"Yes. I am not sure why."

"Procrastination on cleaning?" she offers almost whimsically. "Or maybe they ate the janitor."

"A possibility I would not entirely discount."

"Probably pretty hard to hire good help out here."

"We travel all over Skyrim. Or we used to."

"There's been attacks, lately, all over. Do you know why the main court isn't traveling anymore?"

"I don't know that they're strictly not. Perhaps Harkon is conserving strength for something."

"Any idea what?"

"Not as of yet." A lie, strictly speaking. But it's still- too early, to involve her.

"The attacks have mostly been annoying in the cities, really. Not as bad as the dragon attacks, though I think a few guards have gotten killed..."

"Interesting. Standard vampires?"

"I think so."

"A distraction perhaps, or a warning."

"To be honest, might also be a comparison thing - before the war, I would've thought even a few guards dead was a huge problem. The vampires at least don't pursue people into their houses, and attack at night when only guards, adventurers, and drunks are about. Sometimes a dragon will manage to set a major part of a town on fire. Though it definitely does seem like you all could be doing much worse..."

"That much would only invite retaliation. We are strong, but not invincible."

"Yeah, if the vampires were worse than the dragons or the war there'd be more than just the Dawnguard hunting you."

"What are the Dawnguard?"

"Vampire hunters. There's not many now - me and Lianda were two of only three new recruits, and I think I only saw three or four other people. I think they're trying to absorb some of the remaining Vigilants of Stendarr, and Lianda's been helping them recruit. She - has a way with people, and a lot of adventurers owe her favors, there's a good chance she'll be able to help bolster their ranks. I don't know much about their history, but I think they only really formed in response to the vampire attacks."

"They may become something we will have to deal with, at some point."

"Yeah. Harkon doesn't seem too worried, though."

"That would be out of character for the master of the castle."

"Point. Do you think the Dawnguard are a threat?"

"I think that depends on your sister."

"To be honest? I have no idea. With me here Lianda's more likely to take it personally, but - the dragons are probably a bigger threat in her eyes, so I suspect she'll be focusing on those."

"Good. One less complication."