"Ill will has little to do with it, though we know that they were not manipulated," Oswall mentioned in response to Meesei mentioning Harriet's alphas, "It is written in tradition. If we do not have a proper representative of those packs, they would be effectively gagged at this council."

To the topic of Caleb's punishment Oswall leaned forward slightly, but winced and stopped before bending too far forward. Though now under fresh clothing, his wound was still causing him pain. Likely he was just trying to look strong and would do better with another day resting. Still, he paused for thought, and then his eyes moved up. "I have talked to Vera about this. While he was indeed lied to and manipulated, he will be punished." He breathed in slowly and gained a stony and serious expression, "The usual punishment for crimes as dire as attempted murder is either banishment or execution. However, there is one lawful leniency he may gain, independent of his connections to the leadership." Oswall glanced to Vera for a moment, "He is not yet an adult. He cannot be expected to hold the same responsibility of judgement. With that in mind, we have settled to give him five public lashes. It will mark him, but it is a mercy."

Vera was mimicking Oswall's stony look at she looked out to the space behind Meesei. She seemed to breath shallowly. Evidently whatever protests she had were already spent upon Oswall earlier.

"I will deliver the punishment myself," Oswall finished.

"Hmm, I might have opted for something longer term, like service, to you specifically. A long term punishment could have a better chance of teaching him to avoid recklessness than simple pain. But if that is what you believe is best, then so be it. I do not wish to challenge this clan's traditions so quickly." Meesei responded.

Meesei paused for a moment. She had nothing more she wished to discuss at this meeting, but there was quite a lot she wanted to change about the clan, and while the lieutenants trusted her judgment by this point, she did expect some resistance. "...But I do intend to challenge them. Not all at once, but slowly over time. After a new leader has been selected, after this episode is laid to rest, there are serious issues this clan needs to address. Its structure is...vulnerable. The only reason that Jerrick's death had such potential for chaos was because of the division that exists between your packs. I want to slowly break down that division, such that none of the packs could be considered as 'belonging' to a lieutenant. Apart from the one of which you are personally the alpha, of course. I want all of the clan to consider all of you their leaders, not just one of you. And that is just one of the vulnerabilities that needs to be addressed. Obviously it will take time and effort, but it is an effort we need to make. We do not have time to discuss such matters in detail, however. We should return to our duties." Meesei said, standing up from her chair and pushing it under the table. "Could you have someone send me the necessary soul gems, Darahil? Discretion would also be preferable. It would be best to keep our plans for Galsek and Harriet quiet."

Again, Oswall spoke in reaction to Meesei's first comment to offer some clarification. "Oh, do not mistake the punishment to be all I have planned for the boy. It is merely to satisfy the clan and its laws. He will be assigned a new mentor to receive lessons that will help him. I have just the one in mind."

The lieutenants gave no immediate response to Meesei's proposal for reforming the clan's culture and organisation. At this point it was so apparent that none were to deny it any further. As they stood up, they appeared collectively relieved that the long conversation would not begin that morning. Oswall was careful in getting up not to strain his wound.

"Of course. I will have them delivered to you within the hour," Darahil said neutrally, "I assume you will be continuing to help us to prepare the hunt? It is not a problem if you are not, but I will require your whereabouts to deliver the gems."

Meesei nodded to Darahil. "Yes, I will continue to aid you however I can, but I do not believe I will join on the hunt itself. I shall stay here to keep watch over the prisoners, and complete my enchantments. I will likely need the extra time. Just have the gems delivered to my pack's room." She answered before stepping towards the door, stopping briefly before leaving. "There are a quick matter I must deal with, but I will rejoin with you shortly to help plan for the hunt."

After Meesei took her leave, her destination was Galsek's cell. She had originally told him that she would be releasing him that day, but considering that the full moons were that night, she had to push those plans back. To prevent him from growing restless, and perhaps trying to cause trouble, she needed to inform him of the change in plans. Fortunately, it was completely truthful to say that it would be dangerous for both Galsek and the clan if he were released that night, so she had a reasonable excuse to give him. Afterwards, she was free to return to the planning of the night's hunt.

Galsek was eager to take Meesei's excuse as a sign of weakness and threw some discouraging words in her direction, but this was to be expected.

