"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.