He’s really starting to wonder what this aversion says of Naugus’s nature. But he’s smarter than to tackle the subject here and now; he just withdraws the talisman and keeps it to himself.

“A pity. But it’s always the spell that seemed most trivial, isn’t it?” He raises his hands, feeling out the ward through the talisman. “It doesn’t feel the same as any ward I’ve seen constructed… I wonder…” He looks up at the symbols again, considering his options. He’d rather not go all-out in desecrating something holy to try and break its protection, nor call on a Prince to break it head-on.

He looks around, points out the cage that until recently held the staff. “Could you help me move that over? I want to get up at those symbols directly.”