"I mean you displace the previous occupant, somewhere in the world. Presumably their soul goes straight to an afterlife. Resurrecting the long-dead is in principle available, but it needs both rare skill and rare artifacts. I doubt I could afford it. And it might not be appreciated, few people get sent to Hell or anything like it."

"Jotun are Body and Blood - you'd be naturally taller, and with a little mana almost ten times the height. Low charge speed, but pretty easy - eat meat. Mortal meat, human or some other race, gets them charging faster; witch meat very fast. Those are often considered addictive, and they get messy if they try to rely on it."

Why are all charging and immortality methods like this?

"So that's still killing someone and a thus no for me. And good to know that on average people don't want to get resurrected, although it means I kinda need to re-evaluate my view on life and religion and that can wait, I'm already re-evaluating kind of a lot today."

"Jotun seems... not terrible. I'm not thrilled to eat meat, and I'm actually trying to do less of that, and of course I'm not going to eat human meat."

Sigh.

"How do Neutrals charge? Is it something horrible too?"

"Neutrals are boring, they charge on sleep. You got things on the violent side, mostly, rather than embarassing or sexual. Some are both - you'd be surprised how cheap the going wage to be lamia food is, some people enjoy it and come back easy. And Erinyes charge from inflicting pain, which can be consensual if they like. Or emotional. And one of the minor perks you can slot into your soul is to add someone's charge method to your own - I'd have to look whether there's anyone else's you could borrow."

"I have that one. Daeva and Luxal, I charge from my nice pretty jewelry and from boys lusting after me."

"Uh, if I can add another charge method then I should pick based on immortality and looks. Jotun seems... fine? If I can skip the meat their resurrection seemed innocuous."

"Could I pick a race and not get their immortality method but buy the Neutral one? Actually, what happens if I buy an immortality method and die as - say - a Phlegeton? Do I still try to burn everything or do I just... get resurrected in a different way?"

"Oooh, so I'm charging you right now. That must be useful! Wait. Uh. Do you also charge from girls lusting after you?"

"Yes, also from you, silly. All strong emotions, even, this one's just more fun. And no, if you're an Erinyes or Phlegethon or anything else, you can't get rid of it. But you can preempt it - lichdom or a curse of immortal aging or specific artifacts of delaying damage all work first. And youth restoration can be bought separately even if you have the curse."

She blushes so much.

"Well, that's... not nothing. But so far I think my first pick would still be Jotun with an additional charging method. How do Jotuns look like? Just... big? Actually, which one is the Jotun sparkle, so I can feel it for myself?"

"There's all the range of humans. Not even all Nordic, they just got to pick the name. This one here."

Ooooh. She's a bit taller like this, more... well rounded.

She can feel the hunger for meat, but it's just normal hunger, not the kind of overpowering feeling she feared.

"I kinda like it, actually?"

"Yupp. I think this fits me well."

"Good for you. We'll come back to it if the elements aren't looking good for you, but you have a lot of Body and Blood - more like Flesh, really - so it's not likely. Next - you can pick a class, but sorceress is the obvious one. Sorceresses are elementalism prodigies, improve their magic by practice, and generally live more in their bodies than Academics. If you want to go the study and theory route like me, I won't stop you, but you don't seem like the type."

"Hey, I am smart! But... getting better by practicing magic does sound more appealing than study. Are there other differences worth noting?"

"Many of the non-elemental magics are cheaper for Academics than sorceresses and they can get better results out of them. Alchemy brewing, Rune enchanting, some others. Things that are slow and methodical, basically."

"Makes sense. Yeah, Sorceress seems fine. Can I change my mind later if I realize I prefer runes or that my life calling has always been brewing concoctions?"

"You can," she reassures her, "Nothing final until we agree to make it so. I think that's possible to get around but none of the people who teach awakening want to make it common." She did check, because she'd rather have the option, but she doesn't really need it.

"Good, then Jotun Sorceress it is! What's next?"

"Four main categories. Flaws, little magic, elementalism, and spell magic. Or, actually, explaining the costs. The unit of power - not mana, the power that determines what you can spend mana on - is a certain size, and everything costs it, or gives it to you. You start with thirty units, points, granules, whatever name you like to call them. Gaining more after you awaken takes, for a sorceress, practice, which earns them what's usually called 'might', one a day with an hour of practice or two in four hours, no more than that. Ten might for your first extra granule, twenty might for your second point, thirty for the third unit, et cetera. Academics have the same curve of earning power, only it's four hours of study for one or eight for two. You'll have about... yes, a hundred units/etc. of lifetime magic, absent divine intervention and relics. Flaws typically give you more of the hundred to start out, and can't push you above sixty; past that you can raise the lifetime cap with them instead. And you start with four from how the mortal and magical worlds interact in some way that needs more cosmology and aethernautics than I have to explain."

