At a minimum, the other people there appeared equally confused and did not appear openly hostile. That was a good sign. They’d also come from far away, which meant that Dacheus was probably not at fault for bringing them here. Probably. 


[i]Then how did we get here? [/i]


With the immediate [i]“Am I going to get stabbed?”[/i] concerns dealt with, the mage turned his attention to his surroundings once more. Figuring out where he was would be a good start. Dacheus turned and walked toward one of the windows without taking the time to introduce himself. Outside were mountains, covered in snow and ice. 


[i]Wait, what the hell?[/i]


He looked around the room, held out his hand to the air. No wind, warm, greenery, running water. He looked outside again. Freezing cold. Was it merely an illusion? He walked up to a large, open window and hopped into it, leaning outside. The wind whipped around his head, stinging his cheeks. He quickly retreated and touched his face; the snow in his beard was quite real.


[i]Then is this room the false one? No, no. I checked.[/i] He rubbed the spot on his head and confirmed that he had indeed hit himself with a rock. [i]And the snow and ice outside… that’s real too. Which means…
[/i]

There were a few possible explanations. They might not be in the mountains at all, but every window was a portal to a frozen realm. Unlikely, but possible. More likely, they were in the mountains, but there was some sort of barrier keeping the cold out and the warmth in. He began an arcane inspection of the windows, watching the way the magic seemed to ripple as he moved his hand out into the cold and pulled it back. “What a fascinating little barrier…” he mused. It somehow allowed him to move through it while minimizing airflow, preventing the freezing wind from blasting through the great hall. He stepped back and dashed to the next window, looking for the same thing. “This is so neat! Put one of these in the door of your house and never deal with winter drafts again! Why, this could revolutionize the principles of construction even in temperate realms, let alone cold ones!” He dashed to the next window. “But how on earth does it work…”