merfolk druid spells and tactics

[Gilladian]

I'm creating a low-level NPC druid; she's a merfolk, guarding a shipwreck with her shark animal companion, and several mer-warriors for assistance. She's most worried about defending from sahuagin, but is also sometimes obliged to chase off human divers.

What spells is she likely to have (not above 2nd level)? I'm open to any sourcebooks for 3.5 (not pathfinder). And what tactics is she likely to use? She and her companions can be completely hidden, or not, as they have plenty of time to prepare their guardposts and lookout points.

The shipwreck they're guarding is in warm, shallow water, embedded in a coral reef. They are mainly protecting the hold, where valuable giant clams produce both prized food delicacies and pearls.

thanks for any help and suggestions!

 

[Dozen]

If I recall my nerd research correctly, Merfolk are very group oriented in combat. She would rather assist the mer-warriors with buffs, debuffs and area control than to blast the intruders herself. Have her use Flash Freeze to create obstacles/enclose someone in ice?/seal entrances, Mending to fix small holes in the wreck where it counts, Scarecrow to keep away dangerous animals, Detect Magic for obvious reasons, Purify Food and Drink in case the delicacies go bad, and Fins to Feet to slow down Sahuagin, so they can take them on one-by-one(A second level spell? Really? Apparently voice=CL2x90 gold? Talk about greedy, Ursula. What a ripoff.) Animate Water is stylish backup defense agains overwhelming odds. Under water, an animated water object is probably invisible, tough don't take my word on it. A few healing spells to stabilize the wounded is obligatory, of course, unless she or someone else in the party has a decent Heal check.

 

[radja]

Entangle works just fine under water, and can be a real threat to divers. It's dismissible, so you can give stuck divers a stern talk about how they should leave this place alone before you let them go (or leave them to suffocate). Warp wood pretty much ruins boats, which should help drive off pesky humans. Since this is an NPC, you may want to give her a merfolk variation on the 'gust of wind' spell (Sudden Current maybe?) that creates a current under water but is otherwise mostly identical.

 

[Gilladian]

Thanks guys! Both of these give me great ideas. I never thought of using fins-to-feet as an offensive spell! And the gust-of-wind current sounds wonderful. But I think the invisible animate water may be the best of all...

Any good underwater magic items?

 

[Tuft]

I never thought of using fins-to-feet as an offensive spell!

Um, Fins to Feet says "willing creature touched"...

 

[Dozen]

Um, Fins to Feet says "willing creature touched"...

Whoops. My bad. Sorry. And OP thought it was a good idea tooT-T

 

[Gilladian]

Drat! I saw the spell, decided it wasn't useful in the given situation, and then when Dozen suggested it, decided I'd been too quick. I guess my initial reading was correct....

Ah well... anyone have any other suggestions?