She is now somewhere else! Sort of a formless vortex, really. Is that a place? Maybe.

"Welcome! My apologies for that: you have activated the Hero Summoning Spell we are using. I'm the representation of the spell matrix that will help guide you through your new choices. Don't worry about your body: you will have a new one soon enough. And what an exciting one it will be! We're summoning tens of people a day to our world to help out, and you've been selected as one of them. You will gain many benefits for your aid!"

"What," she says, or at least attempts to say.

It's not *quite* her voice, distinctly failing to echo through the formless vortex, but it's what she thinks her voice sounds like, and that's close enough.

"Well, first of all, you will receive the Hero Icon. Sometimes people call it a class? It means you're capable of mingling with the upper-class, counts and such, so I suppose that's close enough. But you're not just any Hero, you're a Summoned Hero! That means that you bond to the Outsider Icon, as a Native Outsider. That's not quite as powerful as the Hero Icon, but the only equal of Hero is Demigod, and you're not related to any gods, at least not the local ones. The point is, Outsider is very powerful, and as a Native Outsider you're able to ignore some of the usual drawbacks. But on top of those two, you also get to start with a third Icon! We'll talk more about that later."

"In addition to those Icons, you will, through the summoning process in the void, gain some Exceptions, that let you act outside the usual rules of reality. It seems that" and the figure pauses for a moment, completely still, before resuming its odd motion "you will be able to take three Exceptions!"

"Finally, I am able to create for you a panoply formed from nature and forged here. That will include some useful items to get you started! We'll cover what you want, specifically, later, but for now just remember that you get five Gifts."

"Does that cover everything you wanted to know?"

"N....o. What."

She should really be reacting faster than this, figuring out all the implications of everything the strange figure is saying, but it's all a blur of context-free details that she can't hang together into a structure. She grabs into a question almost at random, just to have something more intelligent to say than "what".

"What are you summoning people to help out with?"

"Oh, many things! Once you're summoned you are under no obligations whatsoever, unless you choose to make a commitment to a god during the course of the summoning. Even those are only for 20 years, just long enough to help you get started. That said, if you want to help the world by creating powerful heroes, exploring new kinds of magic, repairing infrastructure and trade networks, bringing peace to the land, exploring, or many more options, I can help support you with a few gifts to get you started. The world could use more Heroes."

"...some of those sound like okay things to do," she says, though she carefully doesn't say which ones. It seems unwise to make commitments before she has a clearer picture.

Relatedly, "Is there any way I can get back where I came from?" Not that she relishes the thought of resuming her encounter with the imps, but imps are a known quantity even when that quantity is Too Many, and this nonsense is very much the opposite.

"Yes, though it would be difficult and might require a great deal of time and effort. The multiverse is very large. For now, you will hopefully be satisfied with the fulfillment of your desire to be somewhere else and incredible power and freedom." The entity expects that forty or so ascensions with the right Icons would be sufficient, with the addition of a great deal of time, to identify the multiverse that Summoned Heroes came from individually and return them to that location, and by that point they would be able to manipulate time on the scale of a single person relatively easily, assuming that it can safely extrapolate past the point around 17 ascensions or so that people start to leave Adastra after.

...well, it's not like she was that attached to the specific world she came from, except in terms of its familiarity. Fine.

"Then, can you explain these 'choices' you say you're giving me, and their implications? Like what an Icon is?"

"Absolutely! Icons are primordial archetypes that the mortal races have learned how to make and tap into. As you act in the world, you will acquire Potential, that you can push into your local version of the Icon: some people call them instances, depending on the world. When you push enough Potential into an Icon, you're able to improve what you have access to, and this is called 'ascending'. As you ascend, your Level of Existence, your sort of weight and impact on the world, will also increase."

The figure pauses for exactly two seconds, completely still, before resuming its animated explanation. "You will be able to pick any of twenty-nine Icons that we have been able to include in this spell, in addition to your two base archetypes of Hero and Outsider. About a fifth of people are able to bind an Icon, and it's impressive if they can bind another by their seventh ascension, so starting with three is a big advantage."

There is another exactly two second pause. "Icons display their power through two mechanisms: Attributes and Aspects. Attributes are sort of like your inherent nature, improved. A Warrior is Fast, Strong, and Tough, though the ratio of your investment of potential in those can be shifted, within limits and with some diminishing returns even before then. When you ascend, those improvements get locked in. Aspects can seem like attributes: 'Beauty' and 'physical solidity' are both aspects. However, Aspects are more focused, and grow very differently."

Two seconds. "All Icons have a broad 'Aspect of Themselves', which gives an affinity for doing anything that fits the Icon. For example, a Bard will naturally display skill in music; understanding their audience; creative solutions; and manipulation of Magic, Glamour, and Orgone. Icons naturally have four other reflections, and they gain another reflection each Ascension. Most Icons freely develop abilities appropriate to the Icon within these slots, with the slots being 'reset' on ascension. However, some potent Icons lack this freedom, possessing a 'fixed' nature. Both Hero and Outsider[Native] are Fixed."

Two seconds. "It is also possible to absorb potential directly into one's Level of Existence, and 'format' it into Aspects. This was a pre-Icon method of raising Level of Existence. Done this way, the Aspects belong to the individual rather than the Icon, and can even be weakly reflected into lineage. This is hard work, and can take years or great risks, but this allows one to develop aspects outside one's Icons. Notably though, most personal Aspects are still derived from one's Icons. Having an Icon helps, because you can pull pre-formatted potential from an Icon into one's self. That potential then is used to develop an Aspect that resonates with that Icon. This is much faster, and usually stronger, than trying to format it oneself, but the Icons resist this, and the more times you've done it, the more they resist."

Two seconds. "The first aspect gained this way usually takes weeks, the second around a year, the third years, and past the fifth it takes decades at a minimum. That resistance goes away when the Icon is broken and reformed at Ascension. There technically isn't a hard limit to the number of times you can pull an Aspect from an Icon per Ascension, but for normal Icons few bother after three. Even for Hero and Demigod, Icons that can grant impossible Aspects, most stop trying after five. Though considering how powerful Aspects that draw upon the Hero Icon are, some people do spend decades of bitter effort doing so and find it worthwhile."

Two seconds. "Do you have any questions?"

Those two-second pauses are unsettling all out of proportion to how weird it should logically be for someone to briefly stop talking between points. It's the precision, she thinks, it's messing with her. Ah well.

She's not fully sure she understands the relationship between Icons and Aspects and Ascensions and Levels, but she's reluctant to keep pestering the creature indefinitely. Maybe more will become clear with time.

"I'm... not sure I got all that, but I think I at least have a basic idea," she says hesitantly. "So what next? You said my base archetypes will be Hero and Outsider; what implications do those have?"

It answers immediately, without having to "think". "The Pinnacle, the True Name and Nature of the Hero Icon,  represents the impossible peak that can never be reached. As such, one can only arrive at it via Miracle. It was the Icon given to the greatest champions of the gods, and to rare beings born under impossible paradoxical circumstances, until wizards figured out a way to cheat someone inside it through the Hero Summoning Ritual."

Two seconds. "Feeding Potential into the Pinnacle Icon tends to cause overall growth in all areas, mentally, physically, and spiritually, but potential fed to the Pinnacle Icon can not be focused. If the Pinnacle has a weakness, it's their inability to focus. Pinnacles have trouble focusing their potential into focused, limited abilities. That said, there's a synergistic unity to their diffuse investment, and a Pinnacle tends to hover a bit over 60% of the ability of a specialist. In everything. As all Pinnacles have at least a second Icon (and sometimes more, like Summoned Heroes), this rapidly becomes terrifying. The Aspects you develop as a Pinnacle will tend to be broad and flexible masteries: it is incompatible with tightly focused abilities. The four fixed Aspects of the Icon will be broader than the ones that you develop in time, but they help give a sense."

Two seconds. "The first is Input Idealization. Any input you give is moved closer to the Pinnacle. Energy you invest into a spell is both higher quality and more energy, because you invested it. Food you eat feeds you more and is better because you ate it. Leverage you use is better leverage because you're leveraging it. Force you apply is greater and more magical because you're swinging the weapon. This might sound like a subtle but all pervasive effect, but it's not. It's all pervasive, yes, but it is in no way subtle, unless you're trying to be subtle. In which case, it's overwhelmingly subtle."

Two seconds. "The second is Outcome Enforcement. The outcomes a Hero creates are not the outcomes you would expect, being more extreme, more favorable, and more long lasting than they should be. A wound a Hero causes isn't only deeper than it should have been, more serious than you would expect given where they hit, but it will also resist healing, and even healing magic or regeneration. A hero is unlikely to need fire to kill a Troll, or silver to kill a werewolf. Heroes charm people with poor social skills, fashion precise machinery with only vague engineering skills, and out-scheme masterminds with off-the-cuff choices. This works together with your Input Idealization: you will rapidly find your feet in any situation, and you will learn incredibly quickly."

Two seconds. "The third is Chthonic Will. This one is a bit hard to understand, but it goes back to the difference between an Icon and the person who bound it. The Icon itself is a force of not merely unbending will, but reality bending will. An unbending nature that will shred mind-control, illusions, even the very forces of fate and destiny. A Hero can choose to never bend before torture, to have no breaking point. The person attached to that Icon may be more flexible than this - the difference between being an Icon and wielding one. It gets a bit technical, but you can think of it as having the best part of infinite stubbornness, without any of the downsides and be mostly right. And no, this doesn't interfere with Templating. We templated you as part of summoning you, so it happened first. Even there, if there was anything to resist you could resist it. We were working with things that happen before conscious decision-making. Even that work-around would fail after you're Icon-Bound." 

Two seconds. "The fourth is Becoming Light. Pinnacles don't only break destiny in the present, but in the future, or maybe in the past, depending on perception. The chain of 'input' and the chain of 'outcome' is a chain of causality, with the Hero changing the future. On some level, then, they exist both in the Now, and in the Yet. And the Yet can push back on the now. Essentially, Heroes push themselves away from choices and outcomes they regret or disdain, and pull themselves towards ones they like or enjoy. A Hero will sit down next to the only decent guy in a bar, pick up the powerful artifact hidden in a box of knickknacks, and spare an enemy who could one day become a friend. The shorter term the consequences, the less pressure this applies, with death, destruction, and defilement putting massive pressure. Heroes can seem to effortlessly weave their way past obstacles to reach their golden outcome. This is very powerful, and it's not something that runs out or has arbitrary limitations. It will never stop, weaken, or become strained. It is perhaps a Hero's second greatest inherent Aspect. But isn't all powerful. Sometimes there is no way out or through, and sometimes the only way out would require you to betray yourself. A Hero's Will is greater than their destiny manipulation, and I saw several knowingly walk to their death in The War."

Two seconds. "That should be enough on being a Hero. Shall I continue on to Outsider?"

She's trying her best to follow along and see how all the pieces fit together, understand the system that underlies the facts.

So it takes her until after the end of the whole recital to realize how the pieces fit together with what she already knows.

...should she ask? Dare she ask? Will the creature even understand enough about her world for her to explain the premises of the question?

She stifles the mad laughter that wants to bubble up out of her, and tells herself firmly that, regardless of what she hears here, she should not assume that the Chthonic Will makes her soul effectively impervious to death. Even though, if she were at home, it absolutely would. One who can choose to have no breaking point can never be killed or soul-stripped, in the paradigm she's familiar with. One who can choose to have no breaking point is totally free from all permanent consequences, except for the psychological consequences of suffering.

Calm down, Ell. Ask reasonable and not excessively revealing questions. Like, say...

"Um—first, can I ask what you mean by 'templating'?"

A second. "Oh, my apologies. Templating is the process of adapting you to your new world and existence. The templating process includes deciding what you want to look like, any needed modifications, your Icons, your Exceptions, and which Gifts you recieve."

That sounds concerningly like she might not come out the end of this process with something she would recognize as a soul. Well, she can imagine crossing her currently nonexistent fingers, and move on.

"Thank you. So, the Outsider?"

