Yeah, essentially. The spirit's on a whole other layer of reality. It's like... If you were one of the original protagonists of whatever the setting is, and you were able to talk to your writing team and bribe them into letting you win. Sure, they would probably try to come up with a plausible way for you to win, but the villains they wrote wouldn't be able to threaten them because in their world they're entirely fictional characters that they can make do whatever they please. The spirit works on that kind of level. 

Oh, good. That was kind of the most optimistic possible guess she had for exactly how protected she was here, exactly how powerful that whole metanarrative protection was. Because, like, you can totally imagine something that looks like what she's gone through thus far where, like, she's in a simulation of some sort and an AI with only so much attention on her nabbed a universe out of her memories and kind of half-spun-it-up while only paying so much attention and in the spinning included the fact that Tzeentch is totally the sort of bastard to notice if his universe's substrate changes, resulting in Sneaky Tzeentch Of Sneakiness. And, like, probably that doesn't go too badly for her but she's not sure it goes no badly. But fortunately she is instead dealing with something with rather fewer holes than that.

Okay, I think I am officially no longer worried.

Provided the notebook is telling the truth. Which she guesses it is. But she's just going to keep tracking the possibility that its not. Just In Case.

Actually, a related but distinct question. I just noticed I'd been, uh, assuming that by virtue of being a Magical Notebook I didn't need to worry about, like, the building being on fire causing Notebook Problems. Is that actually, uh, true?

She really should have asked that during her day of preparation work.

I'm a completely ordinary notebook, materials-wise. You could damage me by doing something as simple as spilling water on me. 

But because of that, you won't, if you get what I mean? It's still a good idea for you to protect me and take care of me, but that's mostly because if you don't then implausible events might need to happen to keep me safe and with you, and that tends to be rough on people. 

Huzzah for the power of narrative!

Then I shall protect and take care of you!

Book Friend is Important Friend, and deserves such things!

The notebook draws a bunch of hearts around Alethia's declaration.

Awwww!

Okay. She's apparently well-protected from most things she could worry about, and is safe to outline the incredibly barebones plan she currently has with her notebook friend.

So. The absolutely bare-bones plan I've got going involves abusing the heck out of Dragon Elf Fairy Witch to get All the forms of magic this world has to offer, along with All of the innate abilities various species have. Using Anything You Can Do whenever I can to catch up to the people currently much cooler than me as fast as I can along the way. This is kind of a very, very bare-bones plan, but I think Achieving Phenomenal Cosmic Power is in fact a necessary first step for doing anything- lasting in this universe. Probably this plan involves pointing DEFW at a vampire or two before I leave Sylvania and then departing for somewhere with fewer Gribblies. Hopefully I can nab, like, Shadow Magic or something off of said vampire and- I don't know, enter the colleges of magic in Altdorf? That seems liable to possibly end up surprisingly slow, but probably the narrative would give me opportunities to actually learn as fast as I can. And plausibly I'm overindexing on my own college experience on Earth and magic schools in a pre-industrial setting will be less Like That. Honestly, now that I think about it I'd bet that's the case.

Sounds like a good plan so far to me! Getting out of the scary place seems sensible, and learning all the magic sounds like it would be fun. I'm glad there's lots of species to use your new powers on and lots of magic to learn!

I am also glad of this! Hmm, what else should I be doing now that I've got some privacy...

She fidgets with her pen for a moment while she thinks.

She should probably come to a decision about what to do about the local vampire. Should she in fact go and introduce herself? She'd be kind of incredibly worried over that idea, but she has some pretty substantial upgrades going for her and isn't actually sure whether even without considering the metanarrative stuff a typical vampire would be able to take her in a fight. And she does have the metanarrative stuff, and this is actually some pretty strong evidence that she could at least stalemate Crin Ilemvich and escape without any cost higher than a scar, probably. If it even comes to a fight at all. Could she impersonate a passing elder vampire for long enough to get a heritage out of it without it ending up a fight? Maybe.

She's strongly inclined not to try to pull something like this, but if there's any time for re-evaluating her risk tolerance it's now.

I think I might try actually saying hello to the local vampire overlord, actually. The locals expect me to head off tomorrow to do that, and I don't know if I'm likely to have a less-risky way to encounter a vampire than that. Ideally I'd notice one just, like, walking down the street and heritage-copy them without having to be within a hundred feet of them, but I don't want to rely on that. Now that I know where I am pretending I'm- passing through to Drakenhof, maybe, and want to make sure I don't get in a fight if I want to blood tax some of the locals.

That said, I might be easily detectable as not an actual vampire to a vampire. So perhaps this plan ends in Vampire Fights.

If you know about a local vampire lord, that sounds important! Maybe you're supposed to fight them? If the local area runs on vampires owning things, and you become a vampire and defeat the local one, then maybe that makes the place yours? And from there there might be a lot you could do. You said the local good guys aren't very nice either, so maybe you're being set up to be independent?

That sounds pretty plausible! I'm not completely sure, but seeing how things go should be informative. I could be lucky and have landed on an Actually Sensible Vampire. I think there are supposed to be, like, literally one or two of those. Whether I just get to keep the place without censure is probably determined by, uh, how unified Sylvania as a whole is right now. The inkeeper, Nikola, could maybe answer a few of my questions about whether or not there's a Von Carstein around enforcing relatively less squabbling. If there isn't, I probably wouldn't even have to worry about attempted reprisal, if the local vampire doesn't have too many genuine allies.

And of course there's always the looming possibility that this version of the setting is different, somehow. Maybe here the vampires are generally mostly decent and just standard feudal lords with odd dietary needs. Or maybe the Empire is much more uncomplicatedly good.

Maybe you should ask Nikola some questions about the local vampire? If she's a local she might know things about what they're like. 

Yeah, that's a good idea, I think. Well, I don't really have anything else to do right now, so I guess I'll head down to do that now. Goodbye for now, very good notebook! I will return!

The notebook draws hearts around the compliment. 

Good luck!

She'll carefully place the notebook away in her pack and give the cover a fond little pat before she departs.

And then she heads downstairs to see about talking more to Nikola. Is the place still empty? There's honestly a decent chance that Nikola is warning anyone off sticking around given, uh, Strange Foreign Vampire.

The tavern's still empty, save for Nikola, who's behind the bar polishing some of the glasses.

She looks up. 

"Room is good?"

She nods.

"Good enough. I have more questions."

She's trying to act like she feels entitled to information, but not like she's annoyed or anything like that. Hopefully it's working. She doesn't want Nikola actually frightened. Hopefully having actually paid for her room will help with that.

"I'm from far. Need know more Sylvania now, instead Sylvania then."

She's also hoping simplifying her language doesn't feel condescending. It honestly feels kind of rude.

Nikola looks at her coolly, and nods.

"Say questions, then."

"Is a Von Carstein in Drakenhof?"

If there is one around and being Very Obvious about it, such as, by say, launching an invasion of the Empire, she's just outed herself as staggeringly uninformed in a way that doesn't make sense unless she just woke up from a six hundred year bog nap, but if that's the case she has much bigger things to worry about. That said, if there's one around being slightly subtle a vampire from Mousillon could genuinely not know without anything particularly weird going on.

Nikola shakes her head. "No."

"Is any person lord of all Sylvania?"