Meesei smiled. "If distance was not such an easy problem for me to solve, then I would not, but fortunately, it is only time that I have to worry about for now. I would say we have enough time together, considering the circumstances."

Rukeewei spent a few moments in thought as he started on his stew. "I can hardly even imagine what it would be like to have to worry about those kinds of things. Politics, a public image...I don't envy that part of your position. Or many other parts of it, if I am being honest. I do hope things calm down for you once everything you are doing is over." 

Meesei nodded. "I believe you echo all of our sentiment. Though, I do sometimes wonder what I would do with my skills if I did not have such worries. Or if I was not part of my clans? I suppose most mages join various conclaves or guilds. I am curious, have you had any reason to use your non-alchemical magical talents, Ariel? I do not think I could bring myself to not at least keep myself in good practice." 

[hr]

Neesa answered quickly. "Daedra will never fear nor rout, but they are just as able to be confused and disorganized as anything else. Moreso, really. The Skaafin will not be as effective without their leaders to react to your tactics. As long as you all are acceptably competent commanders yourselves, you should have the advantage. And perhaps it might do [i]something[/i] for your soldiers' morale to see their allies slaughtering the enemy elite. Should Hircine's most important dog die, then you can just pick up the axe." She said, looking directly to Teroiah. "And if you all fail, then I guess I will just do it myself. But please, do not take that as an invitation to go jump onto a Skaafin sword. I would rather not have to go deal with a Daedric Prince [i]myself[/i]." 

Ri'vashi was becoming more adept at hiding her irritation with Neesa, despite the continued offenses she liked to make. She realized that she needed to ignore any personal feelings on the matter and focus purely on strategy. "Provided we make sure the ritual is not interrupted in each case, there are many options open to us for how to use the anchors. We could use them to augment defenses, force the enemy to attack away from their own defenses, surprise attacks, and the like. Ri'vashi would suggest, perhaps, that we vary our approach on how we use them, so as to avoid becoming predictable to the enemy."

"Hmph, use them however you like, as long as you use them." Hal-Neesa commented. "At the core of it all, we still have to make sure your armies are actually going to be competent enough to fight against Daedra at all. Your normal formations, tactics, and all that aren't going to work like usual. Let's go over some troop formations..."