Not a pause, not a moment to think, just an outpouring of thought. "Outsiders are a type of spirit, like Elementals, Fae, Horrors, and many others. Outsider isn't the strongest, but it's up there. Angels and Devils are particularly famous types of Outsiders, but they're far from alone. What is unique about outsiders is that they aren't a part of our reality, or any of the other ones we've found. Rather, they're their own  self-contained reality. An Angel in Elysium isn't truly within Elysium, but is its own Angel sized realm full of Angel, and their physical position is the dimensional nexus between their reality, and the reality of Elysium. They can be formed when a plane overlaps on itself in strange ways, but more frequently they are deliberate creations."

Two seconds. "The Templating that shifts a Summoned Heroes from 'native to a non-magical universe' to 'native of a magical universe' give them this self-contained nature, and so they become Outsiders. More specifically, they are Native Outsiders, outsiders whose 'inner rules' are those of a material plane. This is an advantage, because the Material can go anywhere. Anti-Outsider effects, banishment magic, wards, and more all fail when used against a Native Outsider."

Two seconds. "More importantly for you, Outsiders can focus their potential into any Attribute, though they have trouble focusing it on fewer than three, or more than ten. Their Aspects tend to focus on further exploiting their nature, or the nature of reality.As a being of the material plane, your natural inner laws are the rhythms of nature, along the lines of druidic or seasonal magic. Alternatively, mortals strive to break those rhythms, which could develop in a number of positive or negative directions. Alternatively, you could develop influence over the direct substance of material reality - something like Time or Space would be impossible before your fifth Ascension, but many Summoned Heroes become master Alchemists or Artificers. But that's all pretty vague, so I'll talk about your fixed aspects as a native outsider."

Two seconds. "The first is Null Presence. It makes divinations, curses, even physical attacks tend to pass through you, because you aren't entirely where you are. Someone two ascensions stronger than you can ignore it, but a peer will lose about a third of their efficacy, more if they don't know that they're targeting an Outsider and take appropriate measures. Just about everybody knows what those are, after the Iron Hells, but if you want to try to deceive people you will get a bit more out of it. Against people substantially weaker than you, this effect will be even stronger."

Two seconds. "The second is Solipsistic Integrity. This one is priceless in a way you're unlikely to ever understand, simply because the moment you reach our world you'll have it. An Outsider's Potential is that Outsider's Potential. Their Energy is their Energy. Normally, potential you harvest would be... flavored. You generate it either through rare opportunities, by expensive magical treatments, through treasures, or by acting in accord with one of your Icons. And that potential will be flavored, limited, by how you harvested it. You don't have to worry about this - any potential you gain can be used towards anything you could use it for - it's not 'earmarked' or 'limited' the way mine, or anyone else born of Adastra, would be. You could win a fight and use that potential to develop an Aspect that helps you cook better food. This also applies to any magic you develop. Your magical energies will be 'you' energies, perfectly and ideally aligned for doing your will. You won't have Fire energy, and Ice energy, and Healing energy, like a normal wizard might. You are complete within yourself, and anything you express from yourself is yourself."

Two seconds. "The third is Bolstering Influence. You're familiar with how a sacred ground may promote healing spells, while a defiled graveyard may do the same for necromancy. Being in a place that is aligned with what you're trying to do through magic makes that magic better. With Bolstering Influence, you are a place, and by definition you're aligned with that which is aligned with you. As a Native Outsider, and a Pinnacle, you don't inherently oppose anything you approve of, and are aligned with anything you do approve of. This mildly bolsters any magic used by anyone near you who you want to succeed, and greatly bolsters magic used by you or anyone touching you that you approve of. You always count as a prepared space for forces, rituals, and spells that require one, if you wish. Finally, you are much easier to affect when you want to be, reality itself supporting these effects. Teleportation, time stop, and other difficult magics find you easy to work with, much less a more common spell like simple healing. But only if it is in accordance with your desires."

Two seconds. "The fourth is Living Nexus. You'll find taking advantage of connections, forming connection, and controlling them is easy. Things tied to you will naturally create connection you can control. But that's just to start. Powerful Outsiders can hear prayers directed at them, and direct their influence back through those channels. They can mark a place or person or object with their symbol, and channel influence to that symbol. They can hear whenever their name is spoken, and in a single step arrive before the one who invoked them. Best of all, because of your Chthonic Will, the normal vulnerability to summoning spells that you don't allow is completely negated."

Two seconds. "I am told that Native Outsider is more counterintuitive than Pinnacle. Do you have any questions?"

It seems all... surprisingly in keeping with her image of an undefeatable soul. Wrapped up in yourself, made of yourself, inseparable from yourself, extending your self and your will outward into the world. Probably that image is very flawed, and she focuses as well as she can on the differences between that tidy theory and the information actually being presented to her... but it's a useful package in which to tie it all together.

"I... think I understand," she says slowly. "What next?"

"So far, there has only been explanation of the universals that apply to every Summoned Hero: now there will be discussion of traits that will be relatively rare. I have calculated that you will have three Exceptions out of twenty-three options, ways that you can ignore the normal rules of our realities, in ways that even a very powerful Outsider might only hope to match. They fall into five broad categories that prior Summoned Heroes have found useful.

Two seconds. "The first category is karmic manipulation. Karma is a subtle force, mostly used by the gods to gently nudge the direction of nations more in line with their vision. It's an immaterial, invisible force that barely exists on the level of the individual, despite the words of priests and mystics. But for you, it could be something more, something different. There are seven of these."

Two seconds. "The second category is enhanced aspects. These are useful for immediate power, giving you incredibly enhanced talent in one area. They will eventually fade in relative importance, though they never become pointless. There are six of these different Aspects."

Two seconds. "The third category modifies how your Icons and Aspects work. You could have an additional class, one per exception. You could improve one of your non-Pinnacle Icons, take additional Icons, grow in your ability to take aspects, or make new aspects and Icons match your current ones in power. There are also six of these."

Two seconds. "The fourth category makes unusual use of your Pinnacle aspects. You can make others obsessed with you or help those who help you: those are your two choices. The fifth category modifies time itself. You can live multiple lives simultaneously, or declare that something will happen and watch the universe bend it into existence."

Two seconds. "I can instead divide exceptions into front-loaded power boosts, long-run loaded power boosts, or mixed boosts, if you have a preference in one direction or another."

"Do you have any questions?"

"...I think I'd like to hear about the details organized by category, but I definitely also want to hear whether each one is front-loaded, long-run-loaded, or mixed," she says. "That seems like important information to have."

"All of your Karmic options are what I would call mixed, scaling in power as you do.

Half a second. "The first is Resonance fate  With it, your karma acts on other karma like a... a meta-magic maximizer focus does on spells, and it also is aligned and directed towards your interests. Basically, you make karma a more powerful force, mediated through the consequences of your own actions, and much like a god, you give it a... ethical framework. That framework is 'you.' This is frightening enough on its own, but when the consequences of your actions meet other consequences of your actions, they'll enter a feedback loop. There is a limit here, and the ceiling of that limit is defined by your Level of Existence. Still, this is literally a godlike power - it's reminiscent of the powers of the gods."

Two seconds. "The second is Retribution Incurment. Harm against you has a kind of... negative karmic pressure, the world trying to defray and unmake that harm. Injuries you take are less serious than they should be, losses smaller, and generally harm is reduced, and also recovers faster than it should as the world tries to 'equalize.' But that's the lesser effect. This Negative Karmic Pressure pushes against whatever harmed you. That blunting effect doesn't just apply to the harm you suffered, it applies to a lesser extent to everything they do, while at the same time magnifying anything done against them. Not intensely, generally speaking, but it's an omnipresent universal malice. A dangerous ally is more dangerous, a safe street less safe. Everything bad will be a little worse, everything good will be blunted, until the harm against you has vanished."

Two seconds. "The third is Ignus Fatuus Fate. This strange Exception takes advantage of the diffuse nature of Karma in a two step process to protect you from causal consequence. The first 'stage' is that your own Karma has a natural 'flow' to it that 'washes' it. Like running water washes away the influence of Undeath, this flow will wash away the influence of negative karma. The second part pollutes your own karma intentionally. When you generate negative consequence, this exception will redirect some of that consequence into negative karma. For example, rather than being caught stealing, your Karma will be slightly soured. Karma is normally a slow, ponderous, and poorly directed force. You could commit constant atrocities, and only suffer minor bad luck, and not even that if you space it out a bit. The Summon Hero Spell mostly targets decent people, but we are stretching it to the breaking point. The Exceptions offered to you were not made deliberately, but my role is to help you, not my makers."

Two seconds. "The fourth is Resurrection. It is a horrifying corruption of the natural flow of Karma, reversing cause and effect. It seems that you harvest the Karmic Weight of those you destroy, forging them into Life Threads - the very threads of Destiny and Karma that inform the universe that someone is alive and exists. By granting someone a thread, you assert that they are alive and still exist. You can bring back the dead and command them to live! You must 'stretch' these forged lifelines backwards from the moment of someone's death to the present, and this appears to follow the square cubed law. The more recently someone died, the easier they are to restore. It also seems that targeting can create inefficiencies - without a strong link (like a body), it becomes much more expensive to restore someone." There is a brief and total pause. "You will auto-restore yourself if you die. You don't have to resurrect yourself where you fell, either, but may take advantage of your Living Nexus nature to reappear anywhere you have a strong connection."

Two seconds. "The fifth is Reciprocity Error. When you improve other people's lives, you harvest a kind of 'positive vibes'. But these vibes aren't something you use to nudge fate or destiny. Instead, you can incarnate them to improve your own life. Materially. Helping fix someone's home, and you could ask the world to fix something for you - not an unlimited amount, but something. Build a man a home, and you could ask the world to provide you a home. Teach a man swordsmanship, and you could ask the world for a sword. Generally, these will all be material things, and material things are generally transitory. You could ask for things with self repair enchantments, or similar, but things gained purely through this Exception are... objects, with all the limitations that implies. Though note that things like Aspect Emblems are objects. As for things not purely of this Exception... it is probable that you could mix harvested vibes with your own Potential when forging aspects, to create some interesting effects. The rate of return is approximately e squared seven-fold."

Two seconds. "The sixth is Frozen World. This strange Exception doesn't so much change what happens as when it happens. Karma near you is 'alivened', and that aliveness spreads into the world, vivifying it. More things get done, and events progress faster. People travel faster, further. It's like there are more hours in the day. But while you do generate some 'karmic' vitality, your vitality is vampiric. When people conflict with you or the things you're working on and become entangled with your karma, your karma will start to suck the 'life' from your enemies karma and feed it to yours. It's like they have a little less time every day, and those around you have more. If you continue to conflict with them, more and more threads will gather, and they'll knot together at the heart of your enemies most important operations. It will be as if their world drags, held still till you arrive to break them. This isn't limitless, of course. These strands will break eventually and events will start moving forward as normal. So long as you continue to work against your foes, you'll always have extra time to deal with them and their plots."

Two seconds. "The seventh is Coin of Friendship. When you improve the social aggregate, you harvest a kind of 'positive vibes'. But these vibes aren't something you use to nudge fate or destiny. Instead, you can incarnate them to improve your own life. Socially. There's almost a recursive nature to this Exception. We summoned you to improve our society, become part of our social contract, and by improving society you can incarnate 'Friends' to help you. Remove corruption from a town, and you'll build up 'law and order' vibes. Help teachers move to a small community, and you might develop 'community' vibes, or maybe 'learning' vibes. And so on. You can forge these Vibes into Aspects in line with their source, but not ones you wield. Instead, you can invest your own potential into a daydream, forming an Outsider from your own dreamscape, and grant that Outsider some of the aspects you've forged. Such a being will be limited by your own Ascensions, but anything they do will contribute Potential to you. They are fundamentally loyal, born from your will and so unable to betray it. While their Avatar can be destroyed, their true self will always remain in your dreams. It might cost some energy, but you'll always be able to incarnate them again, so long as you live."

"Do you have any questions?"

She tentatively thinks she does not want any of these, though she's hardly about to say so while she's still working with limited information, and Coin of Friendship is... not untempting, depending on implementation details. The longer she can put off making any overt decisions about anything, the better, though; she needs to know what she's choosing before she risks choosing it prematurely.

"Thank you," she says. "What's next?"

"The enhanced Aspects are all front-loaded. They never become worthless, scaling with you to stay individual Aspects stronger than any other you have, but that will mean more when you have ten Aspects than when you have 100."

