Maximus Pontus is a Cane Corso of no club, broad shouldered and quiet enough that other pups confess things unprompted. Friends learned long ago not to interrupt Maximus Pontus near the flooded market halls, especially with a broken phone shaped like a bar of soap in hand. Pups passing the swamp shrine sometimes wave to Maximus Pontus out of habit, even on days when nobody is actually there. Maximus Pontus works toward the kind of evening where machines hum, friends are near, and nobody has to be brave.