Ishmael smirked and chuckled as the eventual argument between various members was silenced by the mage who declared the way ahead safe, a spell that captured sound and nullified it, in this case the sound of footsteps, and strode off to lead the way. Bold mage, he had to give credit towards, and followed right along after the others. It beat him leading the way into a trap and having to deal with the injury taken from such a leadership role again. Better someone else rather than he, for there were important matters he would be attending to within due time. The leading nobleboy and rogue fell to discussing potential matters of security that they had yet to encounter, the rogue boasting about having seen many a different defense, and this having rather lack luster security. He found the statement was asking for trouble, as it had worked this long. They fell to talking about oversized rats, and he chuckled at the mention of the fabled creatures. They existed, in his opinion, but the architecture of the crypt hardly supported the idea that they were used as guard hounds. Of course he was proven wrong when the rogue was jumped through a ruined section of wall and found out, rather curiously, that they did exist in this tomb. He muttered to himself, clear enough that he could be heard, as he shifted his grip on the walking cane to a more staff life manner. "Curious, the design of this crypt hardly supported the time those things were favored as guardians. Odd, isn't it, how some people can't help but buck historical trends?"
With a gesture of the cane, he fired off a conjured blade of bone into the side of the ROUS that was following the first, knocking it off to the side. Another gesture, and the rot and decay that would set in accelerated to the point that the disease spread and rapidly killed the creature. It was a simple matter of aiding the innate disease that was kept outside a beings body to, after being introduced to the susceptible interior, spread and rapidly weaken or outright kill some beings. He leaned on his cane, appearing not to want to really put much effort into dealing with the rats. After all, the nobleboy and rogue were in the line of fire, and he had no distinct interest in accidentally wounding them with a spell that they got in the way of. He would defend himself, and prepared another bone shard just in case there was a fine number beyond a handful that would come into the fray, and he would be required to waste energy, granted very small amounts, dealing with the creatures. He found it amusingly ironic, though, the rogue getting attacked by beings he dismissed as myth and fable. He kept his amusement to himself, he would content himself with pointing out such a fact after any immediate trouble and danger would pass them by for the time being.