Hi,
There are three CrVi guidelines to provide a generic "magic", a "no answer" and a "false information" answer to any In spells and a PeVi guideline which helps making something seems non magical to In spells.
But do any of this apply during a season of investigating? it's a labtotal (InVi) and not a spell...
If yes, all good.
If not: is there any guideline which can help to prevent an object to be investigated "easily"?
I noticed the waiting spell on an item can detect the "act of investigating it" which can be an idea but not for the magus i'm envisionning currently.
Yes. You would then compare the effect level with the investigation lab total. Because Quaestorial magic tends to investigate with high level effects like Sight of the Sigil, this is not for an amateur. At least if the goal is to shield a crime from prying eyes, which is the first application of this kind of magic I can think of.
Well the thing is not to hide a crime, but to prevent anyone from discovering the powers of an item, while still making it useable to someone who has the knowledge. (And the knowledge is passed in the lineage of the creator.)
I could have gone to the "restrict to invester/owner/creator" (+3 modifier) but when he would die, the item would have lost any use for anyone and that magus is the kind of person who spend almost 200 pawns of vis in each of his items, so he doesn't want the future magi of his own lineage to not enjoy those powerful items.
Anyway, while reading the CrVi spells for another magus... I spotted that:
"SHELL OF FALSE DETERMINATIONS
R: Touch, D: Mom, T: Ind, Ritual
Creates a "shell" of magic on an
item, helping to shield it from
investigation by other magi. All
attempts to investigate the magic
item give false information about its
powers unless half of the level of the
shell is exceeded by the magus's Investigation roll.
(Base effect, +1 Touch)"
(I should not have limited myself to reading the guidelines document and check official spells of DE using that guideline... I really don't like when spells add to the guideline in the official canon for that reason.)
So in fact, those guidelines in CrVi even if they are not described as working during a season of item investigation are doing so because the "investigation roll" only happens during those.
So if an item had a constant effect of it, it would work.
And I do note that "magic appearance/fale information/prevention of investigation" can be a "lasting thing" with momentary Creo spell, by using a ritual.