Speak with Ancient Dead (Priest Spell)

This spell is a more potent version of the 3rd level priest spell Speak with dead that allows the priest to Speak with spirits who have long ago departed from the mortal world. Except as noted, this spell is otherwise identical to the more common version of the spell.
The priest is able to ask several questions of a dead creature in a set period of time and receive answers according to the knowledge of that crea­ture. Of course, the priest must be able to converse in the language that the dead creature once used. The length of time the creature has been dead is a factor, since only higher-level priests can converse with a long-dead creature. The number of ques­tions that can be answered and the length of time in which the questions can be asked depend on the level of experience of the priest. Even if the cast­ing is successful, such creatures are as evasive as possible when questioned. The dead tend to give extremely brief and limited answers, often cryptic, and to take questions literally. Furthermore, their knowledge is often limited to what they knew in life.
A dead creature of different alignment or of higher level or Hit Dice than the caster's level receives a saving throw vs. spell. A dead creature that successfully saves can refuse to answer ques­tions, ending the spell. At the DM's option, the casting of this spell on a given creature might be restricted to once per week.
Notes: Granted by the elven deity Labelas Enoreth.
CastersLevel ofExperience	Max. Lengthof Time Dead	TimeQuestioned	No. ofQuestions
1-9 	10 years 	1 turn 	4
10-11 	100 years 	2 turns 	5
12-13 	1,000 years 	3 turns 	6
14-17 	10,000 years 	1 hour 	7
18+ 	Unlimited 	1 day 	Unlimited
Category:Priest Spells
Category:Spells from Priest's Spell Compendium
Category:Spells