"Undead have been a problem for closer to seven," is very quiet. "I don't know that I would say overrun that entire time, but it was 9:43 when the Inquisition was attacked here. They — we, I suppose, I was in the organization at the time — damaged a large portion of the Necropolis and, as far as I understand from those in Diplomacy, the Inquisition's alliance with Nevarra, though it seems that both have been at least somewhat repaired in the years since."

Whether it's because he's Nevarran or it's simply his temperament, Vanya seems more sad than unnerved by the prospect of what they're facing as they approach the mirror that will take them to his hometown.

"My mother, I think, was frankly more concerned with the power struggles between the Pentaghasts and the Van Markhams than she was with the undead, at least to judge by her letters. Then again, they have been staying with cousins in the country the past few years, so I suppose the political strife strikes her as the more pressing reason the city hasn't been restored in the meantime." A pause. "To answer your question. I was here with the Inquisition, in 9:43. I haven't been back to the city since, though I've been in other parts of the country." And it wasn't as if that last visit had been in any way a social one.