The Lost Art of Truth-telling

And here I will write plain a secret hidden since the days the sun rose in the west:

Magic is the art of making what is true, but unseen, seen. Speak what you know to be true, and if it be so, your words will out. 

The truth may be contested by another who speaks it, or by the world itself. One must declare how many HD they will wager before knowing if the truth they speak is contested.

• If another’s truth contests yours, both speakers roll a d12, adding the amount of HD wagered to their roll.
• If the world itself contests the truth spoken, the speaker rolls a d12, adding the amount of HD wagered to their roll. The Referee may roll a single die of any appropriate size, as long as it is no larger than d100.

The truth of the one who rolls higher endures.

The speaker of an untruth loses all HD wagered, and may not speak the truth again, for they have lost it. Should they make what was spoken true, they know the truth once more, and regain half their lost HD.

One may forsake the truth and choose to lie instead, wagering their lost HD. If these HD are lost again, they are lost forever.

Examples

1: A man in a verdant valley raises his staff towards a cleft between two hills and says, “A river springs here.” The Referee determines the world will not contest their truth, for a river weaves only a few feet below ground. A trickle of water pours from the stones.

2: A man (5HD) in a grey desert raises his staff towards a cleft in two hills and says, “A river springs here”. The Referee determines the world contests the truth, but there is an oasis a few miles to the east. The man wagers all 5HD, and rolls 6+5. The Referee rolls a d20, with a result of 15. The hills stare back unblinking, as the man turns to dust.

3: A woman points towards a king upon his stallion and says, “He falls.” No one nearby contests the truth, for they despise the king, and so the Referee determines the king falls off his horse. 

4: A shepherd (1HD) points towards a man (6HD) on dragonback behind them. They say, “He falls.” The dragon rider says, “I stay.” The shepherd wagers 1HD, and rolls 10+1. The dragon rider wagers 3HD, and rolls 1+3. He falls.

5: A blue-robed person (2HD) looks up at the stars spread out across the sky and says, “They fall”. The Referee determines the world contests the truth. The blue-robed one wagers 1HD, and rolls 1+1. Referee rolls a d100, with a result of 1. The stars would fall to the earth, if not for the naked giant (18HD) far to  the north, who says, "The stars stay in the heavens where I placed them". The giant wagers 12HD, and rolls 3+12. The stars stay in their places. The blue-robed one loses 1HD and the truth they once knew, until they can bring the stars down.