Burning Death (VH)

Melee; Resisted by HT 
Causes the victim to burn from within. The caster must strike the subject to trigger this spell; hit location is irrelevant. Every turn, the victim must roll against HT; on a failure (critical or not), he takes 1d-1 fire damage. On a success, he takes no damage that turn; on a critical success, the spell is  broken. Neither DR nor Resist Fire protects against this injury! For the duration of the spell, the victim experiences almost unbearable discomfort, equivalent to the effects of a Sickness spell (p. 138). 
If the spell is maintained long enough, the victim’s skin and clothes start to char and little flames dart out here and there. Once the victim dies, his body bursts into flame and burns until only a little pile of ashes remains. 
Undead beings are not affected. The caster must concentrate while maintaining this spell, but need not remain in physical contact. 
This is also a Necromantic spell.

Duration: 1 second. 
Cost: 3 to cast. 2 to maintain. 
Prerequisites: Magery 2, Heat, and Sickness.

Item 
Staff, wand, or jewelry. Usable only by mages; the item must touch the subject.  
Cost to create: 700 energy and a $500 ruby.