The rest of the hunt's planning was just a matter of communication now that the hunting grounds were allocated. Although on the surface it was hard to fathom all the details of such planning, all of the clan's alphas knew exactly what they needed to do with the limited information. This was such as the plan was similar to how they had always done it. Even Meesei missed out on unspoken details until she inquired further. By the end of it all, the entire clan was in the main chamber and were walking out of the gate in an orderly line. Each individual had a fur cloak set over their shoulders and were advised to take as little else as possible.

Meesei's pack were somewhat bewildered by all of the activity, but they followed along as best as they could. Ahnasha and Fendros were at first advised to leave Rhazii in the care of the young children who were staying behind, but Fendros would have none of it. Given the last time they left their child in the hands of a stranger, Fendros would settle for nothing short of Meesei promising to take care of the cub for them during the night.

The weather was slightly windy outside, though it was not snowing. It was cold enough to be uncomfortable, but not unbearable. Under Lorag's direction, the pack navigated their way to their allocated hunting ground for the night. At first, they were surrounded by many people descending the mountain, but as more and more packs broke off into the wilderness, they were soon left on their own. They came upon their grounds with roughly half an hour until the moons rose, so they decided to start early. Their furs, as they were advised, were to be hidden and found later so they wouldn't freeze on their way back. They were promptly stuffed into a hole beneath a tree that Ahnasha could mark with her claws before they began. Even in unfamiliar territory, the pack felt a sense of satisfaction at being able to hunt again. Fendros didn't have to worry about anything except the next quarry, Sabine had been lacking in exercise and was glad to be moving around, and Janius was just glad to get out from under the ground.

The soul gems that Meesei requested were waiting for her in a small sack when she returned to her pack's chamber. Without the bustle of the clan from over the balcony and through the doorway, there was a certain serenity that was conducive to weaving her enchantments. That was, when Leaps wasn't nudging her for attention or Rhazii wasn't crying for whatever reason. Whatever noise the children or pregnant women were making from their chambers didn't carry this far except in tiny echoes. In the middle of the night, there was some loud howling through the halls as Galsek and Harriet's beast forms struggled against their fetters. Thankfully their beastly howling was their only method of communication.

Between the silence and the distractions, Meesei was eventually able to get her enchantments done. It was only once the last one was finalised that she noticed a small boy, no older than eight, watching silently through a hole in the door. Once he was noticed, he gasped and ran off. An older child calling for a name seemed to resolve the situation without Meesei's input.

The next morning, there were already some returned packs by the time Meesei woke up. Most appeared to be going about their duties as before, save for skipping breakfast and looking tired from the night's activity. Others were either napping or finding a place to nap. The lieutenants returned with their packs, one by one. Some packs returned with kills that still had enough meat to salvage. By about three hours after sunrise, Meesei's pack returned in one piece. All seemed to be freezing cold under their cloaks, but a bath in the now crowded and tepid pool chambers later and they gained a spring to their steps.

Meesei's pack and the lieutenants caught up and were all pleased to report a lack of incidents during the night. Darahil made particular note to mention how anarchic the whole affair would have been had the unrest not been resolved.

Once a sufficient majority of the packs had safely returned, Meesei returned once more to Harriet to hear out her answer. A simple, terse 'I agree' was all she gave, and she did not speak further until brought before those gathered in the dining room to hear her confession. By her expression, Harriet did not enjoy the experience, but she remained stoic. Her confession was similarly terse, if slightly flippant despite her stern face. "I poisoned Jerrick to try and become leader," she said, "it turned out to do more harm than good. I wouldn't recommend it. I'll see you on the hunting grounds." And with that she turned and stepped away with no effort made to defend herself.

The audience's reaction was somewhere between indifferent and quietly contemplative. Either way, it seemed that everyone was too tired to kick up a fuss. Most had accepted that Harriet was guilty anyway. Afterward, some of Harriet's alphas came to her and asked if it was really true. A number of them felt that they would sooner blame Galsek for misleading her. Harriet responded by conceding that she trusted Galsek too much and shouldn't have taken his advice, but that it also doesn't excuse her actions. Other questions came about succession, to which Harriet directed all to the lieutenants and Meesei.

The next order of business was to enact the plan to track down the hideout of Galsek's associates. It would be a fight, so Sabine and Kaleeth were urged to stay behind with Rhazii and Leaps. There was some small protest from Sabine, but she did not force the issue.

