Stillwater

Stats

• Casting: A night of vigil, iron nails driven into the earth at cardinal points
• Range: Bound to a specific place no larger than a crossroads or small clearing
• Duration: Until the iron rusts through or the ward is deliberately unmade

Effect

All who enter the warded ground become invisible and inaudible to those who bear them no ill intent. Friends see empty space. Loved ones call out to silence. Only those who mean the protected harm—whether through malice, duty, or cold necessity—perceive them clearly. The water within the boundary loses its reflective quality entirely; it runs clear as glass but shows nothing of the world above. Frost forms on any surface touched by those under the ward's protection, and their hands never warm, even near fire. The hex was designed as a sanctuary for the hunted, but its nature makes trust impossible and paranoia inevitable.

Escalation

The caster may extend the ward to cover a hamlet or manor house, but doing so requires a full season of preparation and a human sacrifice willing to take their own life within the boundary. At this scale, the ward becomes hungry—it begins to interpret ambivalence as hostility, making even the uncertain visible to one another. Eventually, everyone within sees everyone else, and no one can leave without permission from the iron nails themselves.

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