As soon as the ruins were in sight, Fendros took no chances and removed an arrow from his quiver, nocking it to his bowstring in preparation for any surprises. While Janius had been holding his shield over his shoulder and his axe on his belt, Fendros' activity prompted him to ready his weapons as well. They were all silent as they could be while they followed Meesei's lead. It felt strange that this part of the swamp did not do much to hide the noise they inevitably made while moving. No birds, no insects, no frogs, even the water seemed more stagnant than usual.

In their approach, Meesei had spotted two figures near the xanmeer itself. As they approached, each in the pack found a way to obscure themselves behind trees, bushes, or reeds and stayed still. Some stayed completely focussed on the robed men, while others kept their wits about them, looking out for any unexpected encounters. All had their ears open to what the men were saying.

Fendros didn't like that they had decided to come outside simply to discuss something when there was clearly no one else around, unless this was meant to be a private conversation. He didn't know about the layout of a typical xanmeer, but surely they would have places for private discussions inside? He honestly wished his paranoia was less justified in a place such as this.

Meanwhile, Janius didn't allow his mind to wander. He held his mouth slightly open to hear every detail and kept himself sprung to act. He was actually interested in how much information they could get just from eavesdropping. In fact, as soon as they were done, these two seemed in a prime position to be surrounded and subdued, or if they were lucky, intimidated into surrendering. Still, he wasn't going to move unless Meesei signalled to.