Polymorph any object

Polymorph any object (originally called Aksa's morphing ) was a powerful transmutation spell that let one change someone or something into anything else.

Effects
Upon completion of the spell, the subject&mdash;which could be any nearby creature or a nonmagical item&mdash;was changed into a creature or object of the caster's desire.

There were some limitations to the power of this spell. For example, the spell could not create valuable items, whether financially so, such as money, or alchemically so, such as cold iron. It could not create or effect magical items at all. The spell also had limits on the sizes of targeted items.

The duration of the spell effect depended on a number of factors. In general, the more similar the starting and ending forms, the longer the change would last. The duration was also longer if the new form was less intelligent than the original form. For example, a spellcaster could turn a puppet into a human for no more than an hour, but a human could be turned into a puppet for about three hours before reverting back to the original form.

Components
To cast this spell required verbal and somatic components. In addition, a cleric had to clutch his or her (un)holy symbol, and an arcane spellcaster had to use some gum arabic, mercury, and a source of smoke, all of which were consumed in the process.

History
The spell was invented by the Netherese arcanist Aksa the Destroyer in &minus;2039 DR.