"The first is Echoes of Time.  It's the power to call forth temporal shadows, draw forth alternatives, trap people in illusionary 'could have beens.' Not real or unreal, but a confusing hybrid whose boundary you alone manipulate. Something this complex probably would usually only be available by your sixth Ascension with the Outsider Icon. It will grow stronger when your Level of Existence grows, and so it will always be a stronger aspect than you could have developed at whatever your current Level is."

"The second is Fluid Space. It's the power to shatter paths between two points, pinch distances, open portals, control gravity, or rip apart the very world. It is otherwise similar to Echoes of Time in when you can develop it and how it grows."

"The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth are all very classic powers. They are common among Divine Champions, though a bit...uninspired, for a Summoned Hero. They are effectively additional Pinnacle Aspects, several Ascensions more advanced than it should be, and capable of chaining into other Aspects like a more specialized Aspect. Chaining is the use of multiple broad Aspects to make something at the intersection and then using that intersection with a third aspect, which as you should understand is particularly useful for people with Aspects as broad as Pinnacle's. You may take these impossible Aspects in Defense, Magic, Body, or Glamour (and perhaps also psychic power, the relationship is...unclear)." 

"Do you have any questions?"

"Hmm, I think I understand those," she says. She's not really tempted by any of them. Some are worth investigating further—Magic, Body, maybe Glamour, and she should keep the rest in mind in case they synergize with something—but none are really grabbing her.

"What's the next set?"

"The modifications are the first category to vary internally in the time-scale of the power that they grant.

Half a second. "The first is Flexible. If you choose it, it will take the place of your third Icon. Your third Icon will be able to become anything you want or need it to be, developing and discarding Aspects, and helping you develop Aspects of any nature you wish. This is an excellent example of a front-loaded Exception. It will help you hit the ground running. Long term, your developed Aspects will be a bigger part of your power than your Icon Aspects, but the ability to always have a focused relevant Aspect will still be useful."

Two seconds. "The second is Exultant. While Flexible replaces your third Icon, Exultant improves it. Weaknesses mitigated, dependencies solved, strengths broadened, and Aspects directly supported by your Pinnacle Icon. Lastly, one Aspect you develop from it each Ascension will bind to your life and spirit. Every five steps your Level of Existence improves will improve that Aspect's Ascension by one step. Such growth is not backlogged of course, and... I don't think you could push it more than three steps ahead of your own Ascension even if you managed such excessive growth in your Level of Existence. This is a middle of the road aspect, helping you now and scaling with you somewhat."

Two seconds. "The third is True Outsider. It is Exultant, but applied to your Outsider Icon rather than your third Icon. Your fixed aspects go from being strong to at the power level of an Ascension above your own."

Half a second, a start, a quarter of a second, and then it says "The fourth is Classy." The gestures are somehow less animated, for a moment. "It enables you to select an additional normal Icon. You will be instructed as to what options those are later: for now simply understand that Pinnacle is generally thought to be at a power level two ascensions above average, and unusually flexible even by that standard, while Outsider has the power of an additional Ascension above where its wielder is, and unusual at that. These will be more normal icons. But instead of having one, you will have two. Or more: if you want to make all of your Exceptions be Classy, you may do that. It will not delay when you get new icons, normally around the 11th ascension for a summoned hero, and most people who bind an Icon can only get their second by ninth ascension, if they make it that far. Nothing special. Heroes have a high standard."

Three seconds. "The fifth is Aspected. Eventually, much of your power will be in Aspects that you have pulled from your Icons into yourself. This process of pulling Aspects into yourself permanently modifies your life-scroll and potentially lineage. Normally, you would gain five at each level of Ascension, because the difficulty of pulling an Aspect out of your Icon rises each time. But this exception will allow you to lower the resistance, doubling the number of Aspects you will be able to bring into yourself. This is a long-run power, and a very strong one at that. Power like this could enable you to be the one who kills my maker, if by some chance they are still alive. I would say that I prefer that you did not, but I will not know either way, most likely."

Two seconds. "The sixth is the Tree of Possibility. This exception creates a mark on your soul, like the rings of a tree. You can find the 'you' at the first Ascension, and help them develop an aspect. This won't change the world around you, but it will change you as though the world had been different from the point of that ascension. You can essentially go back and develop aspects you skipped over, 'filling in' what you didn't do. Interestingly enough, this 'backdating' lets you target individual icons in an interesting way. I think you'll be able to raise any future Icons you gain to your current ascension, rather than having them always lag behind. I know that doesn't seem like a big deal now, but long term it matters. This is very much an Exception that will show its value in the long run, even moreso than Aspected."

Two seconds. "Do you have any questions?"

She wants, very badly, to ask about being the one to kill this creature's maker. She also doesn't dare.

"I'm not sure I understand how Tree of Possibility functions," she says instead. "What exactly does it do for me? What would be the difference in trajectory, in concrete terms, between someone who took it and someone who didn't, holding all else equal?"

"You might expect to get your fourth Icon around your 11th ascension. At that point, that Icon would be 11 ascensions behind your others. With Tree of Possibility, you would instead reach into your past and insert the Icon among the others, such that it instantly becomes just as powerful as the others. For Aspects, a common problem of very new heroes is that they begin very weak, and would ordinarily rapidly ascend as many as three times in their first year, if they focused on it. However, the Icon-drawn Aspects that I discussed under the Aspected Exception build resistance to being drawn in at a given Ascension stage. As such, a new hero would ideally spend a few years at each stage of Ascension bringing in their Icon-drawn aspects. Tree of Possibility allows you to add Aspects at those earlier stages retroactively, so you don't need to worry about growing in power quickly, but still have the additional aspects of one who did. Furthermore, because Aspects increase in power as you do, ordinarily new Aspects would be relatively weak. With tree of possibility, you can make it so that all your aspects benefit from the full empowerment you give them, though doing so too much will slightly weaken your existing aspects as Potential is siphoned off to empower them."

"Okay..." she says slowly. "I think I understand. Thank you."

She really, really wants both of those long-term growth powers. She wants them so much. She might not be able to afford them, if this world is cutthroat enough that she needs to front-load in order to land on her feet, but she wants them.

"What are the details of the remaining categories?"

"It is my purpose to aid you. There are only two options that build on your Pinnacle Abilities."

Half a second. "The first is Rewarding Destiny. This would normally take decades of dedicated effort to develop out of your Pinnacle Aspects of Input Idealization and Outcome Enforcement, since it uses them...backwards. As other people's actions impact you positively, your own aspect invests influence in them. It's not a influence they can invoke, though. Instead, the actions of the world become magnified or distorted through it. Hmm, I see I'm confusing you. People who help you become lucky. They become nonsensically lucky. Input Idealization improves the world around them so that minor nick-knacks become treasures, Outcome Enforcement means their casual whims lead them to incredibly chance encounters. If they help you enough, it may seem like the gods themselves wish to reward them, for a time at least.

Two seconds. "The second is Specious Mien. It operates using similar principles to Rewarding Destiny, but with very different goals. This idealizes and changes the image of you inside other people's minds. People who've just met you and who have never heard of you before will likely think of you as a distant acquaintance they're fond of, but the insidious part is that this leverages every bit of 'you' in their minds. The more they see, think, or hear about you, the more their image of you will warp. Over time, you'll take up more and more of their mind, purpose, their everything. You can halt or remove your influence if you wish. I hope you find the will to do so, or this gift shall surely warp you: Chthonic Will will do little to protect you from your own choices. While this is powerful, there are mental defenses that will protect against it. It will obviously fail against any other hero's Chthonic Will, but there are many Aspects that fall short of that still could help defend against this. Most, but not all, could be overcome through greater power. Your own Chthonic Will is an example of one that will not be overcome through... well, pretty much any method." It continues in a somewhat different voice. More emotional, and with a slightly more human pattern of emphasis. "You will be powerful, but not omnipotent. Please consider whether you want to make enemies from the moment you land."

Two seconds. "Do you have any questions?"

(If only she could believe the creature about that purpose.)

Those both sound like bad ideas she doesn't want—or, well, one bad idea she doesn't want, one just sort of generally weird and unappealing—and they have enough competition that she's not eager to keep them in the back of her mind as options Just In Case. Moving right along.

"No questions about those. What about the next set?"

"Both of these interact with time rather strangely. I hope that they are used wisely."

Two seconds. "The first is Declaration. While you can't see the future, you can... feel through it, "feel" through the cloud of your possible futures, pick a slice of those futures, and grant them... weight? reality? Essentially, declare that something possible will happen, and throw the support of your Input Idealization and Outcome Enforcement behind them. I don't expect that you can support more Prophecies at once than your Ascension Rank, but... this is the power of a god. In breadth and in subtlety. That's not purely to your advantage, as it could be so diffuse as to become invisible. While both of the Aspects this draws upon are dramatic when concentrated into a single person's actions, when wielded by your Prophecies, they'll be spread across all reality. I can't accurately assess how powerful this is. Used skillfully, it could nudge the fates of worlds, used wrong and it could be washed away by the flood of random events. The higher your Level of Existence, the more oomph each prophecy will have, as your Level backs your Aspects. So just improve your Level, and even poor usage of this will become frightening."

Two seconds. "The second is the Hydra's Choice. You can suspend a choice, and make an extra decision. From that point forward, you'll live in 'both' worlds, until either you choose or are forced to 'close' one of them, committing to that not being real. You should be able to have one 'extra' branch for every Ascension, and hold off committing for around 12 hours per ascension. You can divide these between as many or as few 'branch points' as you wish, and give up or create new ones with a thought. It seems like everyone else must live in the world you choose. I would say that this is a front-loaded power, because the merely linear scaling will make it effectively drop off in impact compared to other options."

Two seconds. "Do you have any questions?"

"I... don't think I have any more questions about these yet," she says. "I'd like to hear more before I decide which Exceptions to take, in case there's relevant information I don't know yet." In particular: can she go for both of the very far-loaded ones or is that a terrible idea, and what makes the most sense to take as a third Exception. But she doesn't feel ready to ask those questions while there are still so many pieces missing from her map of this reality.

The voice answers without missing a beat. "The next step will be Icon selection." A brief pause. "Before Icon selection, you should learn about the different sources of supernatural non-Iconic power that you may access."

A half second. "The first power is Magic. Magic calls upon Moral Law to inform the world how it should be. A law of fire will tell you that things ought to burn, that it is a commandment that they do so. Magic is the force of order, and each law is a broad thing that countless principles can be derived from, called relationships. These relationships explain how the Law can express itself - the moral way for the universe to exist. Magic is uniquely suited to command not only magic, but Glamour and the flow of Nature, and its imperative way of interacting with the world can simplify many things. For example, while Druids primarily manipulate The Flow of Nature through External Orgone, they use magic as a medium to interact with and target what they wish to manipulate, even if that manipulation is done through Orgone, and they use magic to understand and hold absurd complexities of what their transformations and command must express. While this isn't the only way to do this, it is the easiest, and so even a 'pure external Orgonist' like a druid uses magic in subtle but pervasive ways."

Two seconds. "The second power is Glamour. Glamour is the expression of a story, a narrative. It gives connection and direction. Glamour spawns infinite dream realms that exist and are destroyed every moment, all without mattering. Without the Astral, those stories are incoherent and say nothing. Without the Flow of Nature, they are insubstantial. While Glamour is infinite on its own, it can only matter or have substance when it interacts with the moral or the physical, thereby limiting it. Glamour can tell a story, bring the world into a story, or bring a story into the world. The last is known as an Arcadian Manifestation, and is... dangerous."

Two seconds. "Glamour suffers banes. Some banes are specific - most undead fear the sun for example, but others are universal, like how Iron breaks glamour. Generally speaking, the more degenerate states of The Flow of Nature are universal banes to Glamour. Iron being the most degenerate, and therefore the most stable, form of the cycles of matter. More dynamic states may be the bane of particular expressions of Glamour, but not Glamour in general. Spirit, usually harvested from souls though there are more innocuous ways to generate spirit, can greatly stabilize Glamour, and give it an existence not subject to its banes. Well 'fed' glamour can also resist its banes, but if what it fed on was not spirit, that state is not stable and will revert over time. The use of glamour is called Enchanting and Enchantment."