Oswall, Vera, and Darahil had a short discussion about what the clan would provide. They came up with two skilled warrior packs lead by Oswall, and some mages lead by one of Darahil's alphas. Oswall was too old to be the strongest fighter of them all, but he had an air of respect for his leadership and tactical skills. Darahil's mages were not exactly Imperial battlemages, but they had skill in magical combat enough to assist with protecting against Vile's mages where Meesei would not suffice as an individual. Darahil and Vera proclaimed priority in leading the clan while the others would be away. Fendros, Lorag, Ahnasha, and Janius donned their armour and readied their weapons with the rest. In all they numbered twenty-five fighting lycans. If the collective measure of power across the small warband was not enough on its own, the planned time of attack would be just far enough from the previous night that most could transform and ravage anything that stood in their way. As least, whatever Harriet would leave behind for them after her last stand.

Before they would set out, there was another important matter to take care of. The first was Galsek. The warband would prepare in the main chamber while Meesei took care of him. He looked up from his now stressed looking bindings at Meesei as she entered. The corners of his mouth curled into a malicious grin before he spoke. "Have I finally outstayed my welcome, dear hostess?" he asked in sarcastic innocence.

As per usual, Meesei had been exceptionally busy through the night. Between crafting her enchantments, caring for Rhazii and Leaps, and checking on the bindings of their prisoners, she did not have much time for sleep. Regardless, she pressed herself forward, seemingly unaffected to those around her. The hunt had been mostly uneventful, which was likely the greatest success any of them could have hoped for. The greatest danger to the clan for the moment had passed, so they could now move to their other concerns.

Meesei went alone into Galsek's cell, now wearing a thick fur cloak as opposed to her normal attire. His shackles and chains showed signs of having been stressed, but they were still holding strong. Galsek of course started to taunt her as soon as she entered, but that was expected for any interaction with him. In most cases, she would simply ignore such provocations, but she wanted Galsek to believe he was getting something of an emotional reaction from her.

"Yes, despite your best efforts to convince me of how unworthy a pathetic worm like you is of my mercy, it has come time for you to be released. And yes, I will be giving you some supplies and adequately thick clothing. As much as I would like to see your frostbitten body laying face down in the snow, it would not be living up to my promise if I released you to die. But, that does not mean I have to be...polite about it. I do not want you causing any trouble on the way out, so I am going to render you unconscious to move you up to the surface. Besides, it would not be in my best interest to allow you to see the changes we are making to security, now would it?" Meesei explained as she stepped up to Galsek and started to charge a restoration spell in her hand.

Galsek regarded the corners of the ceiling as if surveying its structure. "Oh, I would say this place is secure enough, so long as you remain inside." His gaze went back to Meesei, "Be careful lest you break something you intended to improve."

The grin Galsek wore changed into mild disgust as he looked either side of him. "So, what afterwards, hm? You wouldn't let me go just because you made a rash promise. You have something else in mind." Galsek smiled again and chuckled quietly. "Maybe you want to release me to face the undead horrors in the ruins below? Maybe you're just letting me go so you can hunt me like a rabbit, that sounds like something your prince would enjoy." His eyes lit up, "Or maybe you want to track me to my allies so you can attack them! Oh, clever dog!" He looked away, contemplating further, "Perhaps I am thinking over-much, perhaps you want to revel in the torture that is my beast spirit and would see me crawling back for help..." His head remained facing to the side, but his eyes met Meesei's again, "You did give me some time to think in the night."

Before letting the moment sink in, he sniffed and stretched momentarily. "Still, a quick nap would do me good. I was kept up all night for other reasons as you would know."

"What I want is to be rid of you. Killing you would be nice, but this is an acceptable alternative." Meesei retorted. She placed her glowing hand on Galsek's shoulder, though she did not cast the spell immediately. "There is one warning I will give you, or rather, some advice. Leave. All of this. Find some place quiet to live out the rest of your life, and do not turn back. Because, if I find you in the service of Clavicus Vile, I will kill you; there will be no more chances. That, I promise." Meesei warned as she began to case the spell. The magic both drained and absorbed his energy to such a severe degree that he could no longer maintain consciousness. If he wanted to taunt her any more, he did not get the chance before his body gave out.

