malice in the forest

[marycatelli]

So Cedric got hurt in the forest.  Badly.  He put his hand on some wood and put some weight on it, and rotten, it gave way, and his hand got hurt.

Dumb luck or --

Mind you, putting your weight on dead wood in the forest is always foolish, especially your foot, since you don't know how sound it is.

But it's really hard for something to happen just by accident in the fantasy novel.  Meaninglessness is not a good thing in a plot, because it's really, really, really hard to work with.

On the other hand, that would impose some requirements on the malice they do face.  Maybe there is a malignant force in the forest, maybe some of their enemies cast it. . . .  Perhaps it was accidental side effect from an earlier spell.

Comments

[whitefangedwolf.livejournal.com]

If Cedric is established before this accident as having done foolish things multiple times before and been warned about the hazards of doing things without thinking, I think it would be reasonable to have the accident happen without a malicious force causing it.

[marycatelli]

That would make sense.

Alas, Cedric has been established as, if anything, too cautious. Reluctant to do anything that might backfire and make him look a fool.

If it weren't for the exact circumstances he was in, it would not have happened to him. Which is what sends Tam off on "it was malice" conclusion -- well, that and Tam's hasty temper.

[whitefangedwolf.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...
Well, a forest would seem like the sort of place someone might cast a spell on to keep other people from harming or taking its trees, plants, and animals. Maybe the spell's just not quite precise enough.

[marycatelli]

It was an accidental confluence of a spell cast as a prank, breaking it, and possibly some incidental magic of the forest.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Perhaps Cedric was distracted by something else? Or perhaps there was so much fallen stuff on the ground that he didn't have much option?

I have definitely played 'hunt the saluki' through neglected old woodland where there is a lot of fallen wood and if you are trying to peer for signs of saluki in the distance through the trees, it would be more surprising that someone is so careful they never tread on a rotten log, than that they do so and hurt themselves.

[marycatelli]

What happened is that Cedric got down on his knees, reached into a hollow tree (which, of course, is a tree with problems), pulled something out that had been hidden there, and from his awkward position, reached out to put his hand on some wood to push himself up.

He pushed the wood in.