There was a tight smile from Gallus in response to La'tahne's compliment, but he didn't heed it any further. He explained the situation more, starting slowly. "You remember the one who posed as Meesei here before she was revealed, yes? She's still alive for the moment." Gallus glanced at Meesei and gestured to her head, "She looks a little different, apart from the scales, the horns, and the feathers. But we were wondering..." Gallus turned his eyes to La'tanhe and angled his head forward, "Would it be possible for you to shape the impostor's face to Meesei's likeness? Or at least closer to it?"

Gallus didn't want to potentially compromise the plan by explaining the details to La'tahne, but it seemed that Meesei was being upfront about it already. If she wanted to divulge more information, that was up to her.

"Yes, we need her face to look enough like mine to fool someone who both has met me, and knew her." Meesei continued. "I know little of what is involved in face sculpting, but would that be possible?" She asked.

La'tahne shifted in place somewhat uncomfortably. She had her hands clasped together on the table in front of her with a fair amount of uncertainty in her expression. "That...may not be easy. It is definitely possible, for certain. This one's former mentor would have been able to do that without a second thought, but this one was only an apprentice, and she is out of practice on top of that, but...it is something La'tahne has done before. Never on an Argonian, granted, but the concepts are all the same. You will have to be present to serve as a model, and this one would be more comfortable if we also had a healer on hand. La'tahne did learn some restoration as a part of her training, but such detailed work will require her bring the impostor under this one's knife for much longer than usual. Even so...La'tahne cannot guarantee it will work, but she will do everything she can."

Meesei looked to La'tahne reassuringly. "That is all we ask. If you fail, we do have other options we can try. We should start preparing as soon as possible. Ri'vashi, we should prepare a room and get any supplies she may need. Gallus, could you go with La'tahne to let her see the impostor, and to retrieve her from her cell and bring her to us? I would like to hold her separately from the rest of the prisoners from this point on. Just be sure she is gagged before you move her."

Gallus straightened his head and smiled genuinely at La'tahne. "Having a healer will not be a problem. Meesei is skilled in enough restoration, I should think."

Gallus then looked to Meesei and began to stand up. He gave her a confirming nod, "I'll bring her, but I think I'll come with you to the room we decide on first, just so I don't have to ask around."

With consensus reached, the meeting moved on to an appropriate place to perform the operation. Once they reached the room, Gallus took the time to find a couple of clean rags to use as a blindfold and a gag, before heading towards the dungeons to pick up Dar'tzesa. No doubt she was sobbing in pain as usual. It always dampened Gallus' spirits to have to see her.

In an effort to stop anticipating the encounter with Dar'tzesa, Gallus tried to make conversation with La'tahne along the way. "Now, La'tahne, I must admit that I have never heard of face sculpting before today." He gave her a sideways glance from the path ahead, "How does it work, exactly? Is it a magical thing? Surgical?"

La'tahne's ears perked up as she was brought out of her thoughts by Gallus' question. She seemed distracted by something, but rather than something that worried her, it appeared as if she was in a perfectly good mood. "Oh, face sculpting? It is...mostly physical. Most face sculptors do know some healing, but that's mostly just to keep our subjects comfortable and help them heal up quickly and properly afterwards. It wouldn't matter how much we reshaped their face if we gave them horrible scars afterwards. Though, we can also create scars if we need to. La'tahne thinks that is a silly thing to actually want, but she did have a warrior ask her to give him 'intimidating' scars once. We can also use a combination of magic and alchemy to change the tone of a person's skin, the color of their fur or eyes, the color of their hair. Remove or add blemishes. With enough skill, anything can be changed. The majority of our work, though, is sculpting bone. Our bones are what give our faces their shape, their features. Change that, and the skin above will follow suit."

Smiling, La'tahne thought back on her apprenticeship in Torval. "Really, face sculpting is an artform. Like painting or, well, sculpting. The name really does say it all. We model the face like fine marble into something of beauty. She could give you her services if you like." She offered, pausing as she turned her head to look at him. Without giving warning or asking permission, she reached out her hand held it under his chin as she examined his features. "You probably don't need it, though. Your face is already a work of art as it is."

Gallus wasn't sure if he felt any better about face sculpting now that he knew a few more details. He at least had levity in the thought that a warrior didn't just ask a mountain lion for a better price for a simple scar, but the rest just seemed to make him squeamish. To change the shape of one's face could make one a stranger to everyone they knew.

