Hardy plants clung to life around the edges of the pools of hot spring water that looked too murky and filth-driven to be drank safely, and here or there he spotted glowing lights in the distances where fires burned. Even this far north, the air was warm and dry, but paradoxically chilling when the wind bit deep if he stood somewhere where he was too exposed. The Dragonlands, it seemed, was a harsh wilderness unfriendly to life.