Meesei leaned forward onto the table, nodding slowly through the pair's explanations. "So, you are saying you have infiltrators in your governments working to further Vile's goals. And, I imagine that you have certain restrictions investigating ranking members of your own governments. I can understand the problem that creates. We have had to deal with infiltrators before, but I benefit from having absolute rule over my clans. I know there are infiltrators and can institute policies to combat them. I doubt you have the same freedom. I expect that you will shape your reports to discourage any action against us for as long as possible, but I cannot expect you to perform miracles."

Letting out a long sigh, Meesei stood up straight. "I suppose it would be best for me to tell you. This is information I have not even shared with all of my own clans, but I find it important for all of us here to fully understand the...realities of this situation. That being the purpose for Vile's attacks against us. This is not just a quarrel between Daedric Lords. Hircine did not anger Vile to spark a war, nor do I believe Vile cares much at all about lycans themselves. This war has been all about what Daedra so often crave: power. You see, I am sure you know that lycan populations have expanded drastically over the past decade or so, but it was not our doing. Vile's followers were the ones to start infecting people, to start spreading the condition wider and wider. And they did it for our souls. Souls are a source of power for a Daedric Lord, both those of their willing followers, and those they claim by other means. A lycan soul is particularly potent. Within our bodies, we have both our mortal soul, and the immortal vestige of our Daedric beast spirit. Capturing one of our souls grants more power than that of the average mortal. As you said before, keeping lycans captive is very difficult and dangerous, so instead, they decided to fight us. Vile started a war, encouraged us to group ourselves into nice, contained clans. Then, they developed a weapon: a poison to harvest our souls from a single breath. It is devastatingly effective, and we survived only because we discovered their plan in Elsweyr before they were ready to strike. We delayed them, but we did not stop them."

While Meesei did have reservations about sharing any information at all with either of the diplomats, there was a particular advantage she sought to gain which she felt worth the risk. Besides which, there was not much actual harm that could come from the particular information she was sharing. "I do not know what Vile's final goals are, only that our destruction is not it. He has a plan, and he is using us, lycans, as the means to carry it out. We are just a...resource that he wants to harvest. Imagine the kind of power he would gain from collecting every lycan soul in Tamriel. That is the kind of power that I doubt either of you would want to see a single Daedric Lord possess; particularly one as malicious and self-serving as Vile. I am telling you all of this to make it clear that, if we fail, it does not mean that it is over. It just means that the enemy will now have the means to carry out the next phase of his plan. And we will not be there to help you; it will only be the Empire and Dominion. Likely, he would just drive the two of you at war with one another before finishing his plans unopposed. I do not need to say how trivially easy of a feat that would be to accomplish."

---

Ahnasha shook her head. "No, I have always been careful when coming here. You'll be the first person to step inside aside from me. Well...first living person."

Just as Ahnasha finished speaking, the door to her laboratory opened, and not because Ahnasha was the one to open it. The laboratory itself was contained within a small Dwemer structure built into the side of a rocky cliff. The large, metal doors were opened by a being, or more accurately, a creation of Ahnasha's: a reanimated Falmer skeleton. It was a permanent thrall, made using a filled soul gem instead of a simple, temporary spell. Its bones creaked and clanked together with every movement, and the glowing orbs of magicka that served as its eyes stared ahead at them lifelessly. Naturally, Ahnasha gave no reaction to the thrall. She simply instructed it to step to the side. She needed to speak no words to do so, since its connection to her was telepathic. 

The interior of the Dwemer building was fairly small. The hallway in the back was collapsed, so Ahnasha had only a single room to work with. There was a myriad of soul gems, enchanting tools, and other magical trinkets scattered across a few stone tables. There was even alchemy equipment, though Ahnasha had not shown herself to be an alchemist. Of course, there were also a few full skeletons worth of bones, the distinct smell of rotting flesh in the air, and a second skeletal Falmer thrall.