The journey to Esoric was fairly uneventful really after Iona's initial encounter with the caravan. The traffic along the road was non-existent for the day and a half she traveled, though it was displaying a rather big issue. Namely how utterly ravenous she was. When she had been brought back to life she hadn't felt hungry or thirsty but now, having gone without food for a good amount of time she was feeling more than a little sluggish. Her stomach growled frequently and she felt like she might just fall over.

She was dragging her feet along the road, wincing at every growl she heard from her empty stomach. Finding something to drink hadn't been overly difficult; a lake upon the path had provided plenty of fresh looking water yesterday. Iona believed she had likely gotten some fish with her long greedy gulps and by the time she had finished the lake was halfway gone. Of course getting to the lake had involved splinters in her feet again. All in all by the time she saw Esoric in the distance as the forest ended she felt so relieved.

As she was closing in on the city the new demi had made very certain to start watching her steps much more carefully. The human traffic here was likely to be much heavier after all. The outer lands from the city were mostly mills and farms, and as long as she kept to the road she avoided causing damage. The humans around the area were careful to give her a very wide berth, none daring to go near the road. In the distance she heard bells ringing in the city from the top of the tallest tower. A warning perhaps for her coming?

The traffic near the city immediately dispersed as she approached and she noted upon the battlements that reached up to a little above her ankle there was a gathering. At first Iona feared it was soldiers but when she came closer she noted it was some well-dressed, balding, and plump little man. She assumed this was the lord of the city. The same one who had accepted tributes from her village. She doubted he even knew of the destruction of her home, something that grated at the back of her mind.

She stopped near the battlements, figuring that getting on her knees might make this whole thing a little easier. The red haired demi slowly lowered herself down, watching her movements carefully. Despite this her foot still managed to press into a storehouse, sending the building collapsing rather easily. Iona's eyes widened as she felt a flush crossing her face, hoping to every god there was that no one had been inside of that building. She swallowed and looked down at the lord, noting an expression of dread upon his face.

"Ah! Sorry about that, sorry. My foot slipped a little." She apologized, bowing her head slightly.

The lord and his entourage seemed a bit bewildered by her apologies. Demi weren't ones to apologize for destroying the creations of man after all. The lord cleared his throat as he bowed to Iona. "Oh mighty demi, we welcome you to Esoric! I am Lord Eddlebrek Merisk, overseer of Esoric by the grace of her Divine Ladyship Ophelia Stormcaller. To what do we owe the honor of your visit?" He asked.

Iona smiled tiredly. "A pleasure to meet you, your lordship. I am Iona of..." She bit her lip, figuring that she couldn't just say she was from one of his villages.

"Iona of the West. I seek nothing more than information, a place to rest my head, and a solid meal." She said, keeping her tone as respectful as possible.

The lord conferred with his advisors a fair bit for this reason or that. Her hearing was good but their voices were still quite tiny so even she couldn't hear their whisperings. Her eyes searched around and noted a few people were standing about watching while some others were hurrying towards their homes. The city from her perspective looked like some big and elaborate playset she had heard the wealthy girls played with. With little people scurrying around, going about their lives. Though in this case there was more hiding and gawking than life living.

The lord spoke again, his gaze still wary. "You are of course welcome to use the lands around Esoric as you see fit, the presence of a demi is always a good omen. As for food, we can turn out the city prisons if that would please you."

It took Iona a moment to get what he meant by turning out the city prisons. Needless to say when understanding dawned upon her disgust and horror were prominent emotions upon her face. Just thinking of eating another person... it reminded her of what that monster had done to so many people. Just tipped them over her mouth and swallowed them down with a look of cruel satisfaction. She had no desire to eat anyone, even if they were a criminal! People... people weren't food!

"I don't eat people! Don't you have anything less... gruesome? Like vegetables or maybe livestock meats?" She said, unable to keep the disgust from her tone.

That certainly raised a brow from the lord and pretty much everyone around him. He recovered quickly enough and bowed hurriedly. "Of course, Lady Iona, I believe we can arrange for such offerings. You also said you were looking for information?"

Iona felt relief wash over her. "Thank you, my lord. Yes, I would like to know where I can find Ophelia Stormcaller." After a moment of thought. "Also, did you happen to see a demi in black armor in this area recently?"

