Mictilian Mages

[Treebeard]

Does the Mictilian mages have special powers of any kind when sacrificing blood slaves, or their description are just fluffy text? And if not, why are they so expensive? I mean, 230-250 for a level 3 priest with four magic picks is much more than what pythium pays (150), and the fire mage is just obscenely expensive at 390 with just 5 magic picks (the arch-theug has 7 at a slight lower price).