"He does," Julius agrees. "I don't think he'd purposely make someone uncomfortable without reason. And we've both been here long enough, perhaps we don't always remember what a culture shock Kirkwall can be."

Even if the particulars were different, given their backgrounds, Julius doesn't feel it's presumptuous to make the point.

"On the bright side, Kirkwall's had us here long enough that some amount of oddness can probably just be chalked up to ah, you know, Riftwatch, if it's handled well." Most people had gotten used to rifters, and that has taken years.