When I asked about it, Jonathan stated that this service was only in demand in limited circumstances. In his reply he specified:
I limited myself to doing this only once for a big-ticket item like that, with a few other times Bartholomeus enchanting and selling lesser items instead. So I think I was reasonable here. I even gave the item a specific purpose for the opening: "So he spent some time preparing a wand for a magus who was looking to hunt a dragon (a wand of elm with an emerald and glass)." That specific makeup provided multiple bonuses for someone looking to enchant destructive effects against dragonkind, and wouldn't have been easy to prepare by a more action-oriented magus. Getting Magic Theory to 10 is a massive investment of xp.
True, not everyone gets up to 10 MT. But 45 vis for a single season of work? Doesn't that seem a bit excessive?
Normally to make an item that costs 20 vis would require making an item with a level of 191-200, not really in the realm of possibility. Opening an item for enchantment is odd because it's only based on MT not TeFo.
That all having been said, if it's allowable, does that mean that the rest of us can have a bite at that apple if we had our MT up to level 10? (Not quite as hard with Puissant MT.) That's a profit of 40 vis for a season of service, and well worth the investment, in my opinion.
I know that JL was keen on limiting the vis available during character generation to force us to make difficult decisions about what to spend it on. But it seems to me that with opened items for sale and PVSs, it's fairly easy to do an end run around that limit and avoid the difficult choices. True, you have to spend a virtue or spend the seasons to get your MT up high enough (which comes with its own rewards). But it still seems eminently doable to get plenty of vis to do all that you want during character generation.
Still, I'll follow the rules as they're set forth. I just want to make sure I understand them properly.
I understand that House Verditius sells items. It's what they do. But if there were an activity that gave a profit of 40 vis for a season of work, don't you think that others would try and get in on it too?
I'm thinking that a high MT Bonisagus might see his Verditius sodales getting 45 vis for a season of work and think, "I could do that too." Wouldn't basic economics say that the Bonisagus will try and get in on the deal? After all, he's just as capable of opening up a complex item with his high MT. And with his lab work, he'd have a constant need for vis.
In fact, realistically, the Bonisagus would probably try and undercut the Verditius (who can't negotiate) by dropping the price a little. "The Verditius magus says he'll charge 60 vis for the item? I'll do it for 50. That's still a profit of 30 vis for me." That would mean that no one would hire a Verditius for opening a complex item because other magi would do it cheaper.
Presumes that the Bonisagus is doing things for vis profit and not pursuing lab activities. Also, it presumes that such a Bonisagus does this regularly and is known to do this regularly. I'm not certain that those are reasonable positions. A Bonisagus with a high MT score might very well be capable of doing such a thing, but it's not necessarily clear that others would know what he could do AND/OR he's willing to sell that capability as a service.
That being said, I'm not saying no, so much as proceed with caution.
Understood. Thanks for the clarification. I'll probably take the route Calpurnia did and take a PVS for character generation. As your comments imply, that would fit the concept of a Bonisagus more.
Ever since his Gift has awakened in his youth, Bartholomeus' hair has been a source of Vim vis. Every year near the end of winter, his hair gradually changes color from its usual red to silvery-white. When spring comes, his white hair simply falls off (though it can also be cut off as soon as all of it is white), to be replaced by new growth of red hair.