Outwardly, Gallus just listened with interest. He was in the process of lifting his hands and politely refusing the offer of a sculpted face when his chin was grabbed. Gallus stopped and gave La'tanhe a peculiar look. It took a moment for him to decide what to say, but he stayed kind enough. "That's nice of you to say, La'tahne," he said, "You aren't too bad yourself."

Given La'tahne's reputation, Gallus didn't push his luck. They came across the dungeons in short order and headed straight for Dar'tzesa's cell. Gallus led La'tahne in so she could inspect Dar'tzesa before he would place the gag and the blindfold over her.

"Do you think it'll work?" Gallus asked La'tahne. He did not acknowledge Dar'tzesa at this stage.

For Dar-tzesa her pain had mostly died down at this point. It did flare up from time to time, but after a week of healing with lycan regeneration, any physical cause of her pain was gone. Now, most of her sobs came from the hopelessness of her situation. She had fallen into extreme depression, and did not even acknowledge Gallus and La'tahne when they entered.

La'tahne, meanwhile, was shocked upon seeing the state of the Argonian prisoner. Her eyes widened, and she brought her hand up to her chest with an exasperated expression. "Divines...this one thought that was just a rumor."

Standing uncomfortably to the side, La'tahne was silent until Gallus spoke to her. Hesitantly, she leaned in and carefully looked over the woman's face. "It...looks like it will. Her face already looks so close already. The right color on the scales, all the major features..." She began quietly, before looking up at Gallus with some confusion. "But...there is no way she will be fooling anyone with that kind of injury."

"That will not be a problem," Gallus said. He looked to Dar-tzesa with pursed lips, "We just need her face to have a better likeness."

Gallus wasted no more time now that he had a confirmation from La'tahne. He knelt down beside Dar-tzesa and wrapped a rag each around her head and mouth like a bridle and over her eyes. He did not expect any resistance as she had been broken for a long time now. He spoke as he undid her shackles and propped her up to her feet. "Alright, Dar-tzesa. Cooperate with us now and we'll give you all that you've asked for, alright? We'll even give you a nice meal." As she could hardly walk, Gallus held Dar-tzesa's arm over his shoulders to help her along.

As they walked, Gallus murmured to her such that La'tahne could not hear. She deserved news that she could at least consider to be good. "It'll all be over before the day is out, I promise. You won't feel a thing."

There was no more chatter between Gallus and La'tahne as they made their way to the room to begin the surgery. Gallus guided Dar-tzesa over to the table and laid her carefully on her back. He then stepped back and gave Meesei and Ri'vashi a considered look. He didn't hold any of the joy that he left with. "Are we ready?" He asked.

Dar-tzesa gave no sort of reaction to Gallus' assurances. She showed neither relief nor dread, just absolute despondence.

Ri'vashi and Meesei had made sure to gather all of the tools that La'tahne requested. As soon as they laid the Argonian prisoner on the table, they shackled her down to it as a precaution. Whether she was actively resisting or not, she was still a werewolf. These shackles would not be enough to contain her on their own, but they would buy them time if it came to a transformation.

La'tahne looked down at her subject sympathetically. "This one has all of the supplies she needs, but...her subject should be unconscious for this. Movement can be very disruptive." She answered.

Meesei nodded, then placed her hands on Dar-tzesa to charge a spell through her, rapidly draining her energy. After about a minute or so, it would render her too exhausted to remain conscious.

As Meesei was casting the spell, La'tahne was closely examining Meesei's facial features. She did not touch her, so as not to interrupt, but she did walk around her to get a better look at the details. "Well...at least this prisoner will have a more beautiful face after this is over. But...why are we doing this? Unless you've found a way to give her another arm?"

Gallus looked at Dar-tzesa's face and curled his lips in awkwardly. A quick moment passed before Gallus peered up to La'tahne, and then Meesei. He would give La'tahne the details she needed, but it was up to Meesei's discretion to fill her in properly.

"Dar-tzesa here is a servant of the enemy. She is to be executed. Though, we are trying to perform a ruse on the other prisoners to make them think I killed Meesei," Gallus explained in a sombre tone. "It is to gain their trust, you see, so we can garner more information before the scouts arrive back."

Gallus crossed his arms and frowned. "As you can imagine, the details of this plan are sensitive. We will need you to keep all this a secret, even to others in the clan." Gallus glanced down to the missing arm, "So, yes...I'm afraid this is not purely for beauty. Is that alright with you?"

"Oh..." La'tahne started, lowering her head to look down at the prisoner. Meesei had already drained enough of her energy that she was struggling to keep her eyes open, and was likely delirious. "Well, she will need to be alive for this, and for her recovery. Her face will not look right if she does not have time to regenerate. Healing magic can accelerate it, of course, but..."

