Ar'Kendrithyst

After breakfast Erick wished Jane and Savral good luck out there in the Crystal Desert, then had a conversation with Al in Al’s living room.

“I need some advice on some math stuff.”

“Hit me.”

Erick smiled. “You know, if you said that to an orcol, they might actually punch you.”

Al smirked.

“So about these mana costs.” Erick said, “It’s going to be 250 mana per cast after I level Clarity to 10. How can I have [Call Lightning] up all the time? The goal is rain, and that only comes from chain-casting. I’m at 20 Focus, 20 Willpower, and I have 22 points to spend.”

“Do you have any Favored Spells left?”

“All of them.”

“Favored Spell is a good option. That would put [Call Lightning] at 125 mana per cast, which means 750 mana per hour, which means 25 Focus, which is a good idea anyway. If you find out you don’t like [Call Lightning] as a Favored Spell, then Irogh can undo that for a grand-Rad, which costs 1000G. It’s a large price, but you might be able to afford it with the reward from those shadowcats. You might even get a grand-Rad as part of your dispensation from the fight.”

Erick thought about all that.

Al frowned a bit, then reluctantly said, “You don’t have to go for Scion of Focus. It’s a great option, but with those sorts of mana costs and the pressure that’s going to be on you to perform this magic… Put another 5 points in Willpower.” Al struggled to say, “Maybe even 10.”

Erick smiled. He said, “I’m still going for Scion of Focus. Mana Exhaustion is horrible.”

Al chuckled. “Good to hear.”

“All of that was good to hear from you, too! I didn’t know I could reassign stuff by paying a registrar.”

“Bah! Don’t count on that. It’s damned expensive and only available once a year. Even small changes cost a grand-Rad. Most people can’t afford Rozeta’s fees or timetables, so they accept Registrar Quests for smaller, more exact changes. Reassigning a Favored Spell would fall under that category. But Registrar Quests are almost worse than the fees. I did one once. Had to go around the world and deal with a dragon.” He smiled. “Savral was an unintended side effect of that quest, though, so it wasn’t all bad.”

Erick wanted to ask how that worked, but it felt impolite to ask where dragonkin come from when one of the parents was a non-dragon. Just… Imagine what that would look like between Al and, like, Rozeta.

… Adoption is an option. Right. Adoption does exist.

Rather than ask about any of that, Erick just smiled. “Registrar Quests are a thing?” Erick said, “I mean… One of those led me to Spur. I shouldn’t be surprised that a registrar quest can do things besides nothing.”

“They can do a lot.” Al nodded. “So? What are you going to do with your points? Have you decided?”

“15 in Focus, 7 backup. Favored spell [Call Lightning]. 35 Focus will be 1050 regen per hour with [Meditation] active. I think it’s a good plan.”

Al smiled. “A good plan.”