"The War began in Predain," Amberdrake says calmly, because on his world this is all well-known fact, even if most don't know he was there to see it personally. "Ma'ar's troops first marched from that very city, looking for people like myself. It was not a great time to be there. Fortunately, I fled before they came to search the college."

And that's about as much about that situation as he's likely to share, signaling as much by gently redirecting, "And why did you become a healer-- or a doctor, rather?"