Now, you need to have around 100 AP in the ability you're going to wager.
Where do these come from? Obviously not from yourself, 'cause if you have
5 masteries in something you don't really need to quest for more
abilities... NB p.41 and 42 say that AP can come from "support". Now I am
sorry, but I know not what this "support" you speak of is.
Is it a part of the ritual bonus dedicated to enhancing this particular
ability? Obviously not in Rurik's case (p.43), and I can't really see it
happening much in other cases - it seems most of the time you'll need
every last bit of that bonus just for crossing over.
Is it supplied by followers or lent by the other companions on the quest?
Again, obviously not in Rurik's case, because he's alone at the quest's
end (p.48). Anyway, it seems unlikely you will have enough friends with
good ratings in the particular ability you want to wager for this to work
anyway.
So is it somehow provided by the supporters you left back home? This
seems the most likely, if only because of the similarity in terms:
"support", "supporters", see? Still, this leaves the question of how such
a transfer of AP occurs.
As I've already said, the ritual bonus is needed for other purposes -
even at +2 AP per +1 bonus you give up (HW p.242) it's a really lousy
deal. Am I missing something here? Maybe if the ritual and community
participation bonuses were a good deal higher than the examples and rules
seem to indicate, there would be some left over for this as well...
BTW, the Heroquesting example seems to show that Rurik is a world-class bonehead. First, he fritters away precious ritual points on carryover and sword skill, leaving him with a decidedly iffy chance of getting the quest off the ground at all. Then, since he is completely without support for the challenge against Hervald, his "awesome ability to Boast" (p.48) must be awe-inspiring indeed. What does this tell you about a guy: Boast 10w4, Mythology of Orlanth 17...
Oh, and another thing. :-) Letting someone go on the Hervald's Helm quest with just a two-mastery ability is cruel and unusual punishment. Hervald has 15w3, fercryinoutloud! Such a hero's only chance is to stake most of the 90 AP (wherever they came from) on one shot, spend a Hero Point, and pray that "Narrator Determines" comes down as "both forfeit 1x"...
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