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

[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.