Gallus crossed one arm to prop up his other as he cupped his chin in his palm and continued staring at the map. "Very well, perhaps there's another way to deal with the crank."

There was a long pause for thought. Gallus tried his best to think of ways that didn't involve quite so much brute force. It was difficult, but there were some other options. He simply thought out loud rather than dismiss any outright. "Is there a way to break the crank mechanism so it can be left alone rather than defended?" Gallus interrupted himself before answers were given. "Although, that would be easier if it was struck while the gate was open. They can't keep their only way in or out closed indefinitely. That might necessitate doing so right before the attack begins. If we have surprise on our side then there might be an opportunity to sneak in, or use the night, or..." Gallus' eyes flicked to Meesei and he lowered his hand curiously. "Meesei, I am curious about something. You remember when defending Bruma that a fire was set within the cave to choke the entrance with smoke? This is..." Janius chuckled to himself at the thought, "This is open air, so I have no idea, but is there some kind of natural looking smoke or mist that magic can provide? Anything to help hide us?"

Being unaccustomed to magic of course had Gallus forgetting about invisibility and its countermeasures.

[hr]
Sucking in a breath through his teeth, Fendros awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. His pause betrayed his ambivalence to Irenya staying around, but there was not much he could really do about it. If he made an excuse, Irenya would just come by later, most likely. At the same time, he didn't want to be rude.

With no apparent input coming from Ahnasha, Fendros conceded. "Okay," he said slowly. He gave Ahnasha a subtly apologetic look before continuing. "What did you want to talk about?"