Secret Chest

Arcane Transmutation/Alteration
Level: Magic User 5
Range: See below
Duration: 60 days
Area of Effect: One chest or box, 12 cubic ft
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 turn
Saving Throw: None

This spell allows the magic user to shift a magically crafted treasure chest into the æthereal plane, where it will be safe from those who might seek to steal the caster’s possessions. The chest itself must be crafted of the finest materials in order to support the spell’s magic, and it will cost a minimum of 5,000 gp to have a craftsman or craftsmen build it, together with a second, miniature copy. When the magic user casts the spell, one hand upon the chest and one upon the miniature, the chest disappears into the æthereal plane, together with its contents. These contents may be up to one cubic foot of material per caster level (and no more than this) regardless of the chest’s actual volume. If the chest contains any living matter, there is a 75% chance that the spell will completely fail, although if it should succeed, the living creature will be imprisoned in the æthereal plane until freed. The caster (and only the caster) can use the miniature chest to pull the larger one from the æther wherever he or she might be. It is possible, although not likely, that some æthereal creature or æthereal traveller might happen upon the chest while it is in the æthereal plane. So long as the chest remains in the æthereal plane, the magic user will still be able to retrieve it (although it may have been looted). No creature on the material plane has any chance using any magic known to humanity to locate a secret chest that has been hidden in the æthereal plane by means of this spell. After the spell duration expires, there is a cumulative 1 in 20 chance per day that the spell’s link to the chest will fail, and the chest will be irrecoverable.