"It's getting so good," he countered with palpable disappointment.

"It's getting volatile." Venenzio corrected, his unsympathetic eyes on the struggling Lumanlisc girl. "Hopefully someone else does the job of putting those things down."

It did make him curious that she didn't attack them despite how roughly they handled her. Her only goal seemed to be in getting away, but clearly she wasn't much good at that either.

"If we can discern the dynamics at play, maybe we can manipulate that into fruition. All the more reason to linger."

"And if they find the door?"

Giovanni clicked his tongue, glancing at the foreboding walls of the Hold. If the Lumanliscs were going home it likely meant the guards would be winding down soon and sweeping the place to confirm an all clear. But who knew when such an opportunity would present itself again?

Venenzio rose from his kneeling position, eyes flickering to the quickly-vanishing Altirians to Giovanni. "Where did you get that mace?"

"That's among the least surprising things I have to tell you," he remarked, dropping the mace against the base of a tree. "If only it was more easily concealed."

"This place is a stain on the earth." Ven muttered as they made their way back to camp.

"How was your patrol?" Giovanni inquired as they neared their quarters.

"There was a hound." Venenzio said drily. "Nearly as tall as a building and dripping viscera. And then one of the girls, the guard - she crafted a storm to chase it off. It's like a fucking children's novel."