Wind Ride is a ritual which requires Conjuration 5 to cast, requiring 5 and 10.

Upon casting the spell, a random commander from within the target provice is selected, and is attempted to be lifted by the whirlwind. Upon success, the whirlwind may either drop its victim in its original province, or move it one province closer to the caster. Should the movement bring the target into the caster's province, no damage is inflicted; otherwise any non-flying commander suffers armor negating magical falling damage as described below. In any case, a commander cannot be moved more than one province through use of this spell. Commanders given stealthy orders are not valid targets for this ritual.

To be more specific with each step of the process:

1. The whirlwind attempts to lift the commander. This always succeeds, unless the commander is ethereal, size 6, or has 4 or higher.
2. The whirlwind attempts to move the commander out of its current province. The chance of succeeding is dependent on the target's size. If the commander is hostile, it is further reduced by 10% per path of Air magic they have.
3. If the unit is not flying and does not arrive in the caster's province, it is subjected to falling damage as per the table below. This is reduced by 5 for each level of Air magic the target has. This is then halved, rounding down, if the whirlwind failed to move the commander out of their initial province.

The way the spell interacts with target size is as follows¹⁾:

Additionally, bodyguards of the commander may be moved, though they are never subject to falling damage.

Wind Ride causes a number of messages, some of which can provide the caster some form of feedback on the outcome of their cast:

Wind Ride attempted to lift an ethereal commander. Suddenly a whirlwind appeared out of the sky and tried to snatch Commander away. But the whirlwind could not get any hold on the ethereal commander.

Wind Ride attempted to lift a size 6 commander. Suddenly a whirlwind appeared out of the sky and tried to snatch Commander away. But the shear weight of Commander stopped the whirlwind from lifting him/her away.

Wind Ride attempted to lift a commander with 4 or higher. Suddenly a whirlwind appeared out of the sky and tried to snatch Commander away. But Commander's connection to the earth below made it impossible for the whirlwind to lift him/her away.

Wind Ride transported a commander safely into the province where the caster was located. Suddenly a whirlwind appeared out of the sky and snatched Commander away. The commander and anyone who were standing too close to him/her was transported safely to Province (Province Number).

Wind Ride successfully lifted but failed to move its target. Suddenly a whirlwind appeared out of the sky and snatched away Commander and anyone standing too close. But about a hundred feet up the wind lost its grip and Commander fell to the ground.

Wind Ride successfully lifted and moved its target. Suddenly a whirlwind appeared out of the sky and snatched Commander away. The commander and anyone who were standing too close to him/him were flown to Province (Province Number). There the wind suddenly lost its grip and Commander plummeted back to earth.

Wind Ride successfully lifted and moved its target into the caster's province. The whirlwind successfully transported Commander to Province.

This message is only provided when a target is successfully lifted. If wind ride fails to lift a commander for any reason, no message is displayed. The whirlwind returned empty for unknown reasons.