"Raising the cap sounds very interesting, if the flaws are not terrible I'm probably going to take a handful of them. So what flaws should I pick?"

"It's tricky. There's a few obvious ones - third nipple, get it moved anywhere you like by anyone with Hexes, four units for you because it's sorceress-aligned. At least one school of magic, choose not to ever be able to learn it - four more, up to eight if you make that three schools. Necromancy's popular there, and Aethernautics which is sort of lame unless you get up to rank four. Be eye-catchingly attractive even if you shapeshift, and draw attention even when it's not obvious, four more. Some almost no one picks on purpose - an eternal witch hunter, nearly impossible to kill for good, obsessed with you, is eight units, and not worth it. But there are many more. Do you want things that make your life suck for a few years or a few decades and then pass? That's conventional wisdom. On the other hand, you can learn to live with things - my leg's bad, I need the staff to walk easily, and that's impossible to fix, and yet I don't really mind."

"Total recall is a yes, especially as it seems easy to move to a reasonable place. Not learning some specific magic irks me a bit, but I guess if I try to be good at everything I won't be good at anything, so it's probably a yes, although I'll need to get more familiar with the various schools before picking how many to avoid. Being attractive seems like a plus actually, if I can recharge like you? Although I would be worse at stalking than you were with me. Agree on the eternal hunter being so not worth it. Having things suck temporarily is fine, decades seems long but that's talking someone who did not expect to have centuries, much less infinity as a lifespan." And it's not as if her life doesn't suck right now, does it?

"Oh, you can get the cloak, too. I have that flaw, but the Hespatian Shroud wins - it draws attention but it's impossible to remember anything about who it was you were drawn to. Beyond 'A Hespatian', which is a collective reputation we have very much earned. We also have our own magic - Occultism, it's called, we make use of the power of shadow for various rituals. Some take animal sacrifices, but other than the really powerful ones a coven can substitute sex. Not that you have to join, if you'd rather let Hawthorne Academy poach you I won't even discourage you."

"Sacrificing animals is not ideal but I'll take it if it's worth it, but if you can have sex instead then I see it as a win-win."

"What are the things that would make life suck for years but then be fine? I probably want some of those."

"'Hard Lessons' - magic takes twice as long to earn, and you need more practice beyond that to get effective with it. Probably the longest time horizon of these, worth eight. 'Nemesis' - someone else awakening at the same strength hates your guts and will be a long time being convinced to stop sabotaging or attacking you. On the other hand, my great-great-grandmother is married to hers and they joke about it at family parties. Worth ten. Arguably, unveiled, removes the effect on the world that makes people not notice or immediately forget that you're nonhuman - also covers things like your passport retroactively always being for a woman. Six. Big Brother - everything I know about you from this process, magical and mundane, will get magically leaked to a variety of other factions who try to mess with you to keep you from helping their enemies. Eight; I picked this one, and I don't regret it even though my coven at the time had a lot of enemies. Bounty - in trouble with the law, wanted for capture and questioning, will die down if you beat the hunters off for a year or two. Only two, but I can help you with this easier than the one before it. Defeat - at some point, you will be captured and killed. You'd need prep to ensure you'd resurrect, which I can help with. Six. Betrayal - someone you trust will turn on you, for one good reason or another. Four. And maybe the worst - Natural Awakening. Ten, forget all about this the minute we sign the contract and finalize it, and some time - tomorrow, next year, on your aged deathbed but almost never that - you'll painfully awaken like I'd never found you, except with all the choices set like we agreed."

"Hard Lessons is tempting, it would be annoying but it's worth a lot and in the end I'd still reach the same cap. Let's say yes for now. Nemesis is... ugh. Ten points is a lot but having someone hellbent on making me miserable sounds like a recipe for disaster. Unveiled would be a pain, and it seems like it's permanent? Big Brother seems... fine, I'll grab it. Bounty could be fine if I can rely on you but two points is not a lot. Will probably pick it up if I really need those two points. Defeat sounds incredibly scary.... with my immortality method, they could just... kill the homunculus immediately? Six points would be good though, and if I can make sure it doesn't stick it's a one-off thing. It's a maybe. Betrayal is so not worth four points. Natural Awakening... I'm not scared of pain, and if the choices I get are the ones we're agreeing on now... will I remember you when I awaken? Will I remember my, you know, other awakening, or will I go back to believing I'm a man?"