Consume Key (spell)

Consume Key
Range: One key within reach
Duration: Instantaneous

After a couple of years of travelling, Billobi concluded that the best way to meet new and interesting people was to stroll the countryside without actually looking for anyone. He even came up with a theory of sorts, that said that while searching for anybody always gives you nobody, searching for nobody always gives you somebody. The hard part, he added, was to find anyone interested in this theory...

One time, while picking mushrooms in the old forest of Ogrebelly, he found an old brick house standing there all alone. It had a small chimney from which small puffs of greyish smoke could be spotted against the green scenery. When he came closer he saw that the windows were decorated with potted plants and various herbs, and there was even a fat cat gazing back in one.

He circled the house and found an old man in a pointy hat just outside the front door. He had his eyes closed, and seemed to be mumbling to himself with his fists tightly closed.

Billobi said a gently hello so as not to disturb him.

"Are you the locksmith?" said the old man without looking up.

"No?" answered Billboi. "I was just picking mushrooms. Did you lock yourself out?"

"Most certainly not! How could I, without a proper lock?"

He stepped aside and showed Billobi the lock - or more accurately, the absence of a lock. There was just a door handle, but no keyhole.

"So...there's no key, and no lock, and you haven't locked yourself out, but still you can't come in?"

"No no no!" the old man said annoyed. "There's a key for sure. I just can't remember it."

"Ah, so you've lost it?"

"No, I forgot it."

"Pardon me?"

"I drank it, and now I've forgotten it. And that fat cat is too stupid to open. YOU HEAR THAT, MR. BIGGLESWORTH? YOU CAN FORGET SUPPER TONIGHT! Stupid animal, I should have kept that imp. At least they have proper fingers."

"Well, couldn't you just..."

"Break a window? Kick down the door? And then what? Would you sleep here, in these woods, with an unlocked door, or broken window? Or are you really suggesting that I should put my trust in Mr. Bigglesworth? Can you picture him fending off a pack of ogres? YOU ARE QUITE THE KING OF THESE WOODS, AREN'T YOU MR. BIGGLESWORTH? YOU'D KILL THEM WITH YOUR TIRED EYES, OR WEAR THEM DOWN BY TAKING ONE OF YOUR NOT SO PRODUCTIVE NAPS, WOULDN'T YOU? He's quite the killer, Mr. Rustfoot! Bah!"

Since any further attempts to help the old man was out of the picture, Billobi said farewell and continued on his hunt for mushrooms. He took one last look at the house, and could've sworn that the fat cat in the window waved at him.

The Consume Key-spell turns any key into a spell, which is then bound to that key's particular lock. The lock will close, regardless of material, and thus keep the object in question closed by all means.

To cast this spell, one must place the desired key into a container of some sort such as a glass or mug, and focus upon that while casting. The spell will turn the key into a warm liquid. When consumed, a new spell will be recorded in the magic-user's spell book.

Anyone drinking the liquid without having a spell book, suffers 1d6 points of damage, and the key is lost forever.

The lock will close up either way.

The new spell recorded will be named according to its purpose, and will be of a spell level that corresponds to its (overall) importance. For instance, if the caster decides to consume the key to his personal diary (not of great wordly importance), he places the key in an empty mug and casts Consume Key upon it. When he drinks the warm liquid, a new spell named "Open diary" (or similar) will be written in his spell book. The new spell can only open this particular lock.

On the other hand, if the king does the same thing to the key of the royal treasury, it will most likely be a very high level spell. The decision is up to the referee, as always.

Locks affected by this will have a natural high magic resistance, to fend off any (magical) attempts to unlock it.