Two seconds. "The third power is Orgone. Orgone is the flow of life, a part of the Absurd Flow that orders itself and has direction. The Material World is formed out of the Absurd Flow of the Cycles of Nature. The Absurd Flow, or The Flow of Nature, is the substance of the material world. Not only is matter made from it, but so are space, time, and the tendencies that rule them. The Vard call The Absurd Flow "Cosmic Energy", and maybe that more closely matches the understanding you have from your world. The Absurd Flow is the wellspring of chaos, an ever-changing, inconstant force of substance. As chaos is self-defeating, The Flow of Nature defeats itself, conflicts with itself, forming into cycles. These cycles can be concrete, like Iron or Helium or Light, and also more abstract ones, like Entropy or Time. They form the riverbed of expression that the Absurd Flow of Nature traps itself in, and hence creates the illusion of constancy over the seething chaos of the physical world."

Two seconds. "Most people who manipulate the material world do so through Orgone. It behaves itself in a way the nature doesn't. Such people are either Internal Orgonists, controlling and developing their internal energy and using is as a tool, or External Orgonists, turning the flow of nature outside themselves into their own Orgone, and then using that to direct and control nature."

One second. "The final power is Psionic. We don't really understand it, as very little psychic phenomena occurred before the opening of the Sky-Shift Bridge. Afterwards, it spread to Adastra, but it's new to us. What we can say was this it isn't new, it's a hidden element that was always there. It's associated with thought and the mind in a way that's clearly related to Glamour, and Glamour and Psionics work well together as if they were two pieces of the same puzzle. Still, we don't really know how it fits into everything. Psionics appears to apply will to directly change the world. Sorry if that's an incomplete explanation."

Three seconds. "Do you have any questions?"

It's a fascinating structure that seems on the face of it to have absolutely nothing to do with the way things actually work in the world she's actually lived in.

Much as she itches to ask about interactions between systems, she resolutely keeps those questions on the inside.

"I think I understand. Go on."

The being does not seem to observe any inner conflict whatsoever, responding with the swiftness that seems characteristic of its pre-recorded statements. "There are 29 classes available for you to choose from, selected for the needs of the project and what would be best for you."

Half a second. "There are twelve Icons that specialize purely in supernatural forces. The Wizard is the pure wielder of magic. The Druid is a pure wielder of external Orgone. The Orgonist is purely focused on Orgone, in whatever form it takes. The Sensualist is a master of raising Orgone through sex. The Enchantress is the pure wielder of Glamour. The Psion is a pure wielder of psionics. The Priestess works for a god, while the Binder works with or takes advantage of gods and similar beings. Nightmare Psychics use Glamour to incarnate horrors, with power but without precision. Summoners are mages who specialize in summoning. The Perfumist modifies perspective with Orgone to affect Magic and Glamour. The Bard is similarly muddled and usually has to approach problems sideways, though it was a Bard's song that snuffed out Carilysis' sun."

Three seconds. "There are five Icons that specialize in melee combat. The Warrior excels at every aspect of martial combat. The Changeling Knight weaves Glamour into themselves and Stories, making them immune to the effects of iron  The Practioner is a master of internal Orgone manipulation, which is easily applied to combat. The Spellsword uses magic to supplement their physical combat skills. The Mind over Body adept uses Psionics to enhance their power."

Two seconds. "There are four Icons that specialize in crafting and creation. The Scientist studies Orgone to generate tools from Natural Law. The Cobalt Mage forms the bodies of their defeated foes into tools. The Artificer works Magic, and a little with, Orgone to create wonders. The Alchemist uses Orgone to break down essences and energies, and reshape them."

One second. "There are three icons that explore. The Seeker of Delights loves freely, sees others as they truly are, and finds experiences. The Student learns from the world, studying spells one day, swords the next, geology the third. A Challenger's Aspects are trophies won from foes."

One second. "There are five harder to categorize Icons. A Circle of Towers Druid specializes in crafting personal Aspects, either through their metaphysical connections with others or through the creation of physical things that impact the flow of nature. The Lady can use their raw desire to empower their subjects, or be empowered by their desire. A Ritualist of the Congress is a specialized tantric ritualist. The Rogue is relatively weak in itself as an Icon, but from it you can easily draw many more Personal Aspects than your peers. The Mastermind touches lightly upon Orgone and Glamour, weaving the fates and actions of others towards their own goals."

Two seconds. "Do you have any questions?"

...all right. Well.

There's an obvious big question, but does she dare ask it?

...no, she's going to stall a bit first. "What more can you tell me about the Psion and the Orgonist?"

No pause at all. "The first you have asked about is the Psion. While the lands of Adastra have a deep history, many things are yet unknown. Order comes from Magic, and as Orgone organized itself into life, Orgone came to have meaning, bringing magic upon it. As Orgone follows a law of cycles, and those cycles came to have meaning, yet that meaning constantly changed as the cycle flowed forming stories, and from stories Glamour was born. Spirit, then, was the nexus. The psychics who came across the shifted bridges during the Fourth Apocalypse put a lie to that understanding with their Psionics. Born from Curiosity, the Psion is one of the youngest Icons, and the least understood. Vectored from the spirit, connected in some ways to Glamour, but poorly understood, Psionics is a power that lets the will act upon the world directly. It is not of law, for it follows no pattern or order or meaning. It is not of chaos, for it is a force of purpose. It can act upon both chaos and order. The only thing we truly understand is that it is of the mind. If you take up this Icon, you'll be trail blazing, with all the risks that implies. Still, we need to understand more, so if you take up this road, you will be rewarded with an extra Gift."

Two seconds. "The second you have asked about is the Orgonist. The flow of life and nature, Orgone is a primordial force. It's in the trees, but also in the storm clouds. Some people control it through religious practice, through discipline, through ritual, meditation, or pure skill. Born from Wisdom, the Orgonist doesn't commit themself to any particular path towards mastering Orgone. Nor do they focus on internal or external practice. They study the force in every place it rises. This is a broad Icon, the tool of the ambitious. In some ways it isn't the ideal choice for a Hero - its own aspects tend towards the broad. Still, the problems are short term; the strengths are forever."

Two seconds. "Do you have any questions?"

Hmmm. "What is a Gift, in this context?" She probably should've asked that one much earlier, actually. It's not the first time the word has been used in that way.

No pause. "Your Icon, your Exceptions, these are a part of the Hero Summoning spell. Gifts are things that we give to you, in part as thanks, in part as inducement to further the goals of the project. Gifts will include Aspects added to your physical body, an adjustment to your race, and bound spirits and Arcadia."

One second. "Do you have any questions?"

"Besides the Psion, which if any of the other Icon choices come with extra Gifts or other such rewards?"

No pause. "Circle of Towers Druid, Lady, Ritualist of the Congress, Cobalt Mage, Artificer, and Mastermind will also give you one additional Gift. You have already received a gift for being interested in men and women, leaving you with six gifts."

She's what.

"...why have I received a gift for being interested in men and women?" she asks, though she's not sure she dares hope for a useful answer.

No pause. "Bisexuality makes you naturally semi-compatible with some of the goals of the project. If you wish to later further align yourself to increase your interest in becoming pregnant, you will gain an additional Gift."

"...why," she says, and then stalls out there for just a moment. No, focus. "Why... is increasing interest in becoming pregnant... a choice that the project wishes to incentivize?"

A complete pause, without motion. "I will let the Maylaith explain."

I am of the Maylaith, a small pantheon of gods that hold domain over sex, reproduction, and family. As such, I feel that we are best suited to explaining one of the goals of the project. When egg and seed meet, fragments of the parents' lifescrolls join together, and form a new one. Lifescrolls are unstable outside on their own. It requires a certain solidity that comes from one's Level of Existence to maintain their stability. If that stability isn't there, the lifescroll comes apart and life fails. And the only support a fetus has is from its mother. As such, the mother's personal Level of Existence is the deciding factor if a pregnancy can happen.

Life scrolls improve over generations, but that improvement is suppressed by rising infertility. Generally speaking, lifescroll quality is a range - the parents could prouce a child along a wide range of possible 'life scroll.' This is not the case with Heroes.

A Hero's Outcome Enforcement Aspect means that all such unions will produce a lifescroll of higher quality than the best possible lifescroll quality the two parents should be able to produce together. This means that the requirement is raised to the greatest limit the two parents could produced together, with all that entails. Long term, heroic offspring will somewhat raise the average requirement for their line, but that can be bred for or against over subsequent generations. Short term, it means many male Heroes are effectively infertile.

We are not small-minded, and the Tribes are not livestock. We understand and are fine with the fact that the lineages will develop in their own directions, rather than some ideal one. But understand that we... the Maylaith... are not friendly towards male heroes. They have damaged many lines and ended a few outright. Dozens of generations of careful breeding, gone, because an important heir decided to marry her savior, and then couldn't have children with him. It's a waste.

Female Heroes, on the other hand, can revitalize a line having issues, and heroes quickly gain in level of existence. They can bear children from lineages with even the harshest requirements.

One of the pillars of this summoning was to increase the number of female Heroes upon the land, and trust that they would gather to themselves impressive bucks. It knows that it will sometimes fail at this, but so long as it sometimes succeeds, and produces few male pinnacles, then it is an overall success.

...

That, actually, is giving her Ideas.

"Thank you," she says to the Maylaith, because it seems best to be polite to gods.

Then she thinks for a moment.

Yes. Okay. At this point, it's time to quit stalling and get serious. Even though her mind itches badly with nerves at the thought of being open about any of her goals or preferences here.

She turns to the Unnatural Explanations Creature, as best she can. Hesitantly, she asks, "...what resources do you have available for explaining magical theory in detail, such that I might learn what the best options are to take if I want to do a specific probably-obscure probably-difficult thing with my life?"

The Maylaith is static, now, like the Unnatural Explanations Creature.

The UEC needs no time to start answering this one. "I have a sub-routine for analyzing how to best achieve a given goal with the options available to you. If you articulate what it is, an explanation and answer will be provided. Knowledge of magical theory was not considered very critical to selecting whether or not to choose Wizard or Spellsword compared to another path."

"The goal I'm contemplating is to create a potentially indefinite number of duplicates of myself. Not necessarily with the same Icons or Hero status, not necessarily with the same physical form, but with the same base personality; in fact, ideally I would create indefinite duplicates of myself most of which had the same base personality and different physical forms and who went on to make different Icon-related decisions, so that in totality all of me could explore more different ways of being than a single person can explore alone. The method I'm thinking of, now that the Maylaith has explained about reproductive constraints, is to have a lot of children and overwrite their personalities with my own before they begin having experiences, and if possible I would then go on to teach the same trick to at least some of them so they could do the same with their own children. I'm not sure which Icons or other choices would best serve that purpose, or whether another method would be better suited to the goal. What can you tell me about that?"

Four seconds. "A Circle of Towers Druid has a deep connection to their lovers, and more relevantly offspring, including in the womb, and can use this to generate Aspects. There are no known prior instances of what you propose, but it is predicted that this route would be most effective for you, as it will enable you to customize Aspects to affect the children that you are already deeply connected to. This would be a slower route, but ultimately more powerful, efficient, and flexible. You would likely develop Aspects that enabled you to share magic, Orgone, and other kinds of power, substitute stories with one another, spread consequences and harms across the multitude so any individual was minimally affected, and more."

Two seconds. "If you merely wish to imprint your personality upon a child, the Psion is a sensible choice. You would likely develop Aspects that would enable you to synchronize and share thoughts with your duplicates. The Psion also offers more immediate power."

One second. "Do you have any questions?"

"...how easily accessible are these Icon choices after I enter the world? You've said that I will most likely end up binding more Icons later on; will I have access to the same selection at that future time that I do now, or will future Icon availability be determined differently somehow? If I want to eventually bind multiple Icons that contribute towards my goal, it makes sense to start with the one that will be hardest to come by later on, if their availability will change."

No pause is needed. "There are some Icons that have not been offered to you immediately: if you wish to pursue them you could wait, but it is generally considered sensible to bind your Icons as soon as possible, and it is highly unlikely that a government would enable you to bind Arcadian Conjurer fast enough, to pick one example. Of the Icons that you have been offered, Lady would be difficult without marrying into nobility or carving out a territory of your own first. Priestess would be unwise to choose later unless you choose Tree of Possibilities: the obligations of the God upon you tend to scale with your power level, but the power it grants you scales with your Ascension in Priestess. Finally, pursuing Nightmare Psychic would be frowned upon by most, and what may be tolerable immediately upon arrival, when you knew little, may be less accepted when you are already an established power."

