You are able to contact the spirit of someone deceased, allowing it to answer the questions you pose. The decedent's corpse need not be present, but you must have a physical connection to something that was close to the decedent, such as a lock of their hair, a weapon or other possession they used frequently, or the participation of someone who knew them fairly well.
Until the spell ends, you can ask the spirit up to five questions. The spirit may answer questions known to the decedent in life, but may at the DM’s discretion also attempt to answer additional questions learned by the spirit after death, provided that they relate to things the spirit would have experienced in the afterlife. A ghost or revenant might only know post-life information about the area they haunted, for example, while another spirit might only know post-life information about the outer plane where their spirit existed after death. Answers are usually brief, cryptic, or repetitive, and the spirit is under no compulsion to offer a truthful answer if you are hostile to it or it recognizes you as an enemy. The spirit answers by channeling either through yourself or through a willing person who is present. If you use a higher spell slot to cast the spell, you can choose to have the spirit speak as an incorporeal manifestation of the spirit's voice in the room rather than channeling through a living being present.
When cast at higher levels, you may ask two additional questions per higher spell level.
* - (burning incense)
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