Conservative Casting and True Conservation Ritual Manip

[Alavatar]

The ARB v1.1 states:

Conservative Casting: This allows the use
of one less component. This ability cannot be
combined with any other skill that allows a reduction
in component cost and may only be
purchased once.
The caster must have ten levels of Formal
Magic from the appropriate school above the
difficulty of the ritual to be cast.

True Conservation: This allows the caster
to use two less components. It can only be purchased
once and cannot be combined with any
other skill that allows a reduction in component
cost.
The caster must have 25 levels of Formal
Magic from the appropriate school above the
difficulty of the ritual to be cast.

Per a previous discussion it was presented that a caster should check with their ritual marshal whether or not all reagents need to be present at casting. Since that answer really just adds complexity to a National rule by giving it local interpretation authority I view it is muddying the waters; it makes it hard to plan for ritual casting and so a National clarification is needed.

My question:
Which of the two below are true?

(A) A ritual being Ritually Manipulated with True Conservation needs all reagents at the time of casting that are normally necessary, but consumes 2 less reagents (Ritual Marshals choice).

(B) A ritual being Ritually Manipulated with True Conservation requires 2 less reagents at the time of casting. (Example: A ritual that normally requires 6 reagents would only require 4 to be present at the time of casting when Ritually Manipulated with True Conservation)

 

[Polare]

After discussion, we have come up with the following clarification for Conservative Casting and True Conservation. For the text in both, add the following after the first sentence:

"All components as specified on the scroll must be present at the time of casting. After the ritual has been successfully cast, the caster may choose and retain the component(s) which were not consumed due to this Ritual Manipulation."

Here's an example:

Joe wants to cast a Spirit Link which requires 4 reagents - a Truesilver, a Wand, a Penna, and a Heartstone. He uses a point of High Magic for Ritual Manipulation: Conservative Casting on the ritual. When he casts it, he must have all four reagents as specified on the scroll to begin the casting (as per the rulebook). However, after he successfully casts it, he can pick one reagent of his choice which is not consumed in the casting.

-Bryan Gregory
ARC