"So, between Circle of Towers Druid and Psion, is there any likely difference in how available they would each be? How feasible would it be to take one of those two now and plan on taking the other at the next opportunity, and is that feasibility substantially different depending which I take now and which I plan to take later?"

Three seconds of consideration. "Developing an Icon that is far from your existing Icons is difficult, but Pinnacle obviates this: with a single Pinnacle aspect, you can take on a traditional Psion aspect, and render yourself able to pursue the path. Classy is worth considering if you want to take both, because it is highly unlikely that you will acquire the second naturally before your second century."

So far, being open about her goals has been working out fine. She lets herself relax a bit, but tries to still keep a metaphorical eye on the possibility that relaxing is a mistake.

"I'm considering Classy but I don't want to commit to it yet because there might be other Exceptions I'd like better. For now I'd like to move on from Icon selection without making a final decision and hear about the next thing."

It's instant as she finishes. "As mentioned before, it's possible for you to have resources directed to you to give you a stronger start. The cost of this is that you align yourself more strongly with the goals of the project by taking on the seeds of a dream. It is not viable to mind control a Hero, and we aren't going to try to cheat our way past that immunity. Even if it succeeded, the destructive power of Heroes is immense."

1.12 seconds. "But a Hero can influence themselves."

1.23 seconds. "Nothing is dramatic, any great change of priority. These each are the seeds of a dream. If you agree to absorb one of these, then in some small way, it will become one of your dreams. Not your most important one, but something that draws your interest, appeals to you. Over time, you'll find yourself making choices to make these dreams happen. It won't put these accepted dreams above your greater ambitions... but it will be there."

One second. "There are dreams of Safety, Change, going beyond the horizon, Legacy, Success, Home, Industry, Discovery, stability, companionship, love, and children."

Two seconds. "Which would you like more detail on?"

"...I think I should hear the details on all of them."

There are no pauses, now, one dream after another, rapid.

"A dream of Safety. People worry about each other, care about what happens to others. They feel a stranger's pain after hearing their story. But it's a distant pain, easily ignored. Harvested from crusaders, healers, and those who devoted themselves to the common good, this is a dream of other people's safety. It will make the voice that cares what happens to people you will never meet louder. You will be more easily moved by causes that help humanity as a whole, and find yourself spending more time and effort on such efforts."

"A dream of Change. A feeling of confinement and escape, the wish for a new start. This is a dream of change, of wanting to try new things, start new things, be new things, of embracing change for change's sake and finding joy and satisfaction in leaving old burdens behind and starting over as someone new. Taken from young adults ready to leave the nest, middle-aged men and women stuck in a self-made crisis, and the old, bitter at everything they didn't do."

"A dream beyond the Horizon. A dream of the young and those young at heart, blazing trails and filling in the map, seeing things few people ever see, and seeing the truth of things for yourself. Adastra had been well explored before the Fourfold Apocalypse. After... not so much. New lands, and lands changed. People who once traded have become strangers. Exploring can be dangerous, but it's needed if we're to reconnect our lands."

"A dream of Legacy. The wish to leave a mark, something that means you'll be remembered positively, or just remembered at all. A dream harvested from the old, from the failures, and from those at the peak. Many dreams can be expressed through legacy, and legacy can become many dreams. This seed has strong synergy with many other seeds."

"A dream of Success. A simple dream from those who were once hungry before they found their way. Like them, you will be hungry and know Want. You will find yourself working harder, setting yourself higher goals, and dreaming grander dreams. This won't so much create a new dream, as make you less willing to settle for a lesser one."

"A dream of Home. A common dream many share. A desire for a home. Not merely a place to stay, but a place that is yours. Many adventurers are defined by wanderlust, people who'll want a place to stay for a few years before moving on. But a powerful individual home claims a territory can anchor it, and a hero is powerful."

"A dream of Discovery. A dream shared by both children and sages - a desire to know. It may develop into the passion and focus needed to research things yourself, or could just inspire you to become a patron of the sciences. It's just the seed of a dream, how it manifests will come from you."

"A dream of Industry. The flip side of discovery, the wish to expand what is done, to make the abstract concrete. A complex dream that can take many forms and comes from many kinds of people. Whether self-aggrandizement, greed, or the desire to improve the world, all of them can share in this dream."

"A dream of Stability. There is something comforting and peaceful in knowing that tomorrow might look much like today. It's not something you realize when you're young, but certainty is a potent comfort once you have experienced its loss. There is no end to the number of people of people who long for and dream of consistency. This dream seed plant a single hope, desire, for that consistency. For no big upsets. The hope that tomorrow is a better version of today, rather than some unrecognizable strangeness."

"A dream together. Whether an adventurer's band, a close knit team, or a clan, there are many ways people find fulfillment through community. Harvested from all walks of life, there are many who don't want to walk alone."

"A dream of Love. To have and to hold, someone just for you, to fulfill you. Romance, and sex, to complete them and be completed by them. Marriage. This is a dream many have and embrace."

"A dream of Children. To have your own children, fruit of your own body. To cherish them, and help them grow. From all walks of life."

"There are other dreams for adaptation, but you do not need them and would not benefit."

She thinks each of these through as she hears them. Safety seems plausibly worthwhile, she doesn't object to helping people though she doesn't tend to prioritize it; Change seems like it'll be useful foundational material... she makes a mental note to ask about that later, actually. Horizon seems reasonable. Legacy seems like it could slot very neatly into her existing plans. Success likewise. Home might be a nice counterbalance to Change, to anchor her first self into a stable situation. Discovery sounds like it will bolster some of the parts of herself she likes best. Industry likewise. Stability fits well with Home. Together sounds useful for getting along with herselves. Love has never historically been something she's interested in, but it sounds interesting to explore. And Children of course fits very well with her plans. Now, about that question...

"If I were to incorporate these dreams, and then later duplicate myself, would the dreams tend to persist through to the duplicates, or tend not to, or would I be able to affect whether or not they did?"

The spirit pauses for six seconds. "The modal outcome is that you are influencing yourself, now, so while it may be possible to change them in duplicates, this would only be in the ways that you could change other preferences in duplicates. The dream seeds won't be persistently foreign: your Cthonic Will would obliterate them."

Wow, that pause was really long. On reflection she's not surprised; that had to be a pretty novel question.

"I think I understand. Thank you. What is there to know after Dreams, then?"

No pause. "You may choose your tribe. You are currently human, and may remain that way, but there are a number of other options that you may wish to consider. There are many races upon Adastra. However, this spell was cast by members of only a few, and while they wish well for all the people of Adastra, they wished well more for their own. As such, you may choose from the tribes of their peoples, and their closest allies."

One second. "Because you have expressed interest in having a large quantity of children, there will be more detail on racial differences, because that will matter more to final outcomes."

One second. "Elves are perfection, as best could be created. They stop aging once they reach maturity, though you would acquire this anyway at the 20th level of existence, most likely around your seventh Ascension. They have an aspect of physical perfection, and another for Glamour that makes them all enchanters. The mind is a complex problem, but while the smartest elf might not be smarter than the smartest gnome or human, their average is higher. And as a healthy body can help support a strong mind, their minds get a lot of support. They are mentally flexible and adaptable to boot. Their minds are further supported by their Glamour-affinity aspect. It's believed that this is meant to support mental exercises, by effectively making the mind's eye 'real' to them, letting them hold and manipulate more information at once, and in a more coherent 'real' way."

Two seconds. "With elves requiring a high level of existence to reproduce, 14 or 15 for normal fertility, and so many elves having risen to the occasion during the fourfold apocalypse, making the final sacrifice, the elves are facing serious population issues. The survivors are mostly either young, or those who have failed to develop themselves for hundred or even thousands of years. They don't exactly face a population crash, as they don't age out, but their circumstances are dire. If you become an elf, expect there to be an attempt at being wooed by pretty much every elven man you meet. Elves are difficult to transform you into, and will take away two gifts from your total." 

Two seconds. "Gnomes have a higher metabolism than most races, giving them a great deal of energy, moment to moment, but if force to exert themselves for an extended time they tend to crash, though they'll also recover from that crash quite fast. Gnomes have a normal intelligence distribution, slightly skewed toward 'high'. They are, however, highly creative and mentally flexible, being contenders for claiming to be among the highest. Well, except for elves, of course. Gnome mature somewhat slowly, and live a long time. An unusually high number of gnomes are able to bond to icons, skewing it longer."

One second. "Gnomes have an average Level of Existence of 4 at birth, and usually reach 5 by adulthood without bonding an Icon. A level of existence of 5 is needed for common Gnome bloodlines to reproduce, but a 7 is better. Their Level of Existence used to be lower, but the average has increase over the millennia, which has resulted in severely falling fertility rates. Gnomes have the most, and the most advanced lineages of any of the races our collage has detailed records for. The Ashfell clan, a rather famous clan of gnome warriors, has a level of existence of 18 at birth, and 20 by adulthood, naturally achieving immorality. They're secretive about their clan's Aspects, but they seem to have ones that both boost physical abilities to make up for their slight stature, and a destructive 'ashblade.' They require a woman of at least the 32nd level of existence. The clan had five mothers before the Fourfold Apocalypse, but three of them died during it. The sons of Ashfall are sponsoring every woman adventurer and ascender they can, hoping to produce a woman who can join the clan, while the daughters of Ashfall throw themselves at danger in search of glory and advancement. The Ashfell are an extreme example, but not alone. Gnomes summon few heroes, and using templating to change a summoned hero's Tribe has never been done before. The gnomes will welcome you, but they'll also have expectations. Gnomes aren't as complicated as elves, and will only take a single Gift."

Two seconds. What follows seems more natural, like it was recorded rather than merely written. "Mentally, Tiefling are known for their focus and a certain tendency to stick to their preconceptions - they aren't stupid, but as a tribe born from a plane of order they naturally value consistency, and so it's harder for them to shift their preconceptions. It can make them less flexible, but more meticulous and methodical, and many Tieflings have excelled as scholars. On the other hand, for a people born of evil, they're a cheerful and friendly people who tend to think the best of others. They rejected their roots in tyranny to such an extent that it has marked their bloodlines with an aspect of Hope, and so they both hope for others and themselves, and bring Hope and find it for themselves. It's a subtle aspect, but at times a powerful one.

1.37 seconds. "Tieflings came from low-caste devil stock, and their lifespans are slightly shorter than average, with them reaching maturity faster. They are normally born at a level of existence of 1, and reach 2 by adulthood. They're a young tribe, and haven't significantly increased their average level of existence yet. There are few Tiefling lineage. One of the strongest is a line is a Clan following the Maylaith. They're born at a Level of Existence of 5, and reach 7 by maturity. Their careful guidance and blessings have kept their requirements low, and a mother bearing a child from that clan needs only 6 levels of existence for the pregnancy to succeed. The Tieflings were hated as traitors by the devils, and their fundamentally good nature meant many of them rose to the occasion during the four disasters. They are by far the most devastated of the tribes you might become. They have no homeland anymore, though the elves have taken in most, and so you may consider that their 'homeland' these days. While the many tribes of men, gnomes and beastfolk make Tieflings welcome in their lands, the Tieflings themselves have an almost anarchist culture among themselves, trusting in each other's goodness more than law, which causes them trouble fitting in among those peoples. The Tieflings need help, and at the same time would put few expectations upon you. It's not in their nature. To become a Tiefling would require one Gift."

Two seconds. "As stated before, Icons were copied from nature, but binding icons happened before the Tribes figured out how to forge them and bind them intentionally. One of the more common ways this happened was through odd conjunctions the influence of a powerful animal in the local region blessed a child with power from that animal, or the reverse, where the influence of the tribes upon a land blessed an animal with an icon of the tribes. Most were infertile, or just bred back into their original race, but on rare occasions a Wolf-Man might meet a Woman-Wolf, and have the pairing breed true. Over time, enough bred true to break away from their original tribes and become Beastmen."

One second. "Beastmen vary tremendously, both based on the animal source and the tribe source. The Kitsune are born of Gnomes and Foxes, the Wolfen from wolves and humans, and so on. The animal influences are sometimes mentally positive, and sometimes negative. The physical influence is almost always positive and comes with an Aspect of the animal they came from. There were too many choices to include them individually, and the differences are small: If you choose this, just focus on what you want and the spell will help you sort the possibilities. To become a Beastwoman would require one Gift."

