"Quite. What did you do to that one?" She indicates the fallen man with the staff.

"Torture illusion! I need eye contact, but it's quite fun to inflict and very unpleasant to experience."

"How long does it last?" she asks curiously.

"Three seconds, which he experienced as three days, but most people don't recover mentally very quickly at all. I'm not talented at it - my sister once put me in a coma for a month with that same technique - so he'll probably wake up before he dies of exposure."

"Is it customizable?"

"Yes. Though I can't hook it into someone's individual fears and traumas if I don't already know those. But it would be useful for communication, or purely mental training. It doesn't have to be torture - that's merely traditional."

"Interesting."

"It is! I hope I'll have a chance to get better at it, over time."

"The nearest city is where these came from. It is, if I understand correctly, rather squalid. There will be no shortage of victims."

"You know, I've never gotten the opportunity to go after a city before. Should be fun. Should we start with stalking the streets, slowly building fear... Or something more dramatic?"

"I've done it both ways. The trick to either approach is to first remove any threats that might actually be dangerous before beginning the game in earnest."

"I would like to leave at least one challenge for later - preferably someone intelligent. Though I can acknowledge that's not the safest when playing a new game."

Hisame possibly has the exact opposite of a self preservation instinct.

"It depends on the caliber of opponent. This world seems to have its own magic, and I have not yet determined its rules."

"I know some of them, or at least what that Anders knew."

"Perhaps we could acquire another subject for interrogation."

"Perhaps. Maybe another magic user, though I'd rather avoid the technique I used on Anders again. It's... Disorienting."

"How so?"

"I've only tried it the once, but I apparently get my target's memories all jumbled together. I rather prefer my brain belonging only to authorized users."

"Understandable. Shall we move on? I see the carrion birds are beginning to wheel overhead. We inhibit the start of their feast."

She laughs a little. "Wouldn't want that. To the city, then?"

"That is the obvious destination." She begins walking, her ghosts trailing after obediently.

Hisame walks along. "Are we planning a closer alliance than simply escaping those tunnels together?"

"I appreciate your displayed skill and you are so far not intolerable company. Certainly better than the last group I worked with."

She smiles. "I like your style and your skills. And good allies are dreadfully hard to come by."

"As long as our goals align, then."