Once Galsek lost consciousness, Meesei set to work immediately. She unlocked his shackles, then laid him on the floor, flat on his stomach. She produced a knife from one of her pouches, along with the small ring she intended to implant, then started preparing the area for the first cut. Her magic could stem most of the blood flow to the area, which would limit the amount of cleanup required afterwards. The decoy ring was planted in the cloak she intended to give to him, so with Galsek properly sedated, she began the bloody work of implanting the ring.

The process of planting the ring inside Galsek's body was delicate, but Meesei knew exactly what she needed to do. Fortunately, he was Argonian, so she was able to prepare beforehand by examining the same area on her own body. He was male, but the organs she was concerned with in this procedure were no different between the two genders. The ring needed to be planted deep inside his body to prevent him from feeling it from the surface, but with her magic do guide her, it did not take long. The most time consuming portion of the process was using her magic to cause the lining of his upper intestines to grow around the ring, holding it in place. Meesei had no idea what the long term health effects of that action would be, but she did not care about Galsek's long term fate. He needed only to survive in the short term. Throughout the process, she had to make sure to keep draining his energy to keep him sedated.

Once finished, Meesei closed the wound as completely as she could and washed away the blood. Stepping outside, she grabbed the clothing and other supplies intended for him, dressed him, then called for some of the others to help carry him out of the ruin and up to the surface. They placed him down at the mouth of the cave, with half of his body sitting in the snow. Meesei motioned for the others to head back into the cave, then went about waking him. All it took was a spell of restore stamina to bring him back enough for the cold to grab his attention.

When Galsek came back to consciousness, he was propped up sitting against the wall of the cave. Meesei was the only other person around that he could see, as the others were still deep in the cave. She delivered a slight kick to his side and held out a stamina potion to him. "Here, now leave." She demanded.

From his seat in the cold, Galsek took his time waking up. That was, until he felt Meesei's foot impact his ribs. At first, he waved his hands around in a small panic as he looked around to confront his surroundings. When his eyes adjusted to the bright snow and spied the potion held in front of his face, he glanced between the vial and Meesei's face for a few moments. His breath steamed in short puffs as he considered. Finally, he realised that it was not in his interests to waste time. He sneered, snatched the potion from Meesei, and rolled up onto his feet, clumsily running away.

Though Galsek seemed to be in a rush, he did not sprint. Most likely it was all he could do not to stumble over after his recent sedation. He looked over his shoulder to check if Meesei was following before he was out of site behind some rocks.

Meesei remained at the opening of the cave, watching Galsek as he walked away until he was out of sight, at which point she stepped back into the cave. With the enchanted ring implanted within him, there was no need to watch him, or even look for tracks. She needed only to slip the accompanying ring onto her own finger so she could feel his distance and direction. Only once he was sufficiently far away would they even need to leave the cave. Overall, they would be able to track him reliably from much farther away than usual.

In one of the cave's chambers leading to the main ruin, their attacking force was gathered, waiting on Meesei's word to move. Most of Meesei's pack, excluding Sabine, Kaleeth, and of course Rhazii, were armed, armored, and ready for their first serious fight since they left Black Marsh. Since they finally had access to a proper forge with adequate materials, their equipment was now in much better condition than it had been for months. Lorag had replaced his hammer entirely with another, sturdier hammer of the same type, and most of their blades now had more of an actual shine to the metal. The alphas of the packs involved, Oswall included, were also grouped together, waiting for Meesei to return from the surface.

Approaching Oswall and the other alphas, Meesei wasted no time in reporting on the situation. "Galsek is away. He left without incident, other than glaring at me. I will be able to tell when he gets far enough away that it will be safe to follow. It is likely that he expects me to attempt to track him, so he will probably stop to search his belongings and find the decoy. If he does, he will likely stop later on in a hiding spot to see if we are following, but we will be far enough away that he will find no such evidence. Is everyone prepared, or are there any issues we need to contend with?"

The leaders gathered were quiet for one another's responses. A few shook their heads. What broke the pause was a familiar voice from behind them all. "All we've gotta content with is the growing numbness in our asses!" Janius and one of the alphas parted to reveal Harriet in fur, leather, and mail armour, holding three javelins against the back of her neck with both wrists. She looked the model of a warrior, but for the distracting magical sheen on the strange new collar around her neck.

