Rats. Well, it has potential, at any rate. What does fating myself to Arcadia do? It's not necessary just to enroll, is it?

Every faction has an associated fate-related perk. Arcadia, which prides itself on being open and welcoming to all, has the perk that you can choose two other factions' perks and get downgraded versions thereof.

Gosh, okay.

She shuffles through the options. How badly is the Lunabella perk nerfed by this transition?

The downgraded version of Cornucopia is that you can choose any one "food item" to be able to conjure at will, although "food item" can be a picnic basket with a specific inventory, not just a single comestible object. 

Oooh. Can I modify what the inventory of the basket is?

No, unfortunately you have to choose it when you take the perk. 

I can't browse a grocery store in here! ...does it all have to be room temperature?

It does not all have to be room temperature. It doesn't even have to all be the same temperature. I have an excellent memory and have been in as many as several grocery stores, do you want me to just list as many kinds of food as I can think of?

I'll come up with a basic set and if I seem to be missing things you can help me out. She invents a big basket of all her favorite stuff including Chinese takeout and assorted fruit and various sandwiches and cookies and snackfoods and pizza and ice cream and poutine and sushi and candy, enough to feed a moderately sized house party since if she just wants lunch she can buy a loaf of bread and some deli turkey.

She suggests throwing a couple of protein bars and some water or other beverages in there for emergencies. 

Oh, good idea. Bottled water, several kinds of juice, protein and granola bars.

Penelope walks her through the downgraded versions of the other faction perks. Outsiders don't actually have one for infohazard reasons plus it just would have bad optics. The downgraded Master Wand from Hawthorne gives you a ten percent boost when you use your rod to do magic. The downgraded "False Light" of the Watchers gives you a bonus of forty miles per hour to flight speed plus the ability to glow at will. The downgraded "Shroud" of the Hespatians is just a straightforward invisibility cloak. The downgraded Fae Step gives you a 2% chance to refill 20% of your mana, plus the ability to briefly flicker out of phase with the dimension you're currently in, such as to dodge an attack or escape from bindings or a grapple. 

...the invisibility cloak might work really well with not being veiled, if she winds up visibly magical in some way, she'll take a that.

And that is all of the stars. 

Does this look like a good build to you? Any tweaks you'd recommend? May asks, looking at her stack of stars.

Hm...with regards to complications, if you took sensory shock, there are people who make special earplugs for hearing and contacts for sight, and then you would have extra points and a boosted sense when that was convenient.

Hm... I'm still leaning no but thank you for the suggestion.

Gotcha. I think you've got a fairly solid build, then.

Awesome.

What now?

Do you want to do any last-minute double-checking? The next thing is to finish the Awakening, but everything is set in stone at that point, so I'm definitely not going to just spring it on you.

May assesses her pile of stars.

"Ready," she says.

There is a sensation as of all her gathered stars being drawn abruptly inwards to the very core of her, fusing, and then erupting into a cloud of something like stardust that perfuses her entire body. 

She is, very suddenly, back in the shop, her ordinary senses working normally again. 

Except that previously her ordinary senses did not report a tail. 

Penelope is smiling at her. 

"Welcome to the fold. And congratulations." 

"- ooh," says May, peering around at her tail. Twitch twitch. Her hands and forearms are ice-blue; she reaches up to touch her horns with them.

Her horns are lightly branched antlers much straighter than that of any deer. She can feel the pressure if she pushes on them, but they don't have a lot of surface-level sensation. 

Penelope clasps her hands delightedly. It's always such a joy to see a new witch excited about the changes!

Tailswish. "I did not expect to like having a tail this much!"