| A particularly brutal spell, though one that isn't quite true to it's name, a Cataract spell is useful for teaching those who spy into your affairs to mind their own business...not that it would likely matter, as they're likely to be stuck with their own business for some time.When a cataract spell is cast upon a target, there are no immediately noticeable effects. However, within fifteen minutes, their eyes will begin to itch, and their vision will blur slightly. As time passes, colours will begin to fade away, their vision will continue to drop in quality, and the itching will intensify to the point where it makes concentration on any complicated task impossible. These symptoms will only increase as time passes, and will soon make themselves apparent to any who view the victim's eyes, as their eyes are slowly being covered by a shiny, black membrane, which seems to squirm slightly if viewed in the right light. About one hour after the spell is cast, the victim will be totally blind, and the itching will be almost unbearable. Remove Blindness/Deafness, healing spells, and Remove Curse will have no effect whatsoever on the membrane. The victim will feel fine, aside from being totally blind, and having a horrible itching in their eyes, which will not go away. Nothing short of a Greater Restoration spell, or a Wish, will remove the membrane.After these effects are in place, nothing else will happen, for a time. However, after another four hours, the victim will become overwhelmed by horrible, burning pain, coming, surprise surprise, from their eyes. If examined (almost nobody could stay coherent with this level of pain), the membrane will appear to be shifting around, quite quickly, and slowing becoming more concave. This is due to the fact that the membrane has begun eating away at the victim's eyes.This process takes three more hours, in which the victim will be in excruciating pain, so horrible that they must make a Fortitude save, or they will fall unconscious from the pain and remain so for the remaining duration of the spell. Even if the save is made, the victim still takes 3d8 points of damage. At the end of these three hours, the membrane vanishes totally, leaving the victim with bleeding, useless eye sockets. This, of course, makes the victim permanently blind, though the eyes could be replaced with extreme examples of healing magic, or a Wish spell. Arcane Material Components: The material component of this rather horrific spell is a single, preserved eye, taken from a diseased humanoid, and is consumed with the casting. |