Most of the leaders present, seemed uneasy in Harriet's presence. When she started to walk closer, the sudden movement made the nearest to her flinch. She shifted her her javelins to one hand before breaking the new silence she had wrought. "I don't know about all of you, but I have a reckoning to get to. If ya don't mind, we should get going."

All around, the warband was standing at the ready. Many were as eager to get going as Harriet was, but they were beaten to protest by the one they would sent to death.

Meesei, unlike many of the others, was unaffected by Harriet's presence. Most of them were aware of the purpose of the collar around her neck, but her combat prowess was enough to make them nervous. But, collar or no, Meesei knew she was capable of subduing her if the need arose. "We will leave soon enough. Galsek must be allowed to get far enough from the cave, as we will be following from distance. If he sees or otherwise detects us following him, it is unlikely he will return to his allies." She explained.

There were quite a few minutes of Meesei simply holding up her hand, concentrating on what she could feel through the ring. The weather was reasonably clear, so Galsek would be able to move without issue, but he was likely being cautious. Eventually, he did finally move far enough away that Meesei gave the order for everyone to move.

The alphas spread out among their packs, while Meesei took the lead, ensuring that Harriet was walking directly beside her. As they exited the cave, Meesei took them in the direction her ring pointed her. There were tracks in the snow along their path, but Meesei doubted they would last forever. If he intended to get rid of anyone following him, he would find a way to cover or avoid making tracks for at least a short while to throw off pursuers.

Clearly fed up with waiting, Harriet threw her head back and groaned impatiently while turning on her heel and waiting elsewhere. When she turned around, she revealed that she had a dagger sheathed on the back of her belt, but she wore no more weaponry.

Fendros and Janius were too tense to sit around while they waited. They shared a short conversation with one another, most speculating on whether Galsek would go to his allies quickly, and what they would find there. It was possible that they would be tracking him for a few days, perhaps even weeks if it came to it. Before they could dwell on all the possibilities, Meesei said the word and they all shifted to leave.

"About damn time..." Harriet muttered just loud enough for Meesei to hear.

Once they were outside, Galsek's tracks in the snow were imprinted consistently, but it was barely a kilometre when they quickly faded into nothing. It was unclear what method Galsek was employing, but even his scent started to fork out to the point where it was impossible to find without going down many decoy paths. Meesei's ring kept their course true, however. No amount of tricks would deny that.

The warband marched on for about an hour before any physical evidence of Galsek appeared. They found a shallow cave up against an outcropping that caught Harriet's attention. It wasn't much of a cave so much as a large divot under the rocks, but it contained some torn strips of fur, thread, and wool. The glint that caught Harriet's eye was the false ring near the top of the pile. Harriet walked up to the cave, stooped to pick up the ring, and turned to show it to everyone. "Here's your ruse," Harriet held the ring under her thumb and flicked it in an arc towards Meesei's front. It's metallic sound lingered as it flew, silencing abruptly where it landed. "Have you still got his trail?"

Meesei had to acknowledge Galsek's cleverness in being able to hide his tracks. She wondered if he was capable of magic of his own, or if he had other, more conventional ways of hiding a trail. In any case, it was good that she enchanted illusions onto the actual ring to hide its presence. It was about an hour before they picked up a sign of their quarry once again. As Meesei had expected, it seemed like he had taken the time to search his belongings and had discovered the decoy ring.

Harriet was the one to find the ring, though Meesei appeared entirely unbothered by the discovery. She glanced down to the ring for only a moment before looking to Harriet. "It is merely the decoy. I can still feel his direction and distance. The actual ring is hidden by illusions and...quite a lot of flesh. We should have no difficulty following him. Come, he is still far enough away that we should safely be able to follow." Meesei answered before leading the way once again. Galsek was keeping up a good pace, but Meesei was not worried about even a group of their size keeping up with him. With the ring, she knew his location at any given time, and they were carrying far more supplies than she had given him.

There was a half-smile from Harriet at Meesei's plan. "Good. This is the first good scent of him I've had since his tracks faded," Harriet said, looking ahead, "The bastard must be using some kind of magic to hide his tracks as well as he is. No wonder we've had so much trouble trackin' them down in the past."

