Chris, Scott, JD, Robert: Press the back button on your browser :P
I've got an NPC that was in my group's first campaign. She was a spirit-discipline sorceress at the time, and her preferred means of attack was creating large numbers of ectoplasm bees and unleashing them on her target. Her sob story aside, she had an aspect that she wanted to disappear into the Nevernever one day. She did so shortly after our first campaign and has been in the Nevernever for about 2 years.
While there, she encountered some quasi-sentient Nevernever bees near Summer (think like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUGLvmmVYYE)). After cutting a bargain with them, she gets standard sponsored magic perks and can add +2 to the complexity of her bee-related spells as the bees are willing to protect her and she's not having to create them from ectoplasm. In exchange, occasionally she has to summon huge numbers of them into a field of flowers in the mortal world(no matter what time of year it is) so they can make mortal honey. By huge numbers, I mean she has to fill up her entire mental stress track with repeated summonings and her first two mild consequences. That comes out to 51 shifts of power (7*5 + 8*2) worth of what the bees want in exchange for protecting her.
However, as she's using living bees instead of ectoplasm, any cold based effect gets +1 against the bee related spells.
The nature of her bargain may evolve over time, but I'm starting with this. What do you guys think?
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_otnpTYg-M04/SO9qKYRdmcI/AAAAAAAAAOM/Em72916uV94/s320/beeweapon.jpg
Not helpful, I know, but its the only appropriate response I can imagine.