Duthracht Geis

D'uthracht Geis — First Mentioned in Claimed by Shadow

Books Appears in / Mentioned In

• Claimed by Shadow
• Embrace the Night

Introduction

The d'uthracht geis is a strong magical connection-one of the strongest. it allows whoever put it in place to know your emotions-your true ones, not whatever you're trying to project-so you can't lie to him. It also gives him a rough idea of where you are at any given time. He may not know your exact location, but he'll certainly be able to narrow it down to a city. And, last but not least, it heightens the attraction between you, with each meeting becoming more intense. Eventually, you won't want to run.

About

Person Who Placed it on Cassie

• Mircea Basarab

Invnetor

• Merlin

Function / Powers

• Warns people off
• Reads the true emotions, not projected ones—can't lie.
• Trace to a general location
• heightens the attraction—unwilling to run.
• designed to ensure loyalty

What it Doesn't Do

• The D'uthracht doesn't create emotions, it's not a love spell.

Uses

• Often used like a magical chastity belt.
• Smooth out awkwardness in arranged marriages

Weakness / Flaws

• Big drawback: it boosts emotion to both parties—every meeting edges it up a notch. You have to give it something to start with, but once it's up and running, you're on the path to obsession with each other whether either of you likes it or not.
• Not many human emotions have only one facet—devotion can mean many things, loyalty easily transmutes to admiration, can lead to attraction > love > Possessiveness > covetousness—can lead to can convert to despair or hatred if thwarted.
• It has a habit of causing chaos—it's necessary to build in an escape route or a safety.

Characteristics / Nature

• The Duthracht geis fell out of favor because it tends to backfire.
• For purposes of the spell, how long ago it was cast isn't a simple matter of the number of years years—it's measured as a percentage of a life span.
• It is a very difficult spell to cast properly—not many human have only one facet.
• Even when cast properly, the spell often causes problems, with how many and what kind depending on the personalities of those bonded.
• The Geis determines the amount of threat by reading the interest level of any prospective partners, and reacts accordingly.
• There aren't a lot of mages with that kind of skill to cast the Duthracht Geis, outside of the Black Circle.
• The d'uthracht is spiteful when it's opposed.
• The Duthracht geis wasn't used to advise; it was used to control—making Mircea's and the Senate's motives suspect.

Escape Clause and Counterspell

• If Cassie slept with Mircea or someone of his choosing, the spell was broken.
• The counterspell to the Duthracht Geis should be in the missing second volume of the Codex Merlini—Merlin invented it and all his counters are in it.

Other Details

• Most mages won't even attempt it anymore.
• Can be removed by the originator of the spell. 
• Only two people are likely to know what the safety escape rout is:the person ordering the spell and the mage casting it. 
• The gems should be weakened in Faerie.
• because it's a powerful spell, it's interferring with Cassie's Ward.
• Cast on Cassie when she was eleven 

During the Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages, paranoid mages with nonmagical wives employed it as a variation on a chastity belt. I've also heard of it being used in arranged marriages, to smooth out initial awkwardness.

Associated Characters, Groups, Places, etc.

• Geis
• Cassandra Palmer
• Mircea Basarab
• John Pritkin
• Carlos Casanova
• Tomas
• Mac
• Mac's Tattoo Shop
• North American Vampire Senate
• Consul
• Chavez
• Dark Fey King
• Codex Merlini
• Merlin
• Cassie's Ward
• Pythia

Events in the Series

This section may have spoilers. Think of the book title as a "Spoiler Warning" if you haven’t read it yet.

2. Claimed by Shadow

Casanova tells Cassie she has a powerful geis put on her—specifically a D'uthracht Geis, and she's had about 12 years. The more Cassie learns about it, the more she feels betrayed by Mircea. Cassie is sent back to 1888 London to the Lyceum Theatre to save Mircea from poisoning by Myra. While there, the Geis kicks in with an odd effect. When Cassie meets Chavez who was waiting with an escape car for her, she felt a strong pull of lust for him that didn't make sense to her. The Pythia power urges him and Cassie to act on their attraction, but the Duthracht Geis sends them both into extreme burning pain.

Mac Explains: the Geis had a minimal reaction with Casanova who was identified by the geis as the wrong match and simply warned off. Chavez was not interested in Cassie, and therefore was not perceived as a danger. When there's a mutual attraction, the reaction is stronger because the warning is going both ways.

Cassie is sent back to 1888 London to the vampire Convocation. While what Mircea, the kiss passionately, in part to convince Dmitri that she' is his, but mostly because the geis demands it. It rebounds and intensifies.

The Consul lures Cassie to the Senate by torturing and threatening to kill Tomas—she demands that Cassie remove the Geis that she laid on her senator, Mircea. Cassie sees the state that Mircea is in—he's nearly crazed. He shows her the old shoe she lost in 1888 and she puts it together that the geis acted on its own and leapt to Mircea... he's been carrying the geis all this time and was triggered when they met recently. Despite the need, he lets her go to find a solution and to get Myra. Cassie escapes with Tomas with the help of Mac, Pritkin, Sheba and a traveling magic tattoo shop.

Mac says the geis is interfering with Cassie's Ward, that once she removes the geis, he can fix it right up. Tomas says that he can Lift the Geis. Tomas had been told that a geis had been placed on her to protect her virtue with an escape clause was added—If you slept with Mircea or someone of his choosing, the spell was broken. Mircea did it to protect Cassie's chance to become Pythia, and added protection at Tony's Court—an affair could have ruined everything. After the ceremony, Tomas regretfully informs her that the geis is still in effect. Cassie was afraid that would happen because of recent events. When Pritkin tackles cassie from behind in 1889 London in front of the Lyceum Theatre, the gems zaps them both with pain, leaves them gasping. Still active! ✥

Quotes

"I was told that a geis had been placed on you to protect your virtue as your ward protected your life. But as a precaution against anything going wrong, an escape clause was added. If you slept with Mircea or someone of his choosing, the spell was broken.”

See Also

• Magic
• Geis
• Magical Objects and Weapons