"A little blood is practically civilized in these northern lands. But dirt would mark you a peasant for certain."

"I'll keep that in mind."

She stands.

"Well. Shall we go?"

Stand and languid stretch. "Alright. Lead on."

And out of the cave. The thrall bodies are still there, but the dremora have vanished.

Outside, it is, as promised, cold. The cave opens on the lower slopes of a mountain, craggy with sparse vegetation. Behind it, the sun rises.

It's always weird, seeing a world that isn't carefully manicured and controlled by beauty obsessed gods...

She shivers a bit, but as promised doesn't seem too terribly bothered by the cold.

She looks around, eyes catching on the many irregular imperfections of the landscape.

"Welcome to Skyrim," Elana says.

"It's - stark."

"People say that is part of its charm."

"It's very different from my world." Hum. "Charm isn't a bad word, I guess?"

"To convey a sense of its flaws?"

Snort. "It's less manicured than I'm used to."

"What is your world like?"

"Hm... It was made by a bunch of gods of art who left another world after disagreeing with the other gods. They made the world beautiful and perfect and completely devoid of any messy mortals who could mar it. Except one of them thought that was defeating the point - art needs to be experienced, and it needs to be messy, and it needs to change, and it's subjective. So that god made the mortal peoples. That god was also the Art of Suffering, and while they're no longer mortals' sole champion, they've been the most consistent advocate for us to exist."

"It's - every meadow is watched over by some god or another, who individually placed every blade of grass and every flower to be in perfect harmony. There's no room for people to live - we usually put our cities in little pocket dimensions, it's easier to get a god to accept a single portal than an entire settlement. The natural world is pretty and breathtaking and eternal. The mortal world is - also beautiful, but differently, it's stark and sometimes unpleasant but the brutal parts make your soul soar. Of course, our cities are still a lot prettier than any I've seen elsewhere - we take beauty seriously."

"This universe was made by a group of gods, but they couldn't agree on what they wanted to do with it. Most of them ended up banished to their own private planes of existence."

"Huh. Are those - the planes of Oblivion?"

"Yes. Good memory."

Small smile. "It helps."

"So which way are we headed?"

"Follow the foothills south. Once we clear the marshlands, we can strike west for the Dragon Bridge."

"Alright."

She starts down the mountain.

"What's being a vampire like?"

"I am stronger than a human, faster, with a larger base magicka capacity. I can see in the dark and hear a heartbeat from a mile away. I do not need to eat or sleep provided I have fresh blood to drink. I do not need to breathe and I do not feel the cold. The light of the sun will burn me, and ordinary fire catches in my flesh more easily. If I go too long without feeding, my appearance becomes disturbing to mortals, but if I am sated I can hypnotize with my gaze."

"Sounds usually advantageous."

"It usually is. The process of becoming a vampire is not something I would like to repeat, but I am satisfied with the outcome."

Lace is having so many 'wanna cuddle' emotions right now. Only partially because she's cold.

She nods. "That makes sense... I like my powers and how I got them, but I've been told I'm weird."

"Atypical, certainly."