"Desert?" Miraculously, something has gotten through. Irahl's eyebrows actually rise. "It's in a desert?"

Yeah, no, that's not right at all. Irahl's brow furrows again after that as he starts wracking his meager understanding of the world to try and figure where a desert could be.

He's expending real mental energy trying to remember the various things he'd heard over the years from his parents and others who were old and worldly enough to know what else is out there. He remembers tales of the ocean, other cities and settlements, legends and histories... but where a desert might be isn't coming immediately to mind.

To Vincent specifically, "Remember the forest I was talking about? That's what's all around the city."