Design: Winds of Ruin [6/1+1, 3/1+1, 1/3+1]
The power of Allah can not be denied!
Enemy shells have reached a point that is unacceptable. More and more brave Moskurg soldiers die without any chance of proving their worth on the battlefield. Clearly, this must be fixed.
Thus comes the Winds of Ruin, the logical application of our vast control over the very air which fills our lungs. This spell is a powerful, single blast of air that races through the sky like an elemental serpent, coiling and twisting on a mages command. This blast of wind is powerful enough to send men tumbling through the air, lift horses off their hooves, and even knock over an incredibly heavy ballista! Though we've yet to test it in battle, our Researcher Priests assure us that it will most definitely be able to stall an enemy shell in mid-air (although probably not send it sailing back).
Unfortunately, the spell takes a bit of time to wind up. It takes a mage a few seconds to gather up the air pressure necessary to send the wind galloping overhead, and he must begin casting immediately after hearing the distant report of an artillery gun in order to have the wind up and going in time. Even then, it's quite close and a bit of a toss-up to see if he'll be able to have the Winds of Ruin going in time to stop the shell.
But perhaps most frustrating of all is the accuracy. Lucky strike doesn't work on the Winds, as it's not actually a projectile, and an incoming artillery shell is very hard to see. A mage has to start casting immediately, know where the shell is going to land, and hopefully cast the spell in time to stop the shell from hitting. There'd likely be some success if a mage works in tandem with another mage casting Antichronic Reverbramancy, but the forewarning spell currently has too many problems to be effectively useful in this case (or at all, really).
On the bright side, Winds of Ruin can totally be cast by War Pegasi Riders, assuming they're not inside the wind tunnel. The spell is effective out to line-of-sight (although it tends to lose power the further out you go). And the fact that Moskurg's Apprentice Gramary for Inter-magical Competency gives us more Wizard-level mages is very nice, because this spell is merely Expensive.
Design: Winds of Ruin [6/1, 3/1, 1/3]
The storm has been under our control for decades, but now it's time to give the storm a mind of its own.
The intent of this spell is to impart a mages will onto the very elements of nature itself, which is quite the ambitious goal. A group of wizards must work together around a carefully-constructed spell circle and focus to make their intent known to the storm and encourage it to work in their favor. The effect persists as long as the mages cast, and during that time the storm takes on the personality of the mages involved.
The most useful effect of this spell is that it can enforce a small area-wide downdraft via low-pressure areas that pushes Arstotzka's shells downward, potentially decreasing their range by one. The winds can buffet enemy soldiers, but will let Moskurg soldiers pass through relatively unharmed. The winds aren't quite strong enough to pick up things on their own, but a Zephyr can be formed and controlled out to BLOS range.
Unfortunately, some problems occur when you literally give a storm a mind of its own based on a bunch of Wizards standing motionless around a circle for hours and hours on end. The storm often gets distracted, playing with the leaves of nearby trees or accidentally parting the clouds and forming rainbows every now and then. Wizards who need to use the bathroom encourage the storm to give torrential downpours on Moskurg troops, while wizards who are hungry encourage thunder to grumble more often than send lightning spiking towards the ground. This can be alleviated by having the wizards stop every now and then for bathroom breaks and lunch.
As this is Moskurgs very first attempt to give something a mind of its own (on purpose, at least) it's actually quite successful. The ambitious nature of the spell means it is Very Expensive.
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Topic: Wands Race - [Moskurg] {COMPLETED} (Read 199650 times)