LORE24 ENTRY #26 – Scrying Magic

Category – Spell/Magic

In the age of high technology and space travel, magic has certainly waned, but among the various types of magic, perhaps it is scrying that has maintained its presence the most, even though it is perhaps the least flashy of disciplines.  Even though most spying revolves around corporate and governmental intrigues with the use of technology and guile, most mega corporations, with DSM as the most prevalent, have some degree of magical scrying at their disposal; wise corporations always invest in some form of warding in their most sensitive areas, and perhaps even on their most important people, to prevent this long-distance espionage.

Little has changed regarding the practice of scrying.  It still requires a medium with which to view distance places, typically through some kind of water-filled bowl or a mirror, both enchanted and attuned to the scrying magics.  It is then a matter of the skill of the arcanist making the attempt to scry, with factors such as distance, knowledge of the target, quality of scrying medium, and consideration of magical protections against scrying determining the amount of success in the attempt.  An experienced scrying specialist will be able to locate and view a chosen target across vast distances, across multiple star systems even, with perfect clarity and without the target being aware they are being remotely viewed.  

The dangers of scrying are not necessarily as high as other magical disciplines, but are unique in their own way.  A certain amount of subtlety is required, because the very act of scrying creates a magical link between the scryer and the target.  Thus, if a scryer presses too hard, or tries for too long, there is a growing chance that the target will become almost instinctually aware that they are being watched, and those trained in resisting scrying will learn to further hone these instincts.  Further, magical protections against scrying typically just hide the target or area from viewing, but some more advanced warding spells will be able to cause harm to the remote viewer, creating a violent feedback that can potentially kill them.  Scrying specialists, while performing their viewings, are also vulnerable, unable to easily defend themselves while they are engaged in the act, meaning they will have to have created prior arrangement for their own defense.  There have been instances in which two or more corporate scrying specialists have engaged in long-distance hunting operations against one another, trying to find weaknesses in each others’ defenses that would reveal one’s location before the other, and allow them to send out a strike force to deal with them.