Hasten Crops (Priest Spell)

By using a hasten crops spell, a priest can lessen the time necessary to grow grain crops from seed to harvest. The area of effect is one square mile per caster level beyond 21st, but the spell affects only one grain crop planted in that area; the type of grain must be specified before the spell is cast.
During the preparation time, the priest must spend 3 hours per day praying over the seeds to be used for the crop and at least 3 hours per day trav­eling and blessing the fields to be planted. This process must continue for at least 15 days. The local farmers must still plant the seeds before the spell can be cast.
On Athas, typical grain crops require a full 120 days to reach harvest, though some crops may take as few as 90 or as many as 150 days. The hasten crops spell reduces the normal time it takes to grow the grain crop from seed to harvest by the days spent in preparation. Minimum growing time is seven days. The spell grants no magical properties or protections to the crop as it is growing – natural or manmade disasters can still wipe it out.
Athas has no major changes in seasonal tem­perature and rainfall that govern growing seasons. However, when a particular crop must be grown at a specific time of the year, this spell must be cast toward the beginning of that time. During the 6-hour casting time, the priest must have the cooperation of at least 100 local farmers and other folk to engage in a planting festival. Por­tions of the seed crop are burned, a bountiful feast is prepared and eaten, and the locals dance in honor of all the elemental planes that make their agriculture possible.
The material components are grain seeds taken from some other bumper crop carried in baskets made by the local children. The baskets and grain are burnt in the festival's central bonfire.
The reverse of this spell, blight, causes existing grain crops to wither and die. The area of effect is the same, and the priest must still indicate which particular grain crop is to be affected. Other crops and plants are unaffected. Blight and hasten crops cancel each other in the same area of effect.
The material components for the reverse are a pinch of salt and a bit of moldy bread.
Notes: Granted to elementals, common.
Category:Psionic Enchancements
Category:Priest Spells
Category:Psionic Enchancements from Dragon Kings
Category:Spells from Dragon Kings
Category:Spells from Priest's Spell Compendium
Category:Spells