within the spell's range (over level ground, it forms as a hemisphere, rather than as a full sphere). It moves briskly in a single direction set by the caster when it is cast, moving at a rate of 15 for the rest of its existence. It can reach areas the caster cannot see, and it is thus, handy for attacking fortifications, defended caverns, and the like. This spell is named for its creator, the gruff old mage Obold (now dead), who used it to deal with frequent orc attacks on his isolated mountain-crag tower.

The material components of this spell are a scrap of fur and a tangle of wire.

Notes: Rare or very rare in the Forgotten Realms setting; virtually unknown elsewhere.