Invocation of the Living Ship

Cost: 20 motes Target: Template:Ship

The sorcerer lays her hand upon the figurehead of a ship and calls it to awaken—and it opens sea-green eyes. The entire ship comes to life, working every mechanical aspect—wheel, rudder, sail, rope, oars and all—without the need for a crew. Loyal and loving, the figurehead will even lead the ship in pursuit of the sorcerer, should she move more than 100 yards away—at least until the next dawn or dusk, when its eyes close and the ship becomes inert once more.

Invocation of the Living Ship cannot be used on a ship without a figurehead or on an Essence-powered ship. Occasionally, the spirit of the figurehead grows in power through repeated use of this spell, to the point where she can challenge the ship's own spirit for dominance. The ensuing conflicts have caused havoc for sailors and passengers, but never destroyed the ship itself. at least, not directly. In RY 353, an enemy sank one unfortunate warship in the Realm's fleet because the ship's own awakened godling and figurehead couldn't agree on how low it ought to sit in the water. The ship rocked so violently with their quarrel that its gunners couldn't aim its Essence cannon, and it became a sitting duck.