If you could get a grey wizard to do your work for you, one with a public and known track record for spectacular successes at long odds, why would you give them the least important task possible instead of something valuable?
SETTRA HIMSELF HAS NO NEED FOR LESSER LETTERS - ONLY THE MIGHTIEST OF LETTERS TO EMBODY HIS DEATHLESS GLORY UNTIL THE END OF TIME!
The entire harvest and healthy diet of a Karak Kingdom? Oh, that's been a Journeywoman.
If we are stuck in AP hell like just about everyone in this world with a any sense of responsibility is. Then yes totally.
Something important that we lack the time and/or necessary skillset to do ourselves. Also, bear in mind that Mathilde's not just a magister, she's a Lady Magister; that's not a title that gets handed out to incompetents and layabouts. I'd trust a random LM with a lot more than I would a random Magister.
I believe the Jade Order's traditions will prove more important than he thinks, thanks to the Waystone knowledge we've accumulated from so many other traditions.
That doesn't change the fundamental fact that Mathilde is a LM, and as such has a significantly higher level of base trust than a Magister. And that is what matters here, as the question is not 'what would someone trust a random Magister to do' but 'what would someone trust a random LM to do'. And the answer is: a lot. LM is the rank where you can pretty much just throw the person at any job that doesn't require a true specialist, and expect a decent result.
There are indeed Ostlander Hedgefolk, but well...
That is what happened to them. Thankfully there's also this:
The Nordlander Hedgefolk are focused on Nordland's section of the Forest of Shadows, so they're pretty far from Ostermark. They would likely still appreciate it.
How is the forest still standing, with so many powerful and violent people in it?
They usually mind their own business and only wreak havoc occasionally. Like, let's take Melkhior and Zacharias. They spend most of their time experimenting and furthering their understanding of magic, so they tend to lay low for the most part. Urzen is building an army so he can storm the Silver Pinnacle and destroy Neferata and the Lahmian Sisterhood. Ragush is there, but he doesn't tear everything apart all the time, since even Beastmen have limited numbers and tend to wax and wane, and know better than to attract too much attention. Dieter is presumed dead, but his body was never found, so if he's still "alive" then it's to his benefit that he lays low. The Blood Fane is a sacred spot, but the people guarding it don't go marauding and keep the location secret. They don't want it disturbed, although it's likely to activate with a Chaos Invasion.How is the forest still standing, with so many powerful and violent people in it?
If you're judging things off that metric, then 'least important' for a Magister M/Patriach is still extremely important by Magister or LM standards. He's not going to hand us his most critical job, sure, but it's not going to be junk or worthless.
The differences in ability between Patriarchs and lord Magisters seems much less clean cut then between Magisters and lord Magisters. Just about every Magister wants to be a lord Magister or at least would not turn it down. Plenty of lord Magister don't want to become Patriarchs or could become one if they actually wanted to.
As the self appointed Head of Ranald Daugther Research I can confidently tell you that no, no one came up with this so far. I'll add it to my theory post later on. If will be super helpful if you could try and summarize the points for and against the theory, I'll try and do it myself but I know literally nothing about this piece of lore and I'm sure you can do a better job.