Lord Eddlebrek pointed to the north east. "There lies a distant range of mountains in that direction. Follow the road out of the city and to the mountains and you will find Lady Stormcaller's holdings. I apologize as well but I have not heard of any demi by that description nearby. You are the first in a month who has appeared before us."

Well, it had been a longshot but at least she knew where to find Ophelia. If the Eddlebrek couldn't tell her where to find the demi that destroyed her village then perhaps Lady Ophelia could. She was a fellow demi after all. Not that Iona supposed she was acting very demi-like. She bowed her head in thanks to the lord and smiled as she slowly stood. She straightened her dirtied robes and looked about for a good patch of land around the city where she could call hers for a little while. Her straightening sent large clumps of dirt and rock pelting the area around her, one particular large rock crashing into a nearby stable. She looked down into the large hole she made and noted that thankfully there was no carnage, though the horses were whining and panicking.

"Thank you again, Lord Eddlebrek. Sorry again about the damages. I can try and help fix them if you like as repayment for the help." Iona offered, figuring it was only polite to clean up her mess.

The lord gave her an utterly bewildered look, one shared by many. "I-I am certain I and my people would appreciate any assistance you might deem to bestow upon us." He said, offering another low bow to the powerful creature.

Iona was pleased by that. Finally a chance to do something a little bit useful, even if her own screw up had caused it to be necessary. Her hands weren't exactly the steadiest but how bad could that make thing really? She knelt back down near the ruined warehouse and figured if she just could stack things up again things might go a lot smoother and easier on the proper repairs. This time she was much more careful in kneeling down, watching where her feet went to avoid and people or houses. No easy task when they were all over the place.

It started out rather well as she managed to get the walls standing shakily up again. Really it was like building a tiny house out of twigs. She stuck her tongue in her cheek as she started laying down the foundation for the roof, shifting unconsciously. The action caused her sandal to scrape against the ground and shift quite a bit of dirt straight into a well. Unaware of the devastation of a part of the water supply she kept working on the warehouse. She hummed slightly as she worked, placing each section down with painstaking effort.

The woman let out a sharp exhale once it looked mostly done, which proved to be the downfall of the structure. The gale of air that escaped her lips knocked the unsteady and sloppy construction over easily, sending the thing toppling. She cursed loudly and slammed one of her hands into the ground nearby in frustration. Her hand smashed into another stable, splintering the building nearly instantly and turning the horses within into red smears. Her eyes widened in shock as she looked at her bloody hand. Sheepishly she looked through the rubble for a sign of having killed another person, feeling relief at only seeing dead horses. It still was pretty bad but at least she hadn't killed someone.

"Ah... maybe I'll just leave you all to this. I'll just... go sit over there." Iona said, hurriedly getting to her feet.

Her quick motions sent her robe smashing into several buildings and her sandals kicked up more dirt, burying several people. She brushed herself off and headed away from the city proper to a nice patch of open ground down the road. The giantess was flushed scarlet in embarrassment, focused only on getting out of the way of people. Her size made it much too easy for her to cause harm to humans or human structures. She supposed, in a way, she could see why demi could be seen as cruel. Perhaps some just didn't bother watching their step and uncaringly trampled people. At this angle, despite her misgivings, she could see how that might be an easier way of conducting oneself.

Regardless the demi sat herself down far enough away from most humans and sighed as she laid out on her back in a field. What she didn't hear or see in her hurry was a pair of humans, man and woman, giggling to each other in the field. The two didn't even get out a shriek before Iona's rump settled down upon the land they had been sitting on. The hue of the thick robe would likely hide the bloodstains for quite some time. Blissfully unaware of the young lives she snuffed out the young woman stared up at the clouds.

It was not overly long after she had taken her patch of ground before she noted a few carts were rolling closer to her, bearing meats and vegetables that could feed an entire village. The drivers removed the horses from the carts and stepped away themselves, allowing her to pick up each cart at her leisure. Really the amount didn't look like much of a meal from her perspective but she smiled gratefully at the drivers before taking up the first cart. Its load of vegetables rustled slightly as she tipped the cart over her lips.

She barely bothered to chew and swallowed most of it down whole, already reaching for the next cart. The carts were so small, like little fragile toys. She feared that if she was too rough in her handling the objects might splinter in her fingers. Regardless she devoured the contents of all ten, taking the edge off of her hunger at the very least. The drivers watched on with a mixture of dread and awe. After all... what if she decided the food she had just eaten wasn't enough for her?