As La'tahne's voice trailed off, Dar-tzesa's eyes finally closed completely, and she became entirely unresponsive. She took up her small, sharp knife, turned the prisoner's head to the side, and pressed it against her cheek. Before making any incisions, however, she raised up her head and looked closely at Meesei's face. "Okay...this one will have to narrow her cheeks a bit first. Just have a seat across from this one, if you could, Champion. Stay close, and try to stay still."

La'tahne pierced through the scales with the knife, but hesitated before completing the cut. She did not make eye contact with any of the others, but instead spoke up nervously. "This will help the clan, right?"

"Absolutely," Though he did so flatly, Gallus did not hesitate to answer. "The information we could get could be the difference between victory and defeat here in Anequina. It would mean keeping the clan safe from Vile."

Though they both knew the cause, Gallus hoped that he hadn't opened up the same pit in La'tahne's stomach that was in his. Dar-tzesa was an enemy, to be sure, but in such a pitiful state, it was hard not to feel sympathy for her and the rest of her short life.

Gallus moved his eyes over the first cut and asked a question in return. "How long do you think will be needed for her to recover? With healing magic, of course."

La'tahne made her first cut, then carefully started the second in order to peel back the scales. "It should go pretty quickly for an Argonian lycan, but just to be safe, La'tahne would give her at least one night's rest. If you want to fool someone with her appearance, it needs to be perfect."

"That will be fine." Meesei commented. "The prisoner does not likely expect you to commit the murder immediately. Taking some time to carry out your plan would seem natural."

La'tahne paused until Meesei kept her head still once more, then started her work. For as much as La'tahne considered face sculpting to be an art form, it was very gruesome work. She had to peel back the scales across one entire side of her face, exposing the muscle and bone underneath. She was able to use her own restoration abilities to limit bloodflow to the area, and reduce bleeding overall, so it was a cleaner procedure than it could have been. However, seeing such large openings in a still-living person's body was an unsettling thought for most.

The actual face sculpting itself was far from a quick process. Once the scales were pulled aside, she started chiseling away bit by bit. With the bone exposed, it became quickly apparent the kind of skill required to actually reshape one's face intentionally. It was easy to conceptualize how carving the bone would change one's features, but it was another matter entirely to be able to be able to understand how her actions would affect the final appearance. It was also readily apparent how long the procedure would take, as the progress each time the bone was chiseled was hardly noticeable.

Throughout the start of the surgery, Gallus took a seat and watched on with a mix of curiosity and unease. He considered himself to be used to gore, having butchered kills and fought in battles, but there was something about seeing someone's still pulsing flesh that made his face tingle uncomfortably.

It took about ten minutes before he stood up to leave. He counted himself lucky that he had an excuse. "If I am not required," he began quietly so he wouldn't disturb La'tahne, "I am to go and train Tzirret this morning." He pointed his thumb to the door. "I'll be around later to hear the results."

After Gallus left the room and began striding to the training rooms, he took a few deep breaths to get his mind off what he just witnessed. Every stony clink he would hear would make his eyes twitch for weeks.

La'tahne's face sculpting took about four hours of constant work to finally reach completion, for which Meesei had to be present, both to serve as La'tahne's model, and to keep the prisoner safely unconscious. Her work had only been on the details of Dar-tzesa's features, but that did not stop her from looking like an entirely different person. Unfortunately, it was difficult to say at this point exactly how closely her features now matched Meesei's. That would not be determined until her scars were able to heal completely. Until then, Meesei called on a few guards to help empty out the room of anything nonessential, and to help bind her more properly. With their work done for now, Meesei dismissed La'tahne and left the prisoner in the care of the Orcrest clan's healers.

Meanwhile, Ri'vashi decided to personally fulfill Gallus' request to inform him of the operation's outcome. Enough time had passed that his training session with Tzirret would be over, so she had to ask around in order to locate him. Although she did not like keeping secrets from her clan, Ri'vashi understood the importance of discretion in this case and approached Gallus casually until they could speak privately. She nodded to him briefly and subtly as she spoke. "We were able to complete the task we were working on before." She said simply.

The training session with Tzirret was more than enough to get Gallus' mind off the prisoners. He did not go easy on Tzirret this time, spending much of the time with drills and exercise to catch up with what they hadn't had time for previously. Tzirret's abundant time spent with Ma'tanza showed through as a severe lack of practice.

