Terror in the Shadows
Rheon of House Tytalus was a man with a plan, a magus ready to ruin his enemies. Some enemies he could defame with religious tactics, and others he had to ruin their reputation. Magus Rheon found one of the noble rivals for a persona of his was reputed to be eternally brave, so he designed a spell to play on the man's perceptions, and prove the man was a lunatic. His sigil is sweltering wind.
Terror in the Shadows (Muto Mentem 35)
R: Sight, D: Moon, T: Part
This spell, designed to be cast upon a target subtly and from a distance, brings the nightmares and dangers of the unknown to the fore of their perception. While this spell does not actually generate emotional responses - fear or cowardice would be obviously misplaced in some - it will make the target's perception of shadows and darkness become something worth fearing or fighting. They will begin to see strange things in the shadows, that will slowly build over the course of the spell until they spy ghosts and goblins hiding in the shadows outside their home. By targeting Part, the spell only alters what the unfortunate subject perceives in the darkness, rather than all the time.
Rheon's chosen target for this spell spent many a night assaulting the terrors that were hiding in the fens outside his manor house, until finally he was deemed unfit for rule. Due to his casting sigil, the target feels a hot breath across his skin when the spell takes effect and when it ends.
(Base 3, +3 Sight, +3 Moon, +1 Part, +1 intricacy (building intensity))
Side Effects table (1d10)
1 Exaggerated Sigil: Every time the target stares into the darkness and night, they feel a warm wind across their skin, building up to a sweltering heat when the spell is at its crescendo.
2-3 Minor Flaw: Whenever the target is seeing a false vision given by is spell, they feel an odd itching on their chest.
4-5 Minor Side Effect:
6 Minor Benefit: The visions given by the spell are of a particularly consistant style, which manifests when they first see the terrors, and then maintain that dangerous theme throughout - whether that be rats that turn into rat-monsters, or goblins growing into trolls, or strange plant-growths turning into walking murdurous trees.
7 Major Flaw: Brighter lights are sufficient to dispel any strange terrors. While torches are likely going to exacerbate the problem, with flickering dim light, a good lantern or magical spells will easily show the truth of the visions.
8 Major Side Effect: Crows and ravens who see the target will begin to follow them, until they are fed some carrion.
9 Major Benefit: In addition to adding strange terrible things in the night, the spell also somewhat ruins the target's night-vision, which makes their ability to do anything about their visions quite difficult. Also, easier to spy on!
10 Fatal Flaw: The spell's alterations to perception start strong and stay strong. In fact, the sheer hideousness of the visions - while likely to induce terror on the faint-hearted - are like to make the target suspect the visions are not real.