* * * * *
It was still dark in the morning twilight. Only the barest hint of a lightening sky far on the horizon of the mostly still black sea as they passed the harbor betrayed the coming dawn. The air was quite chilly for Edovan, and when the wind blew, it cut right through him. He pulled the hood of his coat up (Yagaritte had procured one for him, about ten sizes too big, along with a worn scarf he hadn't had time to retrieve before being dragged out of the Boar). He crossed his arms and shivered. Staanovaar seemed unaffected.
"Those girls are something else, aren't they?" he grinned down at Edovan as they slowed their strides to a normal pace, safely out of the Boar's sight. "I almost didn't think we'd get out of there alive!" he joked, chuckling. His eyes were laughing like they were best friends who'd run away together after pulling a prank on a cranky farmer. Even though they had barely met, the huge Nord had a very easy going vibe about him that made you feel like you had known him for years. Edovan felt instantly relaxed.
"I'm getting used to it," Edovan sighed. "To be perfectly honest, I have to admit that part of me..." he paused briefly, choosing his words thoughtfully. "...kind of likes the attention... but the rest of me wonders if things will ever go back to normal..." he trailed off.
"Oh, I don't think it will ever be normal at the Boar.. or maybe that is normal? I mean they've been like that every time I've stopped by for the last three years." He grinned at Edovan again. He seemed to be ALWAYS grinning. It made you want to grin back.
"Oh my. I can't imagine!" Edovan said earnestly. "I've only experienced this for a few days... Before that, I used to wonder if I had accidentally made myself invisible, but only to women," he only half-joked.
At their slower pace now, they were walking side by side through the wide, darkened, snow covered empty streets. At this hour very few people had begun to stir, and certainly most of them would still be in their homes, having coffee and breakfast like normal folks. It snowed every night here. Even in the summer. The main difference was the sun would come out and melt it all off in few hours. In the winter time it would just accumulate until shoveled into piles by work details made of prisoners of the city watch.
"Really? But you're a mage, right? Aren't you really smart? I thought that was what women liked. Really smart guys..." he exclaimed, brow furrowed. Staan's voice trailed off with just the tiniest hint of sadness. It was baffling to Edovan. Of course he was "really smart," incredibly intelligent, if he had to be honest. But in his experience it had never translated into female attention. In fact, it had been mostly the opposite for him. Possibly Nords were different? It made a certain sense, in that large, burly, not so bright men were in no short supply around here. He remembered the twin's words from the night before.
"There are over 33 young, attractive women at the boar, 33 big hungry kitties... and for some inexplicable reason nearly every single one of them wants you, little mouse, inside of them... in one way... or another..."
Was his level of intellect so rare that all the women flocked to him for it? As they neared the edge of town he pondered this. It was only slightly plausible, he supposed. He felt like he was trying to put together one of those puzzles they used to play with back in Magicka school with all the little pieces made of wood or stone or metal, that when arranged properly formed a three dimensional shape of an animal or creature and could be made to animate for short periods of time before self disassembling. The only issue right now was, he was trying to make the Dragon using pieces from the Dreugh King. No matter how many you had or how much you tried, they were never going to fit.
Edovan thoughts were suddenly distracted, though, as he became more aware of the town unfolding around them as they walked. Its unique design and architecture was one of the reasons he had wanted to come here, outside of how remote and inaccessible it was. It was nestled into a small valley just below forbidding mountains, one of which was a still steaming but long dormant volcano. Most the town was very vertical, with the only non-sloped portion along the black sand beach and port.
The current town was small compared to the size of the ancient Dwemer remains it was built literally on top of. It was theorized the Dwemer had built a facility of some kind here in order to the harness the power of the naturally occurring hot springs and steam vents. Nearly fully functional Dwemer buildings, all square and strange metals, and covered with huge black metal pipes leaking steam, still rose above the many longer and lower Nord structures, which were mostly log-hewn with the occasional cut stone keep jutting upward. They were older than anyone knew and only partially explored and co-opted by the city's engineers, who had figured out enough of the upper levels to make full use of the steam, hot water, and hot air that was coursing throughout the many ancient pipes that criss-crossed through and under the town.
It was fascinating to Edovan that here, in this remote corner of the world, they lived such advanced lives compared to the rest of Tamriel. Only the vast and dangerous travel distances and the bitter cold kept the city from becoming any bigger than it already was. It was an amazing thing to have, but Edovan had a theory of his own. He believed the many pipes and vents carrying hot water and hot air and steam out of the Dwemer ruins and into the city proper were actually originally for exhaust and heat exchange of some kind, and all the energy and heat they provided was simply a side benefit. Whatever the Dwemer had hidden deep in their enormous facility needed a massive amount of cooling for some reason. It could be anything, a gigantic but dormant fire creature, a magicka reactor, even the volcano itself! If only he could find a way into the deeper levels...
"Eddo... hey, you okay?" Staanovaar's voice interrupted his reverie. The huge Nord had taken a knee and was looking down intently into his face, with more than a little concern.
"Oh sorry... I got lost in my thoughts for a bit," Edovan admitted, smiling at the Nord gently.
"Those must be some pretty big thoughts..." he said curiously. Staan was still grinning, through his concern, but Edovan detected the same wistfulness he had heard in his voice earlier.
"I was just thinking about the city... and all the technology the Dwemer left behind. You don't realize how lucky you are here. I've been to quite a few places, and I can assure you that the rest of the rest of the world has no such thing as an endless supply of steam and hot air and hot water," Edovan said thoughtfully.
"I guess I never thought of that before..."
It was Edovan's turn to lift Staan's spirits.
"I know you may find this hard to believe Staanovaar, but in the rest of the world, we actually have to heat all our water... on a fire.." Edovan said, deadpan.
"What? Every time?"
"Yes. Every single time," Edovan assured him.
