Brainstorm

>>46808669
Because they're wizards and they can do whatever they want.

>>46808669
Magic needs animal and plant parts. It also works better if you either pick/hunt it yourself or the person who did so hands it over to you with no intermediaries.

Want to cast a fireball? Find some magical spitting flowers and an inflating toad (it's got gas).

1) Their form of magic (or level of obsession) attunes them directly to cosmic forces at the cost of coherent thought. Their minds brim with so much power that they have no room left for language, planning, or the patience to farm. Essentially, the "addled wizard who forgets when lunch is" cranked up to 11.

2) They ascribe to a monastic/questing tradition and wander intentionally, living off the land. They may or may not be looking for sources of mana first and foremost, and simply scrounge whatever necessary food they need along the way.

3) Alternatively, they are immortal/long-lived have no need of food, but simply cook for enjoyment and to maintain their sanity... because 300 years without bacon is a recipe for disaster.

>>46808669
Magical substances are so incredibly rare that tribes of wizards must travel far and wide in search of them.
Also, perhaps the use of magical powers "pollutes" the local environment in some way, and using lots of magic in one area is a recipe for disaster.

>>46808669
Because magically conjured food tastes like shit, peasants are superstitious lot who hate the wizards and the hunter-gatherer way of life is actually pretty leisurely.

>>46808669
They subscribe to some esoteric philosophy and this is their path to enlightenment or whatever. Like going off into the wilderness to live as a hermit, except instead of going it alone you have your co-philosophers.

>>46808669
They believe they need to be in touch with nature in order to remain grounded on the material plane. If they wander the aether too much without a solid foundation on this earth, they would be lost forever to the stars.

>>46808669
Diogenes-tier not giving a shit.

>>46808669
>knowledge is power
>enjoy nature
>enjoy life without the clamor of civilisation
>exotic girls?
>fucking magic
>wizard botanists
>hobby
>because they're wizards and they can do whatever the fuck they like

>>46808669
They haven't discovered copper yet and thus lack the basic metalworking that would allow them to transition to permanent settlements. This is because their reliance on magic has caused them to ignore mundane technology.

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139KB, 223x311px

>>46808669
because they're also druids

>>46808669
Magic comes from the sun, so humans/elves/whatever can't absorb it naturally. They have to get it through a healthy diet of magical plants, and the most efficient way to do this is to eat the plants right from the source, less they wither and lose potency.