Detect Thoughts

Detect Thoughts is an arcane spell infamous for its use in court intrigue and politics around the world. While it is not a hyper-accessible spell, requiring some proficiency to use, it is well within the ability of most seasoned arcane spellcasters.   As the name suggests, Detect Thoughts allows the user to read minds. It can be sustained for 1 minute, allowing the user to read surface thoughts of any nearby creature for that full time. The targets don't even know they are being targeted unless they have some alarm or protection.   The user can end the spell early by trying to invade the memories or thoughts of a target creature, but this can be resisted and is always noticeable.   This spell can be used by Makar Mesaba, who has mastered masking its casting using their subtle magical arts.   This spell, along with Lesser Invisibility, is part of the bread and butter of espionage agents for powerful factions. Institutions often use Detect Magic systems to look for traces of this spell, and many great empires have intricate rules around it.   Actual use of this spell is challenging enough that most groups are limited in their ability to marshal it. A rich city with magical institutions might use this spell for a particularly high-stakes murder investigation, while a kingdom lacking magical institutions or access might only hire a mage for this spell during emergencies ("who poisoned the king?!")