The Tomes: Section IV Body Enfeebling Spells: Blind

To the advanced practitioner of magical arts,

While the bulk of spells in this series have been aimed at deterring physical attacks, warriors and other well known agents of destruction of the magical world, the next spell us able to be detrimental to all combatants afflicted by the spell. Blind is a spell that is one of the few that was adequately named during its creation. This spell does exactly what its name entails. However to use this spell, one must understand how to blind an opponent.

First it must be said that this spell does not remove the eyes or gouge them in some sort of barbaric manner, if that is your view on how accomplish such a task then I must question your own dedication to magic. The Blind spell is a less gruesome method of rendering the sight of the target with out the “messy” means or consequences. To use the spell, it takes more than an understanding that the eyes are what allow sight; one must also take into account matters of light and its reflection. If you need another example of just how detrimental any affliction upon sight can be to a victim, simply refer back to the book on the Blink spell. With the Blind spell, the idea is to completely remove vision from the opponent’s array of tactics rather than to diminish them.

During the first attempts of creating a spell that could blind the opponent, casters forced mana into an area in front of the eyes to obscure vision. The reason that this spell is not as simple as casting the example previously mentioned was due to the large flaw in the early blind spell. With the spell’s energy being focused in a location where it was know to affect, anyone with enough knowledge would simply bat away the mana with enough force, thus turning the spell into more of a nuisance than a hazard. Upon studies of the human body’s physiology, or its architecture, the mages who crafted Blind noticed that the eye was an organ that particularly was hollow. This led to the clarification of a theory that light being reflected off of any object would then enter the eye where at that location an image is conjured and sent as a message to the brain. The forgers of the spell realized this and realized that the point in which they could deter vision was not on the outside of the eye, but inside it thus allowing the blind spell to function without it being removed so easily.

This spell is one that does not require one to constantly supply mana as all that is needed is mana that deters the vision to remain in the eye where there is no physical means of removing it. This spell is esunic in nature; it proves to be quite useful in capturing fugitives as it remains in effect outside of combat. Early iteration of this spell by novice casters should primarily focus on simply penetrating the eye and filling it with a haze. This in turn does not grant a true or full version of the spell, but it does suffice as a detrimental condition. Eventually with enough understanding of what kind of magical haze to create, the target can be rendered fully blind.

Although the difficulty in externally forming the haze is something that I would advise against in usefulness against one target, using a large amount of haze to disrupt the battlefield is often a useful method of escape. It requires only the mana from the initial casting and thus can be forgotten about when the need to flee arises.

When struck by the Blind spell, the victim literally does not register any images in their mind leaving them to trust their own senses. When I had been hit by this spell, I was forced to rely on my hearing which in that particular case benefited me in that our foes mainly consisted of spell casters. I was able to not only able to pick up on their incantations, but also the fluctuations of mana from their spells in order to determine their precise location and where my fireballs would crash. This proves that even if a target is blinded, they are not completely helpless, if the combatant is skilled enough, being blinded is only a momentary detriment; any skilled warrior will then attune their strength of their other senses in compensation for a lost one.

After the battle I was forced to take a magical remedy as Iv, who normally accompanied me in such quests was not present that day. Being an esunic ailment, Blind spells remain after engagements and must be purged magically, and thus allowed the creation of eye drops. These drops are not so much medicinal but mainly magical in substance. When the drop comes into contact with the eyes, they allow the magical haze to be purged from the eye and dissipate. However, the method for accomplishing this is rather painful in that the drops open holes in one’s eyes to remove the spell; this is not a pleasant experience, but if one wishes to see again, and there is no one with a powerful Esuna spell present, this is the only way.

“Create a haze where sight is not free, one cannot hit what one cannot see! Blind!”

The next section in this series departs momentarily from spells that are physical and direct in nature. The spells that are contained are ones that will require much more use of the mind, in more ways than one.

Ebon, High Black Mage

Note: Well, not as long as before, but I’m having fun with this and I can’t wait to get cracking on the next section.