A game mode chosen when a company is founded, unrealistic and unfair by design. Rivals (AI and other players) have the same powers.
Powers, bought from the Divine panel (the bolt button under the trophy on the World map): each row names the power, its price now and what it does, with Unleash (greyed with why: too expensive, on cooldown, Wrath used this year, three storms out). Prices scale with company level (base x (1 + level / 50)), except Wrath, a flat $1,000,000,000. Each has a cooldown in game weeks (a week being 504 s of play). A power with a target closes the panel and has the player click it on the map (a hint at the top says what; Esc cancels): a point at sea, a port, or a rival's ship at sea.
Storms, three tiers, called down at the point clicked: Squall ($25M base; a gale, 180 nm, 2 days, cooldown 0.2 weeks), Tempest ($200M; a hurricane, typhoon or cyclone by those waters, 300 nm, 7 days, with an eye, closes ports under its core; 0.6 weeks) and Wrath ($1B; the tropical kind, 600 nm, 14 days, power 2: twice any natural storm's strength, so 95% slower and 5x wear at its core at Harsh settings, closing every port it crosses; once a calendar year). A divine storm starts at full strength, holds it most of its life and fades at the end (intensity (1 - (age/life)^4) x power), drifts slowly (5 knots) from where it was called, is named for its tier ("Cyclone Wrath") with "sent by <company>" under it on the map and a "Sent by" row in its popup, and acts from company level 1 even in a game founded without storms (then at Harsh settings). At most 3 of a company's storms are out at once. The sender's own ships suffer in it like anyone's.
Fair winds ($100M; no target; a week): the company's whole fleet sails 1.5x faster for a week.
Calm seas ($50M; a point): every storm within 500 nm blows out at once (natural or divine).
Plague of gulls ($30M; a port; a week): gulls mob the port (drawn wheeling over it); every other company's ships there take twice as long over their stops.
Deluge ($80M; a port; a week): rain over the port; its prices halve for everyone (buying and selling).
Sea change ($60M; a port; a month): a great flock (drawn as a golden ring of birds) settles on the port: it counts 40 more birds for the port blessing below.
The Kraken ($150M; a rival's ship at sea): the ship is lost where it is ("taken by the Kraken", maintenance 0) for a tug or recovery boat to fetch; its arms rise round the ship for 20 s.
Lightning strike ($120M; a port where a rival has a hub): the hub drops a level; a bolt and flash over the port for 4 s.
Blessings and omens, always on in a Divine game: birds following a ship speed it up 2% a bird (an albatross 4%), up to 50%; whales or dolphins within 50 nm shield a ship from a storm's wear; sharks within 100 nm of a lost ship hurry its rescuers 1.5x; frigatebirds following a ship make off with 2% a bird (up to 10%) of its sale (logged); a port's gulls, cormorants, seabirds and sea ducks (plus a Sea change) bless it, 80 birds for the full blessing: its stops up to 50% faster and its prices up to 20% better each way for ships there; a port's lamps by night turn ships round 20% faster; the first snow (1-7 December, ports north of 50 N) slows stops there 30%; cherry blossom (Japan in April) doubles delivery XP there; and one day a year a comet crosses the sky (drawn above the night at the top of the map, logged) lifting everyone's sale prices 10%.
Every act goes in the activity log in the actor's colour ("Northstar Freight called down a Tempest on the waters off Lagos."; red when it hits this player's ships, port or hub); the panel lists the last 12 acts. AI rivals use the powers too: about once a game week (Easy every 3, Hard every 1) a rival picks on the richest other company and uses the first power it can afford twice over that it has a target for (a storm or the Kraken on one of that company's ships at sea, a plague or deluge on its busiest port, lightning on one of its hubs, fair winds for itself, calm seas where its own ship is in a storm, a great flock on its own busiest port).
Multiplayer: the host does every act and sends the divine state (effects, cooldowns, ledger) with its updates; players can target each other and the AI. Achievements and company comparison are unchanged.
Maritime Empire