Mmmm. "We'll have to see, won't we?"

"Indeed. I hope in the meantime you relish the... anticipation."

Shiver. "I'll wait with baited breath."

Smirk.

In the distance, a road appears. "Ah, we are nearly there. We should follow that."

"Alright. My feet'll be grateful, if nothing else..." (She's been continually healing small cuts and bruises from the rough ground.)

"Should I have been carrying you?"

She eyes up Elana's arms. "I wouldn't say no... But my feet can learn to take it."

She scoops Lace up in a princess carry.

She giggles!

Hee.

Down the road to Morthal!

She rests her head on Elana's shoulder, snuggling her contentedly.

The town of Morthal is barely more than a village, to Lace's eyes. Mist rises off the lake the buildings cluster around, clinging stubbornly despite the high noon sun. They're approaching from the mountains, so their path is mostly solid, but a pervading sense of wet grows, and a shifting breeze carries the smell of the nearby marsh in fits and starts. Activity seems slim - there's people out fishing and generally traveling between the lake and the marsh, and someone working a lumber mill, but not much bustle. There's three lines of smoke rising, one from a grand hall (three stories, the largest in the village) to the left of their path, one from what's likely the inn at the end, one from a farther flung smoke house. The buildings are old wood, with thatched roofs, and the entire town seems to creak.

"Not much to look at, but there are people."

"It's - quaint?"

"Rustic. Slightly ramshackle. I don't live here, you don't need to pretend to like it."

Snicker. "I can model the kind of person who'd like it here. But, yeah, I'm more of a big city girl."

"Bigger cities are easier to hide in."

"Easier to meet people in, too... And they have more commodities, though that might be in part a technology thing - a small town in my world will have a tiny museum, a theater, a diner, and an antique store, but it won't have a boulevard of museums, nightclubs and cute themed cafes and numerous ethnic restaurants, multiple libraries, public transportation, dedicated music halls, bath houses... And where you have more people it makes sense to have a wider variety of places for travelers - in a big city, I could spring for a luxury suite at a world class hotel if I felt like it."

She huffs out a laugh. "Even in big cities, you won't find those in this world."

"I should show you around my world sometime, then."

"I'd like that. It sounds a sight to see."

"I love it. It's vibrant and alive, and I can feel the pulse of the city around me, and most things I could ever want are in walking distance..."

"Every distance is a walking distance if you don't care about time. Or if you have someone to carry you."

Snuggle! "Especially a delightfully strong and pretty girl..."

"Such as myself, yes."