Ri'vashi was at first going to say that she was busy when she heard a knock at her door, but Gallus did not afford her that option. She pretty much knew who it was before she turned around. There were few in the clan who would be so bold with her as Gallus was. After all, she was [i]technically[/i] in a position of leadership over all clans. 

As Gallus might have expected, Ri'vashi put up some resistance to his suggestions. "Gallus, you know well why Ri'vashi is working. Every new bit of territory we capture comes with it a thousand security concerns. More soldiers to manage, more problems to solve. Saras has started tightening up restrictions on the kind of information we can send out and receive. Now, this one has to write orders to anyone outside the cavern in this code he came up with. And if she's writing to the leaders in different clans, she has to use a whole separate, even more complicated kind of code. It takes forever with how often she has to look at his instructions, and she can't delegate it. She would love to drink, but she has just a few more things to do..."

---

What Tzirret would have noticed upon opening Ma'tanza's letter was that it was not a letter at all. Or at least, it did not seem to be. Folded inside the package was a parchment with a few lines of Daedric writing, along with a small, torn piece of parchment with just a few lines written in Cyrodilic: [i]Tzirret, find a quiet place, then say these words while holding the scroll.[/i] What followed was the same phrase as on the scroll, but written out in Cyrodilic lettering so that Tzirret could pronounce it correctly.

As soon as Tzirret spoke the words, he would hear a voice that, while somewhat distorted by the magic, was unmistakably Ma'tanza's: [i]Hello Tzirret! Ma'tanza learned a new enchanting trick, as you can tell. It's not actually too hard, really, but her mentor says that mages don't use it that often since it isn't very useful. One downside of this scroll is that after you use it two or three times, it will stop working and can't be recharged. So...sorry about that, but Ma'tanza thought you might want to hear her voice, so she thought it would be worth it. Anyways, this one was very glad to get your last letter. Though you kind of really do need to be a bit more careful about some of the things you say. Just, um, try not to mention specific important things going on in your clan, or things that might identify it. Ma'tanza wishes we could talk more about those things, but she wants you to be safe. The people in charge of our letters have been giving us lectures about that every single time we send one. But, she is glad that you are having a better time in your new home. Ma'tanza wishes she could be there to swim with you; she isn't so picky about clean or dirty water. It's not like we can get sick. This one would just like to have any water at this point; we always have to be so careful with it here where we are. Luckily, that might change soon. There has been talk going around that it's finally time for our clan to have our own home. Ri'vashi's old clan has been very kind to us, but it is still crowded here, and we have recovered a lot since you left. We apparently have the means to move ourselves to a new place, like things used to be. Ma'tanza is not looking forward to the trip, but we will all be glad to have our own home again. Mi'basa will definitely be glad to have more places to run around and hunt. He has started transforming, and it's hard for him to keep himself calm without many real hunts. Ma'tanza's sister has been good at teaching him, though. She is very experienced. Ma'tanza can only talk for so long with the enchantment, but she hopes that maybe we can talk to each other face-to-face one day again. Did you decide to keep learning about healing? If you did, she is sure you will be good at it. Compassionate healers are always Ma'tanza's favorite. She can feel the soul gem's energy is about to drain, but Ma'tanza misses you too and is looking forward to hearing from you again. Make sure to mention if you want Ma'tanza to send more of these scrolls, or just regular letters. Goodbye![/i]