[The last person she knew with that many names was the son of nobility. Though with a family name like that... Well, clans have risen from origins more mundane than transportation, surely.]

I realize I haven't explored them much, but cities named "Nightmare" and "Shadow" don't sound like the sorts of places that would have anything like that.

[But this isn't the sort of thing one asks about out of the blue - whether the idea began here or in his homeworld, it had to have come from somewhere. Mourner's clothing in the Victorian era doesn't quite match up with the medieval-equivalent Katherine's world runs on, but the somber color and the implications of asking such a question are not lost on her.]

Why bring this up, may I ask? Did something happen?