"Oh. Well, I was walking in the mountains and before that was stationed at a fortress that is high enough to make people a bit stupid for the first few weeks if they don't get there gradually enough, and I feel fine now."

"That's good. Maybe still don't exercise or drink alcohol for the next several days, though. If you do start to feel bad, let us know, we have a machine that gives you extra air. The pill you were offered is also supposed to help."

"I don't normally drink alcohol anyway. What does the - pill - do?"

"It makes you breathe more. The way it does it is kind of complicated and it does have side effects."

"Side effects like what?"

"You might feel numb or hear ringing or feel less hungry or vomit or get tired. If you're feeling fine without it I can see why you wouldn't want to take it."

"Well, that and I had no idea what it was any more than you're familiar with created food."

"Fair enough. Want to ask me any questions?"

"What was the problem the person who collected me had with the light on my holy symbol?"

"Some of the research depends on everything outside being mostly dark. Red light doesn't count, though."

"Huh. But it's fine inside if anything should happen to the lights you have here?"

"Yes."

"Is there anything else that might be unintuitive to avoid?"

"I have no idea what is and isn't intuitive to you. …uh, one thing to know is that there are groups of little holes in the wall, like this."

He points at one.

"Don't stick your fingers in there. Don't stick most metal things in there. If you do that, you will be shocked, like a lesser version of being struck by lightning. There are more complicated rules for using them, so other people will be putting some special things with matching metal tips in there and they'll be fine, but if this is unfamiliar to you you're not ready to do that."

"Understood. Is there a good place I should store my armor and things?"

"Wherever we end up having you sleep should have some space, but for now you should feel free to put things on a table if you'd like. …why are you wearing chainmail, anyway?"

"...in case of monster attacks, like the one that sent me here, though the armor did not help in that particular case. Or bandits or orcs or anything else where I'd need to fight."

"I have more questions about that but they aren't urgent."

"I take it there are not things living around here that need fighting."

"There are not."

"It does seem even more inhospitable than the Worldwound. I'm curious about the research you do, though that is also non-urgent."

"I don't know how to explain all that in a way that you'd understand. Do you know what a telescope is?"

"No."

"It's a tool for looking at far-away things. Often they use lenses and mirrors. We have a big one, and it can see light that humans can't see, and because our nights are so long we can use it to look at things in the night sky for a long time."

"So you're astronomers?"