Sea-based Spells

[krome]

I'm contructing a sea-battle-type scene among pirate (yay!) clans, one of which has just hired a group of rouge Skirmish Mages to help them stamp out their rival clan. Their pirate isle hasn't seen magic in years, so pretty much anything will impress them. But the spells that I'm constructing would be naval-bombardment or large-scale sea battle spells.

The idea is that these mages are sort of breaking new ground, adapting ground battle tactics to ocean terrain. I've only got one right now, called Churn, which was originally used by forming pockets of air under the topsoil and then dispelling it quickly which sent up a violent, explosion-like shower of earth. So now they're using the same technique on the water, using under-water pockets of air to send up huge showers of water. I'm thinking if they form these pockets underneath an enemy ship, they can capsize it.

Any ideas on other sea battle spells?

[Cheka Man]

Any fire spells could do great damage to wooden ships.Fire was at one time the most feared thing afloat.

Other spells could create tidal waves or could alter the winds to becalm a ship or to speed up one's own ship.

[CaptainPenguin]

This spell is utilized to summon forth the fabled Akho, the huge aquatic beast known as the Embracer of Ships, and to command it to swallow up an enemy vessel. It was known to have been used by Yuglikh Bakh, the Sea-Sorcerer, during his battle against the Pirates of Shzipasz in the Hadszash Sound.

The sorcerer responsible for this spell requires:
-Violet wax
-Sand from the beaches of Shipslayer Island
-Three miniature models of a ship
-The blood of a small bird or dog
-A silver hand-bell

The ritual proceeds thence: The sorcerer melts the wax in a circle and sprinkles the sand within the circle. He then takes the three ship models and crushes them in his hand one by one, sprinkling the pieces within the circle, and washes it all overboard the ship or into the sea with the blood, which is preferably heated to boiling; all of these are performed during ritual incantations. The silver hand bell is rung over the water's surface, and the sorcerer speaks a long, crooning call in the language of the Akho, which sounds much like eerie whalesong, indicating the boat which shall be destroyed.
Assuming that the ritual has been performed correctly, and none of the ritual words mispronounced, the enemy ship will soon be consumed by the Akho, unseen beneath the waves except as a mysterious shadow in the water, and a eerie whale-like song as the ship is dragged down.

[Iain]

Sorry, my names aren't brilliant

Hyperborean Winter

The ocean around the target become frozen and solid, covered with ice several feet thick. Ships become trapped in it helpless, unable to move. Usually used against enemy ships; however, if the ocean is frozen between your ships and the enemy's, the ice is strong enough to support people running between the ships to board.

Rite of Spring

Can only be cast on previously alive vegetable matter (e.g. wood). If cast on a wooden enemy ship, leaves, stems, branches and roots will sprout from all parts of the wood, growing rapidly, obstructing movement, causing havoc and, if unchecked, threatening the very integrity of a ship. A ship could literally tear itself apart.

Inexorable decline

Alters the direction of gravity in a largish region, by perhaps as much as 5-10 degrees. Ships and water act as if on a slope, rushing downwards to find a new equilibrium. More than one of these can be cast at once to create a "valley" in to which the enemy ships will be hurled, to crash in to each other and be overwhelmed by the waves of water pouring down after them.

[krome]

Oh, don't stop, don't stop.  You guys are wicked!

[Cheka Man]

Carbonize If cast upon a wooden ship, this will cause an area five feet long and five feet wide to burst into flame.Unless the fire is quickly put out by the crew, the  ship will soon be burning from the bow to the stern. It works best if a strong wind is blowing as the ship will burn faster.

Windswitch This spell changes the wind direction. Whilst it does not destroy enamy sailing ships, it makes it hard for them to reach you, and can be used to make them crash into rocks or reefs.

Wave This spell causes an underwater earthquake.Not much good in the open sea, but it can be used to direct tidal waves into harbours, causing a lot a damage to enamy fleets and towns.

[Scrasamax]

(Evocation)

The Storm of Glass and Pain is a sudden, and terrible spell created by the sea-mage Marit. The spell doesnt take overly long to cast, so long as all of the spell components have been prepared ahead of time. These components include a pane of glass inscribed with the holy symbol of the Lord of Storms, an iron Spell Rod, and a section of ship's rope tied into thirteen knots.

The pane of glass is broken with the spell rod, and then the largest piece of glass is used to cut through the seventh knot of the rope. Then, the glass and rope are cast towards the target (1 ship). The shards of glass take on a life of their own, spinning and multipling, filling the air with hundreds of glass shards. The sails, ropes, and rigging of the terget vessel are shredded, often leaving the ship stranded in the water for many hours until the damage can be repaired. The desk is also covered with a layer of nearly dust fine glass shards, the remnants of the glass pane. Since sailors usually go about barefoot, this can be a painful, and scourging spell to use.

[CaptainPenguin]

The Dreadfully Merciless Involution of Crew and Carriage was created by the Sky-Admiral Masodrak the Flint-hearted for use in his piratical endeavours- he was the sorcerous captain of a boat which flew through the air, and he used this sky-ship and this spell to terrorize the seas about the Port of Bronze Pillars.

The incantation entails a metal casque filled with water into which have been scraped flakes of rusty verdigris from a sword which has been submerged in salt water for two months. With the accompanying incantations, the rusty water is dumped from the casque upon the sorceror's footing, and the sorceror makes an extraordinarily complex twisting gesture with his hands, and indicates his target.

At that moment, the indicated ship is ransacked by the invisible soldiers of the Lord of the Salt Wind and all of the crew and items which may have been within the hold and compartments of the ship are cast quite violently outward from the ship, into the water. Masodrak used this spell to kill two birds with one stone- not only were the crewmen dealt with, he could survey the floating goods contained within the hold for valuables. Of course, heavier objects immediately sunk; in this occasion, he would utilize the Spell of the Untiring Aquatic to retrieve the sinking items.

[CaptainPenguin]

If the sails are the wings of the ship, than this spell is the arrow that pierces the wings. Created by the Sea-Sorceror Yuglikh Bakh to immobilize his enemies on their ships and cause chaos, it is a relatively simple and easy spell for a wide effect.

Necessary components:
-A blazing fire elemental in a lantern or other vessel
-A golden arrow
-A flexible bow
-Prayer strips

The sorceror pens the necessary incantations and supernatural invocations on the prayer strips, preferably in blood for greatest effect, and ties them to the golden arrow. The fire elemental, brought to a suitable bargain, will occupy the arrow, causing it to hiss with heat.
The sorceror then needs only to fire the arrow from his flexible bow towards the enemy ship; in the air, the hissing, glowing air will become a vast multitude of blazing streaks of flame, which collapse explosively into the sails of the ship, starting a great conflagration which invariably spreads to other sails and even other parts of the hull.

[CaptainPenguin]

Of my three spells, I'd have to say that I like Calling the Embracer of Ships best, followed by Conflagration of Burning Sea-Wings, and then Dreadfully Merciless Involution of Crew and Carriage as my least favorite.

[Cheka Man]

When all the "Naval Battle" spells have been thought up, should we use this thread as a general "spells" thread?   It has the perfect title for it, after all.