I have had a very evil, EVIL idea ... and unfortunately it doesn't seem to fit much of anywhere. Here isn't quite right, but closer than anywhere else I can think of. It's not an idea for characters interacting, y'see, but rather for applying a technique from one 'verse in another.
It needs a world which has entered the Wooden Ships and Iron Men period, but one in which magic works — specifically Dungeons and Dragons spells. Very specifically, Explosive Runes. Imagine, if you will, the result if somebody is able to sneak into a ship-of-the-line's gunpowder magazine, post up, very noticeably, a placard bearing some official-looking message and Explosive Runes, and then sneak off the the ship again.
Sooner or later, some crewmembers will enter the magazine and see the placard. "'Ere, wot's this; it weren't 'ere afore, wuz it?" If they're illiterate, they'll still likely report it to an officer, who'll come to have a look. At any rate, it's almost certain that someone will read it eventually. And that will trigger a powerful burst of magical fire (12-30 points of damage to the one reading, half that to everyone within a ten feet radius who fails to save). In a room filled with gunpowder.
If the crew is very lucky, all the powder containers will be sturdily enough built and closed that none of the stuff ignites (this applies only if the saboteur didn't think to open a few for just that reason), and those not hurt by the magical fire will merely have to change their underwear. If not....
There's further destructive potential if the ship is part of a squadron, and the saboteur or his/her comrades managed to plant Explosive Runes in most or all of the powder magazines. What's a captain likely to order if one or more of the nearby ships blows up, and there's no enemy in sight? "Some of you men, get down to the magazine; see if anyone left a slow fuse in our powder!" "'Ere, wot's this...?"
[Evil chuckle]
It needs a world which has entered the Wooden Ships and Iron Men period, but one in which magic works — specifically Dungeons and Dragons spells. Very specifically, Explosive Runes. Imagine, if you will, the result if somebody is able to sneak into a ship-of-the-line's gunpowder magazine, post up, very noticeably, a placard bearing some official-looking message and Explosive Runes, and then sneak off the the ship again.
Sooner or later, some crewmembers will enter the magazine and see the placard. "'Ere, wot's this; it weren't 'ere afore, wuz it?" If they're illiterate, they'll still likely report it to an officer, who'll come to have a look. At any rate, it's almost certain that someone will read it eventually. And that will trigger a powerful burst of magical fire (12-30 points of damage to the one reading, half that to everyone within a ten feet radius who fails to save). In a room filled with gunpowder.
If the crew is very lucky, all the powder containers will be sturdily enough built and closed that none of the stuff ignites (this applies only if the saboteur didn't think to open a few for just that reason), and those not hurt by the magical fire will merely have to change their underwear. If not....
There's further destructive potential if the ship is part of a squadron, and the saboteur or his/her comrades managed to plant Explosive Runes in most or all of the powder magazines. What's a captain likely to order if one or more of the nearby ships blows up, and there's no enemy in sight? "Some of you men, get down to the magazine; see if anyone left a slow fuse in our powder!" "'Ere, wot's this...?"
[Evil chuckle]
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"The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that this was some killer weed."
"The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that this was some killer weed."