Secrets In Ink

1st-level divination (ritual)

Classes: Bard 1, Wizard 1

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: Touch

Components: V, S, M (bottle of ink worth 50 gp, consumed in the casting)

Duration: Until dispelled

You touch a jar of ink and imbue it with magic. Thereafter, when you touch the ink and speak the command word, the vial observes visible events, such as the arrival of a creature, as well as audible noises, such as a conversation, made within 30 feet of it, up to a length of 4 hours, after which it changes to a color of your choice. If nothing occurred in the vial’s presence since the command word, the ink does not change color. The spell does not record minor noises or movements, such as the shifting of shadows or the sound of the wind.

Thereafter, when you pour the ink over blank paper or a similar surface, it forms letters and sentences and constructs a written account—in a language you can read—of everything it observed during the allotted time frame. The ink cannot perceive anything the caster could not perceive; if the caster does not have darkvision, then the ink cannot see in the dark, for example. The ink records only noises and motions that it can describe, and it cannot draw conclusions. Thus, it could not explain that an invisible creature entered the room it occupied, but it could describe any noises created or objects disturbed.

The ink’s observations are limited to the range described above and require line of sight.