[Chris_Byler]

I like Cheezeninja's idea of a shatter spell targeted at a province. Items could be affected based on their construction level or something (very low/no chance of destroying an artifact, but cons-2 clams would be quite vulnerable). The spell wouldn't be that destructive if there were only a few items in the province (although if you nail a few of a SC's items right before he goes into battle it could still hurt), but if there were a lot, it could destroy items that add up to many times its own cost.

If you don't want only one path to have this type of countermeasure, there could be several anti-item spells: one that shatters items, one that causes them to burst into flame possibly killing their wielders, one that summons a swarm of thieving magpies that steal magic items (most items stolen are kept by the magpies, but a few may be brought back to the caster), one that horror marks anyone in the province with an item and *greatly* increases the chance of horror attacks on item-holders in that province that turn, etc. Those spells in turn could be blocked by domes, but that adds to the cost (and domes have their own weaknesses depending on the type of dome being used; retaliation domes couldn't prevent the destruction of 50 clams, just kill the mage who did it.)

How effective are ordinary army blasters (Flames from the Sky, Murdering Winter, etc.) against a province full of clamholders? Magical assassinations (Earth Attack etc.)? Hiding under the sea will protect you from some of those spells (maybe a few too many), but not all.