A barrier springs up on the end of 'careful', but not on the party -- on the eluvian, trying to protect it against any harm past whatever the Venatori may have already done. They're here to retrieve the eluvian, yes, but they're going to have to fight to do it. Still, best to try and avoid damage to the old artifact in the meantime.

"Shout about it later, please!" Merrill calls, further barriers popping up around the gathered members of the retrieval team. She doesn't trust that there's only one spellbinder either, and she's been on enough misadventures with Hawke to know that there's probably some sort of unpleasant surprise waiting.