[voice]

[nomoresharks]

((CW: alcohol mention))

Good afternoon! I come to you today with two questions.

First, or those of you who have come from a time or world significantly different from this one, what has helped you to become accustomed to said differences?

As to the second question... What wines available on this star would you recommend? Dry, red wines are preferred, but if there are any with particularly strong flavors I humbly request you include them as well, even if you would not necessarily claim them to be the best of the batch.

Comments

[unnecessaryflourishes]

What, no specific requests?

[In fairness, it's hardly as if Hythlodaeus is likely to be familiar with any culture save their own, now long since vanished - and even his best attempts at those varieties is likely to fall short of the mark. But neither is there any harm in asking, he figures.]

[nomoresharks]

I feel up for a few surprises this time around. And I trust you to recommend me the best of the lot.

[He doubts Emet-Selch would have allowed himself to drink anything more than once if he didn't like it, after all. And, honest as the man is, he'd be more than happy to criticize anything deemed "unworthy."]

[unnecessaryflourishes]

Dalmascan then, should you wish for the best.

[He may be more familiar with Garlean vintages, yes. But they aren't quite as good as Dalmascan, in his estimation.]

[nomoresharks]

Is that so... What sort of place is it, if I may ask?

[unnecessaryflourishes]

Dalmasca is largely desert, though bounded by forests near the edges of the mountains that separate it from its neighboring continent. A place of dry summers, and wet winters.

[nomoresharks]

And not a single flake of snow to be found?

[unnecessaryflourishes]

It's a desert. Of course there wouldn't be any snow.

[nomoresharks]

Now, now, cold deserts do exist you know. Even if they are fairly rare. Of course, I can't imagine you being willing to get anywhere near one.

[unnecessaryflourishes]

I am aware of their existence, yes. Desolate stretches of cold and snow, where comparatively little lives.

[And absolutely nowhere he wants to be.]

[nomoresharks]

Ah, so you do know of them! I just wanted to make sure. You know, just in case.

[Totally not to tease him even more]

[unnecessaryflourishes]

I have spent millennia crossing the length and breadth of multiple worlds. Did you think I would not run into one eventually?

[nomoresharks]

Well... Yes, actually.

[One can practically hear the shrug in his tone.]

Or to be more precise, I would have thought you'd go out of your way to avoid anything that remotely looks like one.

[unnecessaryflourishes]

Had I been able to further our plans solely from places where snow was not to be found, I would have. But if one means to follow a fledgling empire, one must spend time wherever it should be located. And not all were located in warmer climes.

[nomoresharks]

I see. My humblest apologies for my insensitivity.

[He isn't sorry at all.]

To think you were forced to suffer the cold embrace of winter for decades... It must have been positively agonizing. No wonder you've so many lines on your brow these days.

[unnecessaryflourishes]

Garlean winters, at that. And for far longer than I would have cared to.