Trusting in Meesei's direction, the warband followed along. Harriet was quiet and kept her eyes and ears open, but without a trail to follow, she was mostly following Meesei as well.

While they marched, the mood of those marching loosened up. They kept pace, but Janius was beginning to converse with one of Oswall's alphas and swapped stories of their hunting experiences. Other small conversations came up between the different clan members to keep them occupied as they went. Their hunt was becoming less focussed without anything in particular for them to do.

After another couple of hours of keeping pace, Oswall jogged up beside Meesei and tried to get a better look ahead. He had his eyes squinted, though it wasn't clear whether it was just the white snow or a suspicious look. The tightness of his lips behind his facial hair brought weight to the latter. "Champion, this way seems familiar. I have a feeling..." he trailed off as he thought to himself.

"...I know exactly where he's heading." Harriet remarked with a serious face as they began to crest a hill. The pointed spires of the temple were visible first ahead of them. With timing aligned with the rest of the walls and buildings being revealed down the ridge several kilometres ahead of them, Harriet slowed to a halt and reminded them all of the name behind the yellow banners that were suspended among the grey and white. "Bruma."

Oswall raised a fist at everyone behind, motioning for them to halt before they could be spotted by the lookout guards on the walls. Curious, Fendros looked over the hill as well and his shoulders slumped slightly. "I suspected as much," he said, for what it was worth.

Indeed, according to Meesei's ring, Galsek's presence was inside the walls.

"What should we do?" Fendros asked the leaders, "Are some of us going in, or should we camp out and see if he moves on?"

Oswall regarded Fendros for a short moment, but faced Meesei with a response, "If we make camp, we should pull back a distance. We don't want patrols mistaking the likes of us for a bandit gang." He looked to the warband behind him, "We're too large to be your run-of-the-mill hunting party, after all."

The group became gradually less formal as the hours of following Galsek passed. Given the distance they were following from their quarry, there was no particular need to stay silent, and tracking him was far simpler than on most hunts. However, the farther they went, the more clear Galsek's destination was becoming. It had been quite a while since Meesei had left the ruins, but even so, she was recognizing some of the landmarks they were passing. Even before they drew close enough to know for sure, Meesei had a feeling that Bruma was his goal, at least for the moment.

The group stopped out of sight of the walls. Galsek's arrival in Bruma did make their mission more complicated, but it was not an unexpected turn of events. Meesei had been planning for many outcomes, this one included. "Yes, we need to remain undetected. You know the area better than I, but I would advise you to avoid making camp somewhere he would expect. This plan will only work if he no longer expects he is being followed. However, I still intend on going into the city. I can mask my presence in a similar way as he has done, and with the ring, I will be able to keep an appropriate distance from him. In our supplies are a few cloaks and other clothing items that would fit in more easily in the city, and while Argonians may not be common in Bruma, it is not as if myself and Galsek are the only ones. If he glimpses me from a distance, it will not immediately alert him. I will mask my scent as best as I can, but he knows that we keep agents in the city, so picking up a trace of a lycan's scent would not be unexpected for him. I will follow you to the camp, then make my way back to the city."

"As you wish, we know a location nearby that will suffice." Oswall turned and barked back at the warband. "We're distance ourselves to the outcrop grove and make camp! The champion will enter the city afterwards!"

The warband started to move as one in the opposite direction, except for one of the alphas. "Oswall," the alpha called, "What are we to do once we make camp?"

"Await further orders," Oswall responded curtly. The remains started moving then. Janius and Fendros simply followed along and trusted their companions to know where they were going.

Harriet lingered for a moment longer at the top of the hill and lifted her lip in disdain at the city. A small, frustrated kick at the snow punctuated her disappointment at her fate being delayed.

A twenty minute walk brought the warband to their point of rest. The 'outcrop grove', as it was named, was a cleared area with an extinguished fire pit, hidden by relatively thick vegetation and rocky outcroppings around it. It was clearly a camp site that the clan made use of. With the numbers they had, space was at a premium, but the jutting outcroppings were still big enough to shelter them from the prevailing wind. As most of the band's accommodation was simply made up of thick bedrolls, the camp was set up in a quick and orderly manner. The mages took charge of setting up camp fires as soon as sufficient firewood was found. Once her duties were done, Harriet simply sat on the ground with her back against one of the outcroppings with her eyes closed and her javelins at her side. She seemed at peace, but there was a sadness to her posture.

