GaoThe Lodger is just what he is. He observes, takes notes. Like every world-ologist before him.
The forest around his house is dying, new life nowhere to be found.
The house, though... It was once a simple lodge. Then many generations added to it. And then... No, there's nothing else.
(Except the rooms that weren't *there* before. Except the Guests chasing him.)
(Sometimes in his exhaustion the Lodger thinks the house siphoned all the life.)