Mist of Rapture

Aura Moderate Enchantment; CL 9th
Slot —; Price 9,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.

DESCRIPTION

Mist of Rapture is most commonly found sealed within a fragile glass globe or a small metal vial. When the container is opened or broken, the rose-colored vapor escapes, expanding into a spherical cloud with a radius of up to 30 feet, depending upon the amount released. The damp, heavy vapors cling to clothing, skin, and other surfaces, remaining in place for 1d4 days in still air. Strong winds disperse the mist normally, while even the gentlest air currents cause the cloud to drift slowly.

Any humanoid that breathes the mist must succeed on a DC 17 Will save or become overwhelmed by indescribable ecstasy for 1d6 rounds. A creature that succeeds on its saving throw is affected for only 1d3 rounds. While under the effects of the mist, an affected creature drops anything it is holding, falls prone if able, and becomes helpless, blissfully oblivious to its surroundings. Physical attacks, loud noises, or other external stimuli do not interrupt the effect.

The mist completely occupies the victim's thoughts, rendering it temporarily immune to all charm and compulsion effects while affected. Creatures maintaining telepathic contact with an affected target immediately become subject to the Mist of Rapture themselves, suffering the same duration and receiving their own saving throw. Creatures immune to mind-affecting effects are unaffected by the mist.

During the round immediately following the end of the effect, an affected creature is disoriented. It moves at half speed, loses any Dexterity bonus to Armor Class, cannot make attacks of opportunity, automatically loses initiative ties, and takes a –4 penalty on Spot and Listen checks until the end of its next turn.

LORE

The art of creating the Mist of Rapture has been lost in antiquity. No surviving spellbook, alchemical treatise, or artificer's journal records its true formula, and countless attempts to reproduce the rose-colored vapor have ended in failure. The few known examples are almost always discovered sealed within delicate glass globes or finely crafted metal vials of unknown manufacture, often recovered from ancient tombs, forgotten vaults, or long-buried ruins. Each newly discovered vessel is regarded as an irreplaceable relic, for once its contents are released, they are gone forever.

Unlike ordinary gases, the Mist of Rapture possesses strange physical properties that continue to puzzle both alchemists and wizards. The vapor is unnaturally heavy and damp, clinging to skin, clothing, and every surface it touches while lingering for days in perfectly still air. Even the gentlest breeze carries it only reluctantly. Most remarkable of all is its contradictory nature. Though it utterly overwhelms the senses with indescribable ecstasy, it simultaneously closes the victim's mind to outside influence, rendering enchantments that manipulate thought or will temporarily powerless. Many scholars have called this one of the great paradoxes of enchantment magic.

The greatest mystery, however, lies not in the mist itself, but in the consciousness it touches. Those linked by telepathy to an affected creature experience the same overwhelming rapture without ever drawing a breath of the rose-colored vapor. This phenomenon has led some psionic researchers to theorize that inhalation merely establishes an initial connection, after which the enchantment spreads directly through thought itself. Whether this represents an unknown branch of enchantment, a forgotten psionic discipline, or the lingering remnant of a magical tradition now lost to history remains one of the enduring unanswered questions of the arcane arts.

CONSTRUCTION

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, calm emotions, hideous laughter, mind fog; Cost 4,500 gp + 360 XP

Materials a flawless crystal globe or alchemically treated bronze vial, powdered rose quartz, distilled lotus nectar, dew gathered from moon-blooming roses, and incense burned from dreamwood harvested beneath a full moon.

KELWYN'S NOTES

One of the greatest follies of young wizards is believing every dangerous magic must also be violent. The Mist of Rapture is a perfect contradiction. It sheds no blood, scorches no flesh, and leaves no visible wound, yet a single vial can render an entire company utterly incapable of defending itself. The battlefield has seen many horrors. Few are so serene.

I find the loss of its formula almost comforting. Modern artificers possess an unfortunate habit of reproducing every ancient marvel they uncover, usually with greater efficiency and less restraint. Some secrets deserve to remain secrets. A substance capable of reducing rational minds to helpless bliss would be a dreadful commodity were it to become commonplace in civilized lands.

Its peculiar interaction with enchantment has fascinated scholars for centuries. Most compulsions succeed by inserting foreign thoughts into the mind. The Mist allows no room for such intrusions. Every corner of consciousness is consumed by overwhelming sensation, leaving no avenue through which another will may enter. I suspect this is less a defensive property than a fortunate consequence of the enchantment's true purpose.

The telepathic transmission remains the greatest puzzle. One cannot help but wonder whether the vapor itself is merely the visible expression of a far deeper magical phenomenon. If thought alone can carry the enchantment, perhaps the rose-colored cloud serves only as the key that unlocks a door within the mind. The implications are both extraordinary and deeply unsettling.

Should you ever discover an intact vial, resist every temptation to satisfy your curiosity. The world contains countless magical experiences worth pursuing, but there is something profoundly dangerous about perfection. Those who survive the Mist of Rapture rarely describe what they witnessed in any meaningful detail. They merely smile... and speak of spending the rest of their lives wishing to feel that way again.

Originally created by Ed Greenwood and modified for D&D 3.5 Edition.