Iona patted her stomach, feeling better than she had for the past day and a half. "Thanks for that. Tell Lord Eddlebrek thank you for me as well, won't you?"

The bewildered drivers bowed and took off back to the city, leaving her to stare up at the sky once more. So food was another issue as a demi she would need to find a way to address. Eating that much had only filled her up so much. Maybe that was another reason the demi ate humans, they were numerous and multiplied reliably. The close comparison to livestock did not sit well with Iona, being formerly of the human race herself. She supposed she would find more than just answers about her killer from Lady Stormcaller tomorrow.

________________________________________________________________________

Upon the dawning of the next day Iona was gone from the city and heading down the road again, no doubt to the great relief of the city of Esoric. She was hungry again and a tad thirsty but at the very least she was heading in the right direction. The mountains stretched up upon the horizon and even from the great distance between her and they she could feel how much they dwarfed even her. It made sense a demi might dwell there she supposed, treading carefully upon the road just in case there might be more humans this way.

She had no illusions about her appearance. Her clothes were dirty and she herself did not look much better. Her red hair was a wild and tangled mess, no doubt possessing a few tiny branches within the strands. The new demi had no idea how anyone could actually enjoy being this massive. What if a rainstorm were to hit? It wasn't like a demi could just duck under a tree or head into any old cave. Not only that but her nerves had been wracked with trying to just avoid crushing some poor person underfoot, no easy task.

As the dirty and ragged demi approached the mountains she noted a pair of demi moving towards her, armed with massive spears and armored in bronze. Armored sandals adorned their feet and their helmets bore some odd red crest. Iona halted as they approached; raising a hand in a gesture she hoped would be associated with peace. She idly wondered just how they had managed to acquire their arms and armor, certainly no human smith could craft such massive items and the amount of materials needed to make them were likely not insignificant.

The armored demi stopped before her, one stepping forward and removing her helm to display her short black hair and well sculpted face. She was well muscled and her flesh was bronzed by long days under the sun's light. Her brown eyes peered at her in curiosity but appeared warm enough. The oddest thing about her though was the pair of triangular ears on either side of her head. Iona cocked her head slightly at the sight, having never seen anything like them. The way she moved seemed to defy most conventions, possessing a grace and fluidity than seemed unreal when wearing such armor. The demi offered a slight nod to Iona.

"Hail, sister, what brings you to the Storm Mountains?" She inquired.

Iona cleared her throat. "I seek to meet with Ophelia Stormcaller."

"I see. Might I inquire as to where you are travelling from? Celestia perhaps? Osira?" She asked.

Iona pondered this question for a long moment. She intended to keep her former life to herself, who knew if being made demi from human origins was common or not? The armored warriors might not respond well to her in that event. Given that Iona lacked armor and weapons and combat experience she figured maybe it was best to play stupid. Probably was her best bet in this situation.

"I-I am from the west. I just... woke up a couple of days ago dressed like this and followed the road. The little people in the city directed me here." Iona lied.

The armored woman's face adopted and expression of naked concern. "A newly fallen? Ah, my apologies sister, this must all be overwhelming for you. May I see your hands please?" She requested, her tone becoming much gentler.

Iona obliged and the woman looked a bit perplexed. It was then that the red haired woman noticed a mark upon the other woman's bare right hand as well. A sword and axe crossing, the accepted symbol of the God of War Theros. Maybe demi were born from humans after all if she had a similar mark upon her hand. The young woman felt slightly hopeful, as it meant she could be fully honest.

"The eight pointed star... I have never seen a demi fallen that possesses the mark of Yorrik. We should certainly get you inside to see Lady Stormcaller. Perhaps a bath, a meal, and a set of clean clothes before that. I must say you are fortunate, most freshly fallen are nude." The woman said.

Iona didn't have time to question what the woman meant by inside she was already being gently pulled along by the hand by the nice armored woman. Her companion took her spear and helmet and fell in step behind wordlessly. So far she wasn't seeing much in the way of monstrosity or cruelty so that was rather nice. They started making their way back towards the mountains and it was now that she was truly able to grasp the enormity of them. The spikes of earth stretched up for as far as her eyes could see, no doubt to a human they would look even larger. Iona hadn't known things could become so massive naturally.