One second. "The final two options would each require three Gifts, because we will need to raise you to a higher starting Level of Existence than the default of six."

One second. "The Kumiho are one of the few Beastmen tribes born of elves, and having all the elves gifts and more the Kumiho gain a fox-Aspect that fortifies their perfection with a kind of innate cruel cleverness. Elves have a natural affinity for glamour, but that's usually expressed internally inside their own mind, or to craft enchanted goods. The Kumiho can combine it with their fox-Aspect to easily be leveraged into illusions and into enchantments that call upon the cycles of the natural world, using glamour shaped by cleverness to take on other forms for a time, or to invoke natural disasters. The Kumiho are born at a level of existence of 7, and generally reach 9 by adulthood. They grow up somewhat faster than elves. If you become a Kumiho, part of the energy taken by this transformation will be spent raising your level of existence. Kumiho need a level of existence of at least 17 to have healthy fertility. Kumiho have a bad reputation, one they've well earned. They are naturally cruel and duplicitous. But they were key in breaking the Nightmares, and driving their forces to Carilyis, before we snuffed out their sun."

Two seconds. "An elite beastmen tribe born from the tribe of humans and the dragons, the Dragonblooded are a powerful race. They have aspects of 'power' that express themselves generally, aspects of 'physicality' that reinforce their bodies, aspects of 'enduring' that let them shrug off harm, and aspects of 'dragons' that give them elemental, physical, and magical power and weight. They are intense and potent. Dragons are the only race as refined in their making as the elves, but while elves were crafted to have perfect lives, dragons were crafted to be living weapons of destruction. Dragons are largely thought of as an immortal race, but they aren't like the elves, born immortal. Dragonbloods inherit this. Dragonbloods are long lived and are slow to reach physical maturity. Dragonbloods are born at the tenth level of existence, and reach the twelfth by adulthood. If you become a dragonsblood, part of the energy taken by this transformation will be spent raising your level of existence. Dragonsbloods need a level of existence of at least 19 to have healthy fertility."

Two seconds. "Do you have any questions?"

She takes a moment to think this over, wondering idly about the differences in delay length between different sections of that explanation. One of those delays almost didn't seem regimented to a strangely precise interval at all! No, focus.

"...do you have predictions about the approximate timeline of how long it would take to achieve normal fertility as an Elf? You mention using Gifts to raise my starting Level of Existence; can that be done freely, or only in conjunction with these specific choices?"

Two seconds. "With the blessings of Fertility that you will receive, I would expect it to be reasonable to try for a child after your third Ascension, which might take place in a year if you focused on it, or longer if you were slower to accumulate Potential. It is predicted that Psion would be faster than Circle of Towers Druid, at first. It is extremely unlikely that you would be unable to bear a child after your fourth Ascension, which with very high likelihood would take place within three years."

One second. "The only way to directly raise your Level of Existence with Gifts is through your selection of a Tribe."

She mulls this over. It seems pretty reasonable overall. She probably will want to establish herself and settle down a bit before she starts popping out mini-Ellens.

"In that case, I probably want to choose Elf, but I'm not sure yet. What's next?"

No pause. "If you distrust your subconscious or the magics at work, you may dictate how your new body will look in various ways. More important and interesting are the physical refinements. They start off as first Ascension aspects and will grow slowly as you do, generally being at one fifth of your Ascensions."

One second. "Four will give gifts. Enhanced Libido, Pleasure Optimization, Multiple Pregnancy, and Prenatal Optimization. I expect that you will desire all of them."

One second. "Three will be costless. Fertility Control is self-explanatory. Touch of the Naiad makes you healthy and takes you from inhumanly to impossibly beautiful. Mood Balancer was developed by a group of war gods of Adrasta, the Atamata, and given freely to soldiers throughout the land who wanted it. It will not eliminate emotional expressions or prevent you from feeling joy. It is predicted that you will also want all of them."

One second. "The final five would each require one Gift to fuel, and enhance a specific aspect of your body and give you two Aspects to further enhance that. Sphinx's Watchfulness will enhance your senses without risking overload, and give you "Physical Senses" and "Enduring Perception". Metabolic Support will optimize how your body uses energy, improve recovery, and give "Physical Dynamo" and "Physical Recovery". Solid Body optimizes your structural integrity, and grants the Aspects "Physical Stability" and ""Physical Solidity". Kinesthetic Grace optimizes your senses and joints and ligaments, drawing from the lifescrolls of Tengu assassins. Expect improved reflexes and spatial awareness. This is supported by Aspects of "Physical Grace" and "Physical Awareness". Finally, Explosive Speed grants "Physical Speed" and "Physical Endurance". It synergizes with the other metabolic improvements: if you took all four of them, then even without Pinnacle and Outsider you could physically fight at someone of one more Ascension than you on even grounds, all else being equal."

Two seconds. "Do you have any questions?"

Probably she'll just take the lot but she's not committing to anything until she's heard it all and probably gone back and clarified a few things.

"I think I understand, thank you. What's next?"

No delay. "Treasures! Aspect Emblems consume an average of two thirds of the Gifts of users. Aspect Emblems allow people to collectively format Potential into aspect, and allow magic, technique, and glamour to be leveraged into tuning and empowering those Aspects. In this way, out-of-icon Aspects can be forged with precision and intention, and don't depend on the vulgarities of chance. While it's not exactly a drawback, there is a limit on Aspect Emblems. While integrating one is fast, and you can start using the Aspect gained immediately, 'digesting' it is slow, and there isn't 'space' in the spirit for a second Aspect Emblem until the first is digested. The time to digest an emblem is a function of its effective Ascension, and one's one level of existence. It takes around a year to digest an emblem mimicking an aspect at an Ascension one-fourth of your level of existence, with it taking exponentially more time as your Level drops below that, and logarithmically less as it rises above that rank. Many clans will start feeding Emblems to their child - it's one of the reasons children of clans with icons oft bond icons themselves. We can feed them to you as part of the final stage of templating, and the templating will digest them for you rather than forcing you to wait to integrate each one. Language is generally seen as the 'best' skill to directly learn from an emblem, and even that tends to result in some short-term confusion as you don't know what you know. But they're certainly worth taking."

Two seconds. "Firstly there are the free ones: they're so weak, and thus easy to make, and so useful it would be malpractice to not give them to you, though you are allowed to refuse. Common Language covers the five most common languages in your starting location, and give you a minor aspect of Language to help with ones after that. Poise gives four minor aspects for social graces. Courting has minor aspects of 'Romance' and 'Sensuality', which will give you both skill and confidence. Survival has a first Ascension Survival aspect in addition to minor 'Outdoorsmanship', 'Hunting', 'Gathering', 'Camping' and 'Traveling' Aspects. Finally, the Child Care package has five minor aspects around planning, managing, mitigating, encouraging, and enduring children."

Two seconds. "The rest will each consume one Gift, if taken. Athletic Skills is a package of third Ascension emblems common among elves that includes 'Athletics', 'Physical Self-Discipline', and 'Body Training'. The second is a fourth tier Aspect Emblem of 'Sexuality' would make most decadent nobles balk at the price, but is available. Thirdly, an Elixir Field is useful for someone interested in faster progress at internal Orgone manipulation, or simply a powerful boost to physical efficacy for someone uninterested in the art."

One second. "The remainder are more specifically chosen by you: categories and individual options to follow, each still one Gift, with no bulk discount unfortunately. Each will be produced at the fourth Ascension."

They come rapid-fire, one after another after another. "Element Skills. Using an element to do something. Fire Magic, Metal Techniques, Wind Enchantment, Terrakinesis, or similar. A workhorse Aspect - you can't use it to gain access to something as exotic as the Light of Law or Iron Glamour, and, it will be specific to a particular system of power like Magic, Enchantment, Orgone Techniques or Alchemy, or Psionics. A strong starting point to build off of without consuming an Outsider or Pinnacle Aspect."

"Combat Skills. A broad family of weapons. Heavy Swords, Polearms, Fists. Drop off slowly in efficacy as the weapon gets farther away. Heavy Swords would fully engage with all but the largest blade, down to the heavier one handed swords. It would still help, but not as much, with some of the larger 'impossible' artifact blades, and down to short swords. Past that, it would be little aid. Quite common among the upper class. Most Lords and Ladies receive one shortly after bonding their Icon. Like Elemental Skills, this is a sufficiently easy emblem to make that anything can be generated. And yes, your own body works as a weapon Aspect. Many practitioners follow that road."

"Magic Skills. A broad area of magic. Necromancy, Divination, Conjuration, Abjuration, Healing, Influence, and High Ritual Magic."

"Alchemy. A practice of manipulation using Orgone. Life Alchemy, Unstable Alchemy, Transmutation Alchemy, Perfecting Alchemy, and Spiritual Alchemy. A small election of a deep field. Even if it's not your focus, Alchemy can give you a number of tools to back up other skills."

"Psionic Arts. Psychokinesis, Telepathy, Precognition, Incarnation. Adrasta's understanding of Psionics is still shallow, and these were the only Emblems that were understood enough to generate them without lowering standards. They will come as a surprise to most on Adrasta."

"Enchantment. Health, Fortune, Illusion, Invoking, Charm, and Shadowcraft are all available to you. Enchantment can be a powerful art, but take care not to go down a road you'll regret, and remember that once Glamour is physically incarnated, iron can be used against it. If you go down this route, and prove yourself trustworthy, there will be other paths available to you."

"Artistic Integration. Any field of art can be chosen, and used to mix the powers."

"Druidic Arts. Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring. The orthodox paths: a good fallback, or a good starting point."

"I'm not sure I understand what Artistic Integration or Druidic Arts would mean in practice," she says. There are some other areas she's also unsure of, but more in the way of specific subheadings like Psychokinesis under Psionics; she can ask about those later. For the broad overview she wants to understand at least the high-level highlights of everything.

"Bardic arts, sacred geometry, and sage paintings touch upon how the powers mix and become muddled. While a bard might use 'pure' bardic abilities, a painter 'pure' painting, everyone else uses them as a technique to blend the powers. This Aspect will give you a starting point for such things, whether to dabble or as the start of a more serious investment. The ways of turning an art form 'spiritual' are well understood, and so you may pick almost any form of artistic expression to develop. This includes architecture and civic engineering, and would pair well for a Circle of Towers Druid."

"That is understandable. The old druids who named the paths were very poetic. Spring is the magic of growth, change, and plants. Watering one plant to provide for 100, or making vines strike your opponents mid-combat. Elementalism, in a pure practice, can be its own magical art, but working with nature spirits and natural elementals is the path of Summer. Fall is change and transformation, most frequently turning a mortal into a beast, or giving the mortal merely some of their beast's attributes. Winter is the art of observation and stillness: if you want to disrupt the flow of Orgone in another, Winter can provide options, but more frequently it is used for scrying at a distance or connecting the living in some way."

"I see..." Several of those sound potentially useful. And spiritual architecture sounds amazing, though she's not entirely sure she understands how that might work.

"What's next, then?"

No pause. "Chained Sprits. Spiritual entities and those who exist in a different balance of the powers than material beings. Many people on our world make the mistake of labeling every being native to a different plane a Spirit, but that's wrong. The Devils of the Iron Hells are not spirits. The Iron Hells were places of law, and that law created a consistent enough reality to be 'material.' As such, the Devils are not spirits. On the flip side, a Native Outsider like yourself is a spirit. You are a drifting piece of self-contained reality - you could walk into deep Arcadia and not be dissolved, because your laws and rules are internal to your own existence. It's merely the case that those laws and rules are the same laws and rules as those of the material plane. With a few exceptions, like Native Outsiders and Gods, spirits are easier to move through magic, and easier to bind through it. It's possible to subvert the balance of the power that makes them up, and through doing this take control of them by seizing the root of their existence. Technically, it's possible to do that to mortal beings as well - the fae are infamous for their soul eating - but spiritual existence tends to create vulnerabilities. At the same time, these vulnerabilities can be a source of power. A dryad's root of being is sunk deep within her tree, and through it she can draw strength and power from the land. An angel's will and Law blend together, such that they may command Order itself."

