"I would advise greater ecogenesis over greater resurrection given your stated plans. If you're going to build an empire, heavenly biomes will benefit it in the long term. It will bear a touch of Heaven's light and thus earn a certain ineffable peace, it will be mostly proof against weaker Demons thanks to said light, it will delay aging by four times, once adulthood is reached, it will be the perfect temperature and full of extremely bountiful flora like that which surrounds us even now."

"- oh, wow, delayed aging, kickass, I'll take it." She gives herself a little shake. "What's next?"

"I believe all that is left is choosing an ally, if you want one. Someone who will receive visions of your arrival and be inclined to help your mission of good."

"What advance information can I have about them?"

"I can tell you a good bit. A princess, flighty and sheltered, but sincere and with means. A magic item craftsman, of keen eye and cautious mind. A fleet-winged courier who has clients and friends on every continent. An elf, once queen, before her empire faded. A soldier who recoiled from the horror of war, and deserted. A paladin of sorts, a true believer in the destruction of Demons before they can harm others. Which are you interested in?"

"...I want to know what happened to the elf empire, and what kind of magic items, and more generally about the princess."

"The White Empire suffered increasing levels of corruption, debt, urban decay, and other crises, many of them brought on by Demons. When it got to the point of various subregions demanding secession, these were mostly granted- The exceptions being the Tower of Chains, which wanted to secede so it could practice slavery, and the Red Fields, which were controlled by Demons at that point. After the war against Red Fields, however, the Queen Sandrel officially renounced the throne and declared the White Empire 'something that should be forgotten'. As for the magic items, he seems to mostly make household conveniences and light industrial magic- Lights, heating and cooling, door locks, elevators, ovens, washing machines, carriages, and the like. Princess Eustasia is the only daughter of the current king of Myra, a small nation perhaps the size of Washington state, composed of several islands and a section of mainland coast. She is sixteen years old, and is deeply kind at heart, but inexperienced with the world and innocent. She is the type to open the granaries to the poor, and not consider that this may have unintended consequences or bad incentives. As a princess, she has a great deal of wealth and influence but little hard power, as yet."

"How long did the queen reign? What's she doing since then?"

"She reigned for two hundred and fifty seven years. This was one thousand two hundred years ago. In the times since, she has become a historian and chronicler."

"Did she inherit or found the place?"

"Inherited, from her father."

"How long do elves live?"

"Around three to four thousand years. Her father was killed in battle."

"Can you give me enough information to find the others if I decide to land near her to start with?"

"If you remember it well, perhaps. You won't be able to bring any notes with you when you incarnate."

"Well, that sucks but maybe I can write myself a little earwormy song. I'm leaning the queen, unless you have any reason to think she might not want to be an advisor for a new empire?"

"I think she would be fine with that, and I predict she will have a lot of questions about life and history on Earth."

"Pity I didn't read up on much history."

He smiles slightly, then begins listing biographical detail- The courier is a Corvid, the magic item crafter a Drake, the princess a human, the solider a pebblack (rock people, it sounds like), and the paladin a chitinate; One of the insect-people.

She comes up with forced little rhymes for their locations and characteristics and sets it all to the tune of "Yankee Doodle". "Any other decisions to be made?"

"Just to confirm everything again: Wings, and if you do not specify a preference they will be dove white like mine, and a halo which is a physical metal ring fixed about your head, and cannot be hidden. The mightiest level of quickness of mind, and the greatest level of magic as well. Categorical immunity to mind-affecting magics and powers. The blessing of the Soul Eye, which lets you see the spiritual world. The Lantern of Truth. The miracles of healing, resurrection, ecogenesis, and consecration- Greater healing, greater ecogenesis, and greater consecration. The blessing of the Lord Protector, which amplifies your other powers based on people who have faith and trust in you. The blessing of Babel, which will let you read and speak any language. The second level of endurance, both of body and against sleep. And the vows of compassion, thou shalt not cause unnecessary pain. Diligence, thou shalt work productively or better yourself somehow every day except the Sabbath. Honesty, thou shalt not tell a lie in word or writ. Teetotal, thou shalt not indulge in alcohol, tobacco, or other such drugs."

Pause.

"You considered a skill implant to take your one point overflow to two. The skills I am thinking of are magical theory, or the basics of statecraft and administration. It'll take me a couple of months to craft your new form. You can spend that time here in the outer gardens, or be put to sleep for it if you wish. I can also use a miracle to let you speak to some within the Gates, if you still want that and can identify someone to speak with."

"- I think I'll take magical theory, since I'm getting a former empress and current historian for my ally. Uh... let's see... Norman Borlaug isn't dead... I'd like to say hi to my maternal grandmother."

Daniel the angel solicits a name, then prepares the miracle of calling. It takes a minute, and then she is there as a sort of translucent ghostly presence, or perhaps a hologram. He explains that her granddaughter, Bella, wants to speak to her.

Their conversation is mostly as one would expect - about the circumstances of why Bella's dead, to begin with, and catching up and talking about what Heaven's like. They haven't seen each other in years and were never very close but it's nice to say hi.

Bella doesn't care to be unconscious; she hangs out in the gardens eating weird fruit and waving at people to see if any of them want to chat. She does eventually decide that she wants her wings to look opal-y, with a play of color to the feathers.

People in the Garden are happy to chat. Mostly they don't know English. They'll sing, or try to teach her bits of whatever they do speak, or play music with a variety of light, carried instruments. Everyone looks young, and one of them shows her how to get new or different clothes; There are angels who hang out in different places in the Garden, making things for people on request. A few do speak English. This one has been here for a while and is happy to chat with Bella for whole days, if she lets that happen. She died in the first world war and doesn't want to talk about how, exactly. She is spooked by the 'can never leave' bit, that's why she's staying out.

"Do you want them to have a shiny sheen, or just speckles of color in a more matte sort of way?"

He can produce example feathers.