She was jerked from her awe by a question. "Do you have a name yet, sister?"

Iona thought quickly. "Um, Iona."

"Any particular reason?"

"I-I heard one of the little people call another by it and liked the name."

The woman snorted and chuckled a bit. "The little people are called humans; they are not really people like you or me. Snacks maybe, or slaves but certainly not people. We have a few inside scurrying about, don't worry about squishing them. There are always more where they come from. Anyway, pleased to meet you Iona, I am Lyssia."

Iona felt her blood freeze at the casual dismissal of humans being people. Lyssia had seemed pretty courteous and still came off as somewhat kind, however the way she could just dismiss humans reminded her of just what was leading her along by the hand. No doubt countless people had met their ends under Lyssia's sandals or within her belly. The slightly taller demi was still a murderer like the stories claimed. A few days ago Iona had been one of those humans she so casually dismissed as mere lesser creatures.

"The pe- humans at the city were nice and helpful." She said.

"Probably because they were rightly afraid of you. They are tiny, and they get underfoot, and they multiply like crazy. Trust me, no reason to shed a tear over squishing one or two or a dozen. More where they came from." Lyssia said with a casual shrug.

Iona promptly shut her mouth at that, holding back her indignant anger. It was true they got underfoot but that didn't just give demi the right to just squish whatever they pleased. They were people with families and dreams and hopes. She swallowed her protests and allowed herself to be led along the widening road into the mountains. There were no other demi along the path and the world seemed like it was growing larger to accommodate their size. It actually made her feel a bit normal to be dwarfed by the mountains, like she wasn't some great creature most humans feared.

The road led through the mountains and towards the largest mountain of all, a gateway carved into the mouth of it to welcome the demi inside. Iona swallowed as she was led inside and found herself standing in a massive entry hall. Statues of various womanly figures and columns were arrayed through the beautifully carved space, more armored warriors standing guard here or there. Other demi loitered here as well, though some didn't look overly human. Indeed some possessed quirks like Lyssia. One woman had four arms and exotic almond shaped eyes, another had her legs replaced by that of a serpent's tail, and still another possessed green skin that looked like plant roots had burrowed under her skin.

They were also all women, Iona noted. Not a single demi looked to be male in anyway and she hadn't ever heard of male demi. The former human found that to be a tad odd though not nearly as odd as the fact a place like this existed. The ceiling was at least three times her size in height and the room could probably hold over a hundred demi comfortably. A few of the women peered at her as she was escorted over the smooth floor of the entry hall, most curious. It was then that Iona noted a few humans.

The little people scurried around the entry hall, some staying near one demi or another while others moved about to carry out this task or that one. She caught sight of a bored looking woman with four arms casually and methodically squishing a few humans with her bare toe. One almost escaped but a nearby armored woman promptly plucked the poor man up and dropped him in her mouth. Iona shivered at the casual cruelty displayed here; quietly grateful she was not a human any longer.

Lyssia led her down a long flight of stairs and the other guard left to head back outside of the hall. Her dark haired escort gave her a small smile as they reached the bottom of the stairway, reaching a well-lit and large circular room. The ceiling above bore strange symbols that Iona couldn't even begin to guess the meaning of. There were several other passageways arrayed around the room leading to other parts of the great fortress. Lyssia came to a stop in the middle of the room, waving over a pretty young robed woman who looked mostly human-like. Except for the fact that she lacked hair of any form upon her body.

"Hey, Silvia, this is Iona. She is freshly fallen. Can you get her a bath and a warm meal? Maybe a fresh set of robes? I need to report her arrival to Lady Stormcaller." Lyssia asked, earning a nod in response.

"Alright then, she will take care of you. Once you are ready you will be brought before Lady Stormcaller. She should be able to sort out... whatever you being a marked of Yorik means." The armored woman said, removing her hand from Iona's.

"Thank you for your help, Lyssia." Iona said, forcing a nervous smile to her lips.

"Do not mention it, sister. Hope to see you around."

With that Lyssia was off down the northern hall and Iona found herself herded towards the eastern way. The woman leading her along was about her own height and wore rather drab grey robes, her feet bare. Her eyes were slightly down cast and most everything about her body language screamed demure. When Iona got a good look at her right hand she noticed a mark of chains surrounding a heart. The universal symbol for Issia, Goddess of Slavery, Servitude, and Bondage. So was she a slave? Did demi make other demi into slaves?

