"I would have, but there was a priest and an assassin on the ground and I chose looks over virtue." He said with a wink. Well, he hoped things weren't too wacky. But seeing as they were breathing air, the sky was blue, and there was a village that looked ordinary if not somewhat exotic showed they were probably on their on world, though time might be a factor. Then again, he doubted Therman kept his portal on a different time as its base 'setting' if he could call it that. Either way, they'd deal with it. 

Neil waited for around half an hour, letting the food settle and allowing Calliope to warm herself. During that time, assuming they were on Torek, they needed an alibi. Calliope would be a noblewoman, traveling with her beau, when their caravan was attacked and they escaped with their lives. If they were in one of the northern climes, the two would use fake names and they went with two names from the most common northern regions, The Grey March and Bania. Neil would have chosen Norgard, but he truly did not look the part, so he went with the endless expanse of borderlands above Andred as his region, using the name Pate Galloway, and Calliope would be Dragoslava Grigoriev. Once they were sufficiently warm and in agreement over the names and backstories, the two were ready. 

"Must we?" Calliope complained, understandably annoyed. Surviving an ordeal like hers that weakened her, and then waking up frozen, only to now leave when it was warm. 

"Unless you want to sleep here tonight, yes. If it's this cold during the day, at night we might want to be in a bed." He reasoned, knowing she reasonably understood that but wanting to drive it home. Neil kicked the fire a bit away, not dousing it but moving it and letting the flames get some distance from them, before he scooped her up in his arms. She was as wound up in the garment as she could be, but she clung to him to help his burden and to keep warm. He didn't make any quips, but it felt extremely nice in his opinion, even if he felt like her pack mule. 

Neil carried her out of the gulley, the river babbling beside them was beautiful, glimmering in the distant sun and flecked with ice and fallen leaves. Across the short expanse of water, a muskrat washed what was likely a crustacean it was going to devour, eyes on the two as they stepped out of the river bed and onto the road. To the right, there was a small expanse of open ground, sloping into a distant woodland where the river fled. To the left, the trees were far closer and more ominous, gnarled but thick with leaves. Ahead of them, smoke rose in the distance, and beyond the fires was a mountain range that dwarfed any Neil have ever bore witness to in the southern lands. 

"Looks like I chose my name well," Calliope congratulated herself once they came over the next rise. Neil wasn't privvy to what she meant, but when he got a look at the town, he saw it was shaped strangely for a normal settlement. The majority of it was made of wood, but the tops of the taller buildings and towers almost looked like the sweeping spires of the desert kingdoms. Most buildings were squat and sturdy, with a fine edge to its architecture. Integrated into the intricate designs of the obtuse spires were sharp ones that speared into the sky, and a large, central building adorned with a curved large cube roof and patterns of green and gold across endless triangles. Oddly enough, despite the snow on the ground and walls, there was nary a puff of white on the tops of the roofs. Perhaps that was the point. 

"This is Bania?" Neil asked. 

Calliope nestled closer, eyeing the large town and likely too focused on plotting their next move for her to notice the swell of her bosom pressed against his neck. He hid his annoyance well, because this was a fucking tease and he didn't appreciate it.

"Once vee reach ze gate, let me do ze talking," She told him, flexing her accent. Words were spoken in strange, almost brutish tone interwoven with a graceful, silken air to them. She was good, he noted. He grunted as she shifted, hoping she could get them to an inn or a place to rest and get some drinks soon. 

"Alright, just make it quick. You're getting a little heavy," He remarked, trying not to wheeze.