Echoed Footsteps

Declaration: Replay the recent movement of a person through a room as a faint sensory echo. Spell from the Divination school, using the glyphs Hall + Faden. Standard (close range, one target path, brief) difficulty. Tags investigation, tracking

Technique Glyph: Hall + Faden (Anchor + Anchor) Role: anchor — resonance + continuity Function: Hall reads the residue, Faden threads it into a coherent replay School: Divination Expected Mana Cost: 2 ticks (Standard 1 + 1 stacked glyph)

Fictional Trigger

When you need to know who was here and where they went — a room with a disturbed chair, a corridor where someone ran, a study with a shifted book.

Outcome Ladders

• 10+: a clear echo plays out — you perceive the person's path, pace, and one notable action they took.
• 7-9: the replay comes through, but the thread drags in residue: the GM chooses one — the echo is cluttered with earlier passersby, the emotional weight of the moment bleeds through and unsettles you, or the reading leaves a faint trace of your own that a skilled diviner could follow back.
• 6-: the echo turns predatory — it locks onto the wrong signature and pulls your attention into immediate danger, and the GM makes a hard move.

Rubric Snapshot

• Power Envelope: 2
• Stability Profile: 1
• Doctrine Fit: 2
• Total: 5 (Playtest-Ready)

Notes

An investigator's favorite: two Anchor glyphs stacked — proof that the grammar allows more than one of a role. Both are Tier 0 for Divination, so any diviner can attempt it; mastering it is what separates the student who reads traces from the one who reconstructs crimes. Pair it with Schleier (cross-school) if you need the interrogation to stay deniable.