She was led down a few corridors before arriving at a large steamed filled room with a pool sized bath in the middle of it. It was mostly empty of people though she caught sight of a few humans looking like they were trying to get some water from the bath. Silvia did not break stride as she led Iona along, crushing one of the humans without a second thought. Her expression was utterly blank when she turned to regard Iona, much as it had been for all of their time together. She gestured to the robe and her sandals.

"Please remove them. They will be cleaned and returned to you at a later date." She said, her voice as monotone as they came.

Iona felt more than a bit uneasy disrobing for the woman but slowly untied the sash that kept the article of clothing closed. She let the fabric slip from her shoulders before unstrapping her sandals and setting them aside. The air was very warm but she still covered herself vainly to keep some modesty in front of this perfect stranger. Silvia did not grant her form a sideways glance as she set aside her dirty clothes and took up a cloth and some scented soap, handing them to Iona before promptly moving towards the humans in the room.

"Please bathe at your leisure, sister. I need to clean the room of pests."

"Wait! You don't have to kill them!" Iona said before properly thinking it through.

The hairless woman turned back to her, cocking her head slightly. "How else would you recommend dealing with them, sister? Slaves are not permitted to wander without an owner. Those that do are pests."

Iona thought quickly. "What if I took ownership of them?"

Silvia blinked. "You are not a resident of Stormhold at the moment, thus you do not possess ownership rights."

"What about you then? You are a demi and a resident of this place, so you could take ownership of them." She replied, trying desperately to avoid watching five innocent people end up as red stains on the floor.

Silvia was silent for a moment before a slight look of curiosity crossed her face; the first expression Iona had seen her express. "Why would I want to make them my slaves?"

Iona seized upon that thread of hope. "Because you can never have enough slaves, right? Plus I bet they are really good at uh... what do you use your slaves for?"

"I have them clean my quarters and pleasure me upon occasion." She responded.

Iona was a bit disgusted to learn that last bit but she rolled with it. "Well, I bet that pleasuring bit has a high turnover rate. So you'd have plenty of replacements and you could have your quarters cleaned faster with more hands working. I bet they would love to be the slaves of someone as a beautiful and exotic as you."

Silvia blushed slightly at the compliment, looking at the humans near her feet. They were shouting agreements to whatever Iona had said. After pursing her lips for a moment the woman plucked them up one by one and placed them in the pocket of her robes. Iona let out a sigh of relief. They were probably going to die eventually anyway but at least she had bought a little bit of time for them. That had to count for something she supposed. The woman cleaned up the bloodstain from the human she had crushed and Iona opted to get in the bath.

The warm water soothed the aches and pains of her body away and the peasant born woman sighed, luxury like this never having been available to her before. Silvia finished cleaning up the bloodstain and knelt down near Iona, running water through her hair. That certainly felt a bit weird as Iona had never had servants waiting upon her. This close she could hear the crying of the humans in her pocket and tried to block it out. She was starting to think the humans that lived in constant terror of a demi coming over the next hill had it much easier than a demi's slave.

"Do you... do you really think I am beautiful?" The woman asked, nervousness breaking her normal monotone.

Iona turned slightly to look at the pale, hairless woman. She was youthful most certainly and her form rivaled Iona's. Her lack of hair anywhere was certainly a bit off putting but once one looked past that she was certainly pretty. Most of the demi Iona had laid eyes upon in this place were rather attractive. One or two of the armored women possessed some ugly scars along their faces though considering they were warriors that was no surprise. What could do that to a demi was a better question.

"Yes, I do." Iona assured, trying to look past the casual murder thing.

"Even though I do not possess hair?"

"Even then."

Silvia blushed lightly again as she returned to washing Iona's hair. The red head had no idea exactly why Silvia had no hair and why some of the demi's barely looked human but she supposed that was a question Ophelia would answer. Along with where to find the heartless bitch that destroyed her village if Ophelia herself was not her. With a start she figured that the very woman washing her hair probably would have done the same thing. Among demi it was just casually accepted. What the black armored demi had done was not a crime to them. The mere thought got her blood boiling.

