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In a vaguely fantasy renaissance world threatened by monsters, certain reclusive tribal spellcasters follow religious traditions giving them nature based spells. Specifically one spell who's limits are such: the caster picks a point at an area near him (within 150 ft from him), and cast this spell over 8 hours, enriching the land. All plants in a half-mile radius centered on a point within range become enriched for 1 year. The plants yield twice the normal amount of food when harvested.

If he cast it immediately instead, it only effects an area of 100ft radius centered on where he pointed, and all plants in that area become thick and overgrown, where even humans have trouble walking through grass. The process takes 6 seconds.

The magic uses matter manipulation to create the plants instead of relying on nutrients from the ground. As long as there's plants present in radius, the spell works.

They can cast this spell twice a day. What would be the societal impacts of this spell, and how would it effect how people lived in communities with these casters?

These casters dwell in forests and other secluded wilderness locations, where they protect the natural world from monsters and the encroachment of civilization. Some are tribal shamans who heal the sick, pray to animal spirits, and provide spiritual guidance. They’d sooner offer their services to farmers who needed to grow crops to survive rather than the expansion of the agricultural industry.

The society of this world is economically and technologically comparable to Western Europe during the late Middle Ages - early Renaissance. Gunpowder is rare in use, but most weapons are bows, spears, swords, etc. Five other types of spell casters exist, but they cannot use nature magic. Roughly 1/20 of the population can use magic.

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    $\begingroup$ Questions asking about the impact of a thing on society are too broad for this site. Since don't describe your society in any detail we need to build a society for you before we can begin to answer your question. $\endgroup$
    – sphennings
    Sep 9, 2022 at 21:58
  • $\begingroup$ @sphennings I made edits so that the society is explained better! I hope it's acceptable 🥺 $\endgroup$ Sep 10, 2022 at 1:11
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    $\begingroup$ You're still asking about the impact on society. Such a question is too broad for this site. $\endgroup$
    – sphennings
    Sep 10, 2022 at 1:30
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    $\begingroup$ More info needed. 1. How much access do the landholders have to "reclusive tribal spellcasters"? 2. How does long version work - does it double the output by doubling the extraction of nutrients from the soil (ie exhausting the land faster)? 3. How does "immediate" version work - how quickly, does it exhaust land, if it only affects "normal" plants then what other types are there, how often can it be cast? $\endgroup$ Sep 10, 2022 at 4:20
  • $\begingroup$ @KerrAvon2055 I elaborated! $\endgroup$ Sep 11, 2022 at 3:42

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Well I would view these magic users and their spells as an essential part of society.

If monsters are real, most people don't have a way to defend against them. Farms and farming communities would need to be outside the city walls in order to yield significant harvests. So you have a problem where agriculture, the very foundations of civilization, is a dangerous occupation and only a pseudo military cast of farmers survive the grueling world with use of their farming magic.

You could argue that it's the job of the military and knights to clear the country side but moving those troops takes time, and coordinating them takes time, and preparing them to fight and survive takes time, and by the time they're ready the peasants are all dead.

So the people doing the farming need to be proficient enough to defend themselves. And casualties happen, so a single farmer may have had the help of 12 apprentices at the start of spring, but by the time the summer harvest rolls around there's only 4 left.

So the need for farm based magic isn't just in the growing, but in the harvesting, storing, and transportation of the crops too.

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  • $\begingroup$ Would recommend using paragraphs/sectioning in your answers, it helps with legibility. Otherwise, great points! $\endgroup$
    – Enthu5ed
    Sep 9, 2022 at 22:14
  • $\begingroup$ Just so that you know, I edited the question so that it's more concise! $\endgroup$ Sep 13, 2022 at 10:55

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