You touch a humanoid skull and imbue it with necromantic energy, transforming it into a vigilant sentinel. You can set the skull in a location and specify a trigger condition related to creatures entering a certain radius around the skull, up to 20 feet. When the condition is met, the skull’s eyes glow with a spectral light and it emits a chilling wail that can be heard up to 100 feet away. The wail lasts for 1 round.

Any creature within the radius that triggered the alarm must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 2d8 psychic damage and is frightened until the end of its next turn. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and isn’t frightened. This effect applies to all creatures within the radius.

When the alarm is triggered, it is both mental and audible. A mental alarm alerts you with a chilling sensation in your mind if you are within 1 mile of the warded area. This sensation awakens you if you are sleeping. Additionally, when the mental alarm is triggered, you receive a brief mental image of what the skull is seeing at that moment, as if you were looking through its eyes.

The skull remains in place until it wails or until you end the spell. Once the skull has wailed, the spell ends. The skull is not consumed by the spell.