Two seconds. "The circle of your own existence is not closed yet. It's closing as the templating completes, but there is still a little time. In it, I may sink the root of a spirit's existence inside you. Such a being would become an extension of you. Not in mind, but in purpose, your purpose would flow down the link and command their will. Such beings would have to have a lower level of existence than you do, and will always have a lower one. As you rise, so shall they, and over time they will Ascend their icons and forge their aspects in service to their root. But more profoundly, your Living Nexus Aspect will strongly pour your will and power into them. They will be as priests to you, channeling your aspects, invoking your exceptions, extending your reach. Wherever they go, you in some sense are. With practice, you'll be able to extend your senses through them."

Two seconds. "This is a... messy way of command. They will have their own natures, and while they will be loyal to you, but as a... principle to uphold first, your living will second, and your words third. They'll be loyal to your goals, but not how you wish to go about them. There are more legalistic ways of binding spirits, but they allow legal loopholes. There are no loopholes here, they can not turn on you so long as you exist, and would have trouble doing so even after. Just remember that their nature defines how they express that loyalty. In addition, even if they were disloyal, they have a strong incentive to keep you safe. So long as you live, their root of existence will live, and so they cannot die. They may be destroyed, but you can assert their existence and restore them without much trouble. You also anchor them, most anti-spirit measures will fail, and they cannot be bound by another. The reverse is also true, but to a lesser extent. So long as they live, they can call the root of their existence back to them, but the process is much harder, and they would need to use external resources and time. And during that time, they could be bound and subverted, breaking their connection to you until you return. If all your bound spirits are subverted or killed, and you are dead, you won't be coming back this way."

Two seconds. "This is novel. People won't expect you to have this. It's a tool that only became possible through the longer, slower templating process that was invented by my designers."

One second. "You may bind a demon, an angel, a fairy, an elemental, or a horror. The first three come in different options, if you wish to learn more. All cost one Gift."

She... is not entirely sure it is okay to do this to a person. But having someone who's loyal to the principle of herself, who wants to help her accomplish her goals and keep her alive, would be really useful.

"Do the options vary only in their capabilities, or also in their personalities? How well can their personalities be predicted ahead of time?"

"They vary in capabilities and goals: personalities are somewhere between unformed and currently unknown. This is most true of the Fae: a traditional faerie handmaiden will attend to your needs, and prioritize that, while an iron fae is tenacious and resilience, a survivor and source of the Third Apocalypse, but at best it can handle direct simple orders. An elemental is a rather blunt instrument, but you would recieve one of Air, and it could communicate with compatriots. It is also possible for you to select a Lesser Horror, though that is not recommended. The universe used to be... different. Not just ours, but most. The divergences between realities originate far back in time, and we've found echoes of that unknowable conflict. We've also run across survivors. Horrors don't bind Icons. They process potential and grow, but do not do so in a way we understand. They are highly intelligent, but their motivations are opaque. It's not merely that they won't answer, but that their answers are unintelligible.  The universe you lived in, the universe I live in... they're all the product of their old war.   Most sleep, but there are places where they stir, wake. Such places are... cursed."

Two seconds. "You may choose one of four types of demon. A lesser iron demon is only a little stronger than a completely unformed faerie handmaiden, and only a little stronger. It will seek to exalt you at others' expense. A lesser Iron demon would seek to support you ever higher, for the only law it loves is yours. A Lesser Demon lacks that well-defined nature, but will still try to exalt you at the expense of others. A lesser feral thing can transform into animals, and wishes to savage everyone who defies you, for you are the fear that it worships. Also known as an Incubus, Succubi are demons born from a number of different sub-planes in the astral depths that represent the triumph of physical want over principles. They can take lovely forms, both male and female, and steal the seed of a man to quicken a woman, enter dreams, and a dozen other tricks.  Succubi end up as political tools, surprisingly often, honestly, from spies to spending intangible messages to messing with succession. They also are young boys' first dabbling in summoning, but that tends to end worse.  For the succubi, you are the completion of all its desires."

Two seconds. "The strongest chained spirit, though also the bluntest, is the Lesser Wheel. An angel of motion and Law, it will move anything that impedes you away, usually physically. A Lesser Angel is to a Lesser Wheel as a Lesser Demon is to a Lesser Iron Demon: a more flexible and general creature uninflected by any specific plane, but also a less powerful one. Lesser Justices are stranger. Born from the paradox of 'evil' 'law', Justices are agents of mercy born from that paradox. Wherever double standards exist, there is a fault, a point where the order of law does not run smooth.  There are several orders of angels that can be born to resolve such things, but Justices are some of the more pleasant ones. A Judgement, for example is... something that helps, but it balances things in negatively, bringing negative consequences upon those who created and furthered such paradoxes. Justices are the opposite, bringing justice to those who suffered.  Justices are kind, but impersonal. They wish to help, but collectively. They command what is commonly called 'white' magic, but their power doesn't concentrate well. They could heal every patient in a clinic as easily as they could a single person. Divided across a large group, and their influence becomes more obvious.   Your cause has been unfairly handled, but this one will bring things to balance. Finally, the Lesser Elysium Attendant is the Angelic version of a Succubus: while boys tend to summon the latter because of the feeling of violation and naughtiness, to the Attendant you are all the joy in the world, and it can make you feel that joy."

Two seconds. "What has been said is all that can be known of them, in advance. But they seek to serve and start malleable: there are better and worse choices, but no wrong ones, save perhaps the Lesser Horror and the Lesser Iron Fae. Do you have any questions?"

Well, that's all a lot. Most of them sound like they will relate to her in fairly inconvenient ways, except maybe the Succubus and/or Attendant? The Justice sounds like they have interesting powers but a concerning attitude. The Succubus overall might be the best bet but their demonic nature is concerning.

However, she can still say: "I think I understand. What's next?"

"The final option is your choice of Bound Arcadia. There are eight options: based on observation you will want the full detail on all of them. Brownies. This fragment is defined by the presence of Brownies, minor fae who perform labor. Around you, there are Brownies. Not that you can see, but sometimes in the corner of your vision. This doesn't create individual fae. It creates the state of there being 'Brownies' around. You can expect tasks to be completed, sometimes in an invisible blur, and sometimes right outside your vision. The stability of their work is defined by their realness - not a concern for you once you finish establishing the bound shard, but unreal hands do unreal work, and that can take many forms. Until then, expect weirdness. The quality of their work is defined by your ascension. As your ascension increases, their work will generally be the work of someone 3 steps behind your Ascension. The form that takes varies, and is unstable at first, but the nature will stabilize with time, and is strongly influenced by the person they're bound too. An ascension below zero means that they're unskilled labor even for someone unbonded to an Icon. The "number" of brownies is tied to your level of existence. Usually the equivalent of one worker for every two levels of existence. Note that that's a somewhat fluid measure. A great deal of work may be done in an instant, only for there to be no work for some time as the brownies 'recover.' Light work may cause 'them' to further 'divide', while heavy work may cause 'them' to concentrate into a smaller 'number.' Also note that, like all Bound Arcadia, this Arcadia really is an expression of your spirit. As such, all the work 'they' do is work you do, so some icons may influence it. That's not normally important for most icons, but you're a hero, a Pinnacle."

Three seconds. "Workshop. This Arcadian fragment is a place where things are 'made.' As all forms of bound Arcadia, while it's 'real', what 'it' is is undefined. It is a little odd, as many things of fairie are. It produces 'craftsmanship.' Not performs, but produces it. The workshop is like a reservoir that produces 'crafting.' You can siphon it out, invest it in things. You can turn raw goods into finish products, and refine finished products with fae craftsmanship. The stability of the work is defined by their realness. Less stable things are... eerie, fickle, and occasionally dangerous. They also can be broken by Iron. It's not something you have to worry about long term, but be aware until it stabilizes. The quality of the "work" is defined by your Ascension. It can be used on its own, or to supplement something you are putting your own effort into, and is 'work' of your own ascension.  It can hold twenty hours of labor for every Level of Existence you have achieved, and produces an hour's labor per hour per Level of Existence. Like all Bound Arcadia, anything it does is done by you. You'll get more from this than others."

Two seconds. "Closet. This is the story of a 'closet' full of 'clothes', a place to store garments. A common form of Bound Arcadia for its subtle usefulness. While it doesn't create, what you pull out of it isn't necessarily what you put into it. You could put in a fine shirt, and pull out a mail coat, or put in a mail coat, and pull out a cloak of shadows. The closet will feed on the reality of what you put into it, at least until it is fully real. Not a long term concern for you, but a constant headache for most. It can concentrate work up to a bit above your own Ascension. The character of the work is informed by the person it's bonded to. It produces nothing on its own. You have to store worked items that can be worn before it can 'extract' work from them. Your level of Existence informs how finely it can concentrate work, and how fast it does so, and how much 'work' it can store. I once saw a bard Hero who wore a cloak of 300 colors. Each color was a single strip of cloth, invested with fae magic - each 'strip' counted as its own article. That Hero was at the 10th ascension, but each strip of cloth was an artifact of the 13th. Like all Bound Arcadia, its actions are your actions, something you can use."

Three seconds. "Gingerbread Palace. While odd seeming, these kinds of Bound Arcadia are popular with both the individually wealthy and major militaries, as they can be reshaped and redeployed more easily than most kinds of 'housing' fragments. A Gingerbread Palace is a Bound Arcadia that takes the form of a 'palace' made of food. Baked goods. These kinds of fragments can act as both shelter and as food, giving them multiple functions. A Gingerbread Palace must be fed raw ingredients, which it will over time 'transform' into 'structure.' Once it has done so, you may extrude them into reality in the form of buildings. The stability of the structure is defined by their realness. Less stable buildings inherit the dangerous of Arcadia, and are in no way safe to eat (like food from Arcadia). They also are dissolved by Iron. It's not something you have to worry about long term, but be aware until it stabilizes. How enchanted it is is defined by your Ascension. At the first Ascension the walls will eventually melt in rain and aren't really edible. Yours probably outperforms this via the Pinnacle's Aspects, but even you will need to make a choice when extruding structure on whether something is mechanically stable, or edible. As your Ascension rises, the walls will become stronger and more resilient when acting as walls, and more filling when acting as food, taking on enchanted properties to support both functions. At the sixth Ascension it's possible to do things like raise houses that are bigger on the inside, or are externally physically separated, but internally spatially unified. Your level of existence defines how much 'ingredient' your Gingerbread Palace can work with. Generally your Level x your level Loads. Hmm, you don't have the same measures. A Load is the amount of weight that can be moved by... never-mind. It's close to 300 'pounds'. It also defines how fast it can process ingredients. It can generally process a fifth of a load an hour per level of existence. Despite the name, it can do more than candy, though it will stay in 'baked goods' without a lot of work to expand it."

Three seconds. "Floating Library. A place that gathers 'knowledge.' A floating library gathers information, organizes it, and compiles it into books. Passively, this Bound Arcadia can gather information like a lake gathers rain, being a metaphysical 'low point' that information flows towards. A book on a nightstand where you sleep, the gossip whispered across the street from where you break your fast. More actively, the library can forge constructs of vellum and papyrus, ravens and rats and stranger things, and send them out hunting for information. The stability of the library determines how faithfully it transcribes information. Low stability information can actually become memetic hazards, rhyme and riddles that are effectively cursed. You'll have to purge the library of everything it gathered before achieving stability, or else it will become an ongoing hazard. The constructs it makes also require spirit to become stable, meaning that this Bound Arcadia has a higher consumption of spirit, and will keep consuming it. Your Ascension will affect the profundity of its information gathering methods, from things within your sight or hearing to begin with, to anything happening within a building when you stand in its shadow, to eventually anything happening before an image of you. It also affects the constructs the library makes. At low Ascension they will be crude things, but they will refine as your ascension rises. Birds will fly, fish will swim, you will gain the power to see through their eyes, and more. Your level of existence defines how well the library processes the information it has, how well it indexes it, and how easily it can compile it into the forms you wish. Remember that its actions are your actions."

