As this is more of a bug issue, copied from Gameplay:

Holy word's help file (see below) has an odd sentence at the end "Due to its awesome power..." (heh): I don't recall it ever draining xp. Also as an area commune the targeted syntax seems redundant.

Also, IIRC sometimes as the victim you get an echo of "You feel hope abandon you!", but as far as I can tell this never did anything, so maybe someone could explain what that means in the help file? Is it -morale or what?


'HOLY WORD' (418)

Syntax: commune 'holy word'
commune 'holy word' <victim>

The nature of this prayer is truly a powerful one. Once spoken from the lips
of one who has devoted his life to clerical study, it unleashes a burst of
spells aimed at both offense and defense. Frenzy and bless are cast upon
each member of the group and a word of wrath is released upon any oppositely
aligned creature in the room. Due to its awesome power, it requires of the
caster a drain of experience to compensate for its use of mana.

Looks like it can drain XP from the user.

Victims can get that echo and can be cursed.