For a few moments, there was silence as everyone looked around for any objections, but there were none to be had. While each lieutenant no doubt had their own opinions, none of them were closely-held enough to argue against the decision. After a few seconds, Meesei spoke up once more. "Unless another option presents itself, I believe we stand to gain the most from studying the animonculory. Of course, I do not believe we should dedicate any forces to clearing the other ruins until we know for certain that we can control the automatons. If we can, then we will simply be able to use them to hold any territory we capture in Blackreach or the adjacent ruins. As for turning them into soldiers...what are your thoughts, Brenann? Assuming we can control them, would it be possible?"

"Oh..." Brenann began, again startled by hearing his name. "Well, that was the purpose the Dwemer used them for, but...even they could not fight battles solely with their machines. They used them as supplementary forces to their armies. The automatons are not intelligent like we are, and cannot carry out complex strategies on their own. They can be likened to war beasts; they require handlers to give them instructions. I am no military strategies, but I think they would certainly help. It is just...you may need to be careful where and when you use them. The animonculory was operating in a sort of low power state before, but even if we gave it full steam power, time has taken its toll on the machinery. And it is...[i]complicated[/i] machinery. There is no one left alive on Nirn who understands it. I doubt I could understand it entirely even if I studied it for an Elven lifetime. We can make some repairs, but our best efforts will probably only get it to produce at only about...forty percent capacity? Maybe forty-five? With enough time, we could still produce quite a few automatons, and we could greatly improve that if we find another animonculory. It is just that we might not be able to replace them exceptionally quickly."

"I see." Meesei responded. "Still, even with those limitations, I expect we could make great use of them. Not to mention the knowledge we may gain in the process. If no other project offers more, I will join personally. Speaking of, I believe we have another proposal." She said, turning her gaze to the far end of the room towards the Bosmer who had asked to join the meeting. Only those who worked closely with the scouts would likely even recognize his face. "Forgive me, but I do not know your name. You are one of our scouts, correct?"

"Yes ma'am...Champion." He answered, stepping closer to the lieutenants. "My name is Peralain. I am originally from Valenwood, but I fled all the way to Skyrim to escape the Thalmor. I was a member of the Riften clan, until recently. I was part of the first warband into Blackreach, and after living here the last few months...I have had an idea for a project. It is nothing that would take away any resources from anything else, or...any other project at least. I wouldn't need any scholars, I just need permission. You see, my family were beast tamers; it was our trade for centuries. There are very few creatures in Tamriel that cannot be trained. When we cleared this place, I saw that the Falmer had...also tamed a creature. The Chaurus. And, well, I believe I could tame them too."

Peralain's suggestion naturally caused quite a few varied and immediate reactions. One of the lieutenants, Tola, audibly scoffed. "You want to tame those giant insect monstrosities?"

Peralain held out his hands in front of him. "I know, they are quite frankly terrifying. But they're already tame; the Falmer have already done all the hard work for us. Subservience is already conditioned into each generation. We just have to take some of the eggs and train up the larvae to see us as their masters. As disgusting as they are, the Falmer build pretty much everything out of their chitin, and they are strong allies in a fight. And, we already know they can easily live down here in Blackreach."

---

Saras was both surprised and somewhat uncomfortable at being stopped by Janius. He was generally a reserved and serious individual, and while he was not unemotional by any means, he tended to conduct himself professionally at all times. His clan was well-aware of his personality, but he supposed that Janius was not a part of his clan. And seeing as he was a member of the Champion's pack, he was not someone that he was going to ignore. Besides which, he had just finished the duties he had been tending to. 

"Um...I suppose I do have some time." Saras answered in a neutral tone. "Aside from ale, is there something specific you want to talk about?"