Eternal Lock is a defensive clerical spell used to seal gates, whether they be of material, spiritual or astral nature. The deity addressed is the God of the Forge, Urtengor (or TolGerKorim in the dwarven tongue). Once a holy dwarven ritual, this spell is degraded by humans to the level that it is cast to lock earthly doors. Usually one cleric of the third tier is enough to cast the spell, but as in all cases more casters make it easier to achieve better results.

Spell Effect. Eternal Lock was formerly cast by only the strongest of dwarven clerics to block areas with magically constructed bars. In the course of time the use of this spell has changed so that it is now used by human priests for the sealing of gates - whether they are of material, spiritual or astral nature.

Taken from one of the many lectures of Master Il-Merenun on the Urtengorian Mantras, the spell is described as follows:

"If ye wants to seal a worldly gate, heed ye this warning:"(Much to the surprise of the apprentices, the so-called sermon of Il-Merenun the Ill-tempered – a title declared b y most to be well earned- continued with what later became a reknowned clerical quote:) "Gods doth not like to be commanded to do thy house keeping!" The remaining part of this infamous speech is the fierce scolding of the nearest initiate, which can be briefly summarized as follows, “Art thou not listening to a word I’ve said? I have been lecturing thee on the importance of completing thy tasks without asking the Deity’s assistance! And all ye ask me is to teach thee a prayer to lock the door of thy bathroom?”

Despite the efforts of Il-Merenun, the Eternal Lock spell is commonly used today for the sealing of hallways and the shutting of doors and gates from afar. Some claim this is due to the undeniable fact that the shutting of earthly doors can be considered undemanding compared to the more complicated manipulations and usages of this mantra.

The success of then Eternal Lock Spell depends on the belief of the cleric and can be described in three varities, set in conjunction with the God's awarded blessings:

• Blessing received
  Quoted from Master Il-Merenun: If ye art fortunate enough to have Mighty Urtengor’s favor for petty a reason as thine – a phenomenon would that be I doth say – the door ye wants to lock shall be sealed! Yet heed ye this warning:” - as the apprentices withdrew to their seats in fear of another Il-Merenun outburst, the ill-famed priest startled the initiates yet again - “Beware that the attempt of holding the gate of a citadel against an invading force of vile ogres wouldst requiereth more energy and focus than the fastening of thy pants!” After the shocking realization of what he had said, Master Il-Merenun uttered the following in an attempt to save his esteem. “Wouldst thou requireth more faith than it is needed do thy morning prayers!” Conversely, with each word articulated, he disgraced the temple even more until finally the High Priest of Urtengor had to drag him away from the dais.

• Overblessing
  “If the deity favors thee, thy lock shalt last longer than expected, and with the God’s blessing, ye shalt forge a magical lock no heretical Ecuá mage can break! Though be warned, Mighty Urtengor prefers the use of physical force than feeble enchantments!” so sayeth Master Be’o Jarel. Hence, physical attempts to break the lock are more likely to succeed due to the nature of both the gate and the deity called upon. However, as in all cases, overdoses can also prove fatal, since there is always a chance that the cleric loses control of the power his God granted him; hence imprison himself within the boundaries of the magically forged lock, sometimes this imprisonment can even last eternally. It is said that the spell derives its name from the afore mentioned possibility.
  
  Another debated outcome of the overblessing might be that a larger area than is intended may be affected. Know what you ask for, for it might well be granted. Ancient tomes found in the libraries of most Urtengorian Temples tell the inexplicable case of an apprentice who unwillingly sealed all the gates in a monastery. Noone knows if this cursed shrine still exists today, for it is said that all who had been present in the monastry that day had evoked Urtengor's anger, and therefore could not live through the afore mentioned punishment.

• Underblessing
  Though no definite classification of an underblessing can be made, a possibility of spell fizzling exists. Even worse creating a semi-permeable gate that lets in the ones meant to be kept away yet prevents the entrance of allies is also probable.

Casting Procedure. In the teachings of Be’o Jarel the Sharp Tongued you can read the following details concerning the casting of the Eternal Lock spell: "Thou shouldst begin by meditating upon the desired effect of the spell for a quarterhour or more previous to casting. Then place thine hands upon the door and focus thy energy, which must travel from thy heart descending through thy right arm, across the portal, and ascending thy left arm to form an unbroken circle. Initiates are advised to begin the chant as it is recorded, and change not a word.

Do thou continue to chant as thou dost build up thine energies, and visualize the circlet of energy moving more and more speedily. Then, as thou releasest the power, picture in thy mind's eye a shield of power forming before the portal. Some do favor the shield to be of a green hue, while other mages say that blue doth work as efficaciously.

