It now further occurs to me that this "reservoir" of "fixed" POW is very likely one of the main resources a community can use to offer "support" to one of their number when she goes on a HQ. I see this as being both a source of power the quester can draw upon directly while on the HP, and one of the things potentially "at risk" if it all goes horribly wrong. Losing some or all of the clan's fertility magic for a season, or for a year, or possibly even _forever_ seems exactly the sort of thing a badly failed HQ would result in. Along with whatever befalls the quester herself, of course, plus doubtless any number of other things, depending on the nature of quest (and the failure).
If the quest succeeds, then the clan's magic is largely untouched, apart from what was actually "used up" in the quest (possibily even that is restored); and of course, one sort or another of more/different magic may have been one of the objects of the quest, so it certainly ought to be possible to come out ahead in terms of the "stake".
Of course, this only works in cases where the quester is of a particular cult, as are her supporters, and probably also only if she follows a hero path of that deity, or a closely related one. If there's already an actual hero cult of the person concerned, then even better, clearly; all the POW goes straight to her, and she gets to turn it into whatever "spells" suit her purposes. In practice, the transition from "our local gyda, who leads our prayers to Ernalda", to "great heroine whom we honour as a daughter of the Earth" is likely to be a relatively slow, fuzzy, and potentially somewhat erratic one.
Slainte,
Alex.
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