Water spirits vs moving waters effect on magic.

[GamingInSeattle]

Good afternoon all.

I recently ran my first DFRPG session and it went over very well.  Following that I did a side adventure set in the same town but in the past, a previous adventure as it were.  However, I decided to add a spirit of water that moved along river ways causing stagnation and corruption in the areas of life (towns, fisheries, etc) it finds.  A PC in the party has ties to a protective spirit near town and it's furious that this water spirit has arrived on it's "grounds".

In hindsight, I now wonder how to address moving water vs spirits/magic.  I know the books make some comments on this, but they tended to be "Ask Ramirez later" or "You wouldn't understand boss".  So, any thoughts on water magic/magic spirits vs the effects of moving water on magic or constructs?

Some ideas:

1) Treat water spirits or magical constructs as having a different element that can disrupt them, such as fire or earth.  So a wooden or stone dam might block a water spirit or water construct moving through the river.

2) Treat water spirits or magical constructs as being effects by water, just water other then the one they currently occupy.   So a water spirit or magical construct might not be effected by the river they are in but would be affected by somebodies hose from their house or naturally falling rain.

Anyway, any thoughts would be appreciated.

~ GIS

[Haru]

A water spirit lives in the water and is made of water, to a degree. I have never seen them as being hurt by the water the way mortal magic would be. Other spirits... maybe. Water has always been a way to get rid of bad supernatural stuff. Cross a bridge and you're safe, things like that. It's a natural threshold they just can't cross.

Some wizards or beings might be able to use the natural tendency of water to wash away magical energies and use it to their advantage. Kind of like having a Faraday cage around, that keeps the magical energies from being washed away, or taking back from the water on one side, what it is washing away on the other.

Having a mortal with a hose would add the element of will to the equation. A river is running water, but it is a force of nature, it doesn't have a will of its own. A hose aimed by a human being would be a deliberate force of disruption, which could be used as an explanation why a being that's immune to the water in a river might be hurt by it.

[Belial666]

Some versions of Entropomancy - like the ones the Fomoire sorcerors use - are unaffected by water, even water put there by mortal acts with the specific intent to disrupt magic. Simply put, they lack that weakness entirely.

On the other hand, that kind of magic has much higher involuntary hexing. So high that it makes Harry Dresden's magic seem technologically-friendly in comparison.

[MijRai]

Given what we've seen various Fae and other beings do on water, I'd assume a spirit tied to water wouldn't have magical difficulties.

[AstronaughtAndy]

In Codex Alera they frequently use fire/heat to prevent watercrafters from calling on their furies. So fire/heat/dryness would be one way to counter water magic/beings. I'd also imagine that running water wouldn't really negatively affect a water creature. If anything, rain or a spray from a hose might be healing for the water spirit, like some Mephits in D&D that get fast healing when exposed to their element.