Extract Knowledge

6th-level necromancy (ritual; hieroglyph)

Casting time: 1 action

Range: Touch

Target: a recently dead corpse

Components: V, S, M (a blank page)

Duration: Instantaneous

Classes:

Subclasses:

By touching a recently deceased corpse, you gain one specific bit of knowledge from it that was known to the creature in life. You must form a question in your mind as part of casting the spell; if the corpse has an answer to your question, it reveals the information to you. The answer is always brief—no more than a sentence—and very specific to the framed question. The corpse doesn't need a functioning mouth to speak its answer; you receive the information telepathically. It doesn't matter whether the creature was your friend or enemy; the spell compels it to answer in any case.