Charge: Illumination

"Who had the bright idea to do night maneuver wargames?" Siegfried stared out into the inky dark of the ocean. The only lights he could see were the dim torches on the prow of the power-sail he was on, as this was the night of blackmoon. Supposedly there were two battlegroups of power-sails, each attempting to gain the advantage on the other in the dark, but as far as he could see the world ended at the edge of the torchlight, which had been shrouded to defend against detection.
The other man standing at the railing sighed. "You can guess who." Travers had a perpetually irritated look on his face, but Siegfried couldn't tell if the wizard was actually expressing emotion or not. "'Be prepared for anything' translates into 'just do whatever, for whatever reason'. Like any enemy navy would attack at blackmoon. Better chance of sinking their own ships than ours."
"Better question - what enemy navy?" Siegfried chuckled at his own joke, before a light appeared in the distance. Bright, brighter than any torch or flame, this was a mage's illumination charge, and suddenly the game was afoot; the charge had briefly shown three powersails churning the waters underneath it before shooting off into the dark. Whoever launched the illuminator had guessed poorly, as the light was heading in another direction, and they had revealed their position to Siegfried's sail group. The deck began to tilt as the power-sails turned to the attack.
"Captain?" Travers glanced up at the quarterdeck. The captain nodded and raised a hand. The wizard reached into a pocket, drawing a small handful of powder, and clamped his fist shut over the powder before throwing it over the rail. As soon as he released his grip, a ball of enchanted green light fired out from his hand, blindingly bright, and launched at a speed that would make any bird flee before it. Similar illuminators were being launched from the sister ships, and before long the opposing battlegroup was fully illuminated.
"Right, the game begins." The captain smiled; he was missing some teeth. "Ballistas forward, launch the paint markers on my command. This will be done by morning."

Effect

Illumination enchants powdered limestone with magical charge, causing it to cast light. The created Illuminator can either be placed somewhere or thrown a great distance with a mage's manipulation.

Manifestation

The light created by Illumination varies in power depending on the casting mage; the strongest can make a light that can temporarily blind those near it.

Source

The source reagent is powdered limestone. Any wizard can enchant the limestone with magical charge to cause it to coalesce into a small, semi-solid amount of material that emits light until the powder is fully consumed.

Discovery

Magical light was one of the first discovered manifestations of magic in Etoile, but early experiments created weak light sources that taxed a wizard's stamina and were too ephemeral to be useful. Powdered limestone became the material of choice for casting light due to being the brightest material of those tested, as well as lasting for roughly ten seconds per gram of material. Nearly all wizards will carry a pouch of limestone to cast Illuminators, as it's one of the more useful spells for general purposes.

Material Components

Powdered limestone

Gestures & Ritual

The caster must hold the limestone in their hand to charge it. Most wizards will close their hand into a fist for faster charging. The caster may then use manipulation magic to throw the Illuminator a great distance, if desired.

Related School

Charge

Effect Duration

A fistful of limestone will project light for roughly five minutes.

Effect Casting Time

Instant

Range

An experienced mage can project an Illuminator roughly a mile through the air.