Despite Fendros' obvious discomfort, Meesei upheld her friendly attitude towards Calia. Rossarm, even if he chose not to acknowledge it, would still at least be hearing everything she said. "It used to be that way, at one time. Back before all of this. But, our struggle against Vile has challenged us, made us stronger. More organized by necessity. We've had to adapt in order to stay alive. Lycans may be half-beasts, but the half of us that is man or woman is still just as capable as before."

It was quite the long climb up the stairs to the Silent City itself, so Meesei kept the pace slow enough that everyone could comfortably keep up. Heading through the second gate into the main courtyard brought them into a bustling crowd, as it was currently the busiest time of day in the city. While the courtyard was used for many purposes in their clan, it was currently like an outdoor market. Nearly every day, traders from other clans would come through the propylon chambers to sell or barter with residents of the Silent City, or even other clans entirely. The city had developed naturally as a hub for the other clans as Meesei had expanded their network of propylon chambers to more and more of them. Although, few chambers actually led [i]directly[/i] to Blackreach, so it could require transit through several chambers to actually reach it from any given clan. 

"Marod, I thank you for your help, even if we did not end up needing it. You can get back to your work now if you like; I am sure we will be fine from here on out." Meesei remarked to him, stopping briefly in place after they stepped through the gate. Among the other sights around them, a Dwemer sphere rolled past them in its patrol of the courtyard, paying no mind to anyone or anything around it.

[hr]

All of the scholars present obeyed Sabine's command without question, perhaps due to her authority, or simply because the prospect of [i]not[/i] having to deal with Hal-Neesa themselves was an appealing one. Either way, all that was left was for her pack to head inside and confront the vampire. Do'rhajul slowly returned his sword to its scabbard, and instead kept his hand tight on his shield. He stepped up close beside Sabine, enough that they were almost touching. "If something should happen, I will be right by your side to guard you." 

Just inside the large Dwemer doors was a lift that took the group up to the level of the Oculory. It was difficult to tell exactly how far up it was, but the mechanism did seem to reside close to the surface. They passed a few spiders carrying the scholars' assorted belongings back to the lift, but they did not disturb them as they made their way through to the Oculory chamber, and up the spiral ramp to the top of the device. There were two Dwemer spheres that rolled up to them as they reached the top, but they did not raise weapons towards them. Not by default, at least. 

In the middle of the Oculory, Sabine would finally see Hal-Neesa at last. She was leaned over one of the metal arms hanging down from the mechanism hanging above them, inspecting one of the joints and muttering to herself in a language Sabine could not understand. Though, it was certainly not Jel. She wore a long, flowing, and colorful dress with silk wrappings around her waist, curiously in a Redguard style. The vampire had a seemingly endless supply of elegant, expensive outfits, given that Sabine would never have seen her wearing the same one twice, despite all of the time for which she had been their guest. Neesa noticed the arrival of Sabine and her pack right away, but only glanced at her for a brief moment before returning to her task. "Hmph, the apprentice. Not the Champion, but I suppose you'll do. I'm guessing those fools you call scholars complained about me? Well, you should be sure to tell them to be thankful for my abundance of mercy. Normally, I'd kill someone for what they've apparently been doing to this machine in the name of 'research.' Indeed, despite my frustration, I made a specific effort not to cause any bodily harm to them, so they should be safe and sound, yes? Or did one of them find some way to hurt themselves on the way out? Which, given their middling intelligence, would absolutely not surprise me."