Qfyilyi

I am writing a medieval fantasy novel. In my world, magic exists, but there are not a lot of people with magical powers. If a witch can summon rain and heal people, how much should she charge people for her magic?

Also, in a semi-realistic way, how would she gain political power from it?

Prices are set by meeting request and offer.

Everyone can charge as much as others are willing to pay for their product/service.

I can charge as much as Cristiano Ronaldo does for kicking a ball while wearing shorts, but I am sure I would find nobody willing to pay that amount, while Ronaldo does.

Regarding the political influence, a medieval kingdom is highly sensitive to weather: draught or flooding by rain can easily knock a kingdom down. The witch just needs to show she can control her power, and any one would understand she cannot be left disgruntled.

It depends on the service, costs for the witch and social standing of the witch.

Say that creating rain takes three days of doing a variety of chants. There's no material cost so the only factors are how difficult it is to the chants and the time it takes to do them. The time could ofcourse increase if the chant affects only a limited area.

Now she needs to heal which requires some ingredients that are expendes during the magic. Expensive ingredients? Expensive spell. You could allow people to bring the ingredients and reduce the cost in some cases.

Social standing is also important. Imagine if the witch healed someone's pigs and got paid. Later the pigs get sick again, is the witch making the pigs sick on purpose to get more work and pay? You dont know, and a witch with a low social standing will sooner be getting less pay (its your fault so you dont get much of my money), or she get's ousted or killed for sickness, disasters and problems that could be attributed to her magic. Whatever she does, she must always be clear to her customers and her neighbours about what she can do for them and when/how she punishes people using magic.

If your witch is going to make her living calling rain and healing, she needs to charge enough to live on; otherwise, "witch" is a sideline or hobby and she'll have to make her living doing something else (innkeeper, brewer, seamstress, potter, etc.).

That means she needs to earn (roughly) at least what a farmer, shopkeeper, or blacksmith does. Once you know that, and how many times she can use her magic in a day, you can calculate what she needs to charge. Then, of course, you need to know if her neighbors can afford (and are willing) to pay that for her services. I'd expect healing to pay better than calling rain, since nature produces enough rain in most places, most of the time.

Also, as noted in comments, there's the question of operating costs. Just as the blacksmith must price in the iron or steel that goes into the horseshoes, nails, and other goods he makes, or the farmer must price in feed for the animals that pull his plow, if the witch's materials are more expensive, her services also must be, or she must accept a lower margin.

Political power, in its basic form, comes from loyalty. Heal a close family member of a powerful person, and you're likely to gain loyalty from that person or others in their household. Put rain in one county and keep it from another, and the county that has what they want (whether it's the end of a drought, or protection from flooding) and knows who gave it to them will tend to appreciate it. In the end, a witch would gain political power the same way anyone else does -- by being popular and doing favors for those who can repay them in a political way.