Hands of Death

Hands of Death

Mystic

Proficiency [Knowledge]

800 hours

Requires: journeyman Alchemy & Magic Lore

Also called Juju Death-touch, but not the type of juju involving talking-drums or synthesizers, but rather the juju used by necromancers. More chemistry than sorcery, this is the knowledge of how to craft and use certain vile toxins. These formulae involve combining the death-agonies of several highly toxic creatures & distilling that into a fine powder that is placed on the mage's hands. The white powder is created through the murder of poisonous animals—snakes, spiders, and poisonous creatures of the sea are all possible catalysts to the Hands of Death. The toxic animals are made to fight one another to the death, and then while in their agonies, they are boiled in bitter oils until only a fine white powder is left. This evaporative process may take several days. The poison is mystically bound to the necromancer's hand, & will remain so until that hand makes contact with a victim. Placing the sticky powder on the necromancer's hands for the first time requires a saving throw against poisons at a +10 bonus, or the mage falls victim to her own powers. The base save for this spell is equal to the total skill check. That is, if the roll after bonuses is a 14, then that is the required number to beat on the saving throw against poison. Once the victim has been touched, an immediate saving throw vs. poisons/chemicals must be made. If that fails, then the victim will feel rapid pulse, shaking, sweating, and nervousness. This will progress within an hour (as the magically-enhanced poison continues to work its evil) until the victim falls unconscious and is not breathing properly. From that one-hour mark to sometime during the day or evening, the victim must make a system shock check to avoid death. Each application onto the necromancer's own hands requires at least a minute. Many sorcerers only use this spell on one hand, as there is a great risk that you may accidentally touch someone that you didn't want to kill, or worse, you may even rub the magical powder off prematurely. It is worth noting that while the Hands of Death powder binds readily to the oils in skin, it does not hold well if applied to other objects—it rapidly dries completely & falls off or blows away. This means that the necromancer must be careful as to how she uses the affected hand(s); putting a glove on to temporarily cover the poison will wipe it off completely even normal handling of objects can have a similar effect. As an added benefit to the necromancer, those slain by this spell, or by being buried alive afterward, may be reanimated in half of the usual time.