By how quickly he was moving around in the kitchen, it seemed that Rukeewei would be ready soon, though naturally, Ariel had likely been anticipating the evening enough that she could not wait for the conversation. Meesei grinned at Ariel's question. "One who is more eager to follow in his parents' footsteps than they are for him to follow. He is talented, and a quick learner. All of the young ones are trained in hunting and fighting so they can defend themselves, though not all have to pursue the more violent occupations. He truly could follow any path he wants and I believe he could succeed with it."

After another few moments, Rukeewei finally started to come out with plates for the first course of their meal, setting them out in front of each of them. It was hard to tell at first glance what exactly he was serving them, but he seemed eager to give it. On each of their plates were six or so morsels, each a few inches long and wrapped in some sort of leaf. "Okay, to start, I just want to reassure you that everything I am giving you all is perfectly safe for non-Argonians. I have made sure to prepare it all properly. I know Argonian cuisine does have a reputation for sometimes being dangerous to outsiders...which is absolutely true. Don't eat everything you find here without being sure about it. Everything I give you, though, is safe. Starting with the appetizers, I prepared bearded blue slugs, wrapped in salt-meadow leaf." He explained. On closer inspection, one would indeed see that within each leaf was a raw, indigo slug with small tentacles under its eye-stalks. Though uncooked, they had obviously been prepared with some spices. Anyone tasting them would find that it had something of an earthy texture, but with a surprisingly citrus-like taste.



[hr]

Apart from her usual superiority, it was hard to tell if Neesa was surprised at all by Teroiah's lack of a reaction. She simply gave the slightest of grins as she looked over what they had laid out on the table. "Well, if there is one thing I can credit the Thalmor for, it is knowing to respect their elders. Regardless, I already know the basics of your invasion plan, so you need not catch me up on it. I will just need to be a part of all of these, uh, military planning talks to keep you from making any mistakes. Or at least too many mistakes. Unfortunately, Vile's realm is not one I have visited personally, but I do know of it. His Plane is called the Fields of Regret, fittingly for those stupid enough to bargain with him. He has styled his world into a tranquil countryside, with cities of glass and other buildings that look like they were made to try to impress an Altmer consort. The backbone of his Daedric army are going to be Skaafin, but keep in mind that Vile just [i]loves[/i] to claim souls, mortal or otherwise. He'll have pretty much any and all types of Daedra in his service, so you'll have to prepare for all of them."

"The Champion's notes convey most of what you just said." Ri'vashi interjected. "Anything that scholars know about Vile and his realm, we have already researched years ago. We have not been fighting our enemy blind." 

Hal-Neesa crossed her arms. "Hmm, that so? Well, let's see how [i]extensive[/i] that research has been, then. If there is one thing that I do agree with your Champion on, it is that you are probably going to have the element of surprise. This whole invasion is just stupid enough that he'll be far to arrogant to expect it. Which is good, because you'll need it. You're not going to be able to scout the terrain before committing your armies. Best you'll be able to do is prepare your forces to fight Daedra in general. So, why don't you tell me how exactly you're planning to arrange your formations against Daedra, and I'll try to explain all the ways you're wrong."