SHR Main Page | Opera Propria | Camera Mysteriorum Introduction
Item Type: Invested Item
Physical Form: The raven stall is a chair with a tall back carved with multiple images of ravens on its whole surface.
Effect:
Technique and Form: InAn
Level: 50
Range: Arcane Connection
Duration: Concentration
Target: Group
In order to activate the stall it should be placed in a ravens' colony. The person who sits in it will see what the ravens of the colony have seen today or are seeing at that moment. The colony is an Arcane Connection to its inhabitants, so it is possible to receive the memories of ravens currently outside the colony.
Receiving the images is automatic, but interpreting them coherently is not. The person gets images from all the ravens together, and it may be difficult to compile a coherent picture. An Intelligence + Area Lore (Colony and Surrounding Area) roll is required. Use the following chart to determine the level of information received by the user of the item.
| Total | Information Received |
| 0-4 | You are not able to get anything coherent. The old and current images mix, and you only get a headache that imposes a -1 penalty to all the rolls involving Intelligence for a couple of hours. |
| 5-6 | You are able to obtain a clear image of the persons or large animals that are currently moving near the covenant (this covers all the territory that a raven may fly over searching for food, a radius of about 12 miles or 20 kilometers). You only know that these things are moving from one place to another, whether they are persons or animals and (in the latter case) what kinds of animals. You will be not able to discern who they are or what equipment they carry. |
| 7-8 | You see the same information as for 5-6, above, but if you are looking for something easy to differentiate from the other things (people on the way to a town, soldiers wearing the livery of a local baron, a group of friars etc.) you see them in full detail, knowing where are they moving now and where they have been moving throughout the current day (from dawn). You also see how are they moving (on foot, on horseback, etc.) and their equipment. |
| 9+ | You are conscious of anything moving (persons or large animals) within a radius of 12 miles (20 kilometers). You can see any detail that a raven could see from a tree. In addition, you become aware of the subjects' movements throughout that day (from dawn). |
The raven is a diurnal animal, so if the watchtower is used by night (with all the ravens in their nests) the user may only see what has happened during the previous day.
The ravens may be trained to get used to the human presence and even to seek out human company. With ravens trained in this way, a total of 9+ will allow the user of the chair to listen to all the conversations taking place in the zone of the spell (since the ravens will approach nearer to people). With a total of only 7-8 , they will be able to listen only to the conversations of the people whom they are seeking.
A person using this item several times a day (such as a companion checking the surroundings of the covenant) will receive Exposure experience in the corresponding Area Lore ability, provided that they obtain a total of at least 5 in one use per day for a minimum of 80% of the days of the season).
This item was created in a covenant placed in a war zone. One member of the covenant can check for possible menaces (such as warriors or scouts) three or four times every day. The user of the chair does not have to possess the Gift, so magi will be saved from having to perform this task.
A botch on the Intelligence roll may be dangerous, since the user of the chair will not able to manage the thoughts of the ravens and may be controlled by them for a moment. For example, a companion attending to the duty of checking the surroundings botches the roll. Two grogs training in the courtyard see the secretary of the covenant jumping from the raven colony over the covenant gate, croaking and flapping his arms. The secretary dies when he strikes the stone floor two storeys below. It is resolved after this that no-one should use the watchtower without a grog watching him, just in case!
Level Calculation: Base 15, +1 Concentration, + 4 Arcane connection, + 2 Group
Effect Frequency: 6/day
Trigger: The effect is activated when someone sits in the chair and lasts while the activator maintains concentration.
Effect Modifications:
Text copyright © Gabriel Pallarés Ramón 2007.