Kered,

I know I already sent you a message about this, but I thought I'd
elaborate in a public post, for the benefit of those who are in
agreement with the thoughts expressed in your post.

You will find that there are indeed consequences for those who abuse
their skills, especially when those skills are dependent upon an outside
force such as nature. I direct you to events post 12, in the year 271,
where the Guild of the Sentinels was rejected by the forest for the
misuse of their skills. It is because of this event that the Sentinels
no longer have the power of groves, and cannot entice the forests to
perform so much as a single magic trick.

While, obviously, the forests are not going to reject the druids in that
manner for charging money for their skills, you are wrong in your
assumption that Oakstone is the only organization capable of punishing
offences against nature, and wrong in your assumption that nature will
absorb any amount of abuse without responding, regardless of Oakstone.

This is an excellent lesson for all of us who pursue magical arts. We
are not, in most cases, dealing with mechanical devices that dispense
the same result in each and every circumstance, though that illusion may
often be given. We are interacting with and drawing upon complex forces
that may or may not respond to us, depending upon the situation. The
Elemental Lords may deny an elementalist a channel to their plane,
Nature may choose not to respond to the interactions of a Grove user,
the Princes of the Inferno may choose to deny their power to an
Apostate, and the Angels may choose not to serve a Priest.

A truely skilled magic user understands these factors, and understands
the forces he draws upon when he works his spells. Being able to use the
spells is meaningless without understanding how the spells actually
operate, and how it is that they do what they do.

With Regards,
Apollodorus Tatharin


Penned by my hand on the 14th of Glacian, in the year 415 AF.