"I'm very good at handling vases with care. You have no need to worry."

He runs his fingers down the smooth glaze, taking it in with the senses.

"It will be safe. I hate to see broken artwork." Even the artifacts, whenever he finds them broken, which is often enough, he grieves for them and wishes they could have been saved intact. There are few things more rare and joyous than finding a perfectly intact vase buried beneath the earth.

"In a thousand years, if this vase is still whole, it will be not just lovely but priceless."