Lies and falsehoods are things some think you'd never encounter when you're deep into the thickets of our Order. We walk the Way, the Truth, and the Life, or so the Master taught. Surely falsehood isn't something we have to deal with regularly.
And if you believe that, I have a plus twelve Elvish Mace of Mental Clarity you might be interested in buying. Just hold still while I hit you in the head with it.
Lies and falsehood are an inescapable and unfortunate part of our reality. Humans and dwarves and elves, you name it, they'll twist and bend reality to serve their interests as often as not. They will proudly and certainly declare something to be so, even when it is not. Sometimes, they'll do so reflexively, without even thinking about it. Sometimes, they'll do so seductively, speaking half-truths to charm and delight you.
Sometimes they won't even know they're lying, as they confidently repeat a lie they've heard told them by a source they've mistakenly trusted.
However that lie comes, and in whatever form it comes, you need to know that it's a falsehood. As Christian Clerics, our primary duty is to the Deep Real, that fundamental Truth that rests within, under, and above what we can experience in this plane.
Lies tear at that truth. Lies make it harder for that truth to be expressed. The lie is the enemy of the Good, because it is not real.
Understand, lying is very different from having hope or being guided by faith, which both focus on the realm of the not-yet-realized real. The lie asserts that something has been when it has not. It misspeaks, and it does so by intention.
As such, the Lie is the primary tool of the dark alignments, which in their desire for power hate the Real. Lawful Evil-tending folks will use them to justify their dark power, integrating carefully crafted falsehoods into their tightly woven systems of control. Chaotic evil-tending folks will lie the way they live, sloppily, inconsistently, and with wild and manipulative abandon. Truth? What does it matter so long as they're getting what they desire? The neutral evil folk? They'll do both.
And here's the thing. Not just evil beings lie. Neutrals will do it. Even those committed to the Good will stumble on occasion. You can't trust a Detect Alignment spell to work in place of this one.
You will be lied to. Period. Even if you're a Cleric. Sometimes especially because you're a cleric. If you can't tell when another Player Character is spinning out something that is not grounded in the Real, you're going to be in a world of hurt.
So how do you cast Detect Lie? Like Know Alignment, Detect Evil, and most spells of discernment, it requires a decent wisdom score to cast effectively. The cast of Detect Lie requires you to exercise that wisdom, and to be aware of of the warp and woof of the fabric of the material plane as it shifts around you. Know the Real. Be a part of it. The more you've intentionally committed yourself to engaging with the work of our Maker, the more easily you're going to be able to pitch this spell out there.
When casting Detect Lie, what you're really doing two things. First, you are looking at an assertion relative to the fabric of reality around you. Does it seamlessly integrate with the Real? Does it connect with things, and relate to others, in a way that reflects the perceptions and intuitions that rise from wisdom? If it does, then you're fine. If a statement stands in peculiar disjuncture from the Real, singing disharmoniously with what wisdom can discern, it is likely a falsehood.
Second, you're testing its power orientation. What does that mean? It means you're looking out at the network of relationships you encounter, and asking: Does the statement seem to primarily serve the power of the individual or group making that claim? Not all such statements are false, but remember: lies are inherently evil, and evil is about individuals and systems seeking self-serving power.
When an assertion does not fit easily into the real, and seems to primarily serve only the material interests of an individual or group, it is typically a lie.
An example: A few years back I found myself working in a monastery alongside a particularly charming cleric who was filled with stories about his endless escapades in goblin country. He'd spin out tales about his battles with entire armies of goblins, about how he'd vanquished one goblin shaman after another. His adventures starred him as the noble hero or suffering victim, and the battles he'd claimed he'd fought had gathered him a small following of acolytes.
I didn't bother with Detect Lie at first, but as the stories continued and grew wilder and wilder and his influence spread, I realized that perhaps that might be a good idea. His statements failed both aspects of the casting. Time and time again, the spell indicated falsehood. Not always. But mostly.
I began to be more cautious around him, and was more careful with the gold in the monastery treasure room, and more wary about his advice. Eventually, this cleric made the mistake of telling one of his wild stories in front of a baroness whose child he falsely claimed to have rescued from a goblin raiding party. He ended up humiliated, and had to serve penance as her hireling for a while. Quite the mess.
Detect Lie has another, equally important use, one that Christian Clerics need to regularly practice. You don't just cast Detect Lie on others. You need to regularly and systematically cast it on yourself.
The reason for this is simple. Falling away from the True and the Good can happen to any of us. Lies are potent, and lies are seductive, and the most dangerous lies are the ones that we want to believe.
There will be times when you want to believe something so desperately that you'll do almost anything in your power to ignore the truth. There will be times when you've become so personally vested in a thing that you'll craft the most elegant network of interlaced falsehoods to prop that thing up.
Casting Detect Lie on yourself is a ward against the terrible, soul-rending choices you'll make if you fall into that trap. It's a basic part of the discipline of our Order, something we need to attend to regularly if we want to maintain the integrity of our vocation.
Finally, and this should go without saying, remember that while Detect Lie is reversible, and can allow you to utter totally robust falsehoods, such a casting draws power from Baalzebul, the dark Lord of Lies himself. There are plenty of fallen clerics out there perfectly willing to cast Undetectable Lies on a regular basis, lies that tear their followers further and further away from the Deep Spell and the Real.
I've seen this happen, and it does terrible and ugly things. Such communities live in a land of shadows and fear.
So even though we wish we didn't have to know this one, learn it. Practice it. Because the Truth matters to the Good.
