Chronicle of Echoed Whispers
Wondrous Item (Artifact), rare (requires attunement)
This intricately bound tome is covered in shimmering, silver thread that seems to weave itself into unknown symbols, occasionally pulsing with a soft light. As you open its pages, you find they are lined with fine parchment that captures every sound and whisper within a 30-foot radius, meticulously transcribing them in a spiraling script that only you can read.
While attuned to this tome, you can activate its power as a bonus action, allowing you to absorb the echoes of conversations and magical incantations you overhear. For the next hour, you can choose one of the following effects:
-
Echoed Insight: Gain advantage on a single Intelligence (Investigation) or Wisdom (Insight) check. You gain a hint of knowledge from the whispered words you've absorbed, representing strategic information about your surroundings or a creature's intentions.
-
Spell Reflection: If a creature casts a spell within hearing range, you can choose to attempt a spellcasting check against its save DC. On a success, you may unleash an echo of that spell (up to 3rd level) using your spell slots, as though you had prepared it yourself.
-
Whispered Secrets: As an action, you can glean secrets from a creature within hearing range, compelling them to divulge information. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or reveal a piece of information of your choosing. This can be used once per long rest.
Additionally, once per long rest, you can invoke the tome’s final ability. By concentrating for 1 minute while holding it aloft, you can create an echo chamber around you, amplifying any spoken words into a radius of 120 feet, allowing all creatures within that zone to hear and be affected by any spells or abilities that require verbal components, as if those caster's voices were amplified.
However, be wary; while the tome grants remarkable insight and power, the whispers it collects cannot be ignored or suppressed. Once per long rest, you may hear the distant echoes of lost souls—haunting whispers that compel you to make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or suffer one level of exhaustion, reflecting the burden of gazing too deep into the murmurs of the forgotten echoes. The burden of knowledge can be both a gift and a curse.
