"Not really, but you have to know what you're doing," says Cachion. "It's like how paintings got better after perspective was invented."

She has no idea what that means. "I see. What are the laws around making people? Do you need permission from your government?"

"This isn't a proleround," says Dayr. "You just can't be a shit about it. You don't have to run everybody by a board."

"Do you - own the people you make? Do you assume responsibility for them?"

"No, I don't own him," says Dayr. "If you're not good enough at making people who want to stick around you deserve to have them run off on you." Cachion pecks him on the cheek. "You can't make people who're going to - commit crimes, or who can't walk or are dying or really want you to eat them for dinner, none of that. There might be special laws if you want to make a child but nobody does that."

"And probably no one would even think of making a person who can get pregnant with arbitrary people, since that is not a good way to make people at all. Can you make copies of yourself? Or copies of yourself with one thing changed?"

"You can try," says Dayr. "But you have to have it all in mind, and can miss something."

"Has anyone written a book, or does anyone offer a class, about how it works?"

"There's books, yeah," says Dayr. "Maybe in cities there's classes."

"Thank you. I promise I will not try to make any inadequate people and I will go learn about it before I try it at all. But I think that it is - very good, and I am very excited to learn of it."

"Well, wizards are also very exciting," says Cachion.

"Yes. Wizard magic is very useful. I might take apprentices. I just want to learn more about the world first."

"The nearest real town on Snakeseye is Windtower," says Cachion, "they'll have books."

"Where are all you wizards from?" wonders Dayr.

"My homeland is called Cheliax. It is a prosperous and beautiful country, in the service of Asmodeus, greatest of the gods, and it trains all its children who have the potential to be wizards."

"It must be awful having to have everyone be children. Not just children! Babies!" says Dayr. "That much take up so much of everyone's time."

"It used to, but now the church has daycares. I think it still takes a lot of time. I do not have any personally."

"Any... time?" asks Cachion.

"Any children. You conceive them by having sex in a particular way so if you avoid that they won't happen spontaneously or anything."

"...you're not contagious, are you?" asks Dayr.

"I do not expect that other people will start being able to have children if they were not made that way in the first place. And even if somehow it did I would only expect it to affect - do you have the concept of male and female, here -"

"Yes. We're men but wouldn't want to introduce you to any women if you might be catching," says Dayr.

"If you have a way to check I guess it'd be better to check but I would be surprised if it were - contagious. Some people in our world can't have children because the machinery has something wrong or they broke it and it doesn't grow back or anything."

"I don't think there's a good way to check," says Cachion.

"Well. I wouldn't worry about it. What's Windtower like?"

"It's the main harbor on the round. Busy place, lots of stuff coming and going," Dayr says.