Despite the intensity, the two still had time to talk. Gallus made sure to apologise for his being too busy to talk previously. With all that had been going on and all the worries that had arisen, Tzirret had quite a few things that he wanted to seek guidance on. The proximity to the time that the warband headed out made their catch-up very opportune.

The latter part of the training included a lesson in beast form for Tzirret. This also helped to alleviate his stress and sate its desires on an imp and a chunk of meat. Gallus had a laugh when he conveyed the advice for alternative means of dealing with beast spirit instinct. Tzirret was many things when he heard Gallus' explanation, but entertained was not one of them.

Gallus had just finished dressing after a bath by the time Ri'vashi found him. He was actually combing his hair in front of a polished metal shield when she found him.

"Hm?" Gallus turned around with curious wide eyes. "Ah, clan leader." He lowered his voice and then lowered his hands from his hair, "That is good to hear. I was about to head up to see for myself. Were there any surprises?"

Ri'vashi shook her head lightly, then motioned for him to follow her to a less crowded area. As they walked, she spoke up somewhat quietly. "No, nothing to be concerned about, at least. It was a lengthy procedure, but Meesei was able to keep her unconscious for the duration of it. She has been bound up in isolation once more, and will remain under guard until she recovers. Unfortunately, we will not be able to determine exactly how successful the procedure was until that recovery is complete. Her face is still scarred almost beyond recognition, but La'tahne assures this one that she will heal completely with attention from the healers."

There was a brief pause as Ri'vashi glanced away in thought for a moment before continuing. "From Ri'vashi's...uninformed observations, however, she cannot see how it could be a failure. Even with the scars, her features are almost frighteningly similar to Meesei's. There is something uncomfortable about just being around her. With what we plan to do to her...this one almost wishes she was just as hostile as the Imperial. It would make this plan easier to come to terms with; Ri'vashi does not envy your task."

Gallus broke eye contact and his face went into the kind of blank expression one takes on to obscure other feelings. "She's, uh...the prisoner has been...difficult to behold and question, yes. I would never want to be in her situation."

Gallus looked down with clear guilt and sighed. "We'll just...when she's dead, she won't suffer any more, but..." Gallus paused for a while, then looked to Ri'vashi with a small smile. "She's an enemy," he said tersely. "We should remember that."

Gallus' eyes spoke of his dishonesty to himself in this matter.

Ri'vashi's expression matched Gallus', and for at least a few moments, there was an awkward silence between them before she spoke up. "Yes, this one supposes you are right. We do not know what she would have done to us had her plan not been halted. There should not be a debate in this one's mind about what we should do."

Regardless of her words, Ri'vashi's uncertain tone was not consistent with what she was trying to say. "There are many who would say they would want to be the Champion, but Ri'vashi does not envy her position as well. These kinds of decisions could not be easy. And yet...she does not show any doubt. Any regret. Her attitude when talking about the prisoner has been...cold, emotionless. She simply does what she is meant to do, without complaint nor hesitation. Ri'vashi does not understand how she can maintain that composure, even under those circumstances. This one would not be able to."

"I think Meesei's approach to her position is more in responsibility than desire for power," Gallus responded. "She may seem disconnected and emotionless, but she suffers in just the same way as we do. Rest assured, I have seen it." Gallus looked off to one side, "In fact, with her being in charge of it all, I would say she has it worse than either of us."

Gallus narrowed his eyes and asked Ri'vashi a question. "I mean, think about it; we all put on a strong face to reassure others, no? It does not make us much different." He tapped a finger against the air in front of him, "Meesei is a very stoic individual, but don't ever think she's given up her heart." Gallus gave a tired smile, "Now, come. Let's not keep trying to hide our crushing guilt behind desperate ideals. How has your interaction with the council been lately?"

By her reaction, Ri'vashi seemed to accept Gallus' assessment of Meesei's character. Of course, there were advantages to having a callous, emotionless leader, but she was more comfortable knowing that she still had some emotion. When it came to answering him about the council, however, she gave a mixed expression.

"Well...there have not been many arguments this last week. Once everyone from your clan settled in, there hasn't been any real conflict for Dro'cahi to argue about. It is...pleasing how quickly we were able to get along. The ways of Pelletine are different from Anequina, but Ri'vashi supposes we are all lycans. But, this one has not really confronted Dro'cahi either; nothing has actually changed. This one will just have to be more assertive with him with our next conflict." Ri'vashi answered. She was not exactly looking forward to any arguments, but the frequent conflict between them had been wearing thin. Letting out a sigh, she tried to move on from the topic.

"Do you...perhaps want to join this one for dinner? She would rather not dwell on such severe matters when there is nothing she can do about them at the moment." She asked.