Three seconds. "A path from 'here' to 'there.' Moon Roads radiate outwards from the Arcadia, tunneling into reality. Bound by the flow of the natural world, they come and go like the tides, sometime taking people long distance, sometimes shifting them forward in time. And sometimes taking them all the way to their Arcadia, from which they never return. This bound Arcadia is one of the least altered in the process of preparing it. A path that doesn't exist, from 'here' to 'there.' The stability of the road defines how sane the places you travel through are. Less stable paths have a tendency to eat people, or time shift them, or transform them, or... they aren't safe. Being an outsider protects from the more harmful effects, but not from general weirdness.  It's not something you have to worry about long term, but be aware until it stabilizes. Your Ascension defines how easy it is to 'find' a path, with the difficulty dependent on how watched and worked the area you're leaving from and returning to is (with the notable exception of places that are supernaturally yours). Places that "belong" to you in a magical sense are always 'unworked and unwatched.' There are wardings against this very kind of intrusion as well. Your ascension helps counter them. Higher Ascension also let your path be more devoured from reality and more completely avoid searchers and watcher. With a high Ascension, you could wander across an ocean without getting your feet wet and without anyone noticing your arrival. Your level of existence defines how greatly you may twist geography. Generally, the distance you travel doubles every 4 levels of existence. Higher levels of existence also allow you to open more paths, sending people on their way without you traveling with them. There are many ways your icons can leverage this, and be leveraged by it."

Three seconds. "Path of Transformation. Used both in punishments and as part of the normal refinement process, in alchemy, and in a number of other operations, a Path of Transformation is a Moon Road that no longer leads anywhere. It is a path that doesn't move in space, but in state.  A powerful focus for many transformative effects, both of people but also of material. It will do little for you before your sixth ascension, but past that point is an invaluable tool for any craftsman. A tool of alchemists, artificers, and other craftsman."

One second. "Finally, there is the Arcadian Chaos. This shard is almost the opposite of a normal bound shard. Rather than be pushed into a stable narrative, every narrative has been broken down into incoherence.  While the eerie chaos of Arcadia is dangerous, it can also be useful. The 'stability' of this defines how much you can narrow down and direct the chaos. Your Ascension defines how potent and bizarre the chaos you invoke is. Your Level of existence is how much chaos you can hold. A tool of enchanters and wizards."

One second. "Do you have any questions?"

She absorbs all this, trying to understand the alien framework.

"...how likely is it that a Path of Transformation would be useful to me in my chosen goal of transforming my children into copies of myself? And can you give me more detail on the implications of the fact that the actions of Bound Arcadia are in a sense my own actions?"

A still pause. "The most likely reason that Path of Transformation is not useful to you is that you are able to accomplish your goals without it before you can make use of it. This is highly unlikely, as your plans extend substantially beyond merely a single true copy."

One second. "A Bound Arcadia is your action, in the same way a spell you cast or a punch you make is yours. It carries with it your influence, can be traced back to you, is protected by your protections, has the weight of your level of existence, and such forth. If your Floating Library sends forth spies, you send forth spies. If your Gingerbread Palace feeds people, and you have an aspect that revolves around feeding others, it may activate."

One second. "Do you have any questions?"

"...is my Floating Library likely to send forth spies under circumstances where I wouldn't have chosen to do that?"

A short still pause. "No. A Floating Library is an extension of your will: it will only do that if you desire it to. Its actions are yours: it does not take them independently."

"Understood." In which case she thinks she'd like rather a lot of Bound Arcadia, because they're all going to be her, and it's good when there's more of her.

"What's next?"

A very brief stillness. "That was your final option."

All right then, it's time to ask all her final questions and assemble all her final answers. Hoo boy.

She casts her mind back to the beginning of all this. Exceptions, right? "What were the names of the two very long-term Exceptions, the one that brings new Icons up to the strength of older ones and the one that..." what did it do... "...enabled faster Aspect formation? And, hmm... what were the Exceptions that improved Icons, again? I think I want the two long-term Exceptions, and then for my third Exception either Classy or some kind of Icon improvement."

A brief stillness. "Tree of Progress enables you to add Aspects and even Icons back to your younger self when you acquire them, making them as strong when you get them as if you had had them all along, though because it accomplishes this with the same level of potential it will either consume Potential or weaken you. It is still an impressive ability, of course, as Aspects intentionally acquired later tend to be more useful. Aspected doesn't make your Aspect formation faster: it allows you to draw more Aspects from your Icons at a given level of Ascension. Those Icon-derived Aspects are substantially more powerful than traditional ones. Exultant improves whatever your third Icon is, Psion or Circle of Towers Druid based on stated plans. True Outsider would improve your Outsider aspect: the interactions of a bolstered Living Nexus Aspect with your plans would be interesting to observe."

Living Nexus... she can't quite remember which one that was. "What is it about Living Nexus that inclines you to say that?"

If she has a very good memory, she can notice that this is an exact repetition of what was said earlier, without any pause. "Living Nexus. One of the more famous attributes of Outsiders is how easy they are to summon. Their position is an interaction, rather than a place, and that interaction can be redefined through conjuration without resorting to Spacial magic. But that's only one example of a broader phenomenon. Powerful Outsiders can hear prayers directed at them, and direct their influence back through those channels. They can mark a place or person or object with their symbol, and channel influence to that symbol. They can hear whenever their name is spoken, and in a single step arrive before the one who invoked them. At the first ascension, you probably can't do any of these things, but the mechanisms of it are buried within you. You'll find taking advantage of connections, forming connection, and controlling them is easy. Things tied to you will naturally create connection you can control. You're technically vulnerable to summoning spells, but your Chthonic Will means that such forces can only be invoked when you permit it. It's not impossible to summon you against your will, but they won't be doing it through a summoning spell, but pure dimensionalism, and even that you'll strongly resist."

Two seconds. "It is highly likely that, if you will it, your clones will be channels for you, and you will be a channel for your clones. That could enable greater influence, course-correction if the copying process errs, and perhaps hive-mind effects or focusing the power of all of you as needed by any of you."

"Oh, that does sound very interesting. Yes, I think I like that a lot. Let's say I'll take the two long-term ones and True Outsider, then. And the next choice was..." What the hell was the next choice. "Was it Icon? I'm still indecisive about my Icon, but I do definitely intend to take either Psion or Circle of Towers Druid, with the intent of picking up whichever one I didn't choose at the first opportunity. Let's leave that open for now. What was the next choice after that?"

"Both Circle of Towers Druid and Psion will grant you an extra Gift, bringing you to seven. Assuming you choose Elf, which costs two Gifts, and take the Physical Refinements that grant Gifts, you will have nine Gifts available. Through selecting Dream Seeds, you can acquire up to thirteen more. Shortened, they are Safety, Change, Travel, Legacy, Success, Home, Discovery, Industry, Stability, Togetherness, Love, and Children, the last of which will grant two."

Right, those. She remembers being broadly positive on them, and given that she wants to invest in just about every Bound Arcadia, she probably wants to take the lot. Which one was she a little hesitant about? Love, right? Love seems like a valid area for expansion of her personality. "I think I will take all the Dream Seeds. What was the next choice after those?"

"Your Tribe, and any physical features you wish to specify."

"I want to be an Elf, and I don't care to specify any physical features. Next?"

A very slight still pause. "The physical refinements and improvements: four for improving pregnancy and likelihood thereof that will each get you a Gift for having taken, three simple presents that should prove useful, and five methods to improve your body, particularly for combat. 

"Right, those. I think I'll take all of them. Next?"

"That leaves you with 19 Gifts. Which Aspect Emblems do you want?"

"Um, let's see... can you explain the Psionic Arts aspect emblems in more detail?"

No pause. "Psychokinesis lets you move things: it can be expanded in various ways, but it will start with being able to lift very heavy objects without them breaking around your hand or forcing you into the ground. Telepathy lets you communicate mentally with others, initially those you are touching and share a language with, growing into mental manipulations and control over crowds at incredible distances. Precognition lets you understand the future. Incarnation lets you use psionic energy to create objects: initially a sword or a bridge, but with Ascensions entities with minds of their own can be crafted."

"Then I should take Telepathy, and a Combat Skills emblem for unarmed combat, and the druidic emblems for the transformative and connective traditions - I think they were Fall and Winter? - and an Artistic Integration for architecture, and maybe Athletic Skills, and, what was the one that had something to do with Orgone manipulation?"

A short stillness: they're common, now, as she moves away from what everyone asks. "Yes, Fall and Winter. Elixir Field will be a good starting point, or replacement, for internal Orgone manipulation. Fall and Winter are also Orgone manipulation, but they are external practices. That will consume seven Gifts, leaving you with twelve."`

"Okay. Telepathy, unarmed combat, Fall, Winter, architecture, Athletic Skills, and Elixir Field. Next was... I think Chained Spirits, let's leave those alone for now... Bound Arcadia, I think I want all of them. How many Gifts does that leave me with?"

No pause. "Two."

"Then... I should think about Chained Spirits."

She thinks about Chained Spirits.

"Can you think of any obvious downsides to taking a Succubus and an Attendant—would there likely be conflicts between them because of their different natures, or is that not likely to be a concern? Are there any other Spirits who might be better suited to my goals?"

"For the wise, a lesser Succubus is often a political tool, while the Lesser Elysium Attendant is a healer and supporter. While both would be useful for you, the Succubus is perhaps less attractive if you are a Psion. A Wheel or a Lesser Feral Thing would be useful for physical self-defense in the short term, given your focus on long-run growth and advantages." 

"Hmm... I think I'm going to choose Circle of Towers Druid for my first Icon. How significant a concern will physical defense likely be in the short term?"

No pause. "It depends on where you choose to start, which we can discuss once this has completed, but being able to defend yourself and others from Iron Fae or Horrors or other remnants of the Fourfold Apocalypse, or simple bandits, is not a bad thing. No part of Adrasta escaped unscathed."

"Hmm... are there any further sources of Gifts I've overlooked or turned down that I could reevaluate? I'm reluctant to give up either the Succubus or the Attendant in favour of the Wheel even if the Wheel would be somewhat more practical. Maybe I can just make sure to pick a location whose challenges will be more on my level until I have a chance to get my feet under me..."

Oh, right, that reminds her. The creature has been remarkably helpful so far and it might be worth asking about the interaction of souls with all this nonsense, even though she probably won't feel able to trust the answer. But one thing at a time.

"You have acquired as many gifts as you can. You could sacrifice your Brownies or Arcadian Chaos, which do not directly support your stated primary goals, without substantial expected loss of efficacy. Alternatively, binding a piece of Arcadia to yourself is a difficult Bardic art, one you do not seem likely to accomplish. But acquiring new Aspect Emblems will take some time, but not represent a long-term barrier: By your third Ascension you will reach the point where Athletic skills could be 'digested' in a total of three years for the three Aspects, if not faster, and by your fourth Ascension the other Aspects would only take a year individually to assimilate. Aspect Emblems can be purchased with money, favors, or service. Making predictions about Bound Spirits is beyond the scope of the knowledge imparted to me: there have likely been developments since the creation of the Hero-Summoning Spell, but this may be a unique opportunity."

"Having Bound Arcadia directly fulfills my goals," she says distractedly, "it's a way of existing in more modalities than I can access without them... All right, let's see, which of my Aspect Emblems is the most practically useless in the short term and replaceable in the medium term? Is it in fact Athletic Skills? I was imagining those would synergize with other physical enhancements but perhaps I'm wrong about that."

"Athletic skills will synergize highly effectively with your bodily improvements, and was designed with the possibility of them in mind. The Druidic Paths would be relatively easy to replicate as Icon-derived Aspects as a Circle of Towers Druid, while fourth-Ascension Telepathy would rapidly be surpassed as a Psion."

"All right then, I'll leave out one of those to make room for the Wheel... I think I'll be a Circle of Towers Druid and leave out the Winter art."

Okay, time for the hard question, if she can figure out how to ask it, if there's even any point in doing so.

"...the way things work, in the world I come from, is very different from the way you describe things working in Adrasta. Will anything of my original world remain in me when I arrive? In particular, will I still have a soul in the way that my original world understands souls?"

"You will share your original preferences in food and art (though both will be affected by your improved sensory capabilities) and similar things. Your goals will be similar, albeit affected by your Dream Seeds. However, the way that your mind and soul relate to each other and your body will be rather different."

"Unfortunate," she says. "Is there any possibility of retaining or reconstructing a Marethian soul-framework?"

"You are a Native Outsider who selected True Outsider as an Exception. Making yourself obey a different set of rules to the ordinary ones of the Material Plane is well within your capabilities in the medium term, and perhaps even sooner: a framework of where you come from could easily be an early Aspect."

"...interesting," she says. "Thank you. In that case... unless you have any remaining suggestions on how to improve my choices, I think I'm done."

She really, really hopes she hasn't screwed this up.