The sealing of an ordinary door doth requireth nothing more than two capable hands, but in thy case Homyr, it would prove most prudent to have an adept person around to perform the rituals of praying along with thee, just in case…” When Be’o Jarel the Sharp Tongued, a human high priest of Urtengor, gave this bit of advice to an extremely clumsy apprentice the day after Homyr spilled an entire mug of hot baien-cha tea on his parchments, signs of approval and laughs were heard in the temple - apparently Be'o Jarel was not the first - nor the last one- who had been subject to similar accidents.

Few know that Homyr had later named himself D'cyah (which is said to mean "Bringer of Death and Decay" in an unknown ancient tongue), and became a notorious priest of Querprur. Yet even fewer know that he is referred to as “the Fickle Bane of Be’o Jarel” by the few priests of Urtengor who had been a mentor to Homyr, met D'cyah years later, and - miraculously - managed to survive.

Mantra/Prayer. In the - according to the dwarven claim - “stolen” journal of a cleric of TolGerKorim (which stands for “King of the Deep Earth” in the dwarven tongue), you can read the following concerning the mantra of the Eternal Lock spell: “Through proper prayer and earnest necessity, we, the Favorites of Trum-Baroll (Rock-Father), can call upon the Mighty One to forge a magical lock in the desired location, thus keeping the raiders from invading our sacred mines!” Yet, if one is to listen to the dwarven priests’ assert, humans have degraded the honorable purpose of the mantra, and translated this divine text into their distorted languages. “Consequently,” as the dwarves often say, “the distorted creatures found no holier use for this most valuable blessing than the locking of the doors to their chambers of sin!”

A common human Urtengorian prayer asking the Lord over the Forge to grant the Eternal Lock spell, is the following:

"Portal be mine,
One with my mind,
I hold thee fast,
to make to last,
open thou not,
as I weave the knot,
of my power from within."

Target. Eternal Lock can be cast on any kind of items/structures, which serve as containers, doors or gates, whether they be of material, spiritual or astral nature.

Spell Type. Defensive Spell of the Third Tier.

Although it has been asserted that the intention of the caster defines the ultimate outcome, this particular prayer was meant to have a defensive nature. Hence, it wouldst not be wise to try to encage a cleric of the God of the Forge's dearest race, the dwarves, with magically shut doors. It has been recorded that a human priest has once aggravated the Great Earthen God Urtengor by requesting his help to accomplish a similar goal of trapping a dwarf of good intent. Much to the dwarves’ delight, the imprudent priest was cursed by the deity so that he would never again pass through a doorway without the gate hitting him on the face. It has been further chronicled that this priest had to spend his remaining years in a house that had open hallways instead of doors, and thus had to deal with shrewd thieves every single night before finally committing suicide on the 6th anniversary of the notorious God’s bane.

“Generally speaking, my pupils, there is a fine line between locking the doors to keep unwanted eyes and hands away and slamming the door at thy mentor’s face the moment he doth starts lecturing thee” – quoted from the 606 Sayings of Tsef the Tolerant.

Range. The cleric needs to be in direct contact with the object/structure he/she wants to seal.

Casting Time. Eternal Lock is not an easy spell to cast, and requires a lot of time and preparation from the cleric. A quarter of an hour of meditation is recommended even for smaller locks, additional time should be added for even more difficult ones, depending on the proficiency of the cleric and the tier he/she is capable of reaching.

Duration. The natural duration of an Eternal Lock spell is difficult to define. If an overblessing is given, even a third tier cleric may achieve higher results than intended. In general the following rules apply:

• 3rd-7th Tier: Lock lasts approx. about as many years as the Tier number (3rd level=3 years, 7th level=7 years).

• 8th Tier: Lock lasts about 10-20 years.

• 9th Tier: Lock lasts about 50-100 years.

• 10th Tier: Lock lasts more than 100 years, legends report that some locks may even last eternally.

Counter Measures/Enhancing Measures. Though nothing on the subject can be proven, it is rumored that the worshippers of the Wind Gods would be safer against the effects of the spell. It has also been chronicled that on one rare occasion, a priest of Grothar has been teleported out of harm’s way the instant before the spell was activated. Another reason this spell is counted potent among the wise is that there are no armor spells or common prayers that would protect a being, whether it be a person or a place, from a granted Eternal Lock prayer. However, the Academy had once stated that if the victim’s concentration and focus, consequently his or her power to alter the possibilities of the cár’áll is strong enough, he or she might, (still) in theory, mayhaps escape the magical lock – yet no such case has been reported.