Her thoughts turned towards her current location and as she thought on the fact that there was literally countless tons of stone overhead she felt more than a bit anxious. It wasn't that she was afraid of being stuck underground, but being so far underground with a literal mountain overhead was certainly unnerving. She tried to shake the unease off but it stayed with her no matter what, settling in her gut like a rather large rock.

After the bath Silvia led her to a room beside the bathing chamber and gave her a similar set of grey robes to the ones she wore. In fact, most servants tended to wear them along with being hairless Iona noticed. From the dressing room she was taking to a large dining all across the circular room and thankfully was not given a plate of humans to eat. Instead it was some strange mossy substance and a slab of some kind of meat.

"What are these?" She asked Silvia.

"The moss is grown underneath Stormhold by the Daughters of Ethrie. The meat is harvested from the dragons bred here."

Iona was halfway through a bite of the dragon meat before she nearly ended up choking on it. She... she was eating dragon. The new demi was not certain whether or not she should be feeling sick or not. It tasted pretty damn good but that did not change the fact that she was eating dragon, and that it apparently was a common food around here. She had wanted to know how demi survived and ate and now that she had her answer she wasn't sure she actually wanted it. Silvia gave her a look of the slightest concern.

"Are you well? Is the dragon undercooked?" She inquired.

"Ah, no, no, just not used to the taste." Iona excused lamely.

The dragon tasted a little like pork actually if the new demi was being perfectly honest with herself. The moss was a little bland but it was fine when chased down with water. She opted not to pay any mind to those other demi in the hall scarfing down plates of innocent humans. The screams were, unfortunately, getting easier to block out the longer she spent in this place. Once she finished her draconic meal Silvia led her down the hall that Lyssia had gone down before. She gathered herself as she followed the servant, the imposing set of doors at the end of the hall setting a certain tone. They were opened slowly and Iona could hear words beyond.

"...Have no interest in excuses. You will pay the tribute on time and in the same bulk as any other city under my dominion." Came a sharp voice.

Iona gazed at the spacious throne room and at the scene playing out before her with wide eyes. A tall demi with dark hair, blue skin and white veins was gazing down at a group of well-dressed humans upon the ground at the foot of her throne. She was flanked by two guards on either side, a demi with dirty blonde hair and a human appearance standing next to the human guests. The woman was dressed in a white and gold robe and possessed sandals gemmed with some yellow stones. Her dark grey eyes rose to meet her new guests before returning to the humans she was currently granting audience to.

The leader of the humans there, a wizened old man with a stooped gate spoke up. "My lady, I must beg a relief from you! Our prisons are nowhere near full enough to deliver your demands!"

"All I care about is the tribute being met. Where you get the slaves to send is not my problem. These terms were agreed upon by your grandfather, Lord Shiak, and will be upheld. Once every two years you are to deliver fifty slaves to me. It is the same price all cities pay." The woman said, glaring at the lord.

"Please, my lady, I bed your mercy on behalf of my people! Please do not force us to send innocent men and women to you!"

The woman pointed a finger to the human on the immediate right of Lord Shiak. Iona heard the air crackle and sizzle malevolently though she could not begin to fathom the power to follow. A bolt of blue lightning shot from her finger, striking the human. The event was instantaneous but when it was over there was nothing left of the man on the lord's right but a blackened spot upon the floor. Iona could smell the scent of burnt flesh still faintly upon the air and felt like she might throw up, still more than a little in awe of that power. The woman on the throne leaned forward and narrowed her eyes at the human.

"I care nothing for you humans, insect. Your people call you lord but you are just another speck to me, daring to speak beyond your station. You will deliver your promised tribute; else I will personally visit Westbrook and level the city. I will exterminate every single tiny insignificant being there but for fifty and I will tell those fifty to flee across the land to tell them of your fate. Get this insect out of my sight, Amelia!" The woman snarled, the woman standing next to the humans bowing before gathering the protesting creatures up and heading out.

Iona swallowed hard as she noted Silvia moving forward, prompting her to take shaky steps towards the woman on the throne. Looking at her Iona found her unnatural looking but possibly almost as heart achingly beautiful as the black armored woman had been. The veins on her body were like little streaks of lightning across her flawless skin. Her eyes were like the sky just before a thunderstorm and crackled with the same intensity. Her full lips were turned up in a slight smile upon seeing Iona and she rose, her arms held out slightly.

"Ah. Welcome to Stormhold, sister. I am Lady Ophelia Stormcaller."