Animate wood

Animate wood was a simple spell common to the wu jen of Kara-Tur &mdash;particularly those specializing in the power of nature or the element of wood &mdash;that allowed the caster to animate a small wooden object. In some worlds, druids and shamans maintaining a relationship with a wood spirit also utilized this spell.

Effects
The caster could use this spell to animate a small wooden object by touching it, provided that the object was not possessed by another creature. Some earlier scholars of magic claimed that the maximum size of the wooden object depended on the power of the caster and, furthermore, that living plants could also be animated and at larger sizes&mdash;up to five feet (150 centimeters) tall. Magical wooden objects could resist being animated. The spell took a full six seconds to cast.

The wooden object would remain animated, as long as the caster concentrated, for up to six seconds or longer, depending on the power of the caster. While the spell granted flexibility and movement to otherwise rigid wood, the caster could not change the shape of the object, and the movement was slow and stiff. Small trees could be animated, but they could not "walk" as their roots would remain buried in the soil. The animated object would attack whomever the caster designated.

Animate wood could also be used to temporarily animate beams and planks of wooden sailing vessels and spelljammers as a means of damaging their hulls.

Components
The spell required verbal and somatic components and a material component&mdash;a mixture of powdered cinnabar and a ground up peach pit.