"They count in Elsinore," Claudius remarks wryly. "It's why I was so unfortunate a child -- I had nothing to give anyone. I learned how to cultivate friends and alliances, but even at its best, it's an unending cycle of favors for favors." With nothing in the middle. Claudius hadn't realized, until now, how much he'd identified himself with that nothing. He shakes his head, and continues. "I've an associate here with what he described as channeling powers, something both like and unlike how you channel qi -- I read thy leaflet, by the way. Beautifully written, even the ones with slightly freer brush-strokes." Claudius smirks, since he can imagine whose brush-strokes those were. "Before coming here, my associate's powers were shielded in a way that restricts him from using them fully. I wondered whether such things happen in the cultivation world, and if you knew any remedy for them. Now that I've said it out loud, it's very Elsinore-like of me to treat a simple question like an onerous favor. Information is a precious currency there."