"There was a cult that used to run this town. Sacrificed one of their editors.. He was happier than a pig in shit. Ellie ran across a bowl of blood and a sacrificial knife. Mathis pushed someone else to slit their wrists in the tunnels. Penhew house-" he continued, gesturing at the fine house that came before this one on the road. "Has 'This we offer in humility and fear' etched over the mirror in its main hall."

Somewhere along the way, his dander had started to fluff up and his gesturing was somehow firmer for it. "How do I know the people here don't want to try? Because most of us come from sane fucking realities where human sacrifice isn't something reasonable people do."