The captive is a young woman with pale green skin and dark brown hair, wearing a white lab coat over a T-shirt and jeans.

She blinks several times, taking a second to process her surroundings. She can't remember how she got here, which is never a good sign.

"Says who?"

"You may call me Mistress Znel." She answers, placing a hand on a small circular table that may or may not have been there previously. She taps its surface, which is replaced by a delicately painted carving with the character of a topographical map, expressing a wide and deep ocean with nine landmasses, a single central continent and eight small islands in each of the cardinal and ordinal directions. "I will be your host for tonight's dream," she gives a razor-full smile, "and this world will be its stage, to allow you the experience of its wonders, its delights, its mysteries, and its horrors." 

"...I assume I don't get to say 'pass' and walk out," she says, glancing around in search of a visible exit and not particularly in hope of finding one.

"Correct! It's good that you have at least that much sense." She waves a hand across the table, and eighteen points of light spark into existence, each one anchored to a different point of the central continent on the painted table. "First, let us discuss where your journey will begin..."

The eighteen options are divided into six groups of three, based on broad geographic closeness. Those groups are the Starshore in the west (containing the Lighthouses, Merome Bay, and the Amaranth Delta) with a narrative focus on cosmopolitan cities and their politics, the Night Desert in the north (containing the Bones, Akritin, and Theopolis) each of which offer encounters with powerful local entities and groups, the Sunshore in the east (containing the Arbor, Nishiminji, and Clue Bay) which portray a state of war between the locals and invaders, the Summer Jungle in the south (containing Saltascy, Kuhikugu, and the Rift) which present unique opportunities that are hidden or distant from other areas of civilization, the Two Rivers in the western center (containing Oroggodh, Dathm, and Nanuwaiy) each of which have connections to the deep past of this world, and Mount Stylus in the eastern center (containing Fatiseade, the Colossus, and Wealbierogh) each of which represents sources of potentially great wealth and power, as well as connections to a particular sequence of events in the past whose ripples continue to greatly impact the present world. 

"...can I defer this decision until I've heard more?" she says, studying the map thoughtfully. There is on the one hand the urge to find something that resembles her old life as closely as possible, and on the other hand the urge to flee into the wilderness and never again be perceived by anything that is not a tree, and these urges are somewhat at odds and she's not yet sure how to choose between them.

"Very well. Here are the gifts that, per tradition, I have gathered to offer you," she turns over her hand to reveal twelve glittering coins, seven in gold, four in azure, and a single in fiery-flickering red-black, each kind radiating sheer, mind-boggling wealth with greater intensity than the last, "and the tokens with which you may acquire them."

She hesitantly accepts the tokens, and studies them closely while she absorbs the descriptions of the gifts she can purchase with them. It's a lot to take in, and examining the coins helps her process it all.

Strategically speaking she really should spend her Empyreal token on the body of Sacred Earth, because she is not a fan of dying. However, counterpoint: tree. As a botanist and as a bizarre plant-human hybrid of probably magical origin, she's not sure she could live with herself it she turned down that tree.

Okay. Assuming for now that she grabs the whole bag of Tree Magic, what does she have left and what else is there that she might spend it on? Her Empyreal token would be down, along with one Earthly, and either three Earthly or one Heavenly; leaving her with either six or three Earthly tokens and either three or four Heavenly tokens to spend. And what might she spend them on?

Clay Magic isn't very interesting except at the immortality level. Fire Magic seems unsuited to her lifestyle. Snake Magic is just sort of baffling, though from an aversion-to-dying perspective the second skins are a moderate temptation. Lead Magic would cost her enough Earthly tokens to cut into her tree budget, so that's a pass.

Ring and Rod magic are mildly interesting but not really her speed. Steel Magic is surprisingly tempting, and she spends a moment daydreaming about taking it at the initiation level and then inventing Immortal Steel over the course of centuries of development... but a second project like that might cut into her tree-tending time. Still, versatility can be useful. Put a pin in that one.

Mask magic, oh boy. She's drawn to the Blank Mask because it can't be taken away from her, and the best power is one you can't lose. The Father's Mask is also a temptation, but less of one, first of all because it's less firmly attached and second of all because she doesn't especially want heroic ancestors or their accompanying weapon proficiencies. Damn, though, those stat boosts.

Powder Magic is interesting but doesn't sound like quite her speed, though it might be a good idea to pick it up just to stay on a level with the locals. Blood Magic is a no. She would like to minimize this entity's involvement in her affairs as much as possible, thanks. Lock and Key magic... are interesting, and she's keeping an eye out for anything that offers +Progression because it's such a versatile stat to boost, but she doesn't actually like their style much. Questing Magic is a no, though a slightly wistful one; but the fact remains that she is going to spend her one Empyreal token on that tree.

So what can she make of this? If she decides to go hard on Progression, she can take Lock and Key Magic and the Blank Mask, spending all her remaining tokens to get +++Progression in total. If she decides to be cautious and take Snake Magic for the accumulation of Skins, that's three Heavenly tokens down, but she can still afford the Blank Mask and initiation into Steel Magic. She would really like to be able to take the body of sacred earth, since its immortality guarantee seems much more solid than what she gets from becoming a snake-sage, but it conflicts with her tree and the tree wins.

Jessie dithers, turning the coins over in her hands to examine them from all sides.