Before Meesei left, Janius and Fendros approached her, encouraging Ahnasha and Lorag along as well. "Meesei, are you going alone?" Janius asked.

Meesei aided the group in setting up the camp at this "outcrop grove," but quickly afterwards made her preparations to return to the city. She changed -very quickly- into a set of clothing and a cloak that would fit in more easily in the city than the handmade garments she had before. They were in an Imperial style as opposed to Nordic, but Imperial clothing was common anywhere in Cyrodiil. It had a large, fur-lined hood and the cloak covered her tail, so from a distance, it would be difficult to even tell that she was Argonian, as long as she was not looking directly at whoever was watching her. Of course, she planned on staying out of sight of Galsek as much as possible. She would not follow him into inns or other public buildings, but merely observe his movements from out of sight. Since her ring could determine his distance and direction, she could always know which building he was most likely to be in.

Meesei was close to ready to leave when her pack approached her. Likely, they were concerned for her safety in going into the city alone. She could not claim that it was the safest course of action, but it was what she felt was necessary. "Yes, I am. The more of us who go into the city, the more likely we are to be detected, even if just by our scent alone. It would be difficult to hide the scent of a large group."

"Yeah, but what if he isn't just stopping over in Bruma?" Ahnasha asked. "It could be that Vile's followers have decided to headquarter themselves in the city. It seems like a really bad idea to operate a Daedric cult out of the middle of the city, true, but it's possible. If so, you might end up really outnumbered."

"I intend to remain undetected, but even if I am found, they will be just as limited in their ability to harm me as we would be for them. The Bruma city guard is a numerous, considerable force. One that I doubt Vile could overcome without an army. If there are many of them in the city, and I am discovered, I need only flee. They will have a difficult time giving chase. Just keep watch on Harriet while I am away; be sure that she neither harms, nor is harmed, by any of the others." Meesei answered. She had her supplies, and knew the way back to the city, so she was ready to leave.

Janius breathed out through his nose, put his hands on his hips, and looked away for a moment, while Fendros pursed his lips. It was clear they were uncomfortable with the plan, but they would follow Meesei's decision. Janius responded after a couple of seconds, "Very well."

The trip to the city did not take longer than half an hour at a hastened pace while Meesei was on her own. The guards gave her a lingering look on her way through the gate, but they did not accost her. Theirs was probably simple curiosity at a second lone Argonian traveller coming down from the mountains in one day.

The city was much the same as it had been since the last time Meesei had been there. The working day was winding up and all the market stalls were packing away before the sun could dip behind the city walls. The most loud activity was coming from the tavern. Meesei knew she could find members of the clan there, but they likely knew Galsek to be more trustworthy due to familiarity. Thankfully, Galsek was not in the tavern, according to her ring. His presence was coming from further up the terraces. As Meesei got closer, it appeared that he was within a general store a short distance from the gate of the keep.

As Meesei entered the city and gained her bearings, she faced a choice on how to proceed. Galsek seemed to be in a store closer to the keep, so she had no intention of getting close to there. Likely, he was bartering for more supplies with what she had given him. Although, he would not have many resources to work with. As long as he was in public spaces, she would not draw nearer. It was only if he went to a private home that she would have the need to investigate, as that would imply he had contacts in the city. However, there was also the matter of the clam members that were still in Bruma. They would be unaware of Galsek's betrayal, which could prove dangerous if they gave him any significant trust. Galsek was known to be a sly individual, but he was still a member of the clan to them. For their safety, Meesei needed to warn them about Galsek, but she needed to do so carefully.

Meesei stepped into the tavern and looked around the crowded room, allowing her nose to guide her to her fellow lycans. All the while, she paid close attention to the ring tracking Galsek. If he started to draw close to the tavern, she would leave quickly, without hesitation. The last thing she needed was to trap herself in the tavern with her quarry. Indeed, she needed to make this conversation as quick as possible in any case so she could return to following Galsek. It did not take much effort for Meesei to single out the group of lycans, and while her face was partially obscured by her hood as she approached, she made sure the Ring of Hircine was visible on her hand.