26 Sacrificial Grounds (1/2)

Considering the great benefits Morgana was about to obtain, one might ask. Why didn't someone already made use of the many sacrificial grounds spread across the vast forest?

The answer lies with the type of magic practiced by its denizens. Because almost all of the mages that lived here were either druids or sorcerers.

This first kind used natural magic. By attuning with the land and its inhabitants as well as studying them a druid would gain many great powers.

Unlike wizards, however, their craft did not draw magic exclusively from knowledge. And, also had nothing to do with the arcane.

On the other hand, a sorcerer's powers were innate.

For them, magic was something to be cultivated purely through practice and instinct. As such knowledge and scholarly studies played no part in defining just how skilled they were.

Some sorcerers drew their power from destiny, being blessed by chaos at the precise moment of their conception. There were also those who carried this magic in their blood. As such, they were the heirs of ancient and powerful beings, whose power they could somehow mimic.

Other kinds of innate magic existed as well, but these two were the most common by far.

As far as Morgana could tell, true wizards were extremely rare in Agatha.

The only examples of this profession she could find were those of Rumpelstiltskin and his followers.

In a time when the world was even younger than it was now, they were cast out by the other gnomes, many of whom considered their magic to be heretic.

Another point of discord, and the final trigger which resulted in their expulsion, was Rumpelstiltskin's express desire to make peace with the Feywild.

After this Great Schism, the wizards moved out of the Great Forest, building their own settlement in the south.

Some day Morgana intended to pay them a visit.

So, unlike wizards, druids and sorcerers had other pillars supporting their power. Pillars that often caused the practice of dark magic to become unviable.

Druids, for instance, sought to coexist in harmony with the lands in which they lived. Ao, giving in to darkness would actually make them weaker instead of stronger.

While a sorcerers magic would remain within the boundaries of the ”gifts” that were bestowed upon them on the occasion of their births.

Of course, there were sorcerers who received their powers from an evil ancestor and those could only practice dark magic.

While some druids, who dwelled in decadent places, would worship corruption and evil, principles which were manifested by these dark and fallen domains.

But, fortunately, neither of those two cases existed in the Great Forest.

...

After visiting five of the locations that Morgana had marked on the map, Mordred was beginning to think that the rest of his journey would be just as uneventful.

But then, just as he was passing above a particularly large tree...

A giant flying monkey flew towards him, taking advantage of the fact that the familiar had come too close to the place where it dwelled.

The jump carried great strength as the very foundations of this tree were shook.

It was unlike the other members of its kind that partook on the battle against the